Quote:
Originally Posted by bushpilot
DeepVee - what is the axle rating on your front axle ?
Im not following how your truck isn't an HDT (class 7 or 8) ?
Our Freightliner Columbia coach has a front axle rating of 13880 - full of fuel we tip the scales at 12,460...1420 under weight. (we only have 65g of fuel PER side).
|
Our truck VIN states 12,300. The truck was stretched and rebuilt as a 41' motor home with the original Volvo front axle but the builder replaced the original springs with 15,700 lb rated springs. The builder stated that the 12K & 15.7K Volvo specification both used the same axle beam and that the springs are all that changed between the two different ratings. From what I've read, these trucks were heavy on the front when they were new and in our case the builder added the coach box, an 18KW generator in front of the rear wheels and a big slide-out. In addition, we can hold 300-gallons of fuel just behind the front wheels. It all starts adding up quick and we calculated a total front axle weight of 16,300 lbs when we're full of fuel. Even if the current front axle rating is 15,700 lb, it's not enough for us. Especially after we blew out a 7160 lb front tire at highway speed, and you can feel the weight in the steering. This is why we're going to a true 18K spec front.
After I uploaded the original message I saw the
HDT forum title. I got the impression that the HDT classification is for an truck that still looks like a semi, without a motor home box like ours. Is this the case?