loading a smart car

[David Anderson]

I figured you guys would enjoy this.  This is our crew chief's rig from our volunteer building jobs.  He sold his dodge pickup and bought this HDT truck and carries a smart car on top and drags a fifth wheel behind it.  He fabricated the deck so that when not hauling the car he can haul lumber and other stuff.  He had to retitle the truck in Texas as a motorhome which required a bed, cooking device (microwave) and a fridge.  It is a Volvo with an Eaton 10 speed autoshift.  Jim Sheppard, he loves the auto shift.

Jimmy's car loading

David

[happycamperbrat]

Even my mom liked this one! Great looking setup!

[TomC]

That looks good on paper until a smart DOT cop measures the SmartCar at 106.1" which is 4.1" over the maximum width of 102" (minus mirrors that don't count) and sites him for hauling an overwidth load without an overwidth permit.  But-maybe he'll be lucky and not get caught for a while.  Good Luck, TomC

[Kevin Warnock]

Maybe the bumper can be removed while the car's on the truck, to shorten the car by 4"?

[thomasinnv]

TomC, depends on the model year. up untill a year or two ago they were slightly shorter. This is actually a common setup among full timers.

[Stormcloud]

That looks good on paper until a smart DOT cop measures the SmartCar at 106.1" which is 4.1" over the maximum width of 102" (minus mirrors that don't count) and sites him for hauling an overwidth load without an overwidth permit.  But-maybe he'll be lucky and not get caught for a while.  Good Luck, TomC

This is one reason I bought a 96" coach. I knew I would be adding an awning, and on a 102" coach that would exceed the max width.

[Kevin Warnock]

the awning counts? How do the pro converters like Marathon handle awnings on their 102" wide product?

Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com - my blog

[Sean]

the awning counts?

Yes, the awning counts.  As do window awnings, slide toppers, vent caps, and anything else that protrudes beyond the sides of the coach.  The only legal exceptions are "legally required safety devices."  So your side mirrors can protrude, as can marker lights and reflectors.

How do the pro converters like Marathon handle awnings on their 102" wide product?

The good ones set them back far enough so they do not extend further than the sides.  If you look at a Marathon you will see the awnings are actually mounted to the roof, and the face of the awning in the closed position is flush with the coach side.

AFAIK, all the major converters do it this way.  When we put our awnings on, we set them back further even then that.

Stick-and-staple aftermarket shops are a different story,  I see all manner of stuff bolted to the sides of rigs by Camping World and other shops.  If those items put the rig over 102" (96" in some states), the rig becomes over-width.  Camping World doesn't get the ticket -- you do.  Technically, you can be red-tagged and not permitted to move the rig until you either correct the width (remove the offending item) or get the proper permit including any required pilot car, CDL driver, etc. to move the rig out of the offended state.  FWIW.

I have never heard of anyone being stopped and cited for this personally.  But it probably has happened at least once, and the fact that lots of people get away with it isn't a defense.  Also, if you ever hit anything, you can be sure that someone will measure -- if not law enforcement, then somebody's attorney.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[jackhartjr]

As an aside...I saw a trucker in Hobe Sound, FL at that scale being told that to get the permit he needed, (Don't know exactly what it was he needed) it had to be the original from Tallahassee, not a copy.  It is several hundred miles from Hobe Sound to Tallahassee.  He would have to go get it...or wait for the mail, fed-ex or something.
I personally wanted to tell the Revenue Enhancement Agents what a crock that was...I would have wound up in jail!
Jack

[boxcarOkie]

AFAIK, all the major converters do it this way.  When we put our awnings on, we set them back further even then that.

"AFAIK," means what?

BCO

[rwc]

As Far As I Know  (At least that is my take on it)

  Rod

[rv_safetyman]

David, I love it!!!

There was a vendor that used to show up at some of the FMCA rallies (saw him twice at Farmington NM)  that had a pretty unique setup.  It was a cabover with a huge drom box behind the cab and then a small deck (maybe 4 feet) behind that.  He had a bunch of shelving in the drom box to hold inventory and then drove a small Jeep into the box (lengthwise).  Then hooked up  a very large 5th wheel trailer.  It was a light beige color as I recall.  Some folks would call it kind of "primitive", but I thought it was great and very efficient in terms of space utilization.

I am glad to hear that he liked his AutoShift.  I really like mine as well, even though it takes longer to accelerate (boost drops with every shift).  I certainly have a gear for every situation.  My wife's cousin was a truck driver who really gave me a hard time about not having to work the stick.  His company assigned him to an AutoShift truck and he took quite a ribbing from the other drivers.  After a rather short time, he learned to love it.

Jim

[boxcarOkie]

As Far As I Know  (At least that is my take on it)

  Rod

Thanks I appreciate it.

BCO

[David Anderson]

Jim,

He paid $16k for the truck.  It had aboit 600k miles on it.  He sold his dodge 3500 for $21k and the sale paid for the Volvo and the deck fabrication.

David

[trucktramp]

I bet the cost of parts is a bit more on the Volvo than the Dodge but the Volvo probably has a better ride.  I have never been in a bad riding Volvo.