Coachbult.com - Thiele Body Co



Thiele Body Co - Thiele Industries - 1901-present - Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Thiele Body Company - Thiele Industries Inc – Johnstown, PA - Windber, Pennsylvania – 1901 - W. J. THIELE, JOHNSTOWN, PA - Thiele Body Company was established by W. J. Thiele, who manufactured horse drawn wagons of various types. Gravity or over center type dump bodies were manufactured as well as the hand crank operated dump bodies with cable controls and with the hand cranking mechanism located at the front. Hand operated cable lifts, fire truck type bodies and open side type huckster bodies were also manufactured and installed. The bodies were mounted on the Model T Fords as well as Thomas Flyer trucks. 1920: W. J. THIELE & SONS, INC., PINE & CHERRY STREETS, JOHNSTOWN, PA. Thiele manufactured van bodies consisting of metal sheets nailed to all wood framing with 1/2” oval molding, installed over nails and sealed. They also had form-fitted canvas roofs. 1930: Thiele started manufacturing all steel dump bodies using Garwood and Galion hoists. 1945: Thiele added Marion under-body hoists to its product line. The company also manufactured aluminum kit vans for assembly in the field. 1946: Thiele manufactured the first all aluminum dump body, and was the first to use a full rubber mounting between the aluminum body and the chassis frame and was the first to use a one-piece floor and a one-piece front and roll, which eliminated the add-on cab protectors commonly used in the industry. 1948: Thiele was among the first three major manufacturers to install front mounted telescopic hoists in lieu of the underbody type of hoist. The company also added side loading refuse bodies to its line. 1951: Thiele manufactured its first underbody piston hoist with double lift arms in a complete range of capacities. 1954: January - THIELE, INC., SPRUCE STREET, WINDBER, PA. Thiele developed and manufactured dump body sides of one-piece construction with the boxed top rail formed in sheet metal with the dirt-shedder on bottom formed in sheet metal. Thiele also installed a channel on the interior of the boxed top rail, thus eliminating the outside welding with all welding being done on the interior and adding double strength due to the channel insert to the top rail. 1966: W. J. THIELE & SONS, INC. and THIELE, INC. MERGE. In 1966, the Johnstown plant was closed and all manufacturing was confined to the Windber facility. Thiele received the second order issued by Ryder 1-Way. It was an order for 1,200 van bodies. 1972: Thiele received the first United States government order for 1,000 units for tactical combat units manufactured to civilian specifications instead of military specifications. The company also started manufacturing refuse trailers for Dempster Brothers. 1974: Thiele redesigned its under-body hoist and was the first to use the multi-purpose cylinder, which is both single-acting and double-acting, using the same cylinder and increasing the pressure to 2,500 PSI on both sides of the piston head. 1976: Thiele increased its manufacturing facility by an additional 15,000 square feet. This extra space was devoted exclusively to the manufacture of underbody hoists, meaning that all sizes of underbody hoists could now be shipped to other dump body manufacturers. 1980:

Thiele increased and added additional items to its refuse trailer line, including walking floors, open top, compactor compatible and self-contained units as well as packer type trailers. 1981: Thiele redesigned a special lift gate for the city of New York with a common hinge point for lift/gate dump body utilizing unimount and non-shear bolt-type brackets. 1983: Thiele increased its production of various special design bodies for imported chassis including dump units as well as enclosed arbor. 1984: Thiele increased its Chor-Boy line to include fold down/removable sides and various size configurations for the larger, heavy-duty one-ton type chassis. 1993, March 9: THIELE INDUSTRIES, INC. At this time time, Thiele has a 225,000 square foot facility. Thiele Industries, Inc., is a designer and manufacturer of steel and aluminum truck bodies, including dump bodies, from the smallest units installed on mini trucks to the largest off-the-road type for single axle, tandem axle and trailer units. Thiele has increased it’s manufacturing to include refuse trailers in aluminum and steel construction: push-out type, live-floor type, closed top, open top and half roof. Thiele also manufactures a complete line of underbody hoists from class 10 through and including Class 120, which encompasses the entire line of underbody hoists available to the industry from the lightest to the heaviest. All hoists manufactured by Thiele Industries, Inc. are approved by the National Truck Equipment Association.

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www.thielebody.com

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Tad Burness - American Truck Spotter's Guide, 1920-1970

Tad Burness - American Truck & Bus Spotter's Guide, 1920-1985

Robert M Roll - American trucking: A seventy-five year odyssey

David Jacobs - American Trucks: A photographic essay of American Trucks and Trucking

David Jacobs - American Trucks: More Colour Photographs of Truck & Trucking

John Gunnell - American Work Trucks: A Pictorial History of Commercial Trucks 1900-1994

George W. Green - Special-Use Vehicles: An Illustrated History of Unconventional Cars and Trucks