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Pretty sure I just got a new tow rig!

Spent a little time on the truck this weekend. I gave the chassis and suspension components a thorough inspection, greased everything, changed the diff and trans oil, emptied the air tanks of any water, and painted the wheels. Once that was done, I took it for a little cruise down the interstate. 65mph at 1350 rpm! And yes, I painted the balance rings red to look like performance brakes. I think it's funny as hell, and makes me chuckle.

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That is such a cool hauler. I see FedEx Critical trucks set up like that all the time and think those would make a bad ass camper/crawler hauler. I'm kinda jelly...

:smokin:
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
That is such a cool hauler. I see FedEx Critical trucks set up like that all the time and think those would make a bad ass camper/crawler hauler. I'm kinda jelly...

:smokin:
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Thanks man. I am pretty stoked. I just need to get my buggy done so I actually have something to haul. lol.

With the liftgate, should be no problem loading up a motorcycle infront of the rig. I SHOULD have ~7' of floor in front of the jeep for activities.
 
Is there access into the box from the sleeper?


Don't even talk about that buggy. That im VERY jealous of!! You are doing some amazing things with that. :smokin:
 
Right now there is no port from the sleeper to the box. They make a rubber gasket that can accomodate the movement of the air ride cab from rigid mounted box. I really have no idea what the final form of this truck will be. As of today, my thoughts are keep it as a truck, and if I want a camper, get a little bumper pull.
 
rigid mount box is gonna be way loud inside going down the road, deafening bangs every time you go over a bump from the walls and floor shaking
something to consider before you move forward on cutting out the back of the cab
Wisconsinite said:
Has anyone vinyl wrapped a truck or box like this before?
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careful what you wrap it with, regarding logos and such
remember hearing of some race car haulers getting hassled as commercial, even though they were a "private coach hauling private shit" as trkkllr so eloquently has on his door

if you're just going for generic motorhome style shit, just ask around the camper repair shops for who to take it to in your area
 
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[486 said:
;n190239]Careful what you wrap it with, regarding logos and such
remember hearing of some race car haulers getting hassled as commercial, even though they were a "private coach hauling private shit" as trkkllr so eloquently has on his door
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Great advice.

No race numbers and no logos of any kind would be his best bet to run through all of the lower 48 without any DOT hassles.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
Originally posted by [486] View Post
Careful what you wrap it with, regarding logos and such
remember hearing of some race car haulers getting hassled as commercial, even though they were a "private coach hauling private shit" as trkkllr so eloquently has on his door

Great advice.

No race numbers and no logos of any kind would be his best bet to run through all of the lower 48 without any DOT hassles.
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Yup, those are soild points. I need to get the number 19 off before I go to far with it, but that's not a big deal. I had a total badass of a customer stop by the shop yesterday. He has been doing the semi hauler / show hauler / HDT thing for a while. He owns the trans-am road race series, and totes his cars all over the country. He gave me two solid tips, the first is to make sure you have a portable toilet, so you can make your case a little stronger about being an RV/motorhome. The second one, which I don't think I would have ever thought of, is put on vinyl window stickers (a sticker that looks like a RV window) and door stickers. If I cruise past a weigh station right now, it looks like a semi-box truck. BUUUUT, if I print some windows, doors, and toss an awning on, it no longer looks so commercial, and might pass a little easier for a motorhome, and save me some trouble. I am looking into having maybe six stickers printed for windows, and maybe a door on the passenger side, so it is visible from the weigh station.

Bought some cheap hub caps and spikes. I am offically truck driver. HAHA

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The vinyl window/door stickers are a decent idea but what happens if they notice they are just stickers? Would look extra shady in that case.
 
A state like Oklahoma doesn't give a shit about it being an RV or private hauler. Anything over 10,001 that hits their rolling scales is required to pull into the weigh stations, and if you don't, 80% of the time they come after you and give you a lecture about it. Ask me how I know.... :rolleyes:
 
way cool idea with the door and window stickers
make sure and get the stupid generic swoopy pattern two tone RV bullshit too from the vinyl guy

SLOWPOKE693 said:
The vinyl window/door stickers are a decent idea but what happens if they notice they are just stickers? Would look extra shady in that case.
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if they're close enough for that they're close enough to see the RV plates

ETA: MN is the same way, their signs specifically say "truck and truck trailer combinations over 10k must stop when lights are flashing" luckily I can see the lights just in time for the last exit on the one that I always pass :lmao:
ETA2: I should add that they're also assholes about needing a DOT number for even noncommercial plates over 10k, so my truck is almost always over on the plates.
 
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SLOWPOKE693 said:
The vinyl window/door stickers are a decent idea but what happens if they notice they are just stickers? Would look extra shady in that case.
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I am not sure if it would be shady or not. I am just trying to make it look not a RV and not a semi. I think "private coach hauling private shit" is really funny, and will probably have something like that printed. Hope the person who came up with it doesn't care if I copy em.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
A state like Oklahoma doesn't give a shit about it being an RV or private hauler. Anything over 10,001 that hits their rolling scales is required to pull into the weigh stations, and if you don't, 80% of the time they come after you and give you a lecture about it. Ask me how I know.... :rolleyes:
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Do you know of a information source that has a state by state guide for how they handle this sorta thing? I imagine I will be going through OK on my way to KOH and back every year.
 
Wisconsinite said:
Do you know of a information source that has a state by state guide for how they handle this sorta thing? I imagine I will be going through OK on my way to KOH and back every year.
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In my travels around the lower half of the country for work, I find OK to be the worst by far. I don't get hassled at all for passing weigh stations in any of the other states i drive through in my F550 service truck.

My latest trick in OK is to go around the rolling scales in the passing lane and then immediately get back into the travel lane and act like nothing is going on as I drive by the scale house. Ive done it 4 times since figuring it out and have had zero problems with the DOT. It might not work the same with a semi truck though. Even the dumb ass DOT cops can figure out a semi is over 10,001 as it rolls by the scale house.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
In my travels around the lower half of the country for work, I find OK to be the worst by far. I don't get hassled at all for passing weigh stations in any of the other states i drive through in my F550 service truck.

My latest trick in OK is to go around the rolling scales in the passing lane and then immediately get back into the travel lane and act like nothing is going on as I drive by the scale house. Ive done it 4 times since figuring it out and have had zero problems with the DOT. It might not work the same with a semi truck though. Even the dumb ass DOT cops can figure out a semi is over 10,001 as it rolls by the scale house.
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Not going to lie, I need to learn a lot more about all intricacies of the RV life. Would there be a down side to going through the weigh station? I don't have anything to hide?

And by rolling scale, you mean the weigh station right off the interstate that you "roll" through?
 
OK has what I call "a rolling scale" across the travel lane about 1/2 mile before the actual scales. If you hit it in anything over 10k a sign lights up telling you to pull in and alerts the station. You pass it without pulling in and they come after you.

Not sure about pulling into one though. I took the $485 ticket for passing it the first time and have dodged it ever since. :laughing:

Texas allows my service truck to be registered as private passenger and I don't need DOT numbers here so my company went that route. I honestly don't know what the DOT requirments are either way.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
OK has what I call "a rolling scale" across the travel lane about 1/2 mile before the actual scales. If you hit it in anything over 10k a sign lights up telling you to pull in and alerts the station. You pass it without pulling in and they come after you.

Not sure about pulling into one though. I took the $485 ticket for passing it the first time and have dodged it ever since. :laughing:

Texas allows my service truck to be registered as private passenger and I don't need DOT numbers here so my company went that route. I honestly don't know what the DOT requirments are either way.
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Good to know. I will look into that some more. Thanks!

The other thing I have going for me is I am REALLY friggen good at playing dumb. HAHA
 
I don't understand how that works... Like, OK, even if you have to go over the scales, what are they going to bust you for?

Here in CT, we have no special licenses at all. It's either Class A, B or C CDL and a Class D for everything else. A 1-Ton pulling a car trailer (10K) will weigh around 18k lbs loaded, give or take. The truck needs commercial plates due to GVW but the driver does not need to have any CDL for that nor DOT tags if not hauling commercial. So, if rolling through OK with the wheeler and you go over the scales at 18K, what are they going to write me up for?

I get that rolling in a semi is a little different, but if that thing has RV tags on it, RV's are exempt in most places. It gets a little tricky with trailers and RV's though which is why, to my understanding, you want to keep the trailer 10K and under.
 
I'm WA RV's are not required to stop at weight stations.... My F450 is register for 14500 as a "personal commercial" vehicle just because of the weight. Stupid as I have to pay the weight and DOT fees, but don't have to stop. In reality mine isn't even registered as RV.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
OK has what I call "a rolling scale" across the travel lane about 1/2 mile before the actual scales. If you hit it in anything over 10k a sign lights up telling you to pull in and alerts the station. You pass it without pulling in and they come after you.

Not sure about pulling into one though. I took the $485 ticket for passing it the first time and have dodged it ever since. :laughing:

Texas allows my service truck to be registered as private passenger and I don't need DOT numbers here so my company went that route. I honestly don't know what the DOT requirments are either way.
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TX is its own animal in itself. When I was expediting freight in TX, I could run my Ram 3500 with a 24 foot enclosed with no numbers needed, as I remained inTRAstate with the combination. The moment I crossed state lines and went inTERstate, however, I would require DOT/IFTA/Apportionment/etc. The same with my Sprinters. I could go anywhere in the US without USDOT numbers, as they were 8550 GVWR, but the moment I put a single axle trailer behind it, I was suddenly a GCWR of 12,050 and subject to USDOT. My E150 van, however, was cool with a trailer, as its GVWR was only 6,050 making the GCWR 9,550. I could use that one to pull 6 skids of freight across the country, while the Sprinters were limited to 4 skids cross-country and 8 skids within TX.

This is because Texas will not issue a TXDOT number for units under 26,000 lbs. The Feds, however, require USDOT numbers for all commercial carriers over 10,000 lbs.

Your service truck falls within that grey area. As long as its in TX, its cool. The moment its found OUTSIDE TX, you can be in a world of hurt, depending on the man's mood that day.
 
Wisconsinite said:
Do you know of a information source that has a state by state guide for how they handle this sorta thing? I imagine I will be going through OK on my way to KOH and back every year.
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Take US54... it pops through the panhandle of OK, but I haven't seen much commercial enforcement out that way over the years. Its also the shortest route.

You will see coops just inside the NM line, and that's its own can of worms... but you can't really avoid NM.
 
What does the inside of the cab look like? Did you have a chance to clean out the hooker blood or no?
 
I drive my RV all over Oklahoma. I see the "Must exit to weigh" thing all the time, and just ignore it. Everyone I've talked to says they get pissed if you actually waste their time by going in to weigh. RVs seem to be exempt from all weight restrictions across the lower 48, as far as I can tell.

I don't imagine the service truck body is doing you any favors, Slowpoke. On this thing, I like the idea of the window/door stickers, but don't know how convincing they'd be.
 
I ran my big ass box truck as an RV.
The only place I ever had problems was michigan, those fucks pulled me over twice in 50 miles.
I never stopped at a scale, and when I showed the michigan fucks that it was registered as an RV they left me alone.

which was bullshit, because they fucking knew it was registered as an RV because they ran the plates.

so it really does come down to the patrolmen, but as long as you have your shit in order it's just an inconvenience.
the cost of being different I suppose.
but if you were a 35K lb class a RV they don't even blink an eye.
 
Weasel said:
Buddy Garret has a pretty sweet paint job on his Crawler hauler. He actually ran into and bought his Grandpa's old semi that was sold years ago and painted his buggy to match.



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Holy shit! That is a bad motherfucker right there. Any idea what year model it is, motor, trans, etc.?
 
MoparMan said:
Holy shit! That is a bad motherfucker right there. Any idea what year model it is, motor, trans, etc.?
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I don't but the story is cool as hell. His Grandfather drove the truck and he remembers it growing up. It was sold when he was 5-8 years old. He's up in Idaho for the last 15ish years and that truck would have been sold 33 years ago? With some blind luck, he finds it on FB it's for sale. Calls up his Dad and brother and they drive 8+ hours up to him to make it happen and all 3 drive to Oregon to pick it up. I found something say it has a 350 bigcam cummins that factory rated at 350hp and it's about all I know.
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Was able to pull the truck into the shop for the long Thanksgiving weekend. I worked on installing lights in the box.

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Parts:
Misc electrical enclosure
Battery I pulled from my car
Blue sea switch panel
Racesport white/amber lights
Racesport white flood lights
1/2" EMT
1/2" EMT clamps
Neoprene rubber
Tekscrews

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The 6 white/amber lights are flush mount, I made a panel to mount them at a 45* angle. All lihgts were wired with female spade connectors, and the truck side wire harness was fitted with male spade connectors. At this time I ran a seperate line of 16/2 marine wire through the conduit for future additions.

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