Draw bar perfect...

My Baby and I actually went up the embankment again day before yesterday. No rubbing at all. We even went at a slightly steeper location. Heh.

Draw bar too long

My lady and I decided (playing) to go up a 45 degree embankment from one parking lot to another, curbs at top and bottom. (first 4WD engagement) The aluminum draw bar rubbed the lower curb due to angle of attack. Heh. I cut it off exactly two inches. The reasoning behind getting the drawbar with so much adjustment was because 6, 8 and 10 inches were all the same price. I'll go for more product every time. At any rate, it was 10.5 inches off the ground at the bottom. Now it is 12.5 inches off the ground. I didn't feel like precisely duplicating rounded corners on bottom, but I did slice off both corners and hit with angle grinder, more sliced off in rear. (problem area at curbs) You can see in images the scratched area on the rear side, bottom of part I cut off. I'll just bet I'll use that aluminum stock for a spacer of some sort in the future. We'll see. Currently, we will hit the location in the morning and determine if enough was removed. I don't think the previous report justified any more removal. We'll see in the morning...

Dealer agreed... Tire out of round...

I took tire and wheel and balanced at a cost of $10. and you could see tire was out of round. I took to dealer, they agreed, ordered new tire, replaced and balanced and I'm going to put it back under truck as spare... Dealer said they can't reimburse me for the balance, they'd have done it free...(138 miles on truck) Whatever... I didn't want them touching my truck. I Cquartzed it, Line-X'd it, installed goose rails, working on stereo. I don't mind a tire change and replace... I took them the wheel/tire in my old truck... heh...

2.5 inch class 5 adjustable Drawbar Billet Aluminum, Stainless balls, with weigh scale...

Okay folks. I have mixed feelings about this weight scale built into ball mount, but, the only other available option I located (adjustable aluminum class 5) was $45. more plus additional for locking mechanism... This unit comes with ball mount lock, a 2-5/16" stainless ball and a 2" stainless ball. I've been pulling trailers most of my life, so I have a good idea how to position loads to both put weight on and take it off truck. The weight scale (hydraulic) seems a bit gimmicky to me but I can see others really needing it...(fishtailing from lack of tongue weight...) However, coming out of Charleston, WV one night, I saw a single cab Ford Ranger pulling a tandem axle trailer with a Ford 8 or 9 N on board and said to my *then* wife; "that is a hazard, that could turn into an emergency at any second" I slowed down, I was under a high dollar load in my big truck, I let him proceed without putting us in danger...A few moments later he jackknifed and ended up pinned against a rock wall. Point is; if people don't have any better sense than that, a scale to properly position load on trailer will do little to assist...A shame actually, we'll probably be looking at an endorsement to pull trailers before long, I don't agree with it, but, I have seen the necessity... At any rate, the 2-5/16" ball is rated at 14,500 lbs and truck hitch (I'd never seen a hitch quite like this one, boxed and attached to bottom and side of frame on each side) is rated at 15,000 lbs. Images below...

3500HD Doesn't care about 1800 lbs...

I'm winding the landing gear up without moving my head and had to look to see what the problem was because the truck was not going down from the weight... I look down at landing gear feet and they're no longer on ground... Heh!!!

Curt manufacturing Hitch Rails, Line-X, install permanent...

Loads of fun installing goose hitch rails. Do yourself a favor and remove spare from the start...Forget the 'I'm smarter than that approach' because although you/I can get it done, I didn't figure out anyway to torque the nuts without removing the spare...Unfortunately, Curt's spacers DO NOT completely make up space between ridges formed in bed, I added 5/8 inch washers under spacers. (same washers used for installing the frame brackets, bought at TSC) Also, get eight to begin with, you need to use spacers and 4 more washers UNDER the bed. It's a fun install, no kidding...A full truck lift so you can stand would be a tremendous help...I did mine on a creeper and directly on the shop floor...
Another note; I had a vibration at 70 mph, I felt like it was the right rear tire, since I removed the spare, (steel rims have matching spare...) I decided to go ahead and exchange right rear tire with spare, problem solved, I'll take that tire and wheel and have balanced again, if it happens to be out of round I'll go see the dealer...(Goodyear sucks, imho...) I'll put Michelins on when I feel like spending the money, probably the ATX 2... Attending to my lady, will get under goose tomorrow...
Here's the images...

Pulling Truck

Okay folks... The new Duramax is rated at 445 HP and 915 Ft LBS... I believe this is correct... I do not know when it will hit the ground for purchase. In any case, I expect I will give them a year to work out any bugs, mine isn't for show, it's for go... With that in mind, I tried to get a crew one ton dually with Duramax and was basically told to forget it when I mentioned the price of several months ago. $47k plus is where we start today... I located a 2016 3500HD crew, single rear wheel, short bed, gas, stickering for 44,340. with touch screen, bluetooth, 4x4, and towing mirrors with turn signals and messed around at $36k and they laid right down...Could be contributed to their knowledge of me leaving and buying a Tundra half ton to tow and haul with. Toyota called during negotiation... Who can know? That was my next stop. Suffice it to say... I'm not missing the Toyota. This truck is a beast. I hadn't realized that GM had fully boxed the entire frame, not just the front, I'm happy with the feel of this truck. I have to order the goose frame rails because GM signed on with Curt manufacturing and has already drilled and welded nuts in the frame for Curts brackets...On the way...I'll drill holes in bed and take to Line-X then install rails and get under goose...Glad nobody bought it yet... I may just keep it...I'm very fond of it though it can't carry forklifts...I may just build a shorty tilt bumper pull for forklifts and be happy... Must admit the idea of a hydraulic dove is pleasing...

Plans changed

Well, looks like I need a trailer with a hydraulic dovetail because forklifts will not load onto this trailer with dove angle, forklifts are too low to ground... So! Anybody interested in purchasing my trailer? I need to build another one. I will entertain $8500. as she sits or we can negotiate modifications... I'd like to move on this as quickly as possible... 615-971-2516  JD

Truck update

Chevrolet dealer just called. The fella is going on vacation and wanted to let me know he "put another $1000. off "on my truck and marked it with my name and gave me the name of another fella that could take care of me.
Sort of starting to feel gamey to me...But to my advantage...

This means I can get the truck for $43,332. before tax, title, license...

OUT THE DOOR $47,074.50

I hate to turn this down, so I'm emailing the GMC dealer to see if they will come on down... I guess I may reconsider if GMC will get close to this price. I can wait as long as required...

Leaning towards waiting...

Well now, a new development has arisen and I'm leaning towards waiting until at least the 2017 GM truck information is known. This new development is personal and has no relevance in the truck information. What does have to do with the trucks is that I'm annoyed GM has so thoroughly prevented new or any information from being leaked about the 2017's. Sure, we know there has been a slight front end redesign, as well as, what looks to be some sort of air intake in the hood area of the new 3500HD's. This leads me and others to believe GM/Isuzu has modified the Duramax and I believe from research that GM has strengthened the platforms. I cannot tolerate not knowing how much better the new trucks will be, therefore, I can't buy a 2016 at this juncture. For the record, it's still a wonderful feeling to have no debt. Heh!
I will be monitoring the situation and will post information as it becomes available.

 As soon as I get a minute, I will plasma cut light holes in rear plates to weld on ramps. Then I need to weld on receiver for draw bar winch plate, cut and move ramp spring catches, install work lights and take to a buddies shop building, put inside, remove all lights, jack trailer up off of tandem subframe and spray topcoat on bottom of bed plate, subframe and ramps and other areas to be finished... Completely! That is... Until I buy the 12k axles and wheel and tire assemblies...

2017 3500HD Duramax/Allison

Well now! Another curve-ball...Here I am trying to get the absolute best price on these trucks and my non-salesperson lady friend at GMC dealer informs me that GM is about to release the 2017's...Certainly this opens up more possibilities, not only increasing my page views for my blog by putting this info on blog, heh, but also that GM will offer greater incentives for 2016 trucks that will become much harder to sell due to new features and/or performance of the 2017's. Of course, my statements are theoretical, and should be viewed as such. I have gathered GM has modified the Duramax and/or the Allison in a manner to, at least on paper, be more competitive with the powerstroke you and come-apart... The reason I say on paper is because anybody can readily ascertain in real world operation the Duramax/Allison already outperforms both competitors in almost every head to head test. When Ford and Dodge put out numbers for torque and horsepower they cook the books. In actual street tests the powerstroke you and come-apart lose to the less powerful (ON PAPER) Duramax and Allison. Why do you suppose that is? Are they measuring from the crankshaft instead of the rear wheels? Whatever they have done and continue to do is about to come home on them hard... I think GM has gotten tired of reading all the smoke blowing crap from powerstroked-you and come-apart on you and decided to spank the little boys for misbehavior and send them to their rooms. It's a safe bet that when GM says the torque and horsepower figures are closer to the powerstroked you and come-apart, those boys are in serious trouble.
While I may be firing people up, I'm going to go ahead and point out another observation I've made. Having a conversation with my brother recently (A true hard Toyota fan) my brother suggested that since we KNOW Toyota owns Hino (diesel engine/big truck manufacturer) and has still chosen the 'familiar to Americans' come-apart for the Toyota diesels, can mean only one thing... Toyota will control every aspect of the come-apart manufacturing process and the engines will meet Toyota's specifications in every way. My belief is that Cummins will benefit tremendously from being told how to make the engines from Toyota and the come-aparts for other lines could become good engines in the near future.
Imagine for a moment Toyota decides to build a crew cab dually one ton... This post would be a whole lot different! In one clean sweep the Toyota would destroy the American truck capabilities and redefine the industry. We might finally have trucks worth owning from all manufacturers. Smoke on that for a little while!!!

As a parting note; If Americans could build a Lexus, wouldn't we have one?

GMC versus Chevrolet

Update... Well, I'm not mentioning the dealers for obvious reasons but I've managed to get two competing for my business. The GMC is definitely higher, does not have the 7" touch screen with Bluetooth. But does have a second more powerful alternator which would be good for numerous reasons including resale. The Chevrolet has the Michelin ATX 2 and the GMC has Michelin LTX which is more of a street tire, less aggressive, in my experience probably last longer. The Chevrolet without the extra high capacity alternator does have the upgraded stereo with Bluetooth, but it's only a $200. option, it's also snow plow prepped $385. which I will likely never use. The Chevrolet does not have the L.E.D. light strips above and below the headlights. The GMC looks better in my opinion. As of now the difference is more major than these little items.
Chevrolet $44,332.
GMC $46,000.
I've been buying new trucks since I was 27 and in every case I settled, I'm not sure I will settle this time. I plan to keep the truck for an extended period and my preference is the GMC.
They are going to have to change out stereo head unit to the 7 inch touch screen with Bluetooth and lower the price to be more competitive with the sister Chevrolet.

Get this; Another lady just called me from another dealership stating that she might be able to get an LT crew cab 4x4 dually with pickup bed close to the same price. This is not the same truck, but close. The regular dually's with pickup bed are rated slightly different (200lbs) in weight carrying capacity in bed, the frames are slightly different to accept the pickup bed as opposed to upfitted flatbeds, dumps, boxes etc. Having the pickup bed would be advantageous, I wouldn't be in a rush to build flatbed, I could use truck for intended purpose right now, the removed bed could become valuable in a few years...
Stickers
GMC $51,350
Chevrolet $50,114
Chevrolet LT with pickup bed 52,400.

So! Anyone with any interest can see how this truck buying process is going. Hard to believe there are actually people with so much extra money that they readily lay out $20k or more for the same truck with the Denali trim... I can see the sunroof having appeal, possibly express up and down for all windows, heated seats etc but $20k???

GMC 3500HD 4X4 Crewcab Dually Diesel and Allison...

Well people, I'm getting into looking for my truck pretty hard. I've got a dealer in north Georgia at $46,565. and another here in Tennessee at $46,572. However, the Chevrolet dealer has quoted $45,556. and the Chevrolet has a couple more options. These are cab and chassis models so I will probably be building a bed rather quickly if I do it. I'm getting covered up with outside work, busy, but I am seriously considering the truck. GM isn't offering the incentives,($1750.) Ha! GM can do better... I'm researching and hoping to find a little better deal... Tax, title and license puts me back over $50k. I'd like to stay under that if possible, plus, it has occurred to me that now may not be the best time due to new emissions regulations bogging these trucks down... Could be wise to wait on more reviews. I looked at a new medium duty M2 106 crew cab 4x4 Freightliner that costs more than a class 8 Volvo (new) so that made me stop thinking about a medium duty truck instantly.
Does anybody have any ideas about how to buy one of these trucks any cheaper?

Just rambling...Ordered winch today, gave bids and contemplated welding on receiver for steel mounting plate I need to make for winch. Re-thought about making ramps hydraulic... Like idea, don't like the weight...

Ramps

I decided to work on trailer ramps yesterday and today. I cut and welded (8) eight 1.25 inch square tubing support tubes for diamond plate load /travel surfaces on each ramp. Then welded diamond plate and ground smooth rough areas then primed. During initial calculations I decided to leave an 1/8 inch space to make ramps come flush with bed only after adding some type of cushion to prevent metal on metal contact from ramps to dove. It is almost time to decide what sort of cushion to obtain. I welded on side triangles, previously sheered with other pieces, After working it out in my head I couldn't see another sheet beyond the two required to cover load surfaces, therefore the insides of ramps are left open. Manufacturers use the side plate as ramp support but I have a complete self supporting frame. Of note: after adding the plate my assist springs are no longer sufficient and I must make adjustments. I've yet to determine the use of more springs (added weight) or cutting and re-positioning current spring catches... Both include numerous complications. I'm slightly annoyed my ramps are so heavy. I could have made them lighter and been just fine. As it stands I cannot imagine anything crushing or damaging them, it would probably take over a hundred thousand pounds and nothing like that will ever be getting on my trailer. At best I could put two 15k axles under it and it's still overbuilt for that, but never would the trailer be required to carry more than 30k. Ramps will soon be forgotten as a non issue...
I'm adding the rear plates after I cut stop, tail and turn mount holes to add additional lights to ramps. I don't think it's necessary, but I've decided higher mounted lights will be safer, and redundants are good in case of light failure... Also, it would be simple to add reverse lights to ramps as well but I have mixed feelings about them. I may or may not.

Update, dovetail angles...

Okay record...This is just an update, people continually ask me how to determine angle of dove... This seems to come up quite a bit. Very simple. Take the length you'd like for the dove, my example here will be five feet. (I'd like a five foot dovetail) So we're adding five feet of length to overall usable bed space, at 8 feet wide, that adds 40 square feet. I did it by the numbers. We know we have to get to the ground, I've already got five feet planned for dovetail and I'm going to fabricate flip over ramps to match bed height in travel position so that my usable bed space is all flat for hauling things loaded by forklift. (stand up ramps are much easier) I suggest making a mock up with wood, maybe 2X4's 10 feet long. The angle depends directly on your bed height, in some cases with a higher bed you will need a longer dovetail and ramps to get to the ground. If you're making flip over ramps and you'd like to add loading surface level with bed you'll need to keep some key points in mind.

The ramps cannot be the full dovetail length. (same length doesn't allow surfaces to mate level)
The front legs/feet on ramps must contact ground (only when weight applied) forward of ramps themselves. (if legs/feet are directly under the front of ramp, when the weight transfers from ramp to dove the ramps will lift up at the low end causing major damage to wheeled vehicles)
Ramps cannot contact ground when lowered to ground, the front legs/feet would stop ramp from getting into lowered position.

To determine the angle correct for dove, position your 2X4's at matching level of bed with opposing end on ground, Measure your angle. Mine worked out to be 15 degrees. All that matters is a balance between ramps and dove and you must get to the ground.
The perfect system isn't possible. You have compromises and are looking for the best compromise for your application... You can always use wood to compensate for needing to load irregular items. in fact, to load my forklift I will lay down 3/4 inch plywood on ramps and dove to make it smoother on small forklift wheels and distribute the weight better. To load my VW Passat (low to ground) I would need to raise the car with wood 3-4 inches and adjust ramps accordingly. So basically, my ramps are too steep to load cars. Trucks are a non-issue. Tractors, wheel loaders, rough terrain forklifts, manlifts and such would be perfect for loading. Lower ramps, drive on, chain and roll...

Been busy working people. Ramps completely installed with assist springs and primed. I'll come back to the install to share details about assist springs, solid hinge rod etc. I need to do bids for work. Also, I had all ramp diamond plate sheered to exact size for simplicity and will weld the sections on as time permits.
NOTE: Full spool of copper coated .045 welding wire ran out doing some final welding on ramp structures. (50 lb spool, all of it in trailer... I just loaded a spool of copper coated .035 (44 lbs)

and I'm enjoying it in relation to the .045, pleasant change...)

ramps

Making ramps...4 inch channel main supports (3) @ 55 inches long... spaced 20  inches apart, total 40". Angle cut @ 40"  2 1/2" .25 wall angle crossmembers (9) spaced 5" apart (crest to crest) I used 3" channel for legs straight down from channel and miter cut foot ends to match feet squared on floor. (almost) By that I mean I took wooden shims and raised the front of one front channel foot and raised the rear of the other front channel foot. I'm no engineer, but it seems to me the feet shouldn't be identical in how they contact the ground, I believe they're more stable this way. Whenever I run into a situation where I don't know how to do something, I think of a guy smarter than me, then I think, what would he do...Heh!  Obviously the front feet/foot of each ramp needs to be out further, (in front of) ramp surface to prevent ramps kicking up with weight on them, (actually at the weight transfer point from ramp to dove) and this brings into focus the issue of just how will the ramp feet clear the ground when raising or lowering... The ramps need to match the bed height when in travel position and they must be off the ground in lowered position, only coming into contact with ground when weight added to them such as when loading something... You can readily observe in my images that I put smaller legs and another foot behind the front legs/feet for additional support. Ramps are very heavy. In an attempt to save weight as much as possible without sacrificing strength, I'm adding diamond plate to bottom of ramps (flipped over on dove this will be the travel loading surface) and welding the angle cut ends of channel main supports to diamond plate to prevent twisting forces that would naturally occur during loading heavy equipment. (this is as opposed to adding more weight with structural crossmembers)
I need two sheets of 1/8" (nothing will be driving on ramps in travel position therefore 1/8" is sufficient) diamond plate for this because each surface is now 57"X 40". As well, I'm considering the difficulty in finding a shop with a large metal brake and braking the small end over the angle cut mainframe channel 3 or 4 inches for a nice starting surface for ramps... I may have the two sheets sheared at 57X40 and weld it for simplification and add a smaller piece of angle to top to finish starting surface, either way will look good... Of course I could brake the opposite end over the hinge side of the ramps far enough to add two additional tail lights. This would actually make more sense because with my current set up about 40% of my bumper lights will be covered by the 1 1/2 inch solid steel hinge rod... Who knew the ramps would be the most complicated part of the trailer? So there you have it, there are some variables, but anybody can get the general idea of how I did this and you can adjust yours to your own ideas or use mine... I'm including detailed images of my ramp side hinges, 3/4 X 2 1/2 inch, cut, mitered, welded, drilled 1 9/16" holes, cut off corners, rounded with grinder... First image is pattern for hinges required. I'll fabricate bumper side hinges today. Last two are ramps in progress. Have a nice day!

Updates

Well now... No point in lying. I was anxious and a little worried to actually pull it. Fact is, I didn't really calm down until after I weighed it on the big truck scales, got a bite to eat and took a break...
I torqued all lug nuts, checked lights, checked breakaway system battery, put my gooseneck spider in my bed on rails, secured with pins, connected breakaway line, inspected all of the shackles, spring mounts etc. I greased all grease fittings. (jacks, equalizers, coupler) Set all air pressure to 80 psi and reversed and pulled forward braking numerous times. I drove around a 3 block circle and returned for inspection. Then I drove out to the four lane and hit it! I did keep my truck in 3rd instead of overdrive, we know the trailer is at least 6200 lbs. I didn't add welding wire and I didn't have the correct measurements on the dovetail angle 5/16 X 3, as well, the scales could be slightly off... I couldn't ascertain a correct intelligent answer as to what percentage are they guaranteed correct... Such is the world/time in which we live... I was so excited I have no idea what I paid for the two weighs... She pulls just as pretty as you please, my truck knows she's there, but just goes on... My happiest realization is that there is no jerking/bucking going on and I purposely hit potholes to investigate oddities. So, in light of that, I'd say the rigid frame and neck idea are an extreme success.

Here are the scale tickets, as you can see; Steer axle is 3200 lbs. Drive axle is at 3820 lbs. and trailer axles are at 5160 lbs all while connected to truck.

Total is 12,180 lbs.

Then I dropped trailer on scales and weighed alone. At the jacks the trailer is 1880 lbs. At the axles the trailer is 4620 lbs.

Total trailer 6500 lbs.

I'd like to point out that I'm building ramps now, 40 inches wide each and they are very heavy, I'm guessing I'll be lucky if I can keep them at 300 lbs. each. I ordered 3 sets of assist springs, up and down is plan, I may adjust that number by necessity... 

Also, as time/money permits I have every intention of removing 7k axles and replacing with 12k axles and running super singles rated at 6005 lbs each.

I pulled it roughly 46 miles all told and I plan to pull it again unladen on a nicer day with no rain in forecast. I've yet to finish priming and painting bottom of bed plate and painting the rest of the mainframe...I expect I'll get on those issues as work permits. I'm attempting to design and build ramps in the evenings/nights but I have to rest a little... 

Good Day!

Tunes

People I am so tired working 16-18 hours per day that I've just been dragging butt this morning, should be doing wiring, yet I am listening to music. Here are a couple I found recently that I'm fond of, I don't consume alcoholic beverages anymore but I can certainly relate well.
Neither of these recordings sound quality on a system (ie. I'm running a DJ mixing board, Crown amps and JBL M-Pro's (dual 15's, horns) switchable to Klipsch CF-3's...) however, on my little computer speakers (Klipsch THX) they actually sound fantastic...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO3RIy7JB7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McdA0aPQEUI

A good laugh!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMFY7RhzhDA

All Mickey Gilley...

Here is one that does sound fabulous on ANY system and can be really cranked up!!! I thrive on the horn parts!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaUVLvhwwK8

Okay, that's enough goofing off, have a nice day...

DREADNOUGHT

Dreadnought definitions that suit me...

One that is among the largest or most powerful of its kind.

Fears nothing.

Big, Strong, Impressive, Awe inspiring.

Any large heavily armored battleship.


Heh!

Sand application between topcoats

Here folks is an image of the result of shaking clean/dry sand in between the final two topcoats...The feel is that of around 20 grit sandpaper...

Hi Solids Polyurethane

Perhaps I'm particularly sensitive to these types of coatings because the actual topcoat hi solids polyurethane was actually much worse than the Kem Kromik primer, as far as odor and dislike. I'm not sure if the hardener was the culprit and what, if any, effect the reducer had in the mix, I had to reduce it a small amount to make it more workable... Very happy I never opened the stuff inside!!! I even had a good breeze blowing and it annoyed me.

After careful consideration, I'm leaning towards letting the huge landing gear idea go at this time due mainly to the weight. (I have a slightly educated guess that they are over 220 lbs each)

I might add that if I do happen to come into possession of a GM Duramax (Preferring the GMC)  I could go ahead with the extra weight...Especially if a set pops up on Craigslist that's reasonable...

I guess it's time to talk about my truck. I suppose you can see it in some of my posts. I love it! It is a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 2wd extended cab long bed with the 6.0 LS engine.
A little story; I've gone to look at the new trucks, mouth gets all dry, then I get back in my paid for, nothing wrong with Baby and she glides away just as pretty as you please... Sure a crew cab four door, four wheel drive, dually, WITH DIESEL AND ALLISON TOO!!! would be tits!!!
Some of you may know, if you've ever heard of a spark plug, or haven't spent your life on Uranus, that GM's LS engines are the easiest to soup up.  Very reasonably priced mods and some of the best engines in existence... SO! I've toyed with the idea of freshening it up (new rod bearings and mains, rings, oil pump etc) and slapping on a set of aluminum L-92 heads and a new intake. Then adding a small turbo charger (75mm) and running about 10 lbs of boost. I figure that'll get me in the 500-550 hp range and around 500 ft. lbs. of torque to pull my trailer loaded uphill without, lets just say, getting in the way... My dealer says they can reflash computer and offered options for the transmission.. While toying I have noted that Hudiburg Fleet sales in Oklahoma seems to have the best prices on the 2015 and 2016 3500HD crew cab 4X4 with Duramax and Allison....Both with pickup bed and cab and chassis and bed options as well. (I'm rather fond of the aluminum flat beds)
Obviously I'd go with the dually for stability but folks that's an awful lot of money, I cannot trade my truck because she's my girl...She's reliable if I do nothing! I have a car I could trade in but I'm not a fan of payments AT ALL! Therefore I'm left with paying for it by working my butt off. I'm starting a complete exterior first thing in the morning, I'll get the interior as well... But honestly, I'd need 20 more to buy that truck and I'm not certain I could do it. Sure, it would be fantastic and I could do more dabbling in heavy equipment (buying/selling) but I just don't think I could do it. That is a boatload of money!

That's all I have to say about that. I need to get up early, get to Nashville and get to work... It rained a good portion of the day here and I had to give a bid for work so nothing got done on goose today, still need to finish priming bottom of diamond plate and painting it as well, then I need to run 7 conductor wire in conduit, wire in breakaway box, electrical connector, brakes, stop and turns... Then design and build ramps. Add additional lights etc.

I'll tell you what!!! Has anybody seen the big truck trailers with the tilting landing pads on jacks? They ride in a low in the rear attitude and look B.A. to me. The 12 thousand pound axles from Dexter are $1300 each through my dealer in TX. Two month waiting time after ordering... Tires and wheels are $235 each and are 18 ply rated at 6005 lbs each. Though they are 17.5 inch, they are actually smaller in circumference than the 16's. (lower profile side wall) The total will be around $4000. to get to the labor part. Meanwhile I'm looking for the big truck jacks I've got to have, these Bulldogs are petty in comparison., comparatively the Bulldogs look anorexic...
Talking to my engineering friend, we agree there is no rating that can be put on my mainframe and bedframe because there is no comparison, the weight carrying capacity of my trailer can *ONLY* be limited by the axles. The diamond plate is 278 lbs per sheet, times 5 equals 1390 lbs...

I was thinking of putting JDM inside neck I-beam and now I'm toying with maybe:

LEVIATHAN
BEHEMOTH
COLOSSUS
DREADNOUGHT

Heh!

Maybe DREADNOUGHT and my phone number...

Anybody have a set of big truck trailer jacks that sound like what I'm talking about please contact me... I don't believe they are made any longer, too much weight...

Another comment on commercial trailers... Folks the entire "torque tube" fiasco created by the large trailer companies to sound intelligent and add cost is killing me really, I get tears streaming down my face at the lengths they will go to in order to build a cheap trailer and make cheap sound inviting. Hilarious doesn't quite get there...

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, get up on a commercially available trailer and walk to any corner and jump and the opposing corner flops up and down, well looky here people... Along comes the almighty *torque tube* watch this; by welding a piece of pipe at 2 or 3 points inside the mainframe they can cut down on the flopping when you jump on the corners... Hehehehehehe....

Okay, here's the thing people... steel flex is about the worst thing you can do to steel, it causes the steel to become stressed, metal fatigue is a serious problem, you cannot fix it. Imagine replacing the main beams in these trailers after a few years...

Again, I'd like to point out that anybody can build their own. My fully boxed mainframe beams are extremely ridged, the rear wall of the 6 inch channel is 7/16 inch thick, the web is 3/4 inch, now double that and you can imagine the strength we're talking about. Two of those for the main frame and then main frame crossmembers from the same material, then add another one to the center of the crossmembers... Do you think this system can flex???

Too tired to do much explaining. I'll state that in a perfect world my ideas would've been fantastic. The things I said I'd do were outrageous fantasy. I got up at 4:00 am on the 19th and pulled it all outside, set up main frame level, then put every piece of bed frame on main frame, went on to dove and that's where the illusion became apparent. With bed frame sides positioned perfectly with miters at front nothing with dove would line up, I had the bedframe done at 5:30 am and the dove took 4 hours. I got it after quite a bit of WTF... I started welding at 10:00 am and well... I'm a peculiar person I suppose some may say. I couldn't just weld without continually checking every piece for movement, oh the horror of imperfection is simply intolerable. I worked all day and until 1:00 am the 20th. Things have been pretty much a blur since then, I've worked on it one way or another since. I had an outside job scheduled with my work that had to be done so that drove me nuts. I'll update in more detail when I catch a mood. There is no end to what's enough. I ruined my press bed shaping the boarding handles (They had to be identical...) the boarding steps took a whopping 2 hours, couldn't have shin busters on MY trailer...I installed the lights I had today, also what WAS the plan, things change... I'm ordering more mini L.E.D.s right after this, and flood work lights, contemplating bed surface lights, either out of any conceivable way or dead center, flush without question... I put 3 per side under bed facing down on outside of wheels (tire issues resolved with glance in mirror) and it's evident 1 or 2 lights inside wheels would be logical... At any rate, here's the images... enjoy!