FL60 for personal use

[intradev]

I've put ~10k on my 2000 FL60 3126@250/FS6406A 6spd and spring suspension/hyd disc brakes over 2 years, mainly hauling a boat and running errands. I mounted a Bentz cab and a fiberglass utility body on it. It's great other than it's loud (tall gears) and it rides terrible, especially unloaded. I've taken 10 springs out of the rear and replaced with spacers, which helped quite a bit. I am planning on installing shocks, but was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what to do to improve ride. I looked at Kelderman's 2 stage suspension as probably the best alternative, but was thinking an air suspension rear axle swap could be better.

[sbphoto]

Hi. I am a newbie here and planning to do a FL60 conversion myself. I can not help guide you but I am very interested in the answers I hope you get. In fact, I learned something in just reading your question: I did not know you could remove spring leaves. Thanks for your question.

[Bob86ZZ4]

I think Doc Weaver has a FL60. Maybe he'll comment.

[Doc Weaver]

Here I am....
I removed leafs from my rear springs too. I made a huge difference. Shocks will not soften the ride, but will help the side to side sway.

I have looked into air ride. Hendrickson makes an air ride that I was quoted between 6k and 8k installed. That would make a huge difference.
Hendrickson Medium Duty - Bus - Motorhome Suspension Systems

noise can be minimized by some different things:
1. sound decoupler under the floor
2. sound absorber in the dash
3. padded leather cover over shifter
4. sound isolator on the doors

The Freightliners drive much better than the Internationals, but they are noisy. I looked hard to find a Cummins instead of a Cat, because the Cats are usually louder.

[sbphoto]

Thanks, Doc.

Wow. This is great. I am so glad I found this site. You are covering topics I need to know about before I even get to the point of knowing what I need to know. Fantastic!

By the way, I looked at message threads about types of RV toilets/heads but still don't have a clear direction on this topic. Do you guys just use standard RV toilet + holding tank setups on your FL60s? There does not seem to be very much room below the floor level of the van type I am getting so I want as little hanging down where it could be damaged by rocks and curbs and bumps as possible. I briefly looked at information about one of the incinerating toilets but it seemed that these would use too much electricity (for the 120V electric kind) and I have not found a discussion about any which run on propane. Some of the composting types look interesting but there is an obvious split between those who like these and those who find them problematic. Any experience to help guide me would be much appreciated.

So many decisions...so much to learn...

I am trying to follow the pattern of measure twice; cut once. But I know there will be times when I need to measure three or four times. Not clear yet how many times I'll need to cut before getting things right. Sheesh.

Regards.

[sbphoto]

Well, my truck deal just fell apart so I am back to square one. Guess I'll just lurk here until I get another truck for conversion. The only good news is I saved a huge drive to get the truck.

[Doc Weaver]

Don't give up on the incinolet yet. Even after the generator burnt through mine, I still love it. It beats black water any day. by the way, the incinolet is easy to repair and the manufacture is easy to work with.

[sbphoto]

Doc,

Thanks for the info about Incinolet. I'll will be back to thinking about this stuff when I find another truck to convert.