James-TC
Member
I've been wanting to do this(class 8 to class 7 conversion) for some time but, having never seen it or discussed it with anyone, had no idea where to begin. Being a truck driver for the last 9 years, I know some about trucks and have seen class 8's converted to class 7's for hot-shot work. But I've never come accross anyone using one to pull their RV.
I'd like to thank Warpath for providing this web-sight and onezman and all others for the great info.
Having read the posts, I've done some research and discovered a few things and come up with a few thoughts on various discussions. I thought I would share them here.
There have been a couple of discussions re. leaving the third axle in place as a hedge at resale time. This will only work if you plan on reselling within the first year. This is mainly because of the current glut in the used truck market. If you intend to keep the truck more than a year, your best bet is to drop the third axle and target RVer's and hot-shotters at the time of resale. The benefit to you will be reduced weight, increased fuel milage, increased handling, increased ride performance and reduced maintinance costs. The only draw-back will be the loss of one set of breaks. When you consider the fact that the weight of a fully laiden, heavy fiver is considerably less than that of an empty 48' dryvan, you realize this really isn't a draw-back at all.
On the subject of insurance and registration, I notice that many of you insure and register your conversions as RV's. While this may work, it may not be your best option. Primarily because insurance companies do not consider RV's to be daily drivers.
Many insurance companies-GMAC and Progressive to name two- will insure a class 8 as a non-commercial motor vehicle and several states-Oklahoma and Nevada are a couple- will register a class 8 as same. You may be asked to supply a sworn afidavit attesting to the fact that the vehicle will not be used as a source of revenue. If you have this option in your state, this may well be your best route(I am not a lawyer. The preceeding suggestion was offered only as an idea for you to further investigate).
For those of you wanting to use a daycab instead of a sleeper-cab, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbuilt, Mack, Western Star International and Sterling are all fairly easy conversions, provided the sleeper isn't integral. If it is integral, Freightliner offers a reconfiguration program which will convert your integral Century, Columbia or FLD to a day-cab. There are several third party outfitters that do this as well but Freightliners reconfiguration comes with a full, bumper-to-bumper inspection, all necessary repairs, full detail and paint, new interior panels, a 1 year or 100,000 mile warranty and they'll pull the third axle for you if you desire. Check with your local Select Trucks dealer.
I plan on buying my rig sometime around October and am looking forward to full-timing. Thanks again for spurring me on in my decission.
I'd like to thank Warpath for providing this web-sight and onezman and all others for the great info.
Having read the posts, I've done some research and discovered a few things and come up with a few thoughts on various discussions. I thought I would share them here.
There have been a couple of discussions re. leaving the third axle in place as a hedge at resale time. This will only work if you plan on reselling within the first year. This is mainly because of the current glut in the used truck market. If you intend to keep the truck more than a year, your best bet is to drop the third axle and target RVer's and hot-shotters at the time of resale. The benefit to you will be reduced weight, increased fuel milage, increased handling, increased ride performance and reduced maintinance costs. The only draw-back will be the loss of one set of breaks. When you consider the fact that the weight of a fully laiden, heavy fiver is considerably less than that of an empty 48' dryvan, you realize this really isn't a draw-back at all.
On the subject of insurance and registration, I notice that many of you insure and register your conversions as RV's. While this may work, it may not be your best option. Primarily because insurance companies do not consider RV's to be daily drivers.
Many insurance companies-GMAC and Progressive to name two- will insure a class 8 as a non-commercial motor vehicle and several states-Oklahoma and Nevada are a couple- will register a class 8 as same. You may be asked to supply a sworn afidavit attesting to the fact that the vehicle will not be used as a source of revenue. If you have this option in your state, this may well be your best route(I am not a lawyer. The preceeding suggestion was offered only as an idea for you to further investigate).
For those of you wanting to use a daycab instead of a sleeper-cab, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbuilt, Mack, Western Star International and Sterling are all fairly easy conversions, provided the sleeper isn't integral. If it is integral, Freightliner offers a reconfiguration program which will convert your integral Century, Columbia or FLD to a day-cab. There are several third party outfitters that do this as well but Freightliners reconfiguration comes with a full, bumper-to-bumper inspection, all necessary repairs, full detail and paint, new interior panels, a 1 year or 100,000 mile warranty and they'll pull the third axle for you if you desire. Check with your local Select Trucks dealer.
I plan on buying my rig sometime around October and am looking forward to full-timing. Thanks again for spurring me on in my decission.
