Volvo oil tanker to Rampcamp

tubender · March 24, 2019

I built an offroad Jeep that isn't street legal anymore and started looking for a way to haul it to the trails and may be camp. I scored a retired 95 Volvo bobtail oil tanker for low money. It's got a service bed and mini crane which is pretty cool. There is room for a sleeper between the cab and bed so I am thinking some type ramp/camp vehicle that allows me to carry the jeep with spares,tools etc. with living space. The jeep is 6'6" and the modified service bed is 6' so in theory I could put the jeep on top of the tool boxes. Here are some pics of jeep and truck.

Untitled by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

oldride · April 10, 2019

Interesting but does the crane fold out of the way for jeep to set on both tool boxes. Good idea for sleeper area under jeep and bed area. Thinking outside the box!

rpsinc · April 10, 2019

Are those ramps really going to carry that Jeep down the road at highway speeds, safely?

Randyretired · April 11, 2019

18 hours ago, rpsinc said:

Are those ramps really going to carry that Jeep down the road at highway speeds, safely?

We carry our Subaru suspended above the bed on "ramps". Safely. Even though our ramps are aluminum these are heavy duty with substantial support structure under them. Each tire rests above a support member during transit and the homemade ramps have 5" by 1/4" structure along each side.

rpsinc · April 11, 2019

Well, you are the one doing it. It must meet your needs. Hope it works out for you. Neat idea though.

NDBirdman · April 11, 2019

Good luck. Not what I would do but it's what makes you happy. That Jeep on top of the boxes, with the suspension it has, makes me think your setting yourself up for a disaster. I'm also thinking it is going to be way too tall, first bridge and BOOM! Elect. lines, etc. What I would suggest, and it's only my suggestion, make the space between the boxes a sleeper area for you/yours and put the jeep on a trailer behind it. And just a request, if you see me when your hauling that around like you are thinking, please stay away from me and mine going down the road.

OR, remove the boxes, put rails/bed on top the truck frame and build/buy tool boxes that hang from the frame on the side. Then haul a travel trailer behind you. What is it rated for, hauling/towing? Not trying to be a downer, but this project the way you stated makes me nervous..

Another thought, sell that for a profit to a farmer, they are always looking for field work trucks and that would make a good one. Take that $$ and buy a truck and toyhauler RV, or buy an HDT with long frame and sleeper (search around this site, lots of nice looking ones). There are lots of those set-up that would be much-much safer.

Randyretired · April 11, 2019

I guess it is how each of us envision this project. Car haulers carry vehicles suspended up high routinely. My first thought when I looked at this post is what type of structure could be engineered to support that Jeep and that should be easily doable. Weight on a single rear axle could be a problem. The comment about that Jeep's suspension is certainly valid. Even the suspension on a car left to flex that high will cause a problem. It will require frame straps or chains pulled tight. We carry our Subaru angled above our RZR and have for about 12 years. We remove the RZR roll bar for transport. Also under the car is two 100 gallon water tanks. Our overall height is 13', the same as our 5er and our HDT is still tandem. The mass of the engine, drive train and tandem axles on the HDT easily overcomes any top heavy worries so that will need some analysis for this setup. I am not convinced this project is doomed but I would like to see more about the engineering and analysis.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Randyretired

tubender · April 13, 2019

On 4/11/2019 at 12:29 PM, Randyretired said:

I guess it is how each of us envision this project. Car haulers carry vehicles suspended up high routinely. My first thought when I looked at this post is what type of structure could be engineered to support that Jeep and that should be easily doable. Weight on a single rear axle could be a problem. The comment about that Jeep's suspension is certainly valid. Even the suspension on a car left to flex that high will cause a problem. It will require frame straps or chains pulled tight. We carry our Subaru angled above our RZR and have for about 12 years. We remove the RZR roll bar for transport. Also under the car is two 100 gallon water tanks. Our overall height is 13', the same as our 5er and our HDT is still tandem. The mass of the engine, drive train and tandem axles on the HDT easily overcomes any top heavy worries so that will need some analysis for this setup. I am not convinced this project is doomed but I would like to see more about the engineering and analysis.

On 4/11/2019 at 11:49 AM, NDBirdman said:

Good luck. Not what I would do but it's what makes you happy. That Jeep on top of the boxes, with the suspension it has, makes me think your setting yourself up for a disaster. I'm also thinking it is going to be way too tall, first bridge and BOOM! Elect. lines, etc. What I would suggest, and it's only my suggestion, make the space between the boxes a sleeper area for you/yours and put the jeep on a trailer behind it. And just a request, if you see me when your hauling that around like you are thinking, please stay away from me and mine going down the road.

OR, remove the boxes, put rails/bed on top the truck frame and build/buy tool boxes that hang from the frame on the side. Then haul a travel trailer behind you. What is it rated for, hauling/towing? Not trying to be a downer, but this project the way you stated makes me nervous..

Another thought, sell that for a profit to a farmer, they are always looking for field work trucks and that would make a good one. Take that $$ and buy a truck and toyhauler RV, or buy an HDT with long frame and sleeper (search around this site, lots of nice looking ones). There are lots of those set-up that would be much-much safer.

The truck was designed to carry 12,000 lbs of liquid directly over the rear axle with the vehicles laden center of gravity about 7' off the ground. Having been inside a few oil tankers,I can tell you they have no side-to side baffling. The plan has always been to build an infrastructure, fully triangulated rectangle tubing topped with ramps and tracks made from thick tubing. The rear axle and suspension and brakes are 10,000 lbs so that's not a problem either with the jeep being under 5K. I hope I can feel the weight honestly. My rear spring stack is 9" thick.

Regarding the height, it's under 12'6".

'matter of fact, If you own the rig in your pic, you are basically at max capacity every time you hit the road and I am at 60% of mine fully loaded, plus I won't blow over in a breeze, catch on fire or get beached pulling in to a gas station. My brakes are good for 100K, motor for 1.2 million.

I guess the last part of the equation is if I can design and construct a good vehicle and I think I can. it's not hard to imagine people being good at this sort of thing. I am.

Alie&Jim's Carrilite · April 13, 2019

Unique idea. If you've done the math and the numbers work go for it. It's gotta be safer than the F-150 hauling a 5th wheel hauling a trailer with a jeep on it.... See that all the time in ND.

Randyretired · April 13, 2019

The way I read your post is the rear axle is rated for 10,000 pounds but I am guessing it might be more? You may have already figured the ramps and support but you might consider mounting the ramp side support rails at least partially above the ramp surface. This saves on height and provides some side to side guides for the tires. I did this and I like how it turned out. As I said I would use ties to the frame to secure it. I tried over the tire straps and the vehicle dancing around at that height was able to create enough force to make the ride uncomfortable. The loading ramps for that heavy of a vehicle will be heavy and long. Storing and easily deploying these will take some thought. If you can it would be nice to see some pics of the build. Good luck.

NDBirdman · April 14, 2019

18 hours ago, tubender said:

'matter of fact, If you own the rig in your pic, you are basically at max capacity every time you hit the road

If your referring to mine, your way off base. My rig runs 5k under my max fully loaded which it rarely is.

tubender · April 21, 2019

On 4/13/2019 at 6:55 PM, Randyretired said:

The way I read your post is the rear axle is rated for 10,000 pounds but I am guessing it might be more? You may have already figured the ramps and support but you might consider mounting the ramp side support rails at least partially above the ramp surface. This saves on height and provides some side to side guides for the tires. I did this and I like how it turned out. As I said I would use ties to the frame to secure it. I tried over the tire straps and the vehicle dancing around at that height was able to create enough force to make the ride uncomfortable. The loading ramps for that heavy of a vehicle will be heavy and long. Storing and easily deploying these will take some thought. If you can it would be nice to see some pics of the build. Good luck.

10T rear axle. I totally agree on all points. I have some ideas for ramps/tracks made 1-1/2" dia tube with a lot of triangulation with structural rectangle structure. The truck has a PTO so hydraulic folding ramps aren't off the table. It's going to be a long term project but that is typical for custom work. Ill keep you posted.