Frame Welding

[fastavenger]

make sure u line the wheels with steel trust me u dont want to blow a tire wioth out it

[Kenn]

In the last two weeks it has been like Christmas at Kenn's house. I got my painted roll-up doors, the three step electric steps, the entry door, the cab interior and a new jack-knife sofa. I had a local uplhosterer make new door panels, headliner, corner pieces and redo the seats. I am happy with his work and his price was fair. I installed the stairs and need to finish the steps inside the coach. I have installed one roll-up door and it took some time to get the first one in, I hope the rest will go faster. I started with the smallest door and that worked well because you need more than two hands at times. All that new paint makes me nervous. I will get my sister to help with the larger doors. After they are all mounted I will remove them and put them back in the boxes until later.
Monaco shut down all of their Oregon operation and Northwest RV Surplus bought everything and opened a new store in downtown Eugene. Tuesday was the first day they were open and my sister and I made the two hr drive and I found a sofa that is what I was looking for. I got a 68" leather Villa jack knife sofa for $500. It was standing on end and has damage to one arm (lucky Kenn it is the arm that will be against the back of the cab) and a small piece of trim upholstery. I also picked up some interior lights and a 2500 W inverter. I will try to get pictures of the doors with the truck outside.

[bushpilot]

looks very nice !

[#90-GTSC]

I presume that is a roll-up door next to the steps. If so, what is white or grey thing at the bottom of the door, looking like it sticks perpendicular to the door? Looks like two electrical outlets are on it.

All your stuff looks great!

[Don Mcl]

looking around northwest surplus web site i imagine you were just like a kid in a candy store with not enough dimes.

don

[Kenn]

#90 I think the parts you are seeing are black nylon stops mounted to a flat bar that you push down on to close the door. When the door is opened all of the way, the black stops contact the top drip rail. In the picture with the door open you can see them against the drip rail. In the closed position the stainless bar rides over nylon ramps and keep the door down. I got the keyed locks that have a 3/8" rod that goes into each side of the framing. I took pictures of the roll from inside the compartment with the door open and closed.
Don the pictures online are from NW surplus first store which I have been to a few times. The new store is PACKED with boxes on pallets and it is not yet organized like the first store. We had to open boxes to find out what was inside and nothing was priced yet. And yes I was a bit like a kid in the candy shop. I plan to make other trips after they have a chance to unpack. All of the hours online looking at parts helps with having a feel for the value. Just because it is at a surplus store does not mean it is a great deal.

[Kenn]

Today my sister helped me install the longer doors. I did one of the 45" ones by myself the other day and I was lucky not to damage the paint. The longest door is 69" and it hangs by threes straps. I don't have enough hands. We got all five doors on and working fine. Then I moved the truck outside to clean the shop and get some better pictures. On the passenger side the rear compartment will hold the generator, the small (17") door will be for the batteries and the big door will be storage or as we call it Mike's bedroom.. On the drivers side the rear compartment will be for the holding tank, dump valve and water pump. The compartment in front of the tire will be storage. We took the doors off, rolled them up with the same foam that they were shipped with and put them back in the boxes. I will not see them again until the project is almost done. They work just like I remembered on the fire rigs and the paint job looks great. My total cost was $2918. for the doors and $251.76 for shipping. After working with the doors I think I made the right decision to have them do the painting. Next up is to finish off the compartment framing.

[Kenn]

That is me on the entry step feeling good about life.

[#90-GTSC]

Very nice. Thanks for the update.

[Kenn]

It took longer than it should have but the small doors for access to the diesel fuel, propane and leveling jacks are mounted. I cut one hole in the wrong location and had to replace the 16 G panel. The LPG door is 12 x 16 and I need to change the latch to a thumb latch so anyone coould open it without a tool. The fuel door is 12 x 12 and has a key lock and the two jack doors are 6 x 6 and have a screwdriver slot. The doors are bolted on for now but will be riveted before I paint everything white.

[Kenn]

These are the jack doors and I can install and remove the pins through the 6 x 6 door.

[Don Mcl]

Kenn,

keep the pictures coming, i do miss the thought and effort of doing what your doing.

if i may,,,,,,, a short piece of pipe (acting as a kind of bushing/bearing) that your landing gear crank goes through will take the wobble out of the crank shaft as your lowering the gear.

don

[Kenn]

I have finished with the framing for the rear body and drilled and clecoed the 16 guage panel to it. The center section of the frame is bolted in so I can lift the body off and still clear the rear cross-member. I think it should be plenty strong and more steel to protect the LPG tank.

[Dragonslayer140]

Kenn, Looking good, nice to see the progress you are making. Makes me want to get mine started right away but its going to be a year or two before that is in the cards. Keep up the good work, perhaps one day you can have an open house to show off your hard work to the rest of us on the west coast..

Dave

[haddixj]

I just went through the whole build thread so far and it looks great. a few questions for you. Why did you make the box removable? And what is the wheelbase and overall length of your truck? I am planning on a build and want a 20' box basically what you have and am trying to figure out how to stretch the frame between the axles but yours was added behind the axles. Thanks of you can help. Again your project is amazing.
Jason

[Kenn]

Jason, the wheel base is 243" The truck was built with a sleeper and most sleeper trucks are that long or longer. The bumper to bumper length is 19'4" and it is 119" from the front bumper to the rear of the cab.
My shop size has a lot to do with the way I am building it. The shop is 24' x 40' with a 9' workbench area and an open floor area of just under 31'. The roll-up door is 10' high and the motorhome will be just over 12' when finished. I am building the lower unit (everything from the floor down) on the truck first then I will build what will look like a big camper on the shop floor and move it outside and put it on the truck.
Take your time looking for a truck and get one that will work for your plan. I will upload a picture of the truck when I bought it. Good luck

Kenn

[haddixj]

How much overhang will you have? I will be towing a stacker trailer with 2 cars in it once I'm done with my project. So I am thinking I may need a little longer wheelbase due to the amount of tongue weight that I will have

[Kenn]

My rear bodywork extends 7' behind the center of the rear axle and the hitch ball is 9" behind the bodywork for a total of 7' 9". You need to think about axle weights when you are towing and not towing. My truck with the front drive axle removed has just over 8K on the front axle and 6K on the rear. With a 12K front axle if you move the rear axle rearward you will increse the front axle load. I have located heavy items (50 gal LPG tank, 85 gal holding tank and the generator) behind the rear axle to help with the weight balance. My trailer is much lighter than a stacker. Mine is 20' and is 3500# empty and around 7K when I go racing. Do you have a commercial drivers lic? I think in Calif. you can tow a travel trailer up to 15K with a class 3 but not a race trailer over 10K.

[Northtoalaska]

Nice work Kenn. I've been lurking on the site for a while watching your build. I secured my truck and am almost ready to get started on the build. My shop situation is almost identical to yours. So your approach to build the lower on the truck and the upper in the shop and mount on the truck has really helped to inspire me. I have the mechanical and welding skills as well as tools, but needed some visual tutorial, such as your build.
I have a couple more things to get "right in my mind" before I start welding box tubing. I'm considering leaving both axles under the rear, and having the ability to not worry about weight issues.

What are your thoughts on insulating your floor and protecting it from road debris? ( on the underside)

[Kenn]

Today I had the truck outside for the first time in nine weeks. I took pictures that include the compartment framing, the 1"x2" floor framing and all of the sheet metal installed. The floor framing will be lifted off the truck and set aside until later. You might see that it is inset 1/2" from the outside bodywork to make room for the FRP. The battery tray will hold four 6 volt golf cart batteries and I will be able to slide it part way out to help service and install them. I still need to make a hold down bracket but I will wait until I have the battries. I also spent some time making a piece to fill the gap between the bottom of the entry door and the electric steps. I need to make one for below the steps. It will need to fold up out of the way when the steps are out. I need a bigger brain for this one. I welded some flat bar on the diagonal to help keep things square when it is off the truck. It will all be removed after the box is welded back onto the lower unit. Next up will be to trial fit the entry door (I need extra hands for that one). I have ordered aluminum to build my holding tank (83 gal). When the tank is finished I will remove the floor framing and then remove the lower unit for welding and painting.