Converted KrAZ trucks

Today, there are almost no such cars left in real operation, but in the 1990s and early 2000s, when most of the photographs presented in this selection were taken, Kremenchug trucks of previous generations, converted in the most bizarre way, were still “in full growth” were used even in long-range combat.

1 A living example from the 1990s in the photo of Alexander Novikov: a private KrAZ-257B1 from St. Petersburg brought boards to the capital for sale.

A home-made sleeping bag was attached to its cramped wooden cab at the back (the spare wheel holders were removed from behind the cab, respectively), additional headlights were mounted in the wing boxes, an abnormal fuel tank was visible, and a KAMAZ air intake was attached to the right pillar of the windshield. It would be interesting to calculate the economics of those transportations – with a very modest body capacity, a “maximum speed” of about 60 km / h and diesel fuel consumption of fifty dollars…

2 KrAZ-257B, converted by the owner to carry 20-foot shipping containers.

This truck remained in operation until the end of the 2000s (photo taken by Max Chernyavsky in the port of St. Petersburg in 2007). Pay attention to the home-made wide “sleeping bag”, made as one piece with an increased roof height, and a non-standard increased tank.

3. Severe “long-range” from the Stavropol Territory based on the KrAZ-“lappetzhnik” 255B1 with a wooden cabin.

Its oversized width in the early nineties did not particularly excite anyone. Photo taken by Alexander Novikov in Moscow. Tuning, I must say, is severe: a home-made sleeping compartment, a self-made fuel tank suspended from the frame on chains, and a heavy fixed sea container instead of a van body. How much is left of the reserve of the already modest carrying capacity? Apparently seven tons. But the cargo will be safer! The front tires, by the way, are already worn out almost “to zero”…

4. Converted tractor KrAZ-255V in Gorny Altai.

When widespread persecution began on KrAZ-“lappetzhniki” due to oversized, they began to be massively converted to ordinary road tires. Here is just an example of such “tuning”. As usual, a self-made sleeping bag was mounted on the car)) Photo by Denis Dementiev, 2008.

5. Long-range tractor from Ulyanovsk.

What he was before the alteration – it's pointless to guess, you have to look at the documents. It could even be a dump truck. Be that as it may, the back of the frame was shortened to him, remade from 6×4 to 4×2, then they attached a “sleeping bag”, home-made fuel tanks, a non-native bumper with additional headlights. The front axle was replaced with the old Mazovsky one, the rear axle was replaced with the Hungarian Raba axle with a “planetary” in the hubs. Photo taken by Artem Konovalov in May 2006.

6. Another KrAZ – “piece of wood”, converted into a 4×2 truck tractor, in an old photograph by Artem Konovalov.

The car this time from Ufa. They worked more seriously with the cabin here: the roof was raised, a sleeping module was attached to the back, an original “ram” bumper was made in front, the exhaust was brought up. The headlights, apparently, were taken from the Oka. By the way, a photo of this car about twenty years ago clearly flashed in the newspaper “Autoreview”.

7. Now the next step is an example of tuning in Nizhny Novgorod. Photo by Oleg Chalkov, taken in 2005. The KrAZ-“piece of wood” also served as the source here, as evidenced by the front axle.

From this angle, it is not exactly clear what exactly the native rear bogie was replaced with. But since there are clearly no hub gearboxes, it is most likely that a trolley from KamAZ was put on the car. The cabin here is essentially home-made, welded from parts from the GAZ-66 and a redesigned hood from the KrAZ-250.

8. A truck tractor from Odessa, photographed more than a decade ago by Alexander Kravets.

This is a good example of a variant of modifying KrAZ trucks that was quite common in past years by replacing the native wooden cab with a metal cab from the Urals: fortunately, it got up just like a native one!

9. And this old KrAZ got a good boost in Cuba!

Instead of a native wooden cabin, apparently eaten away by termites and other tropical creatures, a metal cabin from some “American” was installed on the frame. The rear axles seem to be non-native. Interestingly, the car has two regular fuel tanks placed side by side.

PS A small bonus: not an old KrAZ at all, but the meaning of the remake is the same and completely similar))

This “almost American” with a “corrugated bed” was converted from a ZIL-133G4 truck. Photo by Nikolai Markov, taken in the center of Tula in 2009.