TomC Truck Conversion

[Lonnie time to go]

Tom
Can you post a pic of the back with the door open. What size car are you planning to fit in there.

Lonnie

[TomC]

This is a picture before skinning the outside, but you can see the ramp with E tracks on the side wall to tie down the car and anything else.  To the first step is about 13ft.  I hope a Honda Fit will fit, if not, then a Mini Cooper.  Good Luck, TomC

[bottomacher]

Do you have any idea what the finished weight will be?

[TomC]

I'm guestimatting the weight at- 18,000lbs for the truck chassis + 10,000lbs for the 32ft box + 4,000lbs for the actual conversion + 2,800lbs for the car = 34,800lbs.  The truck has a GVW of 46,000lbs which is 12,000lbs front, 34,000lbs (actually rated at 38,000lbs, but 34,000lbs is legal limit).  If I have 12,000lbs on the front, then the rear should come in at 22,800lbs-almost light enough to eliminate one of the axles-but I like the extra braking and traction of the tandem drive.  Then if I pull a 10,000lb boat trailer, I'll be at 44,800lbs total.  Considering when I used the truck for business, the truck/trailer weighed in at 46,000lbs empty, this truck will barely be working.  Good Luck, TomC

[Lin]

I really dislike having a toad, so your garage would be wonderful.  Since the box is 32 feet to begin with though, it does seem you lose a reasonable amount of interior space.  How do you think it will compare to a 35' or 40' bus in that way?  It would be great if the garage space could be transformed to interior space if desired.  It's always a problem to get a 45' interior into a 35' exterior.

[TomC]

I am loosing no floor space to the garage. The garage will be below the rear bedroom-albeit with only 5ft of headroom in the bedroom.  The box has 31ft 6" interior space plus another 32" in the cab that was the sleeper-which I'm making an office out of.  So technically my true usuable floor space is 34ft 2".  Exterior is right at 40ft, so I can drive anywhere and my wife can also drive it without a special license. 
I also detest pulling my car behind-it is a pain-especially if you have to turn around in a tight spot.  This is the main reason for my garage design.  Good Luck, TomC

[Dreamscape]

Well now, pretty cool but it still doesn't make it a bus now does it!

No offense Tom, I just prefer buses over trucks anyday, although I've seen some pretty neat truck conversions on the road. It's the up and coming thing for those that can afford one. I'm cheap, what can I say.

You have a great idea turning the back into a garage, at least you won't get your toad all dirty with DD droppings.

Have fun and maybe we'll meet you on the road someday and swap lies over a cold drink.

Paul

[Jeremy]

No reason you can't have a garage in the back of your bus if you choose a mid-engined model. It's an arrangement that has been traditionally used for many years by amateur race car teams here, but seems to be going out of fashion now. I took my Dad to a car race meeting for his birthday last year and only counted three bus-based vehicles in the paddock - although one of those had driven all the way from Sweden.



I thought for a long time about building a truck-based motorhome before deciding to use a coach. In the end it seemed more sensible to start with a vehicle that had been designed in all respects for the job of carrying people rather than freight. I've no doubt you can achieve the same end result with a truck (or a better end result if you're planning on towing big things), but actually having to coach-build the body from scratch on top of everything else just seemed like too much work.

Jeremy

[PP]

TOMC, that is one HECK of a big project! My hat's off to you, Will

[belfert]

A huge advantage of a truck conversion with a conventional cab is the ease of servicing the engine.  The engine is visible all the way around without pulling it.  The disadvantage is the extra length of a conventional.

I have a couple of minor oil leaks on my Series 60 that I can't find the origin of because I can't see much of the engine on that side.

[TomC]

Thanks for the compliments.

The advantage to a cabover is that when you tilt the cab all the way over, you get complete access to both the engine and transmission from above.  Also, when checking fluid levels, the cabover has access doors that allow checking the oil, transmission, radiator and power steering.  You don't even have to tilt the cab to change the oil.  About the only time you have to tilt the cab is for maintenance above oil changes.  I just got tired of working on the bus and the difficulty in finding decent mechanics that know how to work on it, up and above Don Fairchild.  All the parts, engine, and transmission (HT740) are still easily obtainable and most any mechanic knows how to work on it.  Good Luck, TomC

[DMoedave]

Very Ken Worthy!!!! that should be a fun rig to drive. Maybe i missed it but what is the drivetrain? Good lookin rig in my opinion. i like it! good look and keep us updated.

[Lonnie time to go]

Just found this

Bj and the bear truck in georga


http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Bj-and-the-bear-truck-in_117976.htm

[TomC]

Drive train is Caterpillar 3406B 400hp jacket water aftercooled with Jake brakes, Allison HT740 with manual torque converter lockup override, 3.55 rear ends, 11R-24.5 rubber.  Gearing wise, it will be 55 @ 1549rpm (good fuel mileage at that speed), 60@1690, 65@1830, 70@1971, 75@2112.  This is why I didn't use the World transmission, plus it would have been another $10,000.00.  Good Luck, TomC

[belfert]

Aren't those RPMs kinda high for a 4 stroke for the speeds you are getting?  My S60 with 4.10 gears and a B500 does about 64 MPH at 1500 RPM.  I like to drive about 65 MPH on trips.  Of course you don't have overdrive.  My B500 only has one overdrive enabled.