Wig Wag

[Muleskinner]

I have had a lot of people ask me what the little red flag like article was hanging down in the inside of my Model truck cabs. So lets start a discussion here about the older rigs which used to ply the mountain roads and the highways of America.

This is a low Air indicator Which all trucks were equipped with up until the late seventies when they were phased out. How it worked was a simple operation. When the truck was started it would hang down in front of the drivers face to show low air in the rig. As the engine idled up and built air pressure, the Wig Wag would slowly begin to raise up and lay across the top of the roof of the cab. When the rig was moving and the air pressure begin to drop to a low point, the wag would begin to drop down in front of the driver as a warning.

Every rig I have built from the fifties to the middle seventies has had one of these items put into them. It is a seldom added item to older rigs which are being built but a major part which well deserves to be added to the older rigs. Some of you older modelers and drivers will remember these units from the Prehistoric days of trucking but some of you younger modelers have probably never seen one nor ever heard of them. But they were very much a part of the trucking industry as the names Kenworth, Peterbilt and other companies.

I thought I would add this bit of history in case you out there might see it in one of my models and start wondering what it is. See Picture below.



Happy modeling.

[rnagle]

"Period correct" details like this make a big difference.

I've never driven anything equipped with this type of low air indicator, I do remember my air brake course instructor (Canadian Forces retiree), telling us how they would occasionaly attach a sign or note to the indicator arm as a prank. What was actually written on the sign/note will not be repeated here.......

[jimb]

Interesting bit of history, now if I can (a) figure out how to build one & (b) remember to actually put it in a truck I'll be doing good! The things you learn on this Forum.

[ap40rocktruck]

My old 1954 Mack LJ2DX had one, worked well. Most of the restored trucks at the antique truck shows have had these replaced with the red dash light & warning buzzer.

Nice addition to any model of the time.

Now how about the early side of cab mounted turn indicator swing arm! ;D ;D ;D

Ap40

[spimike]

I remember those well.

[spimike]

I remember those well.

[gatorincebu]

Dayum, I had all but forgotten about the wig wag's. Not that I saw all that many of them. But yes I do remember them well !:-)


Be Well
Gator

[Muleskinner]

They are fairly easy to make for any rig. I usually use either Paper or maxi thin plastic and just cut them out and then construct the Piston valve raiser and attach it. They don't necessarily have to be lettered as such as it would be unreadable anyway as it faces to the rear. I have always seen these in red, but I do remember a few of them in yellow and orange, but not to many.

They were referred to by many names by the log truck drivers I knew, such as Wig Wag, Eyebrow trimmer, forehead scratcher, nose scratcher and so on. But no matter what they were called they saved the lives of a lot of drivers when they began to loose pressure. When I was younger I used to love to start my dads logging truck up for him and sit and watch the Wag as it hung. Pretty soon it would slowly begin to raise until it was against the roof of the cab. Then I would step on the brake and watch to see if it moved. If it dropped at all when I hit the brake I would tell my dad and he would immediately begin checking the air lines. A lot of the time if it dropped was because of the petcock valve on the trailer line being left a little open and causing an air leak as you hit turn the trailer brake lever to pressurize the line. It was indeed a handy little devise.

Since the one in the picture is close to 1.1 size measurements could be taken of it and scaled down to 1/25th scale, for application.

Happy Modeling

[jimb]

Thanks. Shouldn't be too hard.

Did you write this article for Wikipedia? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wig_wag_(truck_braking_systems)

[arnd]

Hi all

that's real history of technic!!! Grate to read about this stuf. I know about them and sow them in different trucks on pictures and thought about something like this but never knew it really. In those days electrical signals were not verry used. Nearly everithing was mechanical.
Grate article Muleskinner.
so long
Arnd

[clayton]

I remember them. How about the old time clock with the round disk on the dash.

[amcdude]

Mar 18, 2014 6:16:13 GMT -8 clayton said:

How about the old time clock with the round disk on the dash.

The "Tachograph"?

[clayton]

Have too go with that,cause I don't know. Did look that up and some of the photos look like what I remember.

[gatorincebu]

The Tacograph! the company snitch for those that had fleets. If it is what I am thinking of. It records rpms and other data. So that driving habits number of stops etc could be tracked. Gig companies like UPS used them. I heard some stories about what the drivers would do to them so they could pull unauthorized stops and the like.
Also heard from a driver that retired from UPS/ That some drivers would have the worst luck with tires and always be getting flats in the same town , and getting them repaired at the same truck stop. Which was also known for the pavement princesses hanging out there. Gee what a coincidence??


Be Well
Gator

[redneckrigger]

Yup, the "snitch" worked well. I used to work for a heavy construction company that started branching out into environmental cleanup work. We got called to clean up an overturned tanker of #4 fuel oil into a local river one morning at about 3AM. The truck, an R600 Mack, had not made a tight turn enroute to a nearby factory to deliver it's 8600 gallon load, and went off the road, into a tree, continuing into the river. The driver was DOA. The State Police were on scene with company reps. They pulled the recording disc from the truck which indicated the driver was doing almost 75 when he hit the corner...............a narrow two lane road with a speed limit of 30. They figured he may have dozed off, but the recording disc showed the data at the time of the crash that he was going WAY too fast. A Corvette couldn't go around that corner that fast.