Truck Conversion & Toterhome Community - View Single Post

paul.zr1 · 02-16-2003, 01:27 PM

Scott, I'll definitely post some pictures once they become available which should sometime in April/May. I don't have any final cost figures yet, in that I'm still making changes. It should be below $200K.

Geof, a friend of mine (we're from Texas)and I looked carefully at most of the manufacturers. By the way, he's also in the process of buying a Truck Conversion.

We attended the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) in Indy for the last two years and looked at those you mentioned plus United, Haulmark, Roadmaster and others.

My priority list was quality, after sale service, and price. We visited factories and naturally talked to many dealers. Roadmaster is the "Cadillac" conversion but was priced a bit higher than my requirements. I narrowed it down to Show Hauler and NRC, both of which appeared to be high quality low volume builders. Renegade and Haulmark are much bigger companies and appeared to be more mass produced.

I also dealt directly with Ken Downey at Hill Truck sales to configure and order the Freightliner. Ken is extremely knowledgeable and we configured a tandem axle unit with all the options I was looking for. Ken sells a lot of units into the Truck Conversion industry and knows how to get all the neat stuff ordered on a new truck. I'm told that a tandem axle with air rides actually rides better than a single axle because you have twice as many air bags and they can run at a much lower pressure. Like a soft pillow rather than ultra firm? Does this make sense? I'd appreciate any other feed back.

In addition to the engine and transmission options I mentioned, I went with traction control, twin 100 gallon tanks, 295 inch wheelbase, etc. The specs for the truck were about six pages.

My floor Plan will be two sofas, dinette, walk thru bathroom with private toilet, and bedroom with centered queen sized bed on a 30 foot "box". The interior height will be 93 inches. It will have a diesel generator, inverter, Big Foot leverleres, large a/c units and large furnace. I'm also going with 200 gallons of fresh water and large grey and black water tanks.

I can't wait for the Freightliner to arrive in Elkhart, hopefully early April, and then it goes to NRC.

02-16-2003, 01:27 PM	#4
paul.zr1 Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 35	Scott, I'll definitely post some pictures once they become available which should sometime in April/May. I don't have any final cost figures yet, in that I'm still making changes. It should be below $200K. Geof, a friend of mine (we're from Texas)and I looked carefully at most of the manufacturers. By the way, he's also in the process of buying a Truck Conversion. We attended the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) in Indy for the last two years and looked at those you mentioned plus United, Haulmark, Roadmaster and others. My priority list was quality, after sale service, and price. We visited factories and naturally talked to many dealers. Roadmaster is the "Cadillac" conversion but was priced a bit higher than my requirements. I narrowed it down to Show Hauler and NRC, both of which appeared to be high quality low volume builders. Renegade and Haulmark are much bigger companies and appeared to be more mass produced. I also dealt directly with Ken Downey at Hill Truck sales to configure and order the Freightliner. Ken is extremely knowledgeable and we configured a tandem axle unit with all the options I was looking for. Ken sells a lot of units into the Truck Conversion industry and knows how to get all the neat stuff ordered on a new truck. I'm told that a tandem axle with air rides actually rides better than a single axle because you have twice as many air bags and they can run at a much lower pressure. Like a soft pillow rather than ultra firm? Does this make sense? I'd appreciate any other feed back. In addition to the engine and transmission options I mentioned, I went with traction control, twin 100 gallon tanks, 295 inch wheelbase, etc. The specs for the truck were about six pages. My floor Plan will be two sofas, dinette, walk thru bathroom with private toilet, and bedroom with centered queen sized bed on a 30 foot "box". The interior height will be 93 inches. It will have a diesel generator, inverter, Big Foot leverleres, large a/c units and large furnace. I'm also going with 200 gallons of fresh water and large grey and black water tanks. I can't wait for the Freightliner to arrive in Elkhart, hopefully early April, and then it goes to NRC.