contemplating my way to the starting line.
 

new guy, signed up for your opinions on a life changing decision for me. background is, im relocating my machine/fab shop from massachusetts to tennessee in 2 to 3 yrs, probably a million pounds of steel cumulative. im rigging and hauling it myself, as always, just a lot more per trip, and a LOT longer each way. thats been decided, please dont suggest i hire movers. it doesnt work for my unique circumstances.

ive finally admitted to myself that my 12v cummins dually is not the tool for the job. looked at MDTs but under 26,000 lbs limit means a ton of harsh, loud, uncomfortable 16 hour each way, sparsely loaded trips in a miserable truck with wife/dogs/baby, and shop downtime that i cant afford. hauling a sensible weight puts me over CDL, (dont have one.) researched that till the myriad pile of federal motor carrier regs turned my stomach. im not submitting myself to a federal gang rape or the insurance that comes with it. so im 95% committed to building a budget RV tagged/not for hire toter rig. again looked at MDTs, but its just throwing away money on yet another poor excuse for the right tool.

-i need a class 8 daycab or removeable sleeper, which would be sold off
-need tandems to get frame length even if i only one run axle.
-no dayton/cast wheels, must be big 10 hub piloted
-no V engines, no cats, inline 6 aftercooled only
-#2 bellhousing preferred, since i have an RTOO9513 (top 3 gears are OD)
-prefer air ride but willing to convert from spring. i can fab.

the stumper, what engine. 6BT, DT466 and L10 too small. 8.3 cummins borderline? detroit S60, cummins 855 variants, M11, ISM, N14?

one kicker, its gonna be running one of my manual WVO setups. (my oil is very clean and dry, lots of experience) so mechanical pumps with simple fuel routing are very favorable. cheap injectors is also a bonus. i take oil samples for the lab and have no problem pulling, cleaning, pop testing/balancing injectors.. i just dont want them to be unobtainable. im on a paycheck to paycheck $7500 max budget and hoping to find a truck thats still got a 100k left before an inframe. i get parts wholesale, and machine myself.

what would you run for a motor?

how many horse and what gears to hold a 50k GCVW to 65mph up grades and touch 80 in the flats?

my RTOO was behind an NTC250 in a '73 autocar with a 55k GVW. its got 12.10 low gear, 7th under is direct and top gear is .62

thanks for your opinions.

Is 80 Legal? Sure isn't around here or even close. Seems mighty fast to me. Just MHO.

Noisiest transmission, by far, I have ever driven. And that is a lot of them over the years. I thought it was a smart idea but I have no use for something that makes that much noise when you spend all day with it. Again, just MHO.

well.. my daughter is pretty noisy but i spend all day with her. :)

theres a difference between not going over the speedlimit and not being able to. jmho.

Just curious, how will you haul the steel with an rv plated unit as quoted below?




so im 95% committed to building a budget RV tagged/not for hire toter rig.





An older Freightliner FLD120 might suit your needs. N14 is very popular in them and the majority are air ride so you can just pull the forward axle. They do have integral bunks, you can remove the bed and put seats in its place. I have no earthly idea why you would want a day cab if your going to be hauling wife/kids/dog?

i want to cut open a day cab and graft custom camper right to in a walk-thru configuration, so theres no sense paying extra for a sleeper i dont need there, unless its removeable and can be sold to offset buying the truck. that would give me some extra frame. guess it depends what turns up. integrated cab/sleeper one piece setups are out.


as for hauling my machinery, i own it and can prove it, its my recreation. is there some reason why i cant transport whatever the heck i want for my own purposes? if a box trailer is required, then i will go that route.

any comments on the N14? were they mechanical pump or common rail? decent life span? parts available?

Well, as a long time contract employee for the NHTSA, I can tell you it isn't going to fly. MAYBE you can indeed prove you erect bridge steel for recreation... I don't know how, but I guess it's possible. What you have to 'prove' more than anything is your intentions to the DOT or other enforcement official who stops you. In the possible scenario that he lets you go with a written citation, then you can fight it in court later, maybe even win. But for someone who states that "the myriad pile of federal motor carrier regs turned my stomach. im not submitting myself to a federal gang rape...", what you propose is going to get you exactly what you seek to avoid, just via a different route. Personally, I'd rather be in control of my 'route' instead of someone dictating it to me on THEIR schedule.

Now, I did exactly what you are going to do. I moved myself and my welding and fabrication business from Massachusetts to Michigan. Just about the same distance too, just a different direction. I did it in a one ton with a 30' flatbed trailer and many trips. Currently I have a class 8 truck on air ride and a 40' smoke simulation trailer that we use for our 501 (c) (3) non-profit fire safety organization. I guess I could somehow tag the truck for recreational use as we don't use it to generate ANY income and in fact it COSTS us money to run it. But I just don't need the roadside hassle. It is registered and insured as any other truck its' size would be. Same with insurance. I just didn't register it for the weight it COULD carry, but rather what it DOES carry. 36,000lbs is a lot cheaper than 80,000. The insurance is somehow cheaper on this truck than it was on my one ton, $1200 a year for full coverage, (because I'm transporting my own stuff, not someone else's and not for any profit), where-as the one ton was costing me almost $1800 a year for just the compulsory insurance. The one ton cost me $300+/- a year in registration fees, the big truck costs around $500. There's a little bit of paperwork in relation to the whole deal, but it's not the costly and involved extravaganza you might think it is. Once we got set up in the proper computer systems, all we do is enter mileage and dates and all the fees and calculations are done for us. We travel the 900+ miles between MI & MA quite often, and the fees add up to about $15 a trip. Not a big deal. Now if we were hauling 80,000lbs for hire it would be a whole different ball game, I'll grant you that.

Reconsider the methods you are contemplating to achieve your goals and I think you'll be a lot happier in the long run.

thanks for the very detailed answer, i really appreciate the time you took to help me. where in mass did you move from?


i read your post many times and im still confused. i understand you arent registered as a motorhome, so that leaves only commercial truck, correct?

if i buy a class 8 in massachusetts, i have to register it for the full amount on the vin. i dont believe this was always the case, but deval patrick administration drastically changed DMV laws and fees when his casino bill failed around 09ish.

presently, anything over 10,001 GVW gets commercial plates and DOT inspection.
registration is $20 per thousand lbs of GVW
the DOT inspection machine WILL NOT spit out the sticker for your truck if the VIN number GVW does not match the GVW you paid on your registration number. first hand experience, i had to go reregister over a DMV workers clerical error.

a truck plate is going to cost $1000 a year just for renewal every jan 1st. cheapest price i got for commercial truck insurance policy was $2500 annual

FMCSA authority to haul my own cargo looks like its going to be over $300, and now you're saying there are fees per trip? i have no idea how that works but this is all sounding quite expensive compared to RV plate. perspective wise, thats $300 a month just to have the truck sit in the driveway, not to mention cost of truck, fuel, excise tax, license, and maintenance. what am i missing here that makes it as affordable as you claim?

Merrimac. The northeast corner, out near the seacoast up at the NH border.

Correct. Commercial with an apportioned plate because you're going to be traveling to more than just the state you live in.

Yes, but you're removing an axle which will lower the GVW and actually make the manufacturers original GVW 'illegal', or not true. You'll have to have it inspected after you finish altering it by a CMV enforcement officer and re-title it for the corrected GVW. To do this, call the Framingham barracks of the state police and ask for the truck team office.

True.

See the above answer.

You're registration price will be a little cheaper once you get that GVW down where it should be. As far as insurance goes, shop around. There was a huge difference between companies. And make sure you aren't being insured for all 50 states. Tell them you only travel within 200 miles of your base. For the most part, that's all you do. You'll still be covered in all states for 'occasional' travel, just not for constant trips. If I came back out here to Mass more than twice a year or so, I'd need to update my policy to reflect that and it would be considerably more expensive.

I don't believe you'll need authority because what you're moving is something you own and is not ever going to be sold or in some other way make you a profit. The fees per trip are for mileage. Each state has a fuel tax and you pay that by the miles you drive in each state. Unless you buy fuel in that state, then you've already paid the fuel tax in that state when you buy the fuel. It's all set up in an on-line computer program and you just enter information and the 'puter calculates all the numbers for you.

It's still expensive, I won't tell you it's not. But if some DOT guy gets a hair across his butt because he sees what you are doing with an RV plate as commercial, you're going to pay WAY more than any of the fees we've covered above. If he takes you out of service and has your truck and trailer towed, that towing and storage fee alone will surpass the registration fee even if you registered for the original VIN weight of the truck, not to mention any fines and court appearances.

You are welcome to call me if you'd like and maybe I can help some more. PM me and I'll send you my number.