Tow and Haul RV transporter build

[tonkadoctor]

are you going to do any engine or trans mods to your truck

Not intentionally

This is an over the road truck that will see 150k+ miles a year, it's my bread and butter on the table. Don't need to be breaking stuff and blowing black smoke, it needs to last a few years.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Wiring harness is pretty much done. All wires in looms and looms are taped up just like the factory did it. Best part is it all worked when I tested it.

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Blunt wire ends for the trailer plug that will be installed after I paint the chassis and bed.

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Getting busy building the bed and monts for fenders over the rear tires. The bed itself is 98" wide and when I add the rub rails it will be 102". When loaded, the trailer tires will be just behind the trucks tires. Needed to do this for trailers that are over 10'6" tall as most of the longer trailers I can load are over 10'6"

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Just enough clearance for the tires to move their 3" of suspension travel which is all there is on this truck.

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[Russ]

Best part is it all worked when I tested it.

Braggart I hate wiring stuff


3" of suspension travel???? Ouch my aching back

 

[tonkadoctor]

Braggart I hate wiring stuff


3" of suspension travel???? Ouch my aching back

;p

And it's has 19k rated springs that'll never get used to capacity too...I definatly see a Kelderman Air ride in my future...... Unfortunatly it costs more than I paid for the truck.

 

[VanBoy]

Man, that channel steel you are using looks new. Was that part of the last buy you did.... where $*** amount only bought a small amount or did you have to pony up more $$$$.......

Great progress though!

 

[tonkadoctor]

I just shelled out $1060 for.....

1. 5 - A572 20' x 3" 4.1 lb channel
2. 3 - A36 20' x 1/4" x 1-1/2" hot roll flat bar
3. 6 - A36 20' x 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/3" angle
4. 1 - A768 4' x 8' x 14ga diamond plate
5. 7' of A500 3-1/2" x 1/4" square tube
6. 2' of A500 2-1/2 x 1/4" square tube

Was quoted almost $1400 for this material, they were gonna give me a 10% discount for a large order and I told them they beter do better than that so they offered me 17% which came to just over $1100. I told them to make it an even $1k which was what I could get it online including shipping and they did.

The $60 was tax.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Put in a good days work on the bed today.


Got all the crossmembers in and welded up

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Welded all the 14 gauge diamond deck plate on.

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Used the leftover deck plate for steel fenders to contain a blowout. If you've ever driven a big truck you know it's gonna happen, it's not a matter of "if" you'll have a blowout, it's a matter of "when" it'll happen and Murphy's Law says it'll happen when you are loaded, in the worst possible weather, in the middle of nowhere and when nobody is open to fix it..... Didn't want to waste an ounce of that gold plated stuff either.

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This side is almost done. Need one more piece of angle to stiffen the deck plate on the beavertail and the rub rail.

 

[towcat]

Used the leftover deck plate for steel fenders to contain a blowout. If you've ever driven a big truck you know it's gonna happen, it's not a matter of "if" you'll have a blowout, it's a matter of "when" it'll happen and Murphy's Law says it'll happen when you are loaded, in the worst possible weather, in the middle of nowhere and when nobody is open to fix it..... Didn't want to waste an ounce of that gold plated stuff either.

tonka-
you are so right on that one. I have a driver's side steer blow out on a Pete 377 once and it spit up a 3ft. long gator needless to say, anything near it got ripped to shreads plus the explosion of fibreglass hood. managed to get everything to a stop safely. threw away that pair of pants afterwards.

 

[tonkadoctor]

tonka-
you are so right on that one. I have a driver's side steer blow out on a Pete 377 once and it spit up a 3ft. long gator needless to say, anything near it got ripped to shreads plus the explosion of fibreglass hood. managed to get everything to a stop safely. threw away that pair of pants afterwards.

Steer tire blowouts are no joke on a big truck. I bet I've had around 15 - 20 tires blow out on big trucks. Fortunatly all were trailer or drives. Only problem with a steer was breaking a wheel. That was a fun slide into the median.

 

[Papabear]

dropped a tie rod end once yee-haw it's just trucking it's just like f^cking only perfect in the movies

 

[VanBoy]

I don't drive that much miles, being my semi is "farm tagged", but I got my first blow out this year during grape harvest. Lead trailer on a set of doubles, driver side, last axle, inside- recap- gross weight of unit was just shy of 105,000. And I was the the interstate too, just got up to 60. Part of the cap came off and bent the back of the trailer sheet metal to heck and back. Took out the tail lights and such. I couldn't bend it back using a 3 foot cresent wrench. Had to put a chain and pull it back using a forklift...... still not fixed (jurry rigged a tail light from the pup plug in when going solo with that trailer).

Dang... $1K. I've never thought about ordering online. Not quite sure if that would work around here. If I told them that I could get it cheaper online, they'd prob. tell me to go and do it. That's the kind of customer service we have around here . That place also has 'used' steel (bit cheaper price per weight). Some stuff are just surplus, stuff he finds from manufactures or left over from projects. Last stuff I bought cost nearly $700, but I got a rec tube 4"x6"x1/4"x16 feet, and 9 pieces of 6" channel that were 12 feet long. There was some other stuff, but that's the majority of it. And that was nearly a year ago. I regret not getting a hoist frame that was there (A frame style w/ casters). It was only $350.00 and looked like it could hoist at least 2 or 3 ton.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Getting creative keeping things lined up and straight as metal shrinks and moves when you weld it. This side bed rail had moved straight back 1/4" before I could get the last piece tacked in. Was wondering for a moment why the last piece of the side rail at the rear didn't fit. All good now.

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Keeping the crossmembers straight and tight to the frame to be tacked up.

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Bed frame and crossmembers all tacked into place

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This is the framework under the fenders, forgot to show this when I did the other side.

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Started on the rub rails, cut 26 of these little buggers..... Lucky 13 for each side.

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Tacked them into place.

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Started on the rail itself. Decided to quit for the day after having to cut these twice because I measured the angle wrong and ended up 1/2" short on BOTH pieces I made and ended up making new pieces. DOH!!!!

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[tonkadoctor]

Getting down to crunch time. 14 days left to finish, pack and depart and only have about 50 items left on my never ending "to do" list..... you know the one where you cross one item out and add at least 2 more.


Been burning rod for about 11 hrs today welding the left side bed up. With a clear head this morning I was able to salvage yesterdays oops and use the piece at the rear of the truck only wasting only about 2" of steel on both pieces.

Got the rub rail completely welded on the left side.

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Got the deck plate welded on the left side.

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Hoping to have all of the metal fabrication done and get it painted by thursday, button up the electrical on friday and finish the interior and sleeper this weekend so I have a week to pack it and iron out any misc items that need to be taken care of.

 

[69dieselfreak]

whats the build cost so far if you dont mind me asking

 

[VanBoy]

Are my eyes playing tricks on me or does it look like that some of that support is right at the overload spring bumper? Looks like it's welded to it, but I could be wrong.