Single short, mid, or long?

[overkill19]

So had a local dealer tell me that a mid single voile 630 can out maneuver my dodge mega cab 3500? At $18000CAD to single a truck I don’t want to do it twice!

Not to brag as I’m sure there’s lots of great drivers here but I can stab my fifth wheel in a lot of places. I did where I park in Kelowna every year it usually the front end that’s the problem.

Does anyone have any experience with this scenario? Do you find your HDT better or worse than say a crew cab Dually or single rear wheel pickup truck.

Dealer said with hitch out back it’s more like a bumper pull than a fifth wheel !

I’d like to be able to haul my Willy’s Jeep and dirt bike when not pulling fifth wheel. So still need some deck.

Also can I mount the hitch over the rear single diff?

Just thinking in my head if I made hitch movable rear for travel and slide up for tight backing up? But I guess probably only gunna gain 3feet at most… I’d guess?

 

[6cuda6]

Dually's dont turn worth cr*p and he's probably right that the 630 singled will. There's one big difference he forgot to mention....weight.
So before you go blowing a bunch of cash you need to check your local RV licensing limits....here in Ontario Canada its 11000kg's truck trailer combined all in (so truck, trailer plus everything inside) if you go over that you need to up your license from "G" to "B". Also because the truck has air brakes you will need an AirBrake endorsement added to your license (ontario = 2 day course and 400$ per person driving). Now in Ontario they also consider a "truck" for pulling a none commercial trailer an entity with a "box" so the 630 or any truck really doesnt qualify which is why you see those Freightliner M2s with the boxes at horse shows). Also if you are beyong "X" feet long and over 11000kg you might have to move up to an class "A restricted" license.

So long story short....do your research before you plunk down a penny or you might be in for way more than you bargain for....the US has different laws for different states as well. Sadly its not all as easy as Youtube makes it look.

Not going to get into any comments about RV places refusing HDT setups as well as i only hear of such problems ....

 

[overkill19]

I have a air brake Q already, so I’m good there.
My trailer loaded is 16500# GVWR my dodge mega cab is 8500# so I was over the 11000kg anyway.
I’ll call around to some local camp grounds and inquire about HDT issues if any!
Thx for the info!! All good stuff!

I’m gunna go to the dealer who does these trucks. I’m very curious as to why it costs $18000 to single a truck.
I’ve built lots of Jeep’s, 4x4’s , I’ve cut frames, shortened long boxes to short boxes. Not scarfed to cut stuff in half! Lol
But we’re does $18000 get eaten up?

 

[6cuda6]

Yah its not really a big deal to drop the axles, slice a bit off the frame and put the rear axle exactly were the center one was...not like they are adding stuff. Now if that includes the bed etc maybe but just to single it??

If you have a shop you can back the rear of the truck into, a bit of time and desire.....hardest part is cutting the stupid huck bolts (well i guess it would have been easier to do mine if i had a torch but the angle grinder worked...lol)

 

[overkill19]

Yah its not really a big deal to drop the axles, slice a bit off the frame and put the rear axle exactly were the center one was...not like they are adding stuff. Now if that includes the bed etc maybe but just to single it??

If you have a shop you can back the rear of the truck into, a bit of time and desire.....hardest part is cutting the stupid huck bolts (well i guess it would have been easier to do mine if i had a torch but the angle grinder worked...lol)

….$18000 to single only!
$55000 for the nicest deck they make!
So $73000 but that doesn’t include any repairs if any needed !

 

[6cuda6]

Wow!! I know i'd be doing the singling myself for that price as you could knock a zero off that price for sure. If you know what you want for a deck take a picture down to your local fabrication/welding shop and see what they would charge as you can do the paint/finish work which might drop the price in half or more.....73k to single and deck...man im in the wrong business.

 

[overkill19]

Wow!! I know i'd be doing the singling myself for that price as you could knock a zero off that price for sure. If you know what you want for a deck take a picture down to your local fabrication/welding shop and see what they would charge as you can do the paint/finish work which might drop the price in half or more.....73k to single and deck...man im in the wrong business.

Thank you! That’s exactly what I said! Deck wise I didn’t flinch too much as I know metal here has gone up 200% in the last 8 months so I’d think that would spill over to stainless hinges/door latches for deck. Paint match etc! Plus a hitch I guessing is $3-4000 it could had up So $55000 is still at a premium IMO!
But I just started researching this side of hauling rvs.
Initially I saw a peterbuilt COE for sale at a auction go cheap and I started thinking after that would have been a cool rig if I dropped one axel and sling rear up. It had what looked like all the right holes already there to move axel up !
But after some thought , I like the automatic vs manual so the wife could drive it if needed. It seams the volvo is the most popular in this area.

Found this on a different thread! Some great info. Didn’t think about ABS so will have to talk to Volvo dealer about that to see if they can reprogram and if they have done it before! Drive shaft shorting in Red Deer is easy, we are a big oilfield town so lots of choices in that area! Used to be lots of deck builders but that has dropped off since Trudeau decided that pot and solar power is better than oil!

http://www.jackdanmayer.com/Selecting Your HDT.htm#Singling your truck

 

[overkill19]

Yah its not really a big deal to drop the axles, slice a bit off the frame and put the rear axle exactly were the center one was...not like they are adding stuff. Now if that includes the bed etc maybe but just to single it??

If you have a shop you can back the rear of the truck into, a bit of time and desire.....hardest part is cutting the stupid huck bolts (well i guess it would have been easier to do mine if i had a torch but the angle grinder worked...lol)

Would a plasma cutter make short work of those bolts? Buddy has a Hypotherm that will sever 3/4” and cut 1/2” I think is what it’s rated for. Otherwise I probably have 8 tubs of zip cut disks in my garage already!

 

[6cuda6]

ABS may not be a biggy depending on the original set up....my Volvo 670 that im converting only has ABS on the first rear axle and not the last so if swapped all one needs is to swap the sensor mounts and no reprograming needed.

Mine also only has one rear leveling valve for all the rear bags so again no problem going single.

One may even get away with not having to mess with the drive shaft as it could be the correct length....im not sure here as i lengthen my truck by one axle position (so i added 10 feet of rail and mobed the axles back 54")but your putting the diff/yoke back in the same spot so you might get away with it possibly.

I thing for auto trans Volvo does the best at this point but some dont like the look of the Volvo. Mine is manual and the wife can drive a manual car so this is just a big car....lol.

 

[6cuda6]

Would a plasma cutter make short work of those bolts? Buddy has a Hypotherm that will sever 3/4” and cut 1/2” I think is what it’s rated for. Otherwise I probably have 8 tubs of zip cut disks in my garage already!

Yah thats another tool that would do it for sure....i just domt have one so the grinder with cut off disc was my only option....worked fine just took a bit longer.

 

[overkill19]

Yah thats another tool that would do it for sure....i just domt have one so the grinder with cut off disc was my only option....worked fine just took a bit longer.

Ya I’m a Zip disk master!!! Lol I use those for everything! Longer is usually cheaper!!!

 

[6cuda6]

My only advise here is if you decide to single it yourself is just make sure you have to proper bolts for remounting the axle before you start. If you go with a Volvo your going to need metric hardware or enlarge the bolt holes to 5/8" ....just make sure what ever you decide that you remount your suspension to the frame with grade 10 hardware.

 

[overkill19]

Grade 10 bolt I see is not going to be easy to find!
I was messing around on eBay to see if there was a HUCK bolt tool on there, no luck.
It’s wild to me that they can pull two pieces together stronger than threads pulling them together??

 

[6cuda6]

Huck bolting is interesting....it uses the stretching of the fastener to lock everything in place...the very design of a bolt is "torque to yeild" which is stretching it to a specific length and that is what holds everything.

Huck bolt tools area abailable but your looking at about 5k to start at this size....not ideal for the DIY guy.

If you have issues getting fasterners let me know and ill forward you the contact info for the guy i use here in Ontario....but be warned grade 10 bolts are not cheap so i only use them for the suspension mounting all the rest are grade 5 because if the shock mounting bolt breaks who cares....lol....its an easy fix.

 

[overkill19]

Huck bolting is interesting....it uses the stretching of the fastener to lock everything in place...the very design of a bolt is "torque to yeild" which is stretching it to a specific length and that is what holds everything.

Huck bolt tools area abailable but your looking at about 5k to start at this size....not ideal for the DIY guy.

If you have issues getting fasterners let me know and ill forward you the contact info for the guy i use here in Ontario....but be warned grade 10 bolts are not cheap so i only use them for the suspension mounting all the rest are grade 5 because if the shock mounting bolt breaks who cares....lol....its an easy fix.

Ya I figured HUCk tool would be out of reach but I was curious! Any reason to buy a tool… I’m in!

I’ll ask some of my bolt house places. My worry is they will just sell me grade china knock off!