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HDT Picture thread

Dejeeper said:
Yeh i dont ever think i want to drive a pick up cross country again. We can do a 10-12hr stint easily, make food and sleep on a 2000mi fuel range.
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Wades_76_cj7 said:
Have driven grain trucks on the farm,
Az Scooter said:
I find a truck way less fatiguing. I don’t know why. Of course, it has been twenty five years since I was OTR, and have not really driven a semi since, but I cant help but think they have gotten better.
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So this is also a question of mine... I have driven grain trucks on the farm. 90's Diamond REO and Western star...all with 8 LL 8spd trans. The REO has a 400 cummins and pulls hard. But they are LOUD. Like ear plugs or ear muffs running on the highway. I dont know if it's how they were built(more dump truck than OTR). But as cool as they are the only way I could make the jump to MDT or HDT is if there is a way to make them quiet in the cab.
 
Pics for reference
 

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My semi isn't as quite as a new pickup, but it really isn't that bad. You can easily have a conversation without yelling, unless the jakes are doing their thing.
 
At 70mph mine is louder than a new pickup but you can still have conversation with the passenger using a normal voice. My truck is very rubber floor vinyl seat basic. I am assuming more modern trucks are quieter and more refined.
 
very nice.. how long is the "bed" on the tractor? would the crawler sit flat on the deck or did you want the space under the crawler for storage?
 
The flatbed is 13 foot. The Toyota is 14 foot total length. I went back and forth on doing the wedge idea or dovetail / extending the bed. The wedge set-up I built is removable so I may still do the dovetail in the future. I don't like how tall it is and its a bit of a pain to strap down the front of the Toyota, you have to monkey around on the thing a lot. This was the quickest method to making it work for our upcoming trip. I think with some more work you could make some real slick storage under the ramps that would make this set-up nice. I like easy and efficient loading and unloading so I have been racking my brain with ideas to streamline this set-up.
 
Any sorta fancy hitch?
I've heard of RV style trailers getting torn to fuck from a heavier truck, though that's usually in reference to spring ride MDTs with 10' overhangs behind the rear axle (like a school bus)
 
I would definitely try to get the rig lower. Sucks that it's the highest thing on the rig. I'd bet it has a decent effect on fuel efficiency.
 
pennsylvaniaboy said:
Wades_76_cj7 said:
So this is also a question of mine... I have driven grain trucks on the farm. 90's Diamond REO and Western star...all with 8 LL 8spd trans. The REO has a 400 cummins and pulls hard. But they are LOUD. Like ear plugs or ear muffs running on the highway. I dont know if it's how they were built(more dump truck than OTR). But as cool as they are the only way I could make the jump to MDT or HDT is if there is a way to make them quiet in the cab.
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The first semi I drove had a Cummins NTC400 and a CAT 7155 16-speed transmission. It was LOUD and the jakes could be heard a mile away.

These days, I put drivers in 2019-2022 Freightliner Cascadia 72" sleepers with upgraded sound insulation, DD15 465 engines, and Eaton 12-seed automated transmissions... they ride smooth, are super-quiet (quieter than riding down the highway in my car), and actually deliver 8.5+ mpg at 78,000 lbs.

Yeah, they've come a long way over the years.
 
DRTDEVL said:
and actually deliver 8.5+ mpg at 78,000 lbs.
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A friend of mine converted an older Prevost bus to a DD14 with an autoshift manual and gets great fuel economy. That is amazing to me to get that fuel economy with a 15 liter at that weight. My 2009 F750 with a tuned 6.7 Cummins pulling a 48' enclosed gets 7.5 without smoking at less than half of that weight.
 
pvkj454 said:
A friend of mine converted an older Prevost bus to a DD14 with an autoshift manual and gets great fuel economy. That is amazing to me to get that fuel economy with a 15 liter at that weight. My 2009 F750 with a tuned 6.7 Cummins pulling a 48' enclosed gets 7.5 without smoking at less than half of that weight.
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My 1998 F800 with an open deck trailer at 1/4 the weight gets 11-12 mpg. Problem with it is its stuck on the governor spring all day when driving 65-88 mph (loaded vs unloaded).

Need taller gears or an overdrive.
 
pennsylvaniaboy said:
Wades_76_cj7 said:
Have driven grain trucks on the farm,



So this is also a question of mine... I have driven grain trucks on the farm. 90's Diamond REO and Western star...all with 8 LL 8spd trans. The REO has a 400 cummins and pulls hard. But they are LOUD. Like ear plugs or ear muffs running on the highway. I dont know if it's how they were built(more dump truck than OTR). But as cool as they are the only way I could make the jump to MDT or HDT is if there is a way to make them quiet in the cab.
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That’s kind of just how those motors are. Especially if geared low for heavy haul purposes like I’d guess those are. Kind of like how with a 7.3 and 5.9, you can put as many mufflers on as possible but they will always have a loud engine bay compared to new trucks. Sound deadening and new door and window seals will go a long way as will working a/c so you can keep windows closed. If you can also stick foam up under the dash that will reduce in cab noise but cause issues if it pinched wires or melts.
 
[486] said:
Any sorta fancy hitch?
I've heard of RV style trailers getting torn to fuck from a heavier truck, though that's usually in reference to spring ride MDTs with 10' overhangs behind the rear axle (like a school bus)
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I asked that same question a few months ago in another thread. Grendel said that the MDT/HDT will absolutely wreck an RV unless you use a fancy air ride hitch between them to isolate the camper/trailer from the truck. It made sense to me at the time.
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
I asked that same question a few months ago in another thread. Grendel said that the MDT/HDT will absolutely wreck an RV unless you use a fancy air ride hitch between them to isolate the camper/trailer from the truck. It made sense to me at the time.
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Aye, we had to repair rooster booster's toy hauler after 3200 miles behind his air ride <T>.

If you look around it's a common complaint from people using HDT's to haul big campers, so there are air ride hitches now.
 
I think i have posted our pete in here but is a 400bc and its pretty quiet in the cab, need to redo the door seals and it will be better. It also has 54 donaldson mufflers. When i built the roll back a couple years ago i made a custom dock lift and stinger for the hitch. It uses 2- 7" truck spring bags to help the trailer


A couple of build pics and 1 from the airshow.
 

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Wades_76_cj7 said:
semi smartass question.. would you eve notice if the camper brakes weren't working with that truck? :laughing:
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I will get hammered by the tow police but I don’t have trailer brakes. I just finished coming up and down red mountain pass and you honestly cannot tell the camper is behind the truck besides seeing it in the mirrors.
 
simmons3067 said:
I will get hammered by the tow police but I don’t have trailer brakes. I just finished coming up and down red mountain pass and you honestly cannot tell the camper is behind the truck besides seeing it in the mirrors.
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I kinda figured that would be the case.. you woudlnt know it was back there.

What's the truck weigh with the crawler on the deck? 20k?
 
I haven’t had it on a scale. I will pull through one later this week when I head home.
 
In our singled pete we really notice the trailer at 16k lbs. The pete weighs about 26k with a jeep on the deck. The extra truck axle really helps
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
semi smartass question.. would you eve notice if the camper brakes weren't working with that truck? :laughing:
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I installed a trailer brake controller for the times I have my GN behind the truck. It is not hooked into the brakes on the truck (was told I would need a special adapter), but the controller is within easy reach if I need to activate it manually. 90% of the time, I dont need it since the truck brakes and Jakes easily handle the stopping power required. However, there have been a few panic type stops that I have needed the trailer brakes as well.
 
maveric said:
I installed a trailer brake controller for the times I have my GN behind the truck. It is not hooked into the brakes on the truck (was told I would need a special adapter), but the controller is within easy reach if I need to activate it manually. 90% of the time, I dont need it since the truck brakes and Jakes easily handle the stopping power required. However, there have been a few panic type stops that I have needed the trailer brakes as well.
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Looks like it needs a pair of tees and check valves so it can run off of either the primary or secondary air system?
Per: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Hayes/HA100400C.html
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Aaron Z
 
maveric said:
Thanks. I will have to look into one of those. I haven’t really needed trailer brakes enough to justify looking into another option than what I currently have, but I like the simplicity of this.
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Or just a "dumb" time delay one (from what I understand, a proportional one does not work well in a HDT due to the reduced movement when you hit the brakes vs hitting the brakes in a smaller vehicle).

Aaron Z
 
I wonder how well a master cylinder in the tongue style like most boat trailers have would work?
 
simmons3067 said:
I wonder how well a master cylinder in the tongue style like most boat trailers have would work?
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Surge brakes (what you're talking about) suck imo. It's a non-electronic solution to the problem, but they have their own limitations that make them undesirable.
 
DRTDEVL said:
Like backing uphill... or when they get overheated descending a grade with the jake.
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Or when you want to mash the brake controller to pull the trailer back straight (not that most trailers are likely to be heavy enough to cause a HDT to have problems controlling their sway, but still)...

Aaron Z
 
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