Peterbilt Toterhome

[spooner]

after a long time of research and playing with different ideas we finaly started our Pete "379" conversion

here is what we started with;
we call her O`Malley (pre owner was O`Malley Trucking in MI) , she is a "class of `95" regular hood "379" with a cummins N14, super 10 trans, 250" WB, 2x 100 gallon tanks, 12k front axle and 2x19k rears.

as soon as we got her home we started with removing of the Holland 5th wheel and the front of the tandem axles.

next was cutting off the sleeper...

we moved the front tandem axle to the rear location and also removed everything in the cab (she will get new air seats, electric windows/ door locks and a all new upholstered interior)

we cleaned/ painted the frame and started to build the sub structure for the 7' bed (bolted to the frame with 24 5/8" bolts) the bed will be removable so we can powdercoat it. build into the bed will be a 30klbs gooseneck, a 40klbs pintle, a standard 2" hitch, a 100 gallon fresh water tank and the generator.

...more later

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.......what's with the "we" stuff....you seem to be the only one working on it....;&gt

.....geofkaye

 

[spooner]

Originally posted by KAYE RIVERCITY:
.......what's with the "we" stuff....you seem to be the only one working on it....;&gt

.....geofkaye

Geof ....its clear that I didnt make the pics

"we" are two brothers and "we" normaly build sand/ desert buggies together

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

......CGI will now allow one to do almost anything.....good thing you got a brother to take pix of you working or we would suspect CGI again......

.....geofkaye

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

....I just looked at your site V8rail.com.....you guys have a lot of time to [play]work on your[toys] vehicles. No wonder you started off on a project of that size!....Most buy their first RV-trash it- and then build their second RV to their own specs.[hardened] .....you have a lot of experience with building sand cars and I'm sure other vehicles.......send pix as you have time.....geofkaye

 

[spooner]

here is more (Warpath, i hope its ok that i post so many pics

):

after drawing the whole rig on AutoCAD the buildup of the sleeper starts;

finish welding the underside and adding the side boxes;

the big moment: will it fit?

the extended sleeper takes shape now. notice the cross-bracing of the side walls: the sleeper will be "floating" on 4 air bag body mounts, held in place by the stock front cab mounts and a huge panhard bar in the rear

the new sleeper gets welded to the stock "sleeper to cab" mounts. we dont like the look of the "over the cab" bunk beds, thats why we reuse the sleek factory roof cap

more later ....

 

[Gary Atsma]

Just one question, if you don't mind? Why did you use the forward axle with its power divider instead of the rear axle? To me the rearmost axle would have been the logical choice. If indeed you do use the forward axle you would have to keep the inter-axle diff lock in the locked position in order to keep going, which seems like one extra thing to go wrong. Maybe I'm missing something here?
Gary

 

[spooner]

Gary,

problem is that the input yoke is smaller for the rear axle, but not only that, also the input shaft is a smaller diameter. Also the driveshaft angles are much easier to work with

the lock mechanism is simple and it is locked for good

Thomas

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....V8Rail:....most excellent air ride box. You all and Butler are the only ones I know of that produce a floating box. It was one of the turnoffs when I looked at Showhauler-that and all the varnished wood....Other than those issues Lonnie had a sale...untill the DIY bug bit me......keep up with the pix.....geofkaye

 

[Warpath-TC]

Thomas -

Love the pic's! That's no problem with me.

Air-ride toterhome very cool! Man you guys are doing it right. Can't wait to see more!

Bill

 

[spooner]

Originally posted by Warpath:
Thomas -

Love the pic's! That's no problem with me.

Air-ride toterhome very cool! Man you guys are doing it right. Can't wait to see more!

Bill

thank`s Bill

here are some specs:
the Pete is 30' overall, 11.5' tall and has a WB of 277" (no frame mod. , the rear axle is in the stock rear tandem location). the 12.5' long, 96" wide and 82" tall (finished inside height) sleeper will be air suspended to the frame with 4 air bags and a panhard bar.
the sleeper will have a toilette with lavatory sink, closet, fridge, 6' kitchen with cooktop/oven and sink, upper bunk bed, lower sofa/bed and a extra truck seat (same as in the cab but without airride), a heat pump and 4 solar panels on the roof' 10' awnings on each side, 35 gallon gray, 35 black, LP gas, aux bat, extra air tank, side storage boxes ...
the rear will be finished off with a 7' long and 8' wide bed . build into the bed will be a 30k gooseneck, 40k pintle, standard 2" hitch, 100 gallon fresh, generator and a extra 32 gallon fuel cell with fill station.

the ugly 22.5er rims are only temporary; we will replace them with 24.5 Pete rims after we are finished with the dirty work.

here is a detail pic of the panhard bar that locates the sleeper to the frame (its the bar from the axle we removed

) the 6.5" stroke air bags will be mounted on the outside of the frame (next to the temporary 2x4`s). limiting straps and a set of adjustable shocks will control the motion.

hmmm.... looks like its soon time to build that shop addition i dream about

 

[Gary Atsma]

Man, that is gonna be one BITCHIN' RIG!!
If you EVER get around the San Joaquin Valley, I've gotta see this rig! Can hardly wait to see the finished product.....
Gary

 

[spooner]

Originally posted by Gary Atsma:
Man, that is gonna be one BITCHIN' RIG!!
If you EVER get around the San Joaquin Valley, I've gotta see this rig! Can hardly wait to see the finished product.....
Gary

Thanks Gary

your welcome for a testride

heavy construction going on...

the bed is taking shape...

the pintle and the recivers are heavy braced to take some abuse (like grading our driveway by dragging a heavy steel beam over it

)

the 30`000 lbs gooseneck hitch plate is set as deep as possible in the frame (the two corner holes are drainage; the complete bed will be powder coated later)

the water tanks will be located in the (unfinished)area between rear axle and hitch.
(the air bags are for the cab/toterbody)


more pics are HERE

 

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....those seats look awful comfortable.....I'd have to take a nap to be sure though.....and that is a babit that you don't want to get started doing.....keep up the excellent work....geofkaye

 

[spooner]

another update;
almost ready for floor, roof windows and skin

the seats arrived: full 3D air ride Bostroms; 2 up front and one back behind the driver (Dang, they are heavy; i bet the UPS guy hates us

)

to copy the original sleeper shape was a lot of work

...but i like to be different

the only big part missing is now the genset. it will be mounted to the truck frame and not the sleeper to insulate noise/fibration.
also the electric side step will be frame mounted to lessen the motion of the sleeper when somebody gets in and out.

more soon...

 

[Blue Skies]

Originally posted by spooner:
after a long time of research and playing with different ideas we finaly started our Pete "379" conversion(pre owner was O`Malley Trucking in MI), she is `95 regular hood "379" with a cummins N14, super 10 trans, 250" WB, 2x 100 gallon tanks, 12k front axle and 2x19k rears.

How did you come to choose/find that truck? How many prior miles?
Did you consider any other models for your dream machine?

 

[spooner]

Originally posted by Blue Skies:

How did you come to choose/find that truck? How many prior miles?
Did you consider any other models for your dream machine?

Blue Skies
we was keeping track on the new listings at Truckpaper.com for weeks. lurking for the right deal. when this truck showed up i called the seller right away. he was confused

he told me he just sended the add some minutes ago

the truck has 800k on it...little things here and there but overall the truck is in good shape.
new hood,fenders and grill (looks like she had a little fender bender; the pass step and tank have also some marks) new top on trans (shifts and feels realy nice and tight) engine feels strong and healthy.
we choose a Pete 379 because they are known for great ride/handling and superior straight line tracking; even with all the miles under it our truck still feels like a tight little hotrod

the only other truck models i would use for a fast toter (our speed limit here is 75mph) like ours would be a extended hood 379 (would need to make the trailer 8" shorter to stay legal

) or i would love to build one based on a KW K900 (i try to talk a friend into selling his underpowered MDT and letting me build him a K9/autoshift

)

 

[spooner]

another update;
Testdriving!

frame construction is almost finished and i started with the insulation/raw interiour construction.
the electric side step is also mounted (to the truck frame and not to the sleeper to avoid the rocking when somebody gets in or out)

the airbags for the sleeper are mounted but not finished (we did the testdrive with woodblocks under the bumpstops

)

our dog loves to ride; we cant go for a testdrive without him

)
all 3 seats are full adjustable air ride, the sofa has room/seatbelts for 3 and the upper bunk will also have a safety net/seat belts so that one of us can legaly sleep up there on long road trips (teamdriving)

still didnt have the time to finish the bed construction. it looks like everything lines up perfect.
the beavertail with the angeled corners was a lot of work but i like the look a lot better then just a square bed.
cant wait to see how it looks with fenders and the diamond plate sides/boxes

im still not sure if we should do the deck in aluminum diamondplate or steel diamondplate with Line X coating

 

[Guest]

Just wanted to say this is a very cool truck! Can't wait to see it with windows and walls!

I wish american trucks where availible here (not your CoE's most of them are ugly compaired to european trucks ) but your 'conventionals' are very nice, unfortunatly their turning circle would make them unusable on our roads which often follow the same course as they did 200 years ago...some even follow the course of old roman roads!

 

[WalliK]

Hi Mike...

there was another thread
http://truckhome.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7146069053/m/1781030423
under general discussion Re conventional vs COE, and when I brought up Europe (Im from Austria) I stirred up some quuite interesting comments.
Did not know they had old roman roads in .. shall I assume.. Scottland?

Hey you know I was teasing you with the petrol and kerb weight.

Yea, i think it would be cool to bring one of the standard US conversions over to Europe, you would be talk of the town, pics in all the newspapers....

Walter