Well, I bought the plane ticket, next week I'll know if I buy a Truck.

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

I have been holding off getting a plane ticket to Minnesota to look at the Pete giving the seller time to get some documentation.  And of course this time of year waiting to buy a ticket means you miss out on going when you want to unless your willing to pay BIG money which I am NOT.  So I am booked to leave on the 12th of December and arrive that early evening in Minneapolis.  If I like the ruck I will have with me all the paper work I'll need to over night mail back to Washington to hopefully get plates and registration over nighted back to me so with luck I'll be able to drive the truck on 15th 16th at the latest.

I have been in contact with Rick who makes the Comfort Ride Hitch, he is saving one for me and I am desperately trying to get a shop near him to install it before I head back home to Washington State.  So wish me luck on this, I am going to need it to get all this done and be home for Christmas.

Dave

[Steve from SoCal]

Hope the weather gods smile on you, happy hunting

 

Steve

[Chad Heiser]

Good luck!

[Buscrusher]

Have fun, Dave!

[2Auberts]

Hope all goes well and you get your HDT for Christmas.  

[NoDirectionHome]

Safe travels Hombre

[alan0043]

Hi Dave,

Have a safe trip home and I wish you the best. If everything works out just find, you will have a nice campfire story to tell.

Al

[jkoenig24]

I hope it's better than you expect. Good luck!

[Av8r3400]

2 hours ago, jkoenig24 said:

I hope it's better than you expect. Good luck!

 

X2!

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

Thanks for the well wishes, so far everything seems to be falling into place, did I ever tell you folks how much I hate waiting..............................................................................    yeah, it's that bad.

Dave

Sneak Peek.

[Av8r3400]

LOL...

Very nice looking truck.  I had to zoom in- -   I thought it said "Slutty" on the corner of the hood.

 

 

She is a little slutty looking...  Hahaha.

[Sculptor]

Best of luck!  May you have safe travels!  Whatever you do, DON'T think about that movie "Trains Planes and Automobiles."

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

Dang, that's a pretty truck! I hope it works out great for you Dave!

[HERO Maker]

ooooooooo-----aaaaaaahhhh

[Star Dreamer]

20 hours ago, mr. cob said:

....

I have been in contact with Rick who makes the Comfort Ride Hitch, he is saving one for me and I am desperately trying to get a shop near him to install it before I head back home to Washington State.  So wish me luck on this, I am going to need it to get all this done and be home for Christmas.

Dave

Dave, 

Comfort Ride is down near Madison, we know of a shop in Wisconsin but up near Minneapolis that might be able to do the work but you would need to get the hitch down to them if you don't locate someone else.  Were you planning on just mounting the hitch to the top of the frame rails or lowering it between the frame rails? If lowering that might need frame extensions being added which might be harder and take longer to do.

Dave

[mr. cob]

5 minutes ago, Mntom said:

Dang, that's a pretty truck! I hope it works out great for you Dave!

Howdy Tom,

Dan, who was kind enough to go look at the truck and test drive it for me sent MANY photos of it to me.  It's a typical midwest truck, lots of surface rust on the frame but nothing that harms it structurally.  It's going to take a lot of elbow grease to clean it up and paint but in the end I think it will be worth it.  If the floors aren't rusted out and the drive-train is solid I won't mind the TLC that it will take to being it back to being the classy Lady that she is.

Dave

[mr. cob]

6 minutes ago, Star Dreamer said:

Dave, 

Comfort Ride is down near Madison, we know of a shop in Wisconsin but up near Minneapolis that might be able to do the work but you would need to get the hitch down to them if you don't locate someone else.  Were you planning on just mounting the hitch to the top of the frame rails or lowering it between the frame rails? If lowering that might need frame extensions being added which might be harder and take longer to do.

Dave

Howdy Star Dreamer,

I want it down between the frame rails, the frame might have to be extended, 18 inches at the most.  All I want is a SIMPLE hitch install, I'll build the deck when I get home; I just want the commercial hitch removed and the RV hitch installed for the drive home don't want to "feed the bears" don't need to attract any more attention from the revenue collectors then necessary.

Dave

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Dave,

If all you are wanting to do is get it home, removing the commercial hitch and running with bare frame rails for the drive home will work also. Mine went to Texas that way from Georgia with nothing but the paperwork that I had bought and registered the truck. No RV fifth wheel or bed, just bare rails.

[mr. cob]

1 minute ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Dave,

If all you are wanting to do is get it home, removing the commercial hitch and running with bare frame rails for the drive home will work also. Mine went to Texas that way from Georgia with nothing but the paperwork that I had bought and registered the truck. No RV fifth wheel or bed, just bare rails.

Howdy GH,

Building the SIMPLE deck that I want I can do easily, fitting the hitch and extending the frame is more then I can handle I simply don't have a way of handling the weight.  If I get the hitch mounted, if my Freightliner sells I can use the Pete immediately.

Dave

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

If you were doing this in the summer it would be easy. I am normally about 1 1/2 hours north of there and my future son in law is a fabricator with fantastic welding skills....... He is a big truck mechanic now.

[mr. cob]

5 minutes ago, Mntom said:

If you were doing this in the summer it would be easy. I am normally about 1 1/2 hours north of there and my future son in law is a fabricator with fantastic welding skills....... He is a big truck mechanic now.

Howdy Tom,

I have no place to work on something as large as the truck this time of year, its raining and cold, its darn near impossible to weld as soon as I flip the hood down its fogged up.  So I need to get this done before I bring it home, my first big trip is in mid April and I am hoping the Freightliner is sold by then so I need a truck that's ready to tow.  I'll build the deck later by May the weather is good enough for me to work outside occasionally and what I have in mind shouldn't take long once I can work outside.

Dave

[BlueLghtning]

Dave, I hope it all works out great for you. Just curious, I know the Comfort ride has several options for hitch height and toy haulers tend to have higher pin boxes as it is or options to raise it, although you did change yours out to a straight drop down pin box. If you can't find someone to do the work now is it possible to mount the hitch on the top the frame rails with the lowest height and get you by until you can maybe extend the frame? 

I run my Trailer Save TS3 on top of a steel plate on the truck frame rails. I thought I was going to be high myself, but after weighing, I'm still actually a tad nose low. 

[mr. cob]

6 minutes ago, BlueLghtning said:

Dave, I hope it all works out great for you. Just curious, I know the Comfort ride has several options for hitch height and toy haulers tend to have higher pin boxes as it is or options to raise it, although you did change yours out to a straight drop down pin box. If you can't find someone to do the work now is it possible to mount the hitch on the top the frame rails with the lowest height and get you by until you can maybe extend the frame? 

I run my Trailer Save TS3 on top of a steel plate on the truck frame rails. I thought I was going to be high myself, but after weighing, I'm still actually a tad nose low. 

Howdy Dan,

If the hitch is mounted on top of the frame rails, without extending the frame, there wouldn't be enough distance from the pin to the nearest part of the truck to allow carrying the Smart Car, and being able to turn the truck 90 degrees to the trailer.  So the way I see it, the frame has to be extended either way, I would rather have the hitch mounted lower in the frame, I think such a setup is more stable, lower center of gravity thing, easier on everything, truck and trailer.  Perhaps I am wrong in my thinking and am OPEN to suggestions.

Dave

[RickS]

Dave,
Great looking truck! Hope we will see you at the WCR again.

 

[BlueLghtning]

10 minutes ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Dan,

If the hitch is mounted on top of the frame rails, without extending the frame, there wouldn't be enough distance from the pin to the nearest part of the truck to allow carrying the Smart Car, and being able to turn the truck 90 degrees to the trailer.  So the way I see it, the frame has to be extended either way, I would rather have the hitch mounted lower in the frame, I think such a setup is more stable, lower center of gravity thing, easier on everything, truck and trailer.  Perhaps I am wrong in my thinking and am OPEN to suggestions.

Dave

I did forget about the smart car and one of the main reasons you were shoping for a new truck. However, I was more thinking this would be a temp setup to get you by until you built you bed for the smart and at that time could get the hitch dropped down and where you wanted it and extend the frame if necessary. It didn't sound like you would have a bed built by April anyways and so didn't think you'd be carrying the smart on your first trip? This would just be a quick an easy way to the hitch mounted and have a way to carry your RV when the other truck sells.  

Have you gotten actual measurements of the frame length? I know you need about 55" to clear the trailer at 90 degrees on top of the width of the smart and of course some room from the back of the cab. As far as the hitch height placement in the truck, I doubt it makes much difference on these trucks as long as you get it at the right height for your trailer to carry it level, that's the most important thing. You have some height adjustments on the comfort ride hitch to accomodate the different places you mount it on the truck. There's so little weight on the pin box back there compared to what these trucks are used to carrying, especially on a tandem trruck, I don't think you'd see any difference. I'd say the shorter the pinbox on the trailer, the less stress your transfer to the frame. You already did that by the straight down pin box you built. Do you know what height your trailer needs to be at to ride level? 

Just giving you ideas incase getting the frame extended and hitch mounted before getting back home doesn't work out. Obviously if you find someone to do that for you on the trip home, that's probably the best route.