Finished my new tow vehicle, it works very well.

Beautiful rig Dave. Nice job!

At first I thought Dave was kidding. Ramps for the car must be somewhere on the rig.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Beautiful rig Dave. Nice job!

Thanks, driving this beast is a lot of FUN.

Dave

mat60 wrote:
At first I thought Dave was kidding. Ramps for the car must be somewhere on the rig.

The ramps are carried in a protective box located under the deck and behind the rear drive axle. The ramps fold up to 6 feet long when collapsed and extend to 12 feet long when extended. Here's a photo of the test load while the deck was being built.


Dave

Works for me. I've seriously considered a day cab for pulling my goose neck hay trailer around. Day cabs don't have much resale value. I looked at a day cab Pete with a Cat and 10 speed, twin screw, low miles for 22 grand.

One thing about using a Class 8 truck to pull an RV is, you don't ever have to worry about being over on an axle and put 'Private Carrier, not for Hire' on the side and no log book or DOT physical either. I think you still also need a Federal DOT number, I know I do with my 350 Ford because I use it to pull a hay trailer and I'm over 20K GCVW.

One thing about a Pete. It has class. Freightshakers have no class.

Now that's the way to travel.. except perhaps for the backing up! Even with my 'no class' FL Sportchassis MDT I have to be extra careful about that front-end swing.

In michigan a day cab would be impossible to call motorhome. afaik
Nice rig Dave talk of the campground I'll bet,Volvo's are old hat now

SidecarFlip wrote:
Works for me. I've seriously considered a day cab for pulling my goose neck hay trailer around. Day cabs don't have much resale value. I looked at a day cab Pete with a Cat and 10 speed, twin screw, low miles for 22 grand.

One thing about using a Class 8 truck to pull an RV is, you don't ever have to worry about being over on an axle and put 'Private Carrier, not for Hire' on the side and no log book or DOT physical either. I think you still also need a Federal DOT number, I know I do with my 350 Ford because I use it to pull a hay trailer and I'm over 20K GCVW.

The trick to towing with a class 8 truck is to convert it into a "motor home". This is much simpler then you would think depending on the State you live in.

In Washington for example, there are 6 requirements to convert a semi into a motor home but you only have to do 4 of the 6 requirements. Because my truck has a sleeper, ( 1) it has permanent sleeping facilities, all I added was a (2) charger-inverter so I can run the appliances off of shore power or battery power, (3) I installed a micro wave for cooking, and (4) the easiest one of all I bought a portapotty NEVER took it out of the box but placed it under the bunk in the sleeper, my truck is no longer a truck but a legally titled and registered motor home that can be driven with a regular drivers license.

There is no need for DOT numbers as it is NOT a commercial truck, there is no need for any signage stating not for hire, privet RV or any other such lettering all this does is confuse the LEO's. Have a folder where all your paper work is neatly laid out in order, have a copy of YOUR States requirements for a motor home, house car, or privet truck, each State has a different way of naming and configuring a truck to meet the requirements of a NON COMMERCIAL TRUCK. As an RV you do NOT need to stop at weigh stations.

If you tow a large RV trailer one that weighs 18,000 pounds or more, run the numbers you can't beat a converted class 8 truck, I have way less money in this Peterbilt even with all the conversion work and Smart Car, deck build then you could buy a newer one ton pickup truck for.

Dave

Mr. Cob wrote:
In Washington for example, there are 6 requirements to convert a semi into a motor home but you only have to do 4 of the 6 requirements.
There is no need for DOT numbers as it is NOT a commercial truck,

WA seems to struggle with the DOT thing on big trucks. I recently tried renewing my M2-106 online and it said I need a DOT number. I had to call and remind them it's not commercial.

In '13 when I first got it I spent one hour in the licensing office trying to convince them it was not a commercial vehicle. Apparently they had just 'upgraded' their computer system and it was not cooperating. After all, "nobody" would ever buy one of these trucks for personal use.