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Anyone converted a Class 8 Expeditor Truck


barefooter

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 Pretty much says it all.  

Considering another truck build.  Want something that I can weekend in when towing a horse trailer and enough room for 3 teenagers to lounge in on trips.  That or a diesel push and a 5 horse bumper pull trailer.

Single axle Class 8 expeditor truck conversion looks like a no brainer.  Can get a 122 or 136 sleeper with a bathroom\shower, all the interior done, APU etc.  There are a lot of clean, tight O\O units out there. May not be a budget build, but likely much more reasonable than the last 2 OTR trucks I built (especially if I include my time).  Would love an ARI sleeper with a rear\side door - but cannot justify $125K for a weekend rig. 

Anyone done it.

We never said it was easy, just that it looked cool.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I looked at one local. But it has the small engine. Along with a 6 speed trans in it. But does have a I think it was 120" Sleeper.  Seen some nice ones online, with a 400+ HP engine and auto trans and 13 speeds. Also big sleepers on those also. And sure did put some thinking into it.

There's one website that has a few builds like this on there. But for the life of me can't remember the name of the sites.

 

 

 


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I'll be paying a bill next week to overhaul the roof of a truck camper I hardly use ... each incident of the demi$e and repair$ of "rv junky components" gets me thinking on an alternative way... 

lately I've been looking at nice clean air ride dry van trucks as a starting point to build out a simple conversion to a motorcycle hauler setup so I wouldn't need to tow anything.  I'd use the lift gate to load a couple bikes in the living room.  

My needs are pretty simple but I do go places it can be cold sometimes so starting with an empty shell and clean frame rails below seems to be the simplest way to properly insulate as needed before applying the finishes. 

Units built for warm weather country always seem to have something left out in the wind to freeze and / or a rabbit warren of compartments and nooks and crannies to try to insulate... 

I would add skirting to the body below the sill to finish out the unit

etc etc

Interested in those websites too

 

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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A trick I discovered with Truckpaper was to specify the sleeper length in the search. Make it more that say, 80".  I got a lot more aftermarket sleepers that way and some leads to look up the different mfr websites for used rigs. Notice I didn't say cheap rigs.   ?

Kevin and June

2013 Volvo VNL 730    D13 Eco-Torque @ 425  Ratio 2.47 

2014 DRV 36TKSB3 

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3 hours ago, HERO Maker said:

The only problem I found when I was searching for a truck, don't put a lot of search limiters into it.  I was discovering that the sales guys really didn't know a lot about the trucks and information was entered wrong.

Amen to that.  This was my greatest frustration with the truck advertisement sites.

Av8r3400
2012 Volvo VNL 730 D13 iShift & 2021 Grand Design Momentum 397TH

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I'd rather die trying to live - Than live trying not to die.   -Leonard Perry

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5 hours ago, Av8r3400 said:

Amen to that.  This was my greatest frustration with the truck advertisement sites.

Yes, it is very, very common to have misinformation on the advertisement. And it is very, very common that the salespeople do not really know the stock they have on hand. Same for RV salespeople. But if you dig enough you can get the "facts".

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Check out this fellow's inventory. Shelby Elliot has been in business as long as I can remember, specializes in big sleeper trucks of all ages and conditions. Some of them are no longer viable over the road 120K a year vehicles, but perfectly fine for RV use. You might find something that suits. 

 

http://www.shelbyelliott.com/view-inventory/

Jeff Beyer temporarily retired from Trailer Transit
2000 Freightliner Argosy Cabover
2008 Work and Play 34FK
Homebase NW Indiana, no longer full time

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You could do something really nice with some of the sleeper boxes he has. On the right truck. 

15 hours ago, beyerjf said:

Check out this fellow's inventory. Shelby Elliot has been in business as long as I can remember, specializes in big sleeper trucks of all ages and conditions. Some of them are no longer viable over the road 120K a year vehicles, but perfectly fine for RV use. You might find something that suits. 

 

http://www.shelbyelliott.com/view-inventory/

 

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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12 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

You could do something really nice with some of the sleeper boxes he has. On the right truck. 

 

There was a post here somewhere where someone got a great deal on one of these big sleepers and completely reframed and remodeled it. Turned out really nice if I remember. There were a lot of pictures. I'll try and dig around to see if I can find it. 

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