I was sitting down flipping through the channels last night when I stumbled upon and episode of American Trucker on the Speed channel.
The episode was about the restoration of the 18 wheeler from the hit TV show BJ & The Bear from the late ’70s to the early ’80s. As a kid I used to watch this show all the time and remembered that it was a pretty cool truck, not to mention that driving an 18 wheeler with a chimp in the passenger seat made things interesting.
Paul and Craig Sagehorn are the father and son team doing the restoration on the truck. When they found the cab it was in pretty tough shape, they basically had to do a frame off restoration on this rig and put everything back together. Once the original trailer was located, it was missing the reefer unit, so another one had to be located that would match up to the trailer.
While they were restoring the cab under the fifth wheel mounting plate they found a plate that one of the original welders by the name of William Sorell had tagged with welding rod that read “BJ&THE BEAR BY W.S”
The show ends with the truck being driven to the Kenworth plant that the truck had been built at.
Pictures Borrowed from: www.tvtruckin.com
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wich brand is the trailer?????????
After close examination of several enlarged photos, I believe the trailer brand is Fruehauf.
Im at the shop now….it is a” Brown”
I remember that episode. They should make a new Series. Loved how the found the plate & the welder that put it there. But….. Where is the ORIGINAL K100 (non aerodyne) from BJ and the Bear?
I worked in the electric dept. at Universal Studios. when the show went down we got the trailer and turned into our electric truck.shelves & racks were installed to hold our set lighting equipment. The jockey boxes below the trailer held our cable.
I remember watching this show as a kid, it was actually the main reason I decided to get my CDL and become a truck driver. I knew since I was five years old that I would drive a truck, and now that I do I couldn’t be happier…I don’t think I would want to have a chimp as a partner though, they have too much road rage…lol
the trailer was manufactured by brown trailer co. just trying to help, but yes it was a brown trailer. hope this helps
Hi there. As a kid i lives this tv series Especially the kw. I’m 42 know and i still love this truck. As a truck driver here in the uk i have a passion for trucks.i also scratch build model trucks. Having waited a long time i know have hold of a k100 kit and trailer. Ice also had the decals made to the same as bjs truck. Also the trailer decals. Know i obviously strive on copying a truck to make an exact replica which is why i am here. I would like to know if possible the correct colour code of the red and colour name? Also the same for the white?. If possible do you have a good selection of interior pictures also? And finally if possible what is the exact length of the trailer in feet and inches or millimetres. Any help will be very appreciated. Kindest regards Peter. All the best for 2013.
I used to own one of the bj kenworths, an amazing unit, people used to get in touch to find out where it was in the country so they could take photographs
what year is it?
bj and the bear was a cool show..i and the banditr trucks too.
ilove all of mthose shows my dad ws a trucker…i wish i had a movie truck..i would put it in shows and drive on special ocasions.
with my income i could never afford one…..
keep this truck going…it very nice.. didnt it have a 4oo cummins in it
take care.
Have a look at this http://www.tvtruckin.com/id4.html regards bill