Backdating the 1/25 scale Moebius Models van trailer underride guard

Underride guards are one of the many truck and trailer components required to comply with government regulations, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 223 for underride guards.

0:20 The Moebius Models kit underride guard is a good representation of a current FMVSS 223 compliant underride guard. These requirements date from the late 1990's.

0:35 In 1953 when underride guards were first mandated by the government, standards were quite different. These 1950's vans show underride guard dimensions from that era - noticeably higher off the road than today, and much narrower.

0:45 Close up view shows how narrow the guard is. These two photos are from the book "Open Top Cars of the Santa Fe", published by Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modelling Society.

0:55 Easily modelled with styrene strip and tube.

1:04 1960's Fruehauf "Volume Van" (photo from article in Great Lakes Truck Club newsletter) shows underride guard with pipe crossbar, similar height above road surface although slightly wider.

1:14 Modelled in 1/25 scale with built-up styrene strip uprights and styrene tube crossbar. Ends of tube were drilled out for closer-to-scale wall thickness. Trailer is modified AMT 40' Fruehauf van.

1:36 Steel channel oriented legs-down is another common crossbar material. 1970's vintage van shows crossbar at approximately the same height as wheel hubs and extending slightly past vertical supports.

1:46 Model trailer (AMT 40' exterior post van with roll-up door from City Delivery kit) has similar underride guard made from Evergreen styrene channel crossbar and H-column uprights.

2:00 Kit parts provided in the AMT van kit (instructions refer to underride guard as "bumper") are accurate for mid 1970's Fruehauf trailer - which is when this kit was originally tooled.

2:14 To the model being built! Photo caption states date of March 1990, and looking at photo nothing is visible behind trailer wheels...

2:29...confirmed by moving in for a closer look. This, and 1990 photo date, are consistent with a narrower underride guard than Moebius' kit-provided part.

2:44 Modification is a simple matter of removing crossbar, intermediate step piece, and inner flange on uprights.

2:55 Molded-in bolt heads are also removed.

3:06 I left the triangular gussets in place at top of uprights.

3:15 I made crossbar channel from Evergreen 3/16" H-column by removing one pair of flanges...

3:25...using Xuron track cutting pliers for rough cut followed by sanding sticks.

3:37 This results in a heavier duty channel with deeper cross section when compared to Evergreen 3/16" channel.

3:48 Both sizes of channel are usable, I felt that the heavier cross section of modified H-column was more in proportion with size of kit uprights and appropriate for a trailer in a heavy duty type of service like intermodal.

4:04 Comparison of stock and modified parts shows the visual difference resulting from this modification which is an easy one to do.

The Moebius trailer kit is a great resource for truck modellers to have, making it possible to replicate modern as well as older trailers with a bit of easy modification work.

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