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Update on Big Ugly


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I do. I am currenty in Carlsbad NM for the last night and will be back from our Christmas trip tomorrow. I will dig you up some measurements when I get back. Big Ugly decided to throw an injector code the night before we left and didnt make the trip!! My trusty Dodge is filling in. Lol

 

That is a serious bummer! I guess better at home than on a trip, and at least you have a spare!

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Yes sir. That is why I like having two trucks that can pull our camper. You just never know. I adjusted the valves and Injector rockers when I got back and it has been driven 100 miles or so without a hickup. Hopefully, it is good to go now. Were you still needing bed measurements? Jeremy If it is easier, give me a call and we can discuss. Jeremy 936-337-4333

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Yes sir. That is why I like having two trucks that can pull our camper. You just never know. I adjusted the valves and Injector rockers when I got back and it has been driven 100 miles or so without a hickup. Hopefully, it is good to go now. Were you still needing bed measurements? Jeremy If it is easier, give me a call and we can discuss. Jeremy 936-337-4333

We are closing on the house and going full time the end of the month. I was, and still do think about my bed, but I am working on researching and getting other things taken care of, sold, moved, etc. Once we get out of the house and settled I will give you a shout if that is ok.

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Thanks yall. I will try to answer a few questions. As far as the liberty, we are a regular diesel shop... So the Liberty was picked up with several broke rockers at 80K miles for cheap. It got the works, timing belt, rockers, water pump, idlers, tensioner, updated glow plugs, etc... Crankcase mod, unplugged MAF, GDE Tune, etc... I am sure I missed a few. But, you get the idea. LOL Anywho, the truck actually has a 6 foot long hitch mounting plate in it that allows the hitch to be rearward or 3 foot forward. And, If I would cut out one of the cross members I left at the rear, I could also go somewhere between the two. I honestly don't know that I would change anything on this truck. I picked it up cheap and have basically worked on it for a year building everything and fixing problems from neglect as I go. I wanted to be able to just pay cash for a cheaper truck and build it as money allowed. So as to not have to bother with a truck payment. Maybe when I am old, I will want a singled short truck for less overall length. But, I can't see us travelling without a Jeep of some kind as of now. (Possibly Never! ;) I still have boxes to add forward of the tandems and skirting between the front and rear boxes to enclose around the tires. But, it is time for Big Ugly to prove itself and earn it's keep before I finish the boxes. I loaded up everything today and headed 30 miles to a scale to see how it looked. This ticket is with the hitch in the rear position with just my fat butt in the seat and less than 100 gallons of fuel onboard. The truck drove nice as pictured today and I see that I can stand to add some weight to the steer axle. 4 kids and a wife along with all of their junk in the cab and another 150 gallons of fuel should add to that. I will also be adding a gen set and possible coach batteries under the passenger door at a later time.

 

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So I am still trying to learn, but as I look at this weight ticket would I be wrong in thinking you could possibly go single on this rig? Rears are rated for 23K single and you would loose 2-2500 lbs dropping the power divider, is that right? (That would of course assume that you moved the single to exactly the center of where the tandems were if you wanted these numbers to stay the same minus the weight of the parts you pulled off.)

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Well, I am no weight and balance expert. But, as it stands, I am currently unloading the front axle when I hook up the Toyhauler. I am not sure exactly how much the trailer is unloading. I show a front axle difference of 1500lbs without the toyhauler on the hitch. But, I did add more than 100 gallons of fuel between the two tickets. I know, I could never be a pilot with this kind of weight and balance data... LOL Anywho, I am most likely removing maybe 1000-1200 pounds from the front axle. Singling was not an option for us as I wanted the extra stability and the ability to lock in the front tandem in the event extra traction is needed. And singling anything forward of the long position would move the fulcrum forward and unload the front axle even more from the longer arm. My next trip I will be weighing one more time fully loaded with fuel and supplies to nail down exactly where we are at. And I am considering moving my hitch forward approx 12 inches and possibly building a short pin box to shorten things up a little. I just want to be sure the Volvo will get us in and out of our Beach place without issues because I don't want to have to change pin boxes when I have to use my Dodge to pull it. Here is a copy of my scale ticket with the jeep, full of fuel, and most of my tools and things in the boxes. And feel free to holler at me whenever you would like to. Jeremy

 

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Mkvacik, if you single a normal tandem, you will have either a 19K or a 20K rear 99.9 percent of the time. If if came from the factory with a single rear, it will have a 23K minimum rear axle.

 

 

But is my theory correct in that if I put the singled axle in the center of where the tandems were all numbers stay the same?

 

I realize there are other reasons to stay tandem, but I am trying to see if I understand the weight and balance deal the way I kinda sorta think I do.

 

My trucker buddy swears a 23K locking single rear would get you in and out of more places than a tandem without actual dif lock. Certainly the singling will save you on overall weight and fuel economy as well. Not saying it is right for me or anyone else, but it appears weight wise, to be doable.

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At the weight of 22,820 pounds you may still have a problem with the weight. Yes, you are correct, if you singled mid you would (in theory) have the same weight distribution you do now. The only thing that is a concern then is by law you are limited to 20,000 pounds on a single axle. I am not sure how much weight would be shed by singling.

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At the weight of 22,820 pounds you may still have a problem with the weight. Yes, you are correct, if you singled mid you would (in theory) have the same weight distribution you do now. The only thing that is a concern then is by law you are limited to 20,000 pounds on a single axle. I am not sure how much weight would be shed by singling.

 

Didn't realize there was a legal limit to a single axle, so the 23K rears are worthless other than just being plenty heavy for the job, but can't legally be used to their potntial?

 

The shed weight is between 2500 and 3000 lbs according to some other posts.

 

If I were to decided to do this I would obviously go do some weighing for sure, but just looking at his weight ticket it seems you would be good to go.

 

Also, if we know that the sigle rear axle is not as heavy as the power divider, but even conservitively estimating it at 2K lbs of unsprung weight, we wouldn't be exceeding the ratings of even a 20K rated axle.

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But while shedding the front DRIVE axle will eliminate some truck weight, isnt it also going to remove some capacity as well. A set of springs, a set of tires and wheels, a set of brakes. That seems to add another line to the whole spreadsheet of considerations that needs to be looked at.

If I understand correctly some of what I have read by Jack M and others, the HDTs not even close to their load carrying capacity. That being said, is the effort really worth it? I am just thinking penny wise and pound foolish.

Marcel

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The truck was scaled with an empty toybox and less than 25% fuel. With that being said, if you look at ground pressure per tire. The fronts still have 1000 lbs per tire more weight than the rears. The truck drove great as scaled. I could not fuel up and make it back to the scale without circling around and running back to the last exit for a u-turn because of the way they have the scale positioned. Either way, I am happy and the few changes coming up will only add weight to the front axle. Moving hitch forward (Hitch is adjustable forward up to three feet from current position, genny, Storage boxes in front of tandems, winch, and of course people in the cab.

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If I understand correctly some of what I have read by Jack M and others, the HDTs not even close to their load carrying capacity. That being said, is the effort really worth it? I am just thinking penny wise and pound foolish.

For most situations you will not overload a singled tractor. BUT with a really heavy trailer you can. I have 7K pin weight, smart, LOTS of weight from tools, etc and with full fuel I'm over by about 800 lbs on the single axle of the truck I sold. But very few people have that kind of pin weight. If you intend to carry a vehicle other than a smart - like a Jeep - I'd always recommend leaving the truck tandem.

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To address the previous post suggesting that a 23k axle has no merit, we need to consider more than just legal weight. The rear axle from a 38k tandem was never intended to receive the kind of torque our engines produce. If you have/want big HP, you might want to consider finding that bigger axle, or staying tandem.

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I agree with Jack and that is why we decided to stay tandem. I just bit the bullet and bought 10 new tires that will most likely age out before I ever wear them out. And fuel mileage isn't even a consideration for us as we travel less than 10K miles a year for trips. Plus, I kinda like the way the tandem trucks with beds look for some reason.

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As noted above, when we ordered our truck, the most that Kenworth would allow me to get was 500 HP and 1650 torque. They also require a 23K axle if singled. I doubt that I will ever push that rating and I don't worry about going over 20K on the rear either as we are not required to go thru the scales. Right now I am a LOT under that and consider the larger rear and the suspension that came with it as a bonus.

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Motorhome registered all you guys are legit at loading 24K on single rear on Interstate/NN. It wasn't worth the extra lead time and expense to do a 26K axle/susp to get there (it's a lot on both) but doing 23K should be possible if we door stickered it right.

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