tracyb
Well-known member
wasn't sure the best place to post this... but anyway-
customer has a kw he says a 1976. has been a log truck its whole life. tells me its the perfect truck has the walking beam rear, trans, motor, everything he wants in a big rig. thing is he doesn't haul logs anymore, all excavation and material hauling now. so he really wants the truck turned into a dump body with pintle to tow a pup.
i've done this before, but only on steel frame trucks. i have never worked on an aluminum frame truck. the good news is the frame is plenty long so it wont need to be added onto. however fitting a dump hinge and tow plate to aluminum i'm worried will just cause cracking problems, i dont even know what grade aluminum the frame would be, i assume 5052?
i'm thinking there are two options-
1- make a big bolt on rear section of steel for the dump hige and tow plate, try to keep the bolting spread out and no so rigid that it will still alow the frame to flex.
2- basically the same as #1 but run a 2-3" sub frame the length of the box, be able to spread out the bolting even more.
want to be good with dot, but not really that big of a deal. the truck will live its life on an island where dot doesn't go. same customer has a 9ft wide truck he runs everyday and has never had an issue.
whats the right way to do this, or is something that i should just stay away from? any insight is appreciated
customer has a kw he says a 1976. has been a log truck its whole life. tells me its the perfect truck has the walking beam rear, trans, motor, everything he wants in a big rig. thing is he doesn't haul logs anymore, all excavation and material hauling now. so he really wants the truck turned into a dump body with pintle to tow a pup.
i've done this before, but only on steel frame trucks. i have never worked on an aluminum frame truck. the good news is the frame is plenty long so it wont need to be added onto. however fitting a dump hinge and tow plate to aluminum i'm worried will just cause cracking problems, i dont even know what grade aluminum the frame would be, i assume 5052?
i'm thinking there are two options-
1- make a big bolt on rear section of steel for the dump hige and tow plate, try to keep the bolting spread out and no so rigid that it will still alow the frame to flex.
2- basically the same as #1 but run a 2-3" sub frame the length of the box, be able to spread out the bolting even more.
want to be good with dot, but not really that big of a deal. the truck will live its life on an island where dot doesn't go. same customer has a 9ft wide truck he runs everyday and has never had an issue.
whats the right way to do this, or is something that i should just stay away from? any insight is appreciated