Stretching frame on a single

[blizzardND]

VHB is tape made by 3M, it comes in several widths, it is double sided tape the steel and aluminum must be very clean, once stuck you have to grind it off unless you get very lucky with a heat gun. Very expensive, but the end result is a clean sided rig with no chance for water to seep past the rivet holes.

Stop buy a semi trailer repair shop, they can show you and price it for you.

link:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...apes/VHB-Tape/
-blizz

[haddixj]

The problem with all of those rigs is they have smaller boxes then I want. I want a 20' living space, I have a 18m old boy and another kid on the way so me and the wife have to have room for 4 and I dont want it cramped on her while at the track. Also I am looking for something that I can use as an RV a weekend out of the month while another is at the track once a month. Though more convienent to buy and compromise it wouldnt be what I want. I always look at RJ and yellowbullet and if something came up that fit the bill I would jump at it. I dont have an immediate need for it now so I can wait and plan and acquire stuff as needed. The reason I want a stacker is because I want to get my boy into Jr. drags and he has to be 8 to start. My next kid boy or girl will get the same option so thats my need for a stacker. I am curious about your truck have you ever loaded it down with alot of weight? or Pulled alot? The reason Im asking is because that is what I was looking at first MDT but it seemed alot of people complained about safety and performance towing alot of weight which is what I do 75% of the time. Eventually I would like to get into the Division 7 national event circuit so I would do alot of traveling and dont want to just make do with my next RV.
thanks for your help and input I really do appreciate all of your comments on the subject. Do you have any more pics of your truck? I didnt see them in the member gallery.

[Bob86ZZ4]

Originally Posted by haddixj

Bob I saw that you tow a race trailer around how does the truck handle it with that much overhang? I am going with a bumper pull trailer. Do you ever wish you had twin drive axles? Also do you know your gross weight?

Sorry, I forgot to respond to this. My truck is 36' bumper to bumper. I weighed it last summer with a fair amount of junk inside for almost 2 weeks on the road. I had completely empty water tanks at the time because I had just finished flushing out the water system with bleach and such. I had full fuel since I filled up at the place I weighed. I had myself and my 180lb son in the cab. Front axle weighed 12k lbs. Rear axle was 17k lbs. My water tanks are 200 gallons and they are under the bed which is completely behind the rear axle line. My black and gray tanks were empty at the time of weighing too. Those are located about mid wheelbase. So, I would guess adding 1660 lbs. (8.3 lbs per gallon of fresh water) behind the rear axle might unload the front just a tad. My rear axle is a 22,700 lb. rated so I don't think I'm in need of tandem drive axles. I also like having only one drive axle in terms of tire and other parts and maintenance issues. I don't especially like how long the overhang is from the rear axle to the back of the rig but I haven't scraped it yet. I'd like to try to rig it so that I can overide the auto leveling device in the rear axle and air it up to the max to give me a bit more clearance in pulling into a driveway or something but I haven't figured out how to do it yet. I know it can be done though.

I haven't weighed my trailer. I know empty it's only 3k lbs, it's a completely aluminum frame so it's very light for a 24'er. I'd guess I'm around 8k lbs with a Vette, extra wheels, lots of tools and spare parts in it. I'm 68' front bumper to trailer rear end when all hitched up.

I've driven many thousands of miles with and without my trailer hitched up. There is absolutely no way to know the trailer is there without looking in the rear view mirrors or backup camera. The truck simply does not even know it's pulling an extra 8k lbs. It also works pretty well turning and isn't hard to manuever around corners. Does the overhang placing the hitch farther back from the rear axle help that? I know the hitch is a 40k lb. rated on my truck and my drivetrain is certainly capable of 80k lbs. so I wouldn't hesitate pulling a stacker trailer.

[#90-GTSC]

haddixj ... lots of bumper pull T/Cs in Racing Junk. I'm bottom fishing for the same thing. I want a bedroom in the back, I don't want to sleep in the bunk over the cab. Its tough to get a 5th wheel/gooseneck toterhome with a bedroom in the back. Wheelbase gets horrendously long. Go to the tracks and asked the guys bumper pulling stacker trailers and see what they say. Obviously, the bigger the truck ... the less issues you're going to have to deal with. Good luck in your search.

Dick

[#90-GTSC]

Check this out ...

34' ProLine Motor Coach Conversion Specifications and Price

$115,000 on your truck.

[#90-GTSC]

ProLine Motor Coach Frequently Asked Questions

This guy tells an interesting story, he is in the business of building T/Cs ... but tells you like it is.

[blizzardND]

Lots of gory details, long story for a small conversion..

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...k/IMG_4542.jpg

grab a drink, get comfy and have a few laughs at my finance directors expense.

link:

Blizzard's GMC 6500 Conversion Project -RumRunner - Escapees Discussion Forum

-blizz

[andyg]

I would look for a long chassis truck. I know that will probably be medium duty but that should work good. You should be able to use a cargo box which wil be plenty strong as well as save a lot of work & $. People confuse the amount the amount of horsepower wanted with the amount needed. You can have a little smaller engine it just means that you will slow down a little on big hills. Remember its a big truck not a sports car.

[andyg]

My Freightliner toter was built on a class 8 chassis which was stretched. The P.O. removed the front driver and cut the frame. He had channels formed that would fit tightly inside of the original rails. He overlapped the channels on each end and bolted them together. There was no welding on this stretch job. Of course you can weld your frame. Welding is perfectly acceptable and done everyday. The frame sections are often cut on and angle and welded together. If done correctly, a fishplate may not be necessary. Remember, truck frames are made of high tensile steel and may be prone to cracking if you don't weld it correctly. You need to know what the material is and know what you are doing before welding a truck frame. The folks with the Antique Truck Historical Society have a message board and there are many discussions about frame welding there. http://www.aths.org/

[haddixj]

The more I look into MDT it just seems like a compromise for my application. I live in the hills and race in the valley after a long day or weekend at the track the last thing I wanna do is be slowing down going up the hills to get to my house, we have two long steep grades to get home. Plus arent the jake brakes on the MDT harder to find? I have been looking and I can easily find a >240" wheelbase truck single it long and probably only add about 5' of frame behnd the axle. I have any tooling I would need to do the job. So far I have it worked out to use 2x2x.25 on the floors on 16" centers with probably 2x4x.25 around the perimeter. The wall I will use 1 1/2" box by .120. The framing at todays prices is $3200 for the box. Siding is $2160. Another $200 for the OSB under the AL siding. so that puts me at $5560 for a shell. I still need a roof and the corner pieces to tie everything together so figure $7000 grand for a weathertight shell.
not to bad for what you get. I will find a truck for 10k or so single it. only cost incured there will be driveshaft lengthing and shimming the rear for the proper angle. I will probably buy a new RV door and get used windows or use the ones I have in my RV now. If I buy a Class A to part out then I will use all the pieces needed from it. generator, AC's, inverter, windows, tanks etc.

[hot rod]

Then add another $1000 or two or three or four to Home Depot for insulation, trim, screws, rivets, hardware, interior walls, wiring, exterior trim, glue, flooring, sealer, more screws, more hardware, and the million other things I have not thought of yet for my build. You'll be amazed at how fast a trip to the hardware store for all the small ticket items adds up. Go back up and read through Blizz's build and look at the $$ layout. Worth your time.

And a word to the wise from my own experience: If you're going to spend that kind of money to build a nice looking box, don't be cheap on some used windows that probably aren't the size you want, and definitely won't be for the correct wall thickness, and will end up looking like a homebuilt. Brand new windows built to order in the size of your choice complete with the correct trim rings for your wall and all screens, sliders, etc. will run you $150 to $250 each depending on the size and openings. I bought 4 for my trailer after learning I had wasted money on "cheap" new surplus windows. I learned the hard way that there is a difference between left side and right side, and they have to be made for your wall thickness or they will not work at all, or will need serious hillbilly rigging to make it work. Compared to the price of the build they are not that expensive to make the thing look right. I've seen too many homebuilds on racing junk that would look good except for the 1975 camper windows they grafted in.

Good luck with your build.

[haddixj]

Yea I was looking at my RV now and seing how they bolt together I dont see how they would work. My wall should be about 2 1/2" by the time its trimmed out so I will look for some new windows. The things I am interested in recycling would be hard parts generator, A/C, tanks, inverter. All these things have a life span and if I get more time out of them before I replace them then I will be ok with that. I hear you on the hardware store home depot is the the hundred dollar store to me as it is. But for the amount of money I end up spending to build it versus by something I will be far ahead. I am hoping to end up at about 30-35k and that should be do-able so far. That is what I hd planned to spend on a 90 something Class A that would barely pull my trailer and be underpowered. So hopefully everything will go as planned. thanks for your time
Jason

[hot rod]

My experience has been that a Home Depot orange cart is scientifically designed to hold $400, no matter what you fill it with. lol.

I ordered my windows from Callen Camper. The Callen Camper Company They are a small outfit in CA that builds custom small trailers and pickup bodies. They are setup to buy the windows direct from the mfg. for their builds, and I think they just sell the windows retail to keep their volume up enough to keep buying direct. She was able to get me just the size and configurations I needed. They can have them made specifically to order, and sometimes they have a little better deal if something is on the shelf in the neighborhood that you need. You'll need to measure your wall thickness down to the nearest 1/8" so they can get you the proper trim rings. Mine were a perfect fit, no hassles. Like I said, a little pricier than the surplus stuff, but worth it.

Some of the manufacturers will sell direct now too, times are tough all over.

[blizzardND]

didnt know there was a left and right side windows? I thought I covered that mistake in my build... you are supposed to learn from my mistakes!

I gave mine to my Elkhart specials to my shell builder, who gave them to a guy that builds Ice fishing houses.
blizz

[hot rod]

Blizz, I must have missed that in your build, or I may have bought those prior, but I have learned a lot from you! My surplus windows are still sitting in the corner of my shop 'cuz I'm too cheap and stubborn to give them away.

Anybody out there need some cheap windows? lol.

[blizzardND]

do you have some progress pictures? I wish I was still building mine instead of thinking of selling her..

good luck with your project!
blizz