Fifth Wheel Trailer From Scratch

Discussions about all things to do with buses, trucks, and the homes made within them.

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Stealth Camper
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Post by Stealth Camper »

TT,
Nice drawing! I have been thinking about a tractor arrangement like that. Maybe a couple of 'captain seats' and a small table, fridge for when we have company. Overhead sleeper/condo for when wife and I are traveling alone and don't want to go through the whole trailer setup thing while on the road.
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Lostranger
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Fifth Wheel Trailer From Scratch

Post by Lostranger »

Man, what a great discussion. Thanks, everyone. I've thought many new thoughts today, and that's the best thing that can happen, isn't it?

I'm convinced now that a fifth wheel is the way to go. Now it's just a matter of deciding which platform to use. I'm shocked to report that I've been eyeing my Flex bus this afternoon and thinking about how it might work as the beginning of a semi trailer. Being a transit, it already has a frame to build from. Of course it has air brakes, air suspension and 22.5" wheels. Taking it apart will yield a large amount of steel and other materials. It even has new tires.

I believe I can sell the 6v92 Detroit and Allison V731 transmission without much trouble. The floor is the right height. Building the hitch will give me plenty of opportunity to stretch the rig to 40'. Best of all, I'll be recycling something I've been emotionally involved with for a decade.

It might be foolish, but I'm giving it a lot of thought.
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Post by graydawg »

There are also moving vans or electronic show that would allow for close to the ground living and can be bought used for a very reasonable price, not much use after the moving companies finish with them, as they are not setup for regular freight so not much resale. Have thought about this scenario for quite some time, they also have a low center of gravity and are full height inside with a deck over the fifth wheel and since they are a complete shell would be easily and cheaply built. at the rear some even have a lift gate for those that would desire it. if you look under used 18 wheeler trailers there were a 93 and 95 model 1 was 53' and the other 57' I think one was a frito lay chip hauling trailer both would work great, and the prices were around $6000.00 I am sure you could find cheaper prices.
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Lostranger
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Fifth Wheel Trailer From Scratch

Post by Lostranger »

Okay. It's the next morning, and the fever has passed. I realize that I do not want to build a semi trailer home out of my transit bus. I remembered at some point that much of the bus frame is aluminum, and that alone puts the project beyond my ability to engineer and fabricate. Thinking about the possibility has given me some better ideas of what to do with the bus, but that's another story.

So, I am officially looking for a 40' furniture van with a dropped deck. Seems like that is the best approach for what we need to build. I have the luxury of time on this project, but if any of you run onto such a van, please let me know. Don't have a tractor yet, but those seem plentiful. Right now it's too cold in Western North Carolina to do much building anyway.

I'm guessing that it's time for me to get serious about obtaining a Class A CDL, but I haven't researched that part yet.

Please, keep those great ideas coming in.

Jim
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Post by tamangel »

If you are getting rid of your FLX bus, you might already be aware of these folks:

http://www.flxibleowners.org/

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/flxowners/

plus another link for sales:

http://www.sellabus.com/flxible.html

info only and good luck..

Mike
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Post by graydawg »

on the drop deck vans alot of them had air operated cylinders to raise the trailer level to loading dock height, which would be very useful at times leveling and such and if you can find a 10'2" spread axle you would be ahead of the game especially if you plan on using a single axle tractor to pull it with.
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Post by Standaddy »

Jim,
A few years ago I talked to a fellow ATHS member from the Chapel Hill area who had built a travel-trailer from a funiture van. I remember that it was a Kentucky brand trailer, seems that it was a 45 or so length. He didn't live full-time in it, but used it for travel to truck-shows and such. He pulled it with a Mack H-67, which is a cabover. Can't remember for sure, but it seems like that might have been the last truck he had used in his trucking career. I heard later that he had some health problems and had the rig for sale, and I've not heard of him in the last 3 or 4 years. Name was Loye Mason. I just now found a pic of his Mack, but not the trailer, on Hankstruckpictures.com. BTW, to any interested in vintage big trucks, that's a good place to find them. You can search for ATHS show pics and find more than you've got time to look at.
I suspect you'd much rather build your own than buy someone else's, but your bed-bugger van comment caused me to remember Loye's rig.
I'm acquainted with lots of folks who use antique big-trucks to pull various kinds of store-bought and home-built trailers and truck-mounted boxes for vacations and truck-shows, but unless you've got some history of driving older trucks (a large number of ATHS members are truckers, either presently, or retired), and on really good terms with your toolbox, then using such might be more adventure than you're looking for. I think you were thinking of later trucks anyway, but just in case.
Good luck too, in your endeavor.
Stan
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Post by Standaddy »

Jim,
Truckpaper.com is a good place to find a used van, but it looks like it's getting harder to find anything shorter than 45'.
Stan
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Lostranger
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Fifth Wheel Trailer From Scratch

Post by Lostranger »

Hey Stan,

Thanks for the info. I'll look into finding Loye and see if his van is available and might work. You're right, though, I'd probably rather build my own. As far as size goes, 45 is not that much more trouble to maneuver than 40. I definitely want a single axle.

On the tractor end, I'm not interested in an antique. Mid eighties to mid nineties would be about right. I can go cabover or conventional and I don't worry about the name on the hood but I want a little power and considerable efficiency. A Detroit Series 50 would be ideal, but other companies make fine motors. I do NOT want a 3208 Cat. No automatic transmission, either.

I've already been looking on Truck Paper. It's a good site.

Jim
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Post by Dennis The Bus Dweller »

Holly Crap! We've just had a Turtle sighting :shock: How are you these days Roger? I was going to call you for something last month but I lost your number when I dropped my phone in the sink :D Maybe you can email it to me again some time 8)

Truckingturtle wrote:OK...OK...it's time for me to break my usual silence and speak up since the idea of a tandem trailer has been mentioned. I brought this subject up about 5 years ago (under the thread "re-formatting an old housetruck to pull a housetrailer" May 2005) so thought I would repost what I said back then so here it is again with the drawings I made:

I have been dreaming about what my next home on wheels will look like. Here are a couple of drawings I have done. This will be my fifth housetruck project and I plan to use my previous experience on the road to make it my best ever. I want to start with a good foundation-a 35' step-deck tandem-axle commercial hauling trailer-allowing easier access since it is lower to the ground, and able to take the weight of a wooden house on it.


Image

My fourth housetruck sets behind my cabinet shop right now, and I have come up with a plan where I would shorten it and convert the housetruck into a sleeper cab. Since it is illegal to have passengers in a trailer on the highway, the sleeper cab will give me the extra room I need for other passengers, and a place to sleep so it can be used for short joints away from the housetrailer.

Image

The lure of being out on the open road again is something I think about often. There's nothing like being able to go and see all those wonderful places that you can drive to, and still "be at home" in your own house! It's the mobile lifestyle that housetrucking is all about, not being parked in the same place all the time, or where it was built.

Roger (truckingturtle)
Peace along the way
Dennis the bus dweller N.Y.
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ezrablu
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Post by ezrablu »

Truckingturtle...your drawing plans are absolutely beautiful! I hope you do make them come true; now is the time. And please share your progress as you go.
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Mark R. Obtinario
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Post by Mark R. Obtinario »

If your trailer and tow vehicle is registered as an RV you don't have to have any kind of CDL to drive it down the road.

If you travel in Canada you may have to have an air brake endorsement.

The CDL laws require you to have a Class 'A' license if you tow anything that has a GVWR of more than 10,000 lbs. How many of the big fivers are more than 10,000 pounds empty? And none of them require the driver of the tow vehicle to have a CDL.

The hard part will be re-registering the tow vehicle and trailer as an RV. Each jurisdiction will have different rules. In WA state, in order to change the registration from bus to RV it requires two of the following permenanetly installed three items: a bed, a stove, and/or a toilet.
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Fifth Wheel Trailer From Scratch

Post by Lostranger »

I've been looking on the NCDOT web site for requirements for registering the trailer as an RV. I can't remember exactly what we had to have installed when we got a house car registration for the Flex, but it was some combination of the usual stuff: kitchen, heating system, toilet, bathing facilities, etc. I remember they gave us some options when the two state inspectors showed up to check the bus. We had everything on the list, so it did not matter.

I figured some similar rule would apply to the semi trailer I'm going to convert, but I had no idea that we could get an rv registration for the tractor. That's an exciting idea, but I wonder how it might affect using the tractor for other purposes.

Monday, I'll call until I find out more. I'll post what I learn on this forum.

Jim
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Post by tamangel »

another idea that might satisfies the rv reg for or your tow/vehicle..

pic's grabbed from Steel Soldiers..

Image

Image

a conversation about converting the military M-146 single axle trailer van to an RV on Steel Soldiers (you can sign up as a member to see the pics)
I think most mil trailers are too short for your needs, around 32 feet or so..at least the van's length..
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/trailers/4 ... amper.html

another trailer's for sale link:

http://www.trailershopper.com/browse-18-0.html

also found this conversation including a link or 2, re: over length rigs in NC
http://www.nitromater.com/nhra/17578-nh ... acers.html

Mike
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Post by Mark R. Obtinario »

If the tow vehicle is registered as an RV, using it to for any other purpose could get you in a lot of trouble in regards to license and weight fees with corresponding penalties.
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