A couple of general questions

[DanT]

Hi, I am new to the board although not entirely new to the concept of truck conversion. I have a few general info questions as we are looking toward replacing out older Blue Bird as soon as it sells.
1) How come no one mentions using Mack or Peterbuilt products?
2)Warpath when building a unit such as yours would it have been better (and less expensive) to start with a day cab?
3) Any disadvantage to daycab trucks?
4) Any huge difference in truck transmissions as far as shifting ease, durability etc?
5) Warpath, how did the shifting monitor work out?
Thanks all in advance. I have really enjoyed reading all the info. I especially appreciate Warpath doing a step by step with his conversion. What a great learning experience. DanT

[spooner]

hey danT
i am shopping right now for a used integral sleeper KW T2000 truck to convert
i like the mack (was it vision?) but they are very rare here
my dream truck would be the pete 387 but the price for a used one is about $10k over a KW T2k
i think the disadvantage of a (used) daycab is that it was used for short distance work (maybe higher engine wear?!) shorter frame and there is no opening in the back of the cab (but hey, a sawsall can take care of that )

hope your BB sells soon so you can start your project

[vapoppa]

being the only person on the conv. net with a sleeper cab, [t2000] , i think that the sleeper is the way to go. you do lose the space above the seats which could be a small bunk or storage. it seems that most of the companies doing conversions prefer to use day cabs. i like the sleeper because you can stand up in the cab without ducking your head. the difference in used prices i believe is because of the way the trucks are speced out. the sleeper truck are speced for over the road usage and are generally intended to be able to go further miles wise before needing major repairs. that doesn't mean that a day cab truck is not as good a truck, it's just that they are run on short trips or local deliveries. i'll ask the other guy's a question of my own, do you all like the way the day cabs look and is the lack of head room in the cab a non issue? inquiring mine wants to know. i talked with renegade last summer and they were about to do their first sleeper conv.. oh, spooner there is no hole in the back of s sleeper cab either, it's just that with kingsley my cab/sleeper was cut 6 1/2 inches behind the door jamb and the rest of the sleeper discarded. kingsley has also made some units with long cabs, full length sleepers with the back of the sleeper cut out and there are photos on kingsleys site of them. som units have extra seats in that area and others use it for more room in the front of the coach. a 27 ft. long box with a 10 ft long sleeper would give you a 37 ft long coach unit plus the front of the cab, 9ft or so, which makes the unit46 ft long. hope this helps. mase

[spooner]

hey vapoppa
is your cap still air suspended?
how is the ride in a T2k?
i plan to use the sleeper/cap with the air suspension and cut a opening(with a flexible rubber boot)that goes into the frame mounted box.
im looking for the best ride possible. we drive a lot and the MDT we have now is a little rough (air susp front and rear but solid cap and no air seat )
ups, sorry, im hyjacking this topic
maybe i should start a T2k topic ?!?

V8Rail.com

[Warpath]

As far as going with a day cab or not to, it all depends on the truck and your prefrences. Some day cabs are very short and there is no room to even tilt the seat even slightly. In my case we left about a 1 1/2' of the sleeper on so it allows for the seats to be moved back or tilted to about a 45 degree angle. (Wife likes that) You are going to find more trucks with sleepers and pricing is usually a bit better on these than the day cabs. (Since there are more on the lots) As far as cost for trimming it down, again it depends on what your doing, but I would budget $3,000 - $5,000 if it is integral and much less if it is not.

A major factor to remember when selecting your dream truck and the configuration of your conversion. If you want a over the cab bunk, your cab can only be a certain height. There are many trucks out there that will not accomodate a over the cab bunk, becuase it will raise the overall height of the conversion beyond what is allowable 12'6" is about where you want to be.

As far as keeping the air ride cab or not. Eventually your rubber boot will degrade to the point of it not sealing out water. The movement of the cab will expidite the process, and even worse something happens to cut that boot. Once this happens you will never be able to get at that boot to change it out. There is no room between the cab and the conversion to do this. So most of the conversion mfg'ers have chucked the air on the cab and made a solid connection between the two. As far as ride goes, I have 31,000 lbs on my chassis and it rides like a cadillac. Any bumps in the road are easily handled by the air seats.

Bill

2003 28' Show Hauler Motorhome on a 1995 FLD 120 www.showhauler.com

[geof]

FYI.. On our village ambulamce the boot is mounted inside the cab and also the box with sheetmetal screws and some sealer is is a one piece plastic arch maybe 8 inches wide and 1/8 inch thick-I don't know what type of plastic it is....refiting it in place would take a few hours at the most because all the work is done form the inside.....geof

[DanT]

Thanks all for the replies. I did not realize the day cabs might actually be shorter in length.
Warpath, you didn't mention the shifting device. I really am curious about it. Thanks again. DanT

[Warpath]

geof, is that cab a air cab?

From what I understand, on none air cabs (vehicles in the class C size) the box and the cab are fitted very close and a interior seal can be used.

On rig's with air cab there is about 5"'s of movement and the space between box and the cab must be much be further apart and they use a very large seal. This presents a bigger opportunity for problems. I know it is being done, but most companies are eliminating this potential problem.

Dan, your only about 3 hours away, stop by sometime and I can show you around the rig. The gearmaster unit is awesome and a must for anyone with a manual and not running it all of the time or has a bunch of years experience. On my trip to and from Florida a few weeks ago I used that thing a ton when I found myself in major traffic jams. Speeds where jumping all over and I was having to downshift so much and this devise puts you in the right gear.

2003 28' Show Hauler Motorhome on a 1995 FLD 120 www.showhauler.com

[geof]

You know Bill-you asked a very good question there....I'll have to drop over to the FD Saturday and take a look see.....It could just be a rubber mount or could be air mounted....its an International that I know- so it could be either way or maybe just the cab could just be bolted to the frame with no rubber pucks because it is an International Combine....after all....: ;&gt...geof

[spooner]

warpath; good point with the big movement on a air cab
hmmmm.... have to think about a realy soft and flexible seal...

V8Rail.com

[vapoppa]

spooner, sorry 'bout the delay, it was an air ride but kingsley removed it, the above reasons are correct, and the ride is really very good, i think. i'm not into cushy so it's perfect to me. mase