Truck Topics

Retirement Plan A

After spending a lifetime behind the wheel of a truck what could be more natural than continuing life’s journey in a large-car motorhome? Plenty of drivers seem to be doing it these days judging by the increasing number of custom motorhome conversions showing up at some truck shows.

The conversion process itself can range from very simple to extremely complex depending on the type of unit a driver chooses. A few years ago George Worley from North Carolina, took the front end off of a 1951 Mack A20H to replace the Ford body on his Tioga motorhome.  Power for his beautiful rig comes from an International DT466, 245hp engine hooked to an Allison 4-speed automatic transmission. A more complex approach is mounting travel trailer on a Class 8 truck chassis.
  
Tom Warren, owner of Tom Warren Vintage Trucks of Amarillo, Texas, builds semi-motorhome conversions as a sideline to his truck restoration business. His personal rig, which is a real eye-catcher, is a 26’ Airstream Land Yacht mounted on a 1976 GMC General chassis.

The conversion required building a sub-frame to mount over the GMC frame and some clever engineering to mount the skirting so that it moves with the upper part of the unit. Tom also switched out the original 5 X 4 transmission combo for a more practical 13-speed unit and power comes from a 450hp Big Cam Cummins.

He offers good advice when he says, “When you make this kind of conversion you want to start with as good a truck as you can. There are plenty of older units now available that won’t require much to make them roadworthy, and then find a good trailer body to put on top.

The better the units you use, the less work and expense the whole conversion will cost. The big advantage is plenty of power and the ability to get most mechanical repairs done at truck dealerships which are by-and-large less expensive and a lot faster than motorhome dealerships.”

A third alternative is taking a dry box, like those used on 24” and 26’ bobtails, mounting them on the existing frame rails and then outfitting the interior to suit your needs.

This trick is often done by drivers wanting to have custom made sleepers without paying a big price tag so there is plenty of experience behind this alternative from which get help in making this choice.

A few years back we featured a rig built by Gary Straight, a long haul trucker who hails from Ft. Collins, Colo. He started with a 1953 Peterbilt chassis and mounted a used Ryder rental box to make his dream motorhome.

After spending some long hours on restoration and modification he hit the highway for a trip that started in Key West, Fla., wandered through the states in a ziz-zag pattern then headed up through Canada on the Al-Can Highway and finally landed in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Gary likes this truck so much he actually bought it twice.

He sold it once and missed it so much brought it back again! A variation of this dry-box modification is sometimes seen on over-the-road rigs which have to have wheelbase stretched to accommodate the longer sleeper set up.
 
For those who miss the fun to traveling with a trailer there is always the option of making their tractor into a toter to pull the travel trailer of their choice. One the plus side of this idea is the fact that any Class 7 or 8 rig, regardless of age, has the power to pull just about any travel trailer ever made.

Some of the bigger 5th wheel units, which can reach 40’ feet in length, are also very heavy units which can weigh over 15,000 lbs. with standard furnishings and everyday supplies on board. While often too heavy for even the biggest pickups they are child’s play for even the most mouse-powered older semi rig.

Curtis Turk of Azle, Texas, which is a small community about 15 north of Ft. Worth, Texas, found a nice old single screw 1962 Peterbilt 281, and restored it to pull his 32’ Sportsman fifth-wheel travel trailer. This fine rig even has an ancient tachograph mounted on the dash and the drive train features a 5 X 3 tranny combination. The power comes from a Cummins NTC 290 which provides plenty of horses for a combination this size.

The back of the travel trailer has been modified to make room for a pair of Harley-Davidson’s so that Turk and his wife Donna can camp, fish, hunt or ride bikes when they are on vacation. In real life Turk pilots a 2001 Pete 379 that features a 132” custom sleeper and is a full blown showtruck. He leases this rig to Aviation Express, Inc., based in Sparr, Fla., and primarily hauls aircraft engines.

Another version of the tractor trailer theme was built by Peter McDermott of Converse, Texas. He started with a 1984 Freightliner Conventional using a 400hp Cat engine and 13-speed transmission. But there were drawbacks from the very first. “I have had many travel trailers and motorhomes so there was plenty of experience to back up my plan to use a Class 8 vehicle to tow a 32’ travel trailer. But the concept was a lot easier than the application.

First I had to cut down the tower on the 5th wheel to match the rig’s 5th wheel height. Then I found that the ride was so rough for the trailer that it just about shook it to pieces when I was traveling. So I took off one axle on the tractor, which didn’t cost me anything because I traded the axle for the labor to make the modification.

I left the wheelbase at 240 inches and that gave a great ride up in the cab and smoothed out the ride for the trailer enormously. I notice that most people making this kind of modification use a single axle setup, but I thought I could beat odds and not have to severely modify my tractor but in the end I had to do it anyway. The upside to this combination is that my old Shaker could pull my travel trailer, and pickup behind that, with ease no matter where we went.

The downside is that a Class 8 truck is a commercial vehicle. The parts are expensive because manufacturers have to build them for super heavy duty service even though I personally will never get the financial payback on that extra cost. It comes down to this: large trucks are actually designed for economical operation when you are talking about seventy-five or a hundred thousand miles a year, and have a commensurate income stream.

When you only put five or ten thousand miles a year on the rig you end up replacing stuff like tires and hoses because they rot before they wear out. It’s actually more expensive per mile to operate this rig than a commercial vehicle. The only way to do it and get a good deal is maybe if you have other big trucks and can absorb the costs as business expense.” McDermott recently sold his Freightliner now uses a Powerstroke Ford F-250.

All-in-all truck-motorhomes just make a lot of sense for many drivers. They are familiar with the equipment, and most old trucks are pretty rugged, much more so than most new motorhome units.
 
The downside is the cost of parts and repairs can be higher than large pickups, but not necessarily big motorhomes. The part that seems to hold the greatest appeal is simplicity with which a trucker can make his own setup to suit his individual tastes and keep the dream alive that was the very essence of their lives for so many years.
 
On reflection that sounds like a good tradeoff. So while you’re out there delivering the freight that keeps this country humming keep and eye out for that special rig that just might make you the right retirement reward that you have earned by shear hard work over the years.