Engineering:Glider (automobiles)
In the United States, with regard to automobiles, a glider is a vehicle without a powertrain (especially without an engine). Gliders are generally sold as unused car bodies, but a second-hand car may also be stripped of its powertrain and sold as a glider. The purpose of such a vehicle is to be used as a base to for a non-standard powertrain in the after market, to create novel variations of conventional or exotic vehicles. The term is analogous to an aircraft with no engine being a glider.
Glider kit
A glider kit is a term for a kit used to restore or reconstruct a wrecked or dismantled truck cab (tractor). All glider kits include a frame, front axle, and body (cab). The kit may also contain other optional components.
A motor vehicle constructed from a glider kit is titled as a new vehicle in the United States.
Exceptions:
A Georgia title, when issued, for a tractor cab restored with a glider kit will always be branded ‘Rebuilt'. [1]
Glider truck
A glider truck is manufactured in the United States using a new frame from an original equipment manufacturer and a glider kit. A "pre-emissions" engine which does not meet current EPA emissions standards for a new tractor trailer is installed. The required exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology is replaced by an older engine which doesn't have it, called a "pre-EGR engine."[2]
Production of heavy duty glider trucks was estimated to be 10,000 in 2015, 4% of all sales. An Obama-era limit on production of 300 units yearly was lifted by the Trump administration. This change by the EPA was widely condemned by envionmental groups[3] and was withdrawn by Scott Pruitt's interim replacement facing the prospect of a likely loss in court.[4]
Used glider
One can obtain a glider by modifying a used car. Parts removed from the vehicle include:
- A/C & A/C condenser
- Air intake/cleaner
- Alternator
- Battery
- Brakes/Master cylinder
- Clutch
- Computer(s)
- Engine
- Flywheel
- Gas tank, with fuel pipe and pumps and sensors
- Heat panels
- Heater core
- Ignition
- Mount brackets
- Muffler system
- Power steering
- Radiator
- Radiator fan
- Radiator reservoirs
- Radio
- Spare tire
- Starter
- Suspension
- Transmission
- Warning lights, gauges
- Wiper fluid reservoir
- Wire
See also
References
- ↑ http://motor.etax.dor.ga.gov/motor/TitleSection/ts_Rebuilt.aspx
- ↑ "ABOUT FITZGERALD GLIDER KITS". Fitzgerald Truck Sales. https://www.fitzgeraldgliderkits.com/about-fitzgerald/. Retrieved July 15, 2018. "We offer Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner and Western Star Glider Kits with pre-emission Detroit, Cummins and Caterpillar engine options. This process creates a reliable, more fuel efficient truck that requires less maintenance, yields less downtime and has the safety features and amenities owners have come to expect in trucks on the road today"
- ↑ Eric Lipton (July 6, 2018). "‘Super Polluting’ Trucks Receive Loophole on Pruitt’s Last Day". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/us/glider-trucks-loophole-pruitt.html. Retrieved July 15, 2018. "glider trucks, which use old engines built before new technologies significantly reduced emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxide"
- ↑ Juliet Eileperin (July 26, 2018). "‘EPA reverses course, says it will enforce stricter pollution limits for glider trucks’". https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-reverses-course-says-it-will-enforce-stricter-pollution-limits-for-glider-trucks/2018/07/26/705ff4ee-9144-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
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