Thanks guys!
First, I wasn't paying a huge amount of attention to the bathroom part...it was more like "rough something out, let the pros figure that part out later and I'll approve the final design".
Second, I know that for decent overhead bunk space I have to carefully pick a LOW tractor cab. The Freightliner M2 series is one such, Peterbuilt has had a full-duty "lowrider" rig I'm investigating (as in, any around on the cheap and can an auto/semiauto tranny be swapped in?) and there's a few others. I'm even wondering if a cab roof can be "slammed" about 6", in hot-rodder parlance. (Even without that, the M2 chassis is available as a dual-rear-axle, air-ride and auto tranny setup perfect for larger motorhome converstions.)
In the pic I've done, the center divider in the cabover bunk is removable. This is just one possible layout up there for a couple of kids if that ever happens.
The rear bedroom would be the main..."play area"
with as close to 5ft vertical clearance as I can get.
The two things that seem to really differenciate my design:
* There's a vertical hatch in the bedroom area "floor" down into the garage. As I was explaining to Lonnie in EMail, I ain't sleeping in a bedroom deep in a pocket with no back door. Ain't gonna happen.
* The cabover bunk is extra "deep", and pokes slightly out over the living room area. I don't see that as a problem but there may be hidden bugaboos.
Another thing: we have this issue going where we need two wheels to hold up the back, but if we move them far enough forward to take all the weight the rear end will scrape. Move the rear wheels back, and you overload the front axle and/or steering tires.
It seems to me that part of the solution is to go ahead and move the rear axles back pretty far, but then also transfer WEIGHT back there as close to the rear axles as possible.
So...why not remount the diesel tanks? Slide 'em WAY back to where they're a foot from the rear rubber (but still forward of the rear axles). The area where the tanks used to go can be converted to storage. That's up to a 5ft+ shift of up to 300gallons. Move that towards the rear axle, take it off the front, and now your rear axles can be brought back some more without overloading the nose.
Right? Or am I missing something else?