"Tiny" - A Semi Project

[snivilous]

I bought all five main filters and 11 gallons of oil from the shop that did the inspection. I think in the future I'm going to just take the used oil from my normal vehicles and recycle it into the semi since I change them at 5k, so plenty of life left but I'm conservative. The semi I doubt will give a **** course, this one oil change will probably expire from time more so than miles too.

I also found a can of POR15 in town. I didn't feel like buying the needle tool thing for this one off task, so I just beat everything with the crowbar, then a quick run over with the grinder followed by some wire wheel action. Not the prettiest thing, but we're going for efficiency and a good ROI of time spent ****ing with the rust.

It also seems that the angle iron with the holes is like riveted in or something? The bolts don't have a head you can grab onto, and the nut part is smooth and round, so even if I wanted to remove it and pray the rust gods were on my side, I have no idea how I would unthread the bolt from the nut without welding a head on. Point being, I'm not touching the angle iron and the rust in there will continue

I did two coats of the POR15, one right away and another before turning in for the night.

After that I removed a few parts, cut up the 2x6s and using the frame and tires as a table for the main perimeter tacked together.

I don't know if the suspension is at full bump, I hit the bag deflate switch on the dash with the ignition on and nothing seemed to happen, so I kind of assume it is? But in the event it's not, I went ahead and made the outside 2x6s stick past the tires. The outside of tire is 93", the cab is 95", so I made the interior cross members 95". Tire will have 1" of clearance, plus the tire obviously slopes in at the top for more room.

The inside lengthwise is 10ft plus a half inch so the 2x12 x 10' will fit with a little slop. One thing that is annoying though is I'm having the front cross member sit snug against one of the tread plates for one of the cargo boxes (I can't pull the tread plate easily since it's riveted to the box), this puts the front cross member right next to the stairs which is what I wanted anyways so it's a good reference point. But 10ft back from there is a few inches down the dovetail. If I slide everything forward so the rear sits right at the top of the dovetail, then the front is too far forward to make the steps usable.

Im thinking I'll just make a little bracket for the rear to space it off the dovetail so the deck is flat. Additionally, Im a ****** and forgot about the rear of the dovetail which would need another 95" piece which I had assumed would be a 2x6. I don't have that, and frankly the dovetail isn't happening before this trip anyways. But between the whole deck sitting a couple inches over the dovetail, and then not having the 2x6 I originally planned for, I might get creative with the steel I have laying around since the deck dovetail won't be an identical match to the frame dovetail. I do have enough 2x6 stubs so the side profile of the dovetail will at least flow consistently, just the rearmost cross member might be some conglomerate of tubing I have laying around.


And lastly, I got the four 2x3 cross members cut and moved the other steel into the shop (minus the 1/4" plate). I'm thinking I'll cut 3/4" holes in the angle iron brackets with the plasma table, then I shouldn't have to drill anything. The brackets I'll add to the frame to supplement the 5th wheel plate bracket will just get welded, so the frame won't need to be drilled. That should save me some time and the headache of punching through 1/2" steel a bunch of times. Probably won't get the main deck done tomorrow, probably finish it Friday afternoon and then roll later Friday. We'll see. I don't plan to paint the deck yet since theres still a lot of stuff to figure out and buy before painting is justified.

 

[ridered3]

Looking good!

 

[BigBurt]

Thoughts on a gooseneck ball on the tail while you’re there?

 

[Snowy]

I bought all five main filters and 11 gallons of oil from the shop that did the inspection. I think in the future I'm going to just take the used oil from my normal vehicles and recycle it into the semi since I change them at 5k, so plenty of life left but I'm conservative. The semi I doubt will give a **** course, this one oil change will probably expire from time more so than miles too.

I also found a can of POR15 in town. I didn't feel like buying the needle tool thing for this one off task, so I just beat everything with the crowbar, then a quick run over with the grinder followed by some wire wheel action. Not the prettiest thing, but we're going for efficiency and a good ROI of time spent ****ing with the rust.

It also seems that the angle iron with the holes is like riveted in or something? The bolts don't have a head you can grab onto, and the nut part is smooth and round, so even if I wanted to remove it and pray the rust gods were on my side, I have no idea how I would unthread the bolt from the nut without welding a head on. Point being, I'm not touching the angle iron and the rust in there will continue

I did two coats of the POR15, one right away and another before turning in for the night.

After that I removed a few parts, cut up the 2x6s and using the frame and tires as a table for the main perimeter tacked together.

I don't know if the suspension is at full bump, I hit the bag deflate switch on the dash with the ignition on and nothing seemed to happen, so I kind of assume it is? But in the event it's not, I went ahead and made the outside 2x6s stick past the tires. The outside of tire is 93", the cab is 95", so I made the interior cross members 95". Tire will have 1" of clearance, plus the tire obviously slopes in at the top for more room.

The inside lengthwise is 10ft plus a half inch so the 2x12 x 10' will fit with a little slop. One thing that is annoying though is I'm having the front cross member sit snug against one of the tread plates for one of the cargo boxes (I can't pull the tread plate easily since it's riveted to the box), this puts the front cross member right next to the stairs which is what I wanted anyways so it's a good reference point. But 10ft back from there is a few inches down the dovetail. If I slide everything forward so the rear sits right at the top of the dovetail, then the front is too far forward to make the steps usable.

Im thinking I'll just make a little bracket for the rear to space it off the dovetail so the deck is flat. Additionally, Im a ****** and forgot about the rear of the dovetail which would need another 95" piece which I had assumed would be a 2x6. I don't have that, and frankly the dovetail isn't happening before this trip anyways. But between the whole deck sitting a couple inches over the dovetail, and then not having the 2x6 I originally planned for, I might get creative with the steel I have laying around since the deck dovetail won't be an identical match to the frame dovetail. I do have enough 2x6 stubs so the side profile of the dovetail will at least flow consistently, just the rearmost cross member might be some conglomerate of tubing I have laying around.


And lastly, I got the four 2x3 cross members cut and moved the other steel into the shop (minus the 1/4" plate). I'm thinking I'll cut 3/4" holes in the angle iron brackets with the plasma table, then I shouldn't have to drill anything. The brackets I'll add to the frame to supplement the 5th wheel plate bracket will just get welded, so the frame won't need to be drilled. That should save me some time and the headache of punching through 1/2" steel a bunch of times. Probably won't get the main deck done tomorrow, probably finish it Friday afternoon and then roll later Friday. We'll see. I don't plan to paint the deck yet since theres still a lot of stuff to figure out and buy before painting is justified.

The bags don't look deflated in your pictures but I may be wrong. Typically the lower part of the airbag mount will fold into the airbag itself when deflated if that makes sense. All of my trucks are gone for the day or else I'd grab a picture quick. If I had to guess, they drop about 4 inches or so when deflated.

Most upfitters run a spacer/isolator to the body to help with tire clearance and most bodies have low pro crossmembers over the tires as well to account for the travel. Not super familiar with the Volvo clearances but on the KW/International/Freightliner chassis, the tires definitely go above the top of the frame with no air.

 

[snivilous]

Thoughts on a gooseneck ball on the tail while you’re there?

I had a guy send me this last night which I like the looks of: Amazon.com

That will be a next week (or later) problem. I haven't measured where the gooseneck ball should go, so expect to make some changes and reinforce whatever local area it ends up going to. Same thing for a conventional receiver.

The bags don't look deflated in your pictures but I may be wrong. Typically the lower part of the airbag mount will fold into the airbag itself when deflated if that makes sense. All of my trucks are gone for the day or else I'd grab a picture quick. If I had to guess, they drop about 4 inches or so when deflated.

Most upfitters run a spacer/isolator to the body to help with tire clearance and most bodies have low pro crossmembers over the tires as well to account for the travel. Not super familiar with the Volvo clearances but on the KW/International/Freightliner chassis, the tires definitely go above the top of the frame with no air.

That's what I would've expected for the bags but wasn't sure if there just wasn't enough weight to compress them with nothing on the back. I'd say I made the right call making the frame wider than the tires then! The additional cross members I was going to offset ~12" from the axle centerline so the tire can stuff up in the gap between the cross members. That would give the tires 3-4" of clearance from the deck planks at (presumably) ride height, plus I could space the whole deck up if needed.

 

[Snowy]

I had a guy send me this last night which I like the looks of: Amazon.com

That will be a next week (or later) problem. I haven't measured where the gooseneck ball should go, so expect to make some changes and reinforce whatever local area it ends up going to. Same thing for a conventional receiver.



That's what I would've expected for the bags but wasn't sure if there just wasn't enough weight to compress them with nothing on the back. I'd say I made the right call making the frame wider than the tires then! The additional cross members I was going to offset ~12" from the axle centerline so the tire can stuff up in the gap between the cross members. That would give the tires 3-4" of clearance from the deck planks at (presumably) ride height, plus I could space the whole deck up if needed.

They should drop with the weight of the tractor. At least the other trucks do bobtailed no problem. Helps to more gently pull out from under a trailer and keep drivers from dropping trailers high or you can scoop up a trailer dropped low without having to ramrod it up the frame rails. May be a bad switch or dump valve if you don't hear it dump all the air after you hit it. Sometimes there are interlocks like needing to be under a certain MPH, in neutral, with the brakes either set or not set too.

 

[Talon2006]

This is going to be a cool project. I do wonder how comfortable this would be compared to a modern 1 ton dually truck. I feel like since i already have a new dually I am ruined from going to something like this. I can't do without my big screen for navigation and AC seats :P

 

[1Sinner]

I know on my bus, the Ignition has to be on without the engine running before I can dump air, along with bad valves or other issues that may not be apparent. But it should easily dump with tractor weight

 

[Snowy]

This is going to be a cool project. I do wonder how comfortable this would be compared to a modern 1 ton dually truck. I feel like since i already have a new dually I am ruined from going to something like this. I can't do without my big screen for navigation and AC seats :P

They ride terrible compared to a 1-ton dually, especially lightly loaded. NVH in cab isn't on the same level to a modern 1 ton either. I've never driven a optioned up 379 or a W900 with a big sleeper so those may be better, but the fleet spec T440/T660/T680 or Prostar/LT's I have been in are easily 10-15 years behind normal cars/trucks in terms of creature comforts.

I feel good when I get where I'm going with the dually and gooseneck but always feel a little beat up after driving the one of the big trucks all day. I laughed out loud hanging onto the wheel at points driving a bobtailed Prostar to Chicago from Denver over beat up pavement. When you're loaded up they aren't too bad though. Just have to manage ride expectations on a truck with a 52,000 GVWR that's running less than half capacity empty.

 

[simmons3067]

This is going to be a cool project. I do wonder how comfortable this would be compared to a modern 1 ton dually truck. I feel like since i already have a new dually I am ruined from going to something like this. I can't do without my big screen for navigation and AC seats :P

There is no comparison from an old big truck to a new pick-up in comfort and tech. If a 10k dollar big rig was more comfortable and easier to drive than a 90k dollar pickup everyone would have one. The big trucks are cool because they are cheap, functional and totally overkill for hauling a 4x4. I am also willing to bet this truck will still be rolling down the road when a 2024 diesel pickup is worn out.

 

[ridered3]

There is no comparison from an old big truck to a new pick-up in comfort and tech. If a 10k dollar big rig was more comfortable and easier to drive than a 90k dollar pickup everyone would have one. The big trucks are cool because they are cheap, functional and totally overkill for hauling a 4x4. I am also willing to bet this truck will still be rolling down the road when a 2024 diesel pickup is worn out.

Or is broken down on the side of the road or at a dealership waiting on the emissions systems to be overhauled for the 5th time.

 

[Talon2006]

There is no comparison from an old big truck to a new pick-up in comfort and tech. If a 10k dollar big rig was more comfortable and easier to drive than a 90k dollar pickup everyone would have one. The big trucks are cool because they are cheap, functional and totally overkill for hauling a 4x4. I am also willing to bet this truck will still be rolling down the road when a 2024 diesel pickup is worn out.

Or is broken down on the side of the road or at a dealership waiting on the emissions systems to be overhauled for the 5th time.

The new emissions and payment make this look so much more comfortable :p

 

[snivilous]

Today was pretty productive! Must admit I only worked a half day since the wife got off work early too.

First up, I didn't like the idea of making a spacer on the back of the frame where it dives down, but I wouldn't be able to use the little stairs with how far forward the deck would sit if the rear cross member sat on the flat part of the frame. What I decided to do was pull the fiberglass body extensions (aerodynamic extension things?) and that made for a lot more room! Half the brackets were also broken, and I kind of think it looks cleaner having the cab end with a sharp edge.

Now the 10ft main part of the deck stays on the flat section of the frame, and then the dovetail will match with the frame dovetail. I think this was a good move, it keeps things simple and elegant which is usually the right way to do it. I had cut the cross members last night, and with the perimeter 2x6s in their final spot I could then figure out the spacing of the 2x3 members. I spaced them based on the axle centerline to the rear 2x6 spacing, which is 29.5" between the two cross members next to each axle, and then another one further up front. I talked it all and then wandered around welding it out. I hoped with having all the cross members that it'd help keep things fairly square considering there's no diagonal elements.

Next I cut all the angle iron. There's a piece 1/8" welded to the front and rear 2x6s to support the planks, with the 1/4" angle used to interface to the frame. With all the cross members welded in I could figure out the sizing of the angle iron as well as the bolt spacing. The bolts for the 5th wheel plate were 5/8", and 28 of them held the 5th wheel plate down so I decided to just copy that since it'd be insanely overkill. I jigged up the angle on the plasma table to cut the holes out since **** drilling 28+ holes through 1/4" plate. Additionally I could then slot the holes the same way the 5th wheel plate mounts are, this way I have a bit of adjustability and when I pull the deck it's more likely to line back up hopefully.

The little langmuir table is awesome, this was one of their early units so has been going strong for like 6 years and absolutely flawless! For $1500 plus some cheap upgrades it's awesome for stuff like this.

Since we're on a time crunch, I ended up bolting to all the 5th wheel bolts and then add some mounts to the very front cross member with two more bolts. I have the angle cut so each cross member will be able to bolt to the frame, but since we're just putting a little camper on this, I decided the main mounting points would be good enough. Point being, there will be additional bolt locations in the future when I have more time.

And then lots more welding. My little Miller 211 is doing great, this machine has been an absolute pile almost it's whole life for various reasons. Recently I swapped the nozzle and gas line and now it's running like a champ! I've been slightly DGAF about cleaning stuff, but everything is chamfered and is welding great! I'm not a welder by any stretch but happy how it's going and having fun.

With everything mounted, we took some measurements of the cabover and decided to use the two U-bolts off the rear bumper for the rear straps and then welded two D-rings to a forward cross member and then notched the deck around them. I bought 8x of the 1/2" 3.3k rated D rings from Harbor Freight today, and plan to spread them out all over.

Oh I also shortened the exhaust stack 2ft so it'd fit easier through my door and under the covered parking

It's looking pretty good! For this test trip this weekend I need a way to hold the boards down, and then just change the oil and throw the camper on it! The camper will look pretty ******ed since it's going to hang off the back of the deck by a foot or so, same way it does with my Tundra. We debated flipping the camper 180 and then the little stairs would make easy access to the door, but rotating the cabover around sounded like a pain. We'll play that by ear tomorrow though.

 

[snivilous]

The new emissions and payment make this look so much more comfortable :p

Like everyone else said, way different spectrums. But I honestly thought it wasn't uncomfortable driving it from Idaho, but I also usually take one of my 1970s vehicles to lunch so maybe I've just built a tolerance to bad ride quality I was seriously looking at one tons a few months ago, but was put on the back burner since the wife got rear ended and we bought her a new vehicle. But even while I was looking, I never saw a truck that made me want to pull the trigger. The prices just seem insane. For something I really only need maybe once a week, this felt like something where it'd exceed all the capability I wanted and could be a cheap (ish, knock on wood) project that I could make my own and have a unique and cool toy to haul around my other toys.

A fancy one ton for how much they cost needed to be something more than a tow rig for me, but a tow rig is all I needed. If you could have one or two vehicles, would a one ton be a better choice? No doubt. But I have a half ton for hauling basic **** and going to the dump, I have some tweaked older vehicles for getting food and shorter trips, we have the wife's new vehicle for longer comfy trips, etc. A one ton wouldn't fit any of those roles very well, plus all of those are paid for and a lot of fun to drive and I'm not worried about beating on them and scratching them.

Like I said in the OP, I get rambling to reiterate, this is an experiment and for me it's the same as any other fun little ****box old vehicle. If the semi ****s itself it doesn't change anything for me, it gets parked (like the Hilux in the photos waiting for a coolant hose). Maybe I'll get a one ton someday, but I'm having a ton of fun with this and I've driven it three times hahaha. About the same fun/driving ratio as the buggy

 

[ridered3]

The new emissions and payment make this look so much more comfortable :p

Agreed for sure. Plus the idea of having specific vehicles for specific purposes is also nice.

snivilous progess is looking great! The word you are looking for on the fiberglass body panels was fairings. I think it looks more better without them as well.

 

[Dejeeper]

They ride terrible compared to a 1-ton dually, especially lightly loaded. NVH in cab isn't on the same level to a modern 1 ton either. I've never driven a optioned up 379 or a W900 with a big sleeper so those may be better, but the fleet spec T440/T660/T680 or Prostar/LT's I have been in are easily 10-15 years behind normal cars/trucks in terms of creature comforts.

I feel good when I get where I'm going with the dually and gooseneck but always feel a little beat up after driving the one of the big trucks all day. I laughed out loud hanging onto the wheel at points driving a bobtailed Prostar to Chicago from Denver over beat up pavement. When you're loaded up they aren't too bad though. Just have to manage ride expectations on a truck with a 52,000 GVWR that's running less than half capacity empty.

I couldnt disagree more. In out 86 pete with triple air ride i can drive for 10hrs staight. Its very smooth and comfortable at 24k to 48k lbs. Like any old truck u need to fo through the suspension and replace most of it. On the surface it all looks decent but i guarentee its worn af. I also put sound deadner in the interior and all u have left is to rebuild the door seals to get the nvh a little lower. I would choose my hdt to go x-country or to even haul an hour away every time.

 

[snivilous]

I couldnt disagree more. In out 86 pete with triple air ride i can drive for 10hrs staight. Its very smooth and comfortable at 24k to 48k lbs. Like any old truck u need to fo through the suspension and replace most of it. On the surface it all looks decent but i guarentee its worn af. I also put sound deadner in the interior and all u have left is to rebuild the door seals to get the nvh a little lower. I would choose my hdt to go x-country or to even haul an hour away every time.

Everything you said has been on my list. My buddy rode in the truck and said he thought it rode horrible and new shocks would make it a lot nicer (and if this is the worst ride it'll have, I'm not complaining at all then!). I also wanted to add sound deadening since it's not quiet by any stretch.

Is there a brand of shock you recommend? I've seen people say go OEM or Gabriel's, but he'll there's even Foxs it looks like? I don't know if there's a shock more oriented for light loads too? And are there other suspension components that affect the ride quality I should look at, or is it just replace the shocks and inspect the bags?

 

[Talon2006]

Like everyone else said, way different spectrums. But I honestly thought it wasn't uncomfortable driving it from Idaho, but I also usually take one of my 1970s vehicles to lunch so maybe I've just built a tolerance to bad ride quality I was seriously looking at one tons a few months ago, but was put on the back burner since the wife got rear ended and we bought her a new vehicle. But even while I was looking, I never saw a truck that made me want to pull the trigger. The prices just seem insane. For something I really only need maybe once a week, this felt like something where it'd exceed all the capability I wanted and could be a cheap (ish, knock on wood) project that I could make my own and have a unique and cool toy to haul around my other toys.

A fancy one ton for how much they cost needed to be something more than a tow rig for me, but a tow rig is all I needed. If you could have one or two vehicles, would a one ton be a better choice? No doubt. But I have a half ton for hauling basic **** and going to the dump, I have some tweaked older vehicles for getting food and shorter trips, we have the wife's new vehicle for longer comfy trips, etc. A one ton wouldn't fit any of those roles very well, plus all of those are paid for and a lot of fun to drive and I'm not worried about beating on them and scratching them.

Like I said in the OP, I get rambling to reiterate, this is an experiment and for me it's the same as any other fun little ****box old vehicle. If the semi ****s itself it doesn't change anything for me, it gets parked (like the Hilux in the photos waiting for a coolant hose). Maybe I'll get a one ton someday, but I'm having a ton of fun with this and I've driven it three times hahaha. About the same fun/driving ratio as the buggy

I am sitting over here envious of your cool project!

 

[Snowy]

I couldnt disagree more. In out 86 pete with triple air ride i can drive for 10hrs staight. Its very smooth and comfortable at 24k to 48k lbs. Like any old truck u need to fo through the suspension and replace most of it. On the surface it all looks decent but i guarentee its worn af. I also put sound deadner in the interior and all u have left is to rebuild the door seals to get the nvh a little lower. I would choose my hdt to go x-country or to even haul an hour away every time.

An F/R air ride Pete that has been thoroughly worked over is a hell of a lot different than a sub $10k fleet spec tractor.

Everything you said has been on my list. My buddy rode in the truck and said he thought it rode horrible and new shocks would make it a lot nicer (and if this is the worst ride it'll have, I'm not complaining at all then!). I also wanted to add sound deadening since it's not quiet by any stretch.

Is there a brand of shock you recommend? I've seen people say go OEM or Gabriel's, but he'll there's even Foxs it looks like? I don't know if there's a shock more oriented for light loads too? And are there other suspension components that affect the ride quality I should look at, or is it just replace the shocks and inspect the bags?

I've always just put OEM/Gabriel's on our trucks but I'm unsure of what would be better for a lightly loaded truck.

Check your bushings in both the front shackles and rear air leafs. They degrade over time significantly and will cause some pretty good clunking/banging if they are whooped.

Good call keeping the steps usable too! The climb up to frame high is pretty significant. Love where this is headed.

 

[CarterKraft]

With the super singles you might find a tire pressure load chart and get your tire pressure set more realistic to the load.
You won't need the 110 psi I think.

 

[Dejeeper]

An F/R air ride Pete that has been thoroughly worked over is a hell of a lot different than a sub $10k fleet spec tractor.

.

I dont have front air ride. Air rear suspention, air cab and air seat. Just like most of the current otr trucks. Its really about replacing all the million mile bushings and front springs. Im pretty sure i was under $1k to tighten the truck up and get it to ride proper.

 

[simmons3067]

For short around town trips hauling under 8k pounds I prefer my pick-up or suburban. Anything with open road I prefer the big truck

 

[Penetrode Offroad]

(like the Hilux in the photos waiting for a coolant hose)

Ok ****er, whats the story on this. Cage and bed mounted radiator?????

Also, whats this?

 

[snivilous]

Alright prepare yourselves for some redneck ****

This morning I added some more D rings, added the tread plate I took off that goes on the frame and put that in front of the deck so there's a place to stand above the little stairs, and changed the oil and oil filters. One of the fuel filters requires a special wrench and I didn't feel like making that so just did the oil filters, which were a bitch in and of themselves. The engine plus filters took 9 gallons, quite a bit less than I was expecting from my brief googling.

The air bags also decided to deflate themselves last night, I don't know if the deck weight was enough to make them fully squish after removing the 5th wheel plate? But full bump rubs the boards by an inch or so.

I was worried I had ****ed an air line or bag from the welding but after firing the truck up it raised up fine. The lowering actually helped a lot when loading the camper since the back end drops like 6-7", without that we couldn't get the camper on with how low the roof is under the covered parking.

With the camper mounted in a "normal" orientation, we decided we didn't like it and flipped it around. This involved using the buggy and it's winch and slowly pivoting it around which worked great!

Introducing the most ******ed thing you'll see today hahaha

It is extra special but it's all in the name of convenience. Having it mounted with the overhang forward would make the rear (with the door) overhang the back by at least a foot. That'd make getting into it a pain, and while not necessarily sketchy for rigging it, also not the greatest setup. With it flipped around, now the little stairs turns into an easy access to the door, and we also have some "deck space" right outside the door. This is actually by far the nicest entry to the camper we've ever had, and much nicer for our dogs.

Ironically none of the D rings I put in actually lined up with any hard points on the camper, so I used the open tube end at the front of the deck and the U bolts at the rear bumper to strap it down. We pulled the camper to the back so it sits against the 1.5" lip created by the 2x6 rear beam and the planks. By far the most secured it's ever been too! The camper also has ample room from the exhaust stack. We ended up strapping the paddle board where the camper wheel well is on one side and then the propane tank on the other side.

This thing has so much storage room compared to what I'm used to it's insane. There's a gear tunnel under the sleeper which we stuffed chairs, umbrellas, RCs, tool boxes, and more into. Plus there's storage boxes under the deck which I barely even touched and just threw some chains and straps and jumper cables into. What would be carrying way less, and yet still overflowing into the truck or the camper before, is now tons of extra space left over!

It looks so derpy, I love it hahaha if there was a trailer behind it it would look a lot better I think. Idk how many trips we'll do with just the camper, this is really a test drive and the wife hasn't really ridden in it.

Regardless, today we drove down near Kingsman to a relatives place. This was the first proper drive through a city, and right away at the Virgin River Gorge I got hit with the stop and go traffic and holy **** did I butcher downshifting. I've already gotten a lot better just today, but that initial going from 10th gear to a near-stop but still rolling and trying to figure out what ****ing gear it wanted utterly wrecked me, so much to the point I came to a full stop to get into 3rd and put the hazards on. I'm sure the semi behind me thought I was a total ****** after that we hit more stop and go traffic in Las Vegas and I got a lot better hang of finding gears and what to be in. Accelerating I'm pretty decent at slipping it in but downshifting is where I have problems. And I can downshift fine, but having to go through 7 gears in a few seconds isn't a thing, and since 5th gear is good for about 7mph I was getting confused. Long story short, 10th is good for 40+, 6-9 are good for anything over 7mph, and if I need 4th or 5th then I'm absolutely crawling.

BESIDES THAT. Truck did absolutely great. It actually rides really well imo after riding in it for another 4 hours. It's easy to drive (besides near stopping), and we cruised at the speed limit the whole way and got 9.5mpg. Maybe to some that's bad, to me that's what my little Toyota would get or worse and we would've filled up three times. In this we used about 12% of the tank

Also the squad (dogs) were totally happy. The white one hates half the vehicles we own, but she likes the semi, the Hilux, and the FJ40 for some reason. The squad got food and water, a huge bed, and were happy as clams the whole way.

No real plans for this trip, we're kind of angling for Lake Havasu and see where we go. Somewhere warmer and hopefully with water

Next week the semi build will continue! It needs to get the buggy mounted on the back ASAP to redeem the comments I've gotten about this configuration

 

[snivilous]

With the super singles you might find a tire pressure load chart and get your tire pressure set more realistic to the load.
You won't need the 110 psi I think.

Good idea. I checked the tires today and they were all 100-110 and I was wondering if the rears should get lowered but wasn't sure if that made sense with semi tires. I'll have to look into that!

Ok ****er, whats the story on this. Cage and bed mounted radiator?????

Also, whats this?

Hahaha it's a 1978 Toyota Pickup (TECHNICALLY not a Hilux but physically identically, or was). After building the buggy engine I wanted another vehicle to give me an excuse to build a fun engine, I like old Japanese stuff so looked around for awhile and found it for $300 without a motor which was perfect. I bought a 2JZ with full harness from a IS300 for $1000 and made it a standalone, then bought a CD009 6 speed manual from a 350z off eBay for $1100 and swapped those in. The cab and front clip I didn't want to mess with, and the 2JZ barely fit between the firewall and hood support, so I mounted the radiator in the back and a little roll bar for it. It's a 3" griffin with a Ford Taurus fan and absolutely ****s, sometimes going down hills even with the fan off (and a thermostat) it'll drop temp to like 140

It has an Aeromotive fuel cell with their in tank A1000 pump and AN10 lines feeding the 2JZ, essentially it's plumbed for 1000hp. The fuel cell I made cross members for so it's literally as far back in the frame as possible to get as much rear weight as I can. The 2JZ is still 100% stock and naturally aspirated, I actually dynoed it and it was like 120hp as I recall since half the cylinders have barely any compression. But it still spins the tires through 2nd since it weighs like 2000 lbs

Wrapping back around to that above photo, I found another 2JZ in St George for $300 that had been overheated. I grabbed that and my pseudo plan is to build that engine (naturally aspirated ones have weak rods so can't take much more than like 5-7psi) and then I'll just swap the engine in it for the built engine.

It is an extremely fun and cool little truck. Super cheap, I try to not get too sexy with it and not take it too seriously. I've driven it 500 miles around trip up to Salt Lake City to go shooting and it cruises great and is actually really tight. It revs really high, ton of fun to shift, weighs nothing. From the front looks totally stock. I want to build the engine, and I have a carpet kit and sound deadening for the interior. I also plan to lower it and link the back with some pushrod suspension. I've thought about doing some trick AWD system, that'd be fun. It is the first and only 2WD vehicle I've owned haha

Didn't mean to type this much, there's a lot to that little truck though and that's the tip of the iceberg

 

[CarterKraft]

Good idea. I checked the tires today and they were all 100-110 and I was wondering if the rears should get lowered but wasn't sure if that made sense with semi tires. I'll have to look into that!

Hahaha it's a 1978 Toyota Pickup (TECHNICALLY not a Hilux but physically identically, or was). After building the buggy engine I wanted another vehicle to give me an excuse to build a fun engine, I like old Japanese stuff so looked around for awhile and found it for $300 without a motor which was perfect. I bought a 2JZ with full harness from a IS300 for $1000 and made it a standalone, then bought a CD009 6 speed manual from a 350z off eBay for $1100 and swapped those in. The cab and front clip I didn't want to mess with, and the 2JZ barely fit between the firewall and hood support, so I mounted the radiator in the back and a little roll bar for it. It's a 3" griffin with a Ford Taurus fan and absolutely ****s, sometimes going down hills even with the fan off (and a thermostat) it'll drop temp to like 140

It has an Aeromotive fuel cell with their in tank A1000 pump and AN10 lines feeding the 2JZ, essentially it's plumbed for 1000hp. The fuel cell I made cross members for so it's literally as far back in the frame as possible to get as much rear weight as I can. The 2JZ is still 100% stock and naturally aspirated, I actually dynoed it and it was like 120hp as I recall since half the cylinders have barely any compression. But it still spins the tires through 2nd since it weighs like 2000 lbs

Wrapping back around to that above photo, I found another 2JZ in St George for $300 that had been overheated. I grabbed that and my pseudo plan is to build that engine (naturally aspirated ones have weak rods so can't take much more than like 5-7psi) and then I'll just swap the engine in it for the built engine.

It is an extremely fun and cool little truck. Super cheap, I try to not get too sexy with it and not take it too seriously. I've driven it 500 miles around trip up to Salt Lake City to go shooting and it cruises great and is actually really tight. It revs really high, ton of fun to shift, weighs nothing. From the front looks totally stock. I want to build the engine, and I have a carpet kit and sound deadening for the interior. I also plan to lower it and link the back with some pushrod suspension. I've thought about doing some trick AWD system, that'd be fun. It is the first and only 2WD vehicle I've owned haha

Didn't mean to type this much, there's a lot to that little truck though and that's the tip of the iceberg

That little ****er needs 30 psi setup for sure

 

[BigBurt]

With the super singles you might find a tire pressure load chart and get your tire pressure set more realistic to the load.
You won't need the 110 psi I think.

Dumb question but will the contact profile be ok if he runs less?

 

[Snowy]

Alright prepare yourselves for some redneck ****

This morning I added some more D rings, added the tread plate I took off that goes on the frame and put that in front of the deck so there's a place to stand above the little stairs, and changed the oil and oil filters. One of the fuel filters requires a special wrench and I didn't feel like making that so just did the oil filters, which were a bitch in and of themselves. The engine plus filters took 9 gallons, quite a bit less than I was expecting from my brief googling.

The air bags also decided to deflate themselves last night, I don't know if the deck weight was enough to make them fully squish after removing the 5th wheel plate? But full bump rubs the boards by an inch or so.

I was worried I had ****ed an air line or bag from the welding but after firing the truck up it raised up fine. The lowering actually helped a lot when loading the camper since the back end drops like 6-7", without that we couldn't get the camper on with how low the roof is under the covered parking.

With the camper mounted in a "normal" orientation, we decided we didn't like it and flipped it around. This involved using the buggy and it's winch and slowly pivoting it around which worked great!

Introducing the most ******ed thing you'll see today hahaha

It is extra special but it's all in the name of convenience. Having it mounted with the overhang forward would make the rear (with the door) overhang the back by at least a foot. That'd make getting into it a pain, and while not necessarily sketchy for rigging it, also not the greatest setup. With it flipped around, now the little stairs turns into an easy access to the door, and we also have some "deck space" right outside the door. This is actually by far the nicest entry to the camper we've ever had, and much nicer for our dogs.

Ironically none of the D rings I put in actually lined up with any hard points on the camper, so I used the open tube end at the front of the deck and the U bolts at the rear bumper to strap it down. We pulled the camper to the back so it sits against the 1.5" lip created by the 2x6 rear beam and the planks. By far the most secured it's ever been too! The camper also has ample room from the exhaust stack. We ended up strapping the paddle board where the camper wheel well is on one side and then the propane tank on the other side.

This thing has so much storage room compared to what I'm used to it's insane. There's a gear tunnel under the sleeper which we stuffed chairs, umbrellas, RCs, tool boxes, and more into. Plus there's storage boxes under the deck which I barely even touched and just threw some chains and straps and jumper cables into. What would be carrying way less, and yet still overflowing into the truck or the camper before, is now tons of extra space left over!

It looks so derpy, I love it hahaha if there was a trailer behind it it would look a lot better I think. Idk how many trips we'll do with just the camper, this is really a test drive and the wife hasn't really ridden in it.

Regardless, today we drove down near Kingsman to a relatives place. This was the first proper drive through a city, and right away at the Virgin River Gorge I got hit with the stop and go traffic and holy **** did I butcher downshifting. I've already gotten a lot better just today, but that initial going from 10th gear to a near-stop but still rolling and trying to figure out what ****ing gear it wanted utterly wrecked me, so much to the point I came to a full stop to get into 3rd and put the hazards on. I'm sure the semi behind me thought I was a total ****** after that we hit more stop and go traffic in Las Vegas and I got a lot better hang of finding gears and what to be in. Accelerating I'm pretty decent at slipping it in but downshifting is where I have problems. And I can downshift fine, but having to go through 7 gears in a few seconds isn't a thing, and since 5th gear is good for about 7mph I was getting confused. Long story short, 10th is good for 40+, 6-9 are good for anything over 7mph, and if I need 4th or 5th then I'm absolutely crawling.

BESIDES THAT. Truck did absolutely great. It actually rides really well imo after riding in it for another 4 hours. It's easy to drive (besides near stopping), and we cruised at the speed limit the whole way and got 9.5mpg. Maybe to some that's bad, to me that's what my little Toyota would get or worse and we would've filled up three times. In this we used about 12% of the tank

Also the squad (dogs) were totally happy. The white one hates half the vehicles we own, but she likes the semi, the Hilux, and the FJ40 for some reason. The squad got food and water, a huge bed, and were happy as clams the whole way.

No real plans for this trip, we're kind of angling for Lake Havasu and see where we go. Somewhere warmer and hopefully with water

Next week the semi build will continue! It needs to get the buggy mounted on the back ASAP to redeem the comments I've gotten about this configuration

You’ll find your rhythm on downshifting with time. I ran both our 10 speeds over for fuel and to look them over for any unreported issues yesterday. The one with city gears felt like a glove since it’s the one I drive the most often when I have to pinch hit driving, but I couldn’t find a gear in town to save my life in the taller geared highway truck since everything was off a gear from my muscle memory.

Check the inflation chart on the super singles but I don’t think you can take them too much lower since the steel belts in them will flex and blowout in a hurry if you go below minimum. Way less forgiving to low tire pressure than a normal car or pickup tire.

 

[ridered3]

It both looks so wrong and so right at the same time

 

[BigBurt]

You’ll find your rhythm on downshifting with time.

This might be helpful for some so here’s what the old timer I learned from taught me: to find the right gear on a 10 speed while moving on the high range 15mph=6th 25mph=7th 35mph=8th 45mph=9th and 55=10th. So take ever 5mph and add the two numbers together and that’s your approximate gear. I forget what rpm he said but iirc it’s 500rpm from each gear? He’ll get the feel though and it’ll be second nature and fun lol