house

I use these nds geogrids in my horse stalls and they are plastic grids that you put down and fill will gravel or dirt and they are specifically made for parking trucks on, they work pretty well. there are plenty of brands but nds Is the brand I could get locally shipping was the killer.

one of the ideas I like about mounting it on the air deflector, is that I dont actually need to drill holes in the roof, plus if I can just get away with using the grommets it will be easy to change.

I have a pretty big airfoil on both of my trucks so there is no flat place to mount them, at least a decent sized one so this seemed like it might work

I have seen many of the newer trucks now have solar panels on the wind deflectors, it looks like from the factory. I was thinking about adding this to my truck. It seems like they have plenty of them for sale on amazon. I am wondering if just putting some machine screws through the grommets with washers would keep it on there? has anyone retrofitted anything like this on their trucks? any thoughts?

I am a huge fan of blue monster products they make a tape and a goop , I use both, it has a chemical reaction that occurs when you put it on. a the plumber who installed the pluming in my barn did it like that and I thought it was overkill, his comment was basically it is easier than coming back and fixing it. I have to say even if you just use the tape it is 100% better than just the plain old white stuff.

not really an HDT Thread but I was hoping it would be ok to ask here, I am getting ready to replace the batteries in my trailer, and I am debating about just using group size 31 starting batteries. I know that supposedly they will not last as long as deep cycle batteries. I normally use the marine starting batteries because they are cheaper than real deep cycles, and I dont really use my trailer to stay in, or frequently. The batteries that are in there to run the winch for loading my wagon, and keep a couple of ARB refrigerators going while we are on the road. and an occasional 12v light here and there. At this point the batteries are only lasting 2-3 years. I figure if I change to group size 31 batteries that they will probably last the same, especially since they are always connected to the truck batteries anyway. am I completely crazy? the main thought behind this is that the group size 31 batteries are cheaper and larger than anything else I can buy.

My new bed is basically a copy of how my old bed, which is basically a cut down CM flatbed for a 450/4500, it is attached with 2 pieces of angle iron, 4 5/8 bolts through the factory hitch mount(2 on each side). then the factory trailer hitch has a couple of 3/8 bolts that go through the web of the trucks frame. That bed has a B&W GN hitch welded in that I dropped about 6 inches to make the trailer ride level. My trailer weights weights about 35K and I have hauled about 50,000 miles in the past 7 years and I check the bolts every year but none sheared off, at least so far. My new bed is much heavier as I used 8 inch channel for the main structure vs the 4 inch off my original, the same material I used to build my frame extension mainly because that is what I needed to clear the tires, I have not finished it yet but my last trip about 1200 miles the rear support was only attached with 4 #10 tek screws on each side, If those did not shear off during the trip I cant believe that 4 3/8 grade 8 bolts will. I guess I either have enough flex, or it is ridged enough to where it flexes as a unit. my main concern when I built it was to add more rigidity to the section of frame I welded on to support the hitch, probably just my mind going wild but I just wanted to make sure that there was no way in heck that it could fail.

I used the 5th wheel mounting holes, and put 3x3 ( I I think) angle next to the 6 inch channel I used to build the "frame" of my bed, then in the back back I used some channel mounted perpendicular to the frame and several 3/8s bolts

Forgive me if this somewhere else I could not find it. I got my jackalopee the other day, I am installing it so that I have a brake light signal for my brake controller. Not being and electrical engineer it does not appear that there is any overload protection on the circuits in the jackalopee, am I mistaken? Do most people just put overload protection on the 12v line in? I would like to get rid of my current trailer light relay set up if I can, but I hate loosing independent circuit protection of each wire. Am I missing something? thanks nick

I am going to coachnet before I head out in January, I have AAA RV and good sam as well as Farmers roadside, when I lost the rear end in my International 4900 earlier this year in Las Vegas New Mexico I had to pay out of pocket to have the truck towed and they had to leave my trailer on the side of the road. after talking to coach net they will cover the tow and make sure the trailer is moved to a safe location. It is more expensive than any of the other roadsides I have but it also will actually cover you, at least according to the sales rep.

Make sure you have a charge controller, either built in, or add on. without one many cheaper solar panels will actually drain the battery at night, and not help you at all. Also if you are going to use an mppt charger which I would recommend try and get a panel that is at least 24V it will do a much better job charging off peak. I really like these https://www.amazon.com/ALEKO-SP30W24V-Monocrystalline-Opener-Driveway/dp/B0158WSUYW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=24+Volt+solar+panel&qid=1569878441&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-3

NeverEasy, I need something to provide a brake pedal signal to my brake controller, not simply hooking the brakes up to it. I have looked at the Direct link and may go that route but it uses the same Tekonsha plug that requires a brake pedal signal to activate the trailer brakes, even though it uses ODB to determine the braking power from what I got from talking with them. I pull several different trailers so going air over hydraulic is not really an option for me.

I have heard the hayes controller does not work with electric over hydraulic brakes.

I am trying to wire a brake controller in my truck, but after talking to a couple of technicians, and looking myself my International Prostar does not have a brake light switch, aside from the trailer connector. at least a 12 v one. Since I would rather not splice into the wiring of the connector. Does anyone have a part number for a dot airline T with a normally open switch that i could just add into the brake system air line? It seems like that would be the easiest way to get get my electric brakes to come on when i step on the pedal. Thanks in advance.

I am in California, I guess my question is for people that have that limitation is it clearly spelled out in their policy? I called yesterday and confirmed that My RV policy is National General 02107 (02012000) Personal Auto Policy, even thought it says personal Auto it is clearly has my Trucks listed by make and model, International and Freightliner and they were in the computer when i added them so they had to know they are not pickup trucks. I do only have 5000 miles a year as my annual mileage which may be a bit conservative but not overly. But basically my policy has no language that even says it is for RV's let alone HDTs, espesscially anything detailing what type of hitch i have or if i am single or tandem I

I am curious about another thread i just read about insurance, I just called Miller Insurance to get a quote, and found out they will not insure me as a RV in my HDT because I have a gooseneck hitch, and not a 5th wheel, which seems odd to me but most underwriting guidelines have a reason. But my real question is that some members mentioned no being covered while bobtailing other members said some vendors wont cover you if you are still tandem. My GMAC/National General Camping, says nothing about either of those things, In fact my policy says nothing about much of anything other than being a vanilla auto policy, where did you guys hear about these caveats? I assume they would need to be stated in writing in the policy? secondly I was shocked to find out what some of you are paying for insurance, while mine did go up $40 this year I am only paying $1200 a year for 2 trucks and 2 trailers Bodily Injury $500,000 Each Person / $500,000 Each Accident Property Damage $500,000 Each Accident Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury $250,000 Each Person / $500,000 Each Accident Medical Payments $5,000 Each Person / Each Accident So am I missing something? I am not a full timer so that may have something to do with my premiums, I just want to make sure that I have adequate insurance, I know you never really know until you need to use it but I want a little peace of mind.

I recently helped out a friend hauling horses commercially and he had gps that was awesome, it was basically like google maps with traffic, but it was marked for truck routes etc, as well as roughly keeping track of hours of service etc. I have a GPS in my truck but it is almost useless it is way past map updates and very slow. I looked at the GPS he had at the truck stop, and while it was awesome it was also pretty expensive. I was just curious if anyone had found a good app for the ipad that was set up for commercial vehicles rather than just the regular google maps/waze? Cant wait to hear your input.

I used tubing for my cross members, so my plan was to use nuts and bolts along with some unistrut 90s welded to the tubing. like these https://www.unistrut.us/product-details/p6026 Totally open to doing something else, i just figure more bigger bolts is less work for me.

I hope is ok to start another topic about this, but I am just about to attach the floor plate to my cross members and I was planning on using 8, 1/2 bolts to bolt them down 1 on each corner and 2 more near the center like 28 inches from the edge. I figure if i make is so you can unbolt the plates which are basically 4x8 it will make it easy if i need to ever work on anything to access it from the top. This past weekend I had to use the truck and before I got a chance to get the attachments done so i just strapped the 5/16 sheets to the cross members and it sounded a like someone was beating on a metal drum as i was driving down the freeway, so now i am concerned that it is going to be like that once the plate is bolted down. is there any better way to put the plate on? i were to put some double sided tape on the cross members it would help quiet it? should i just weld it? I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

thank you, i looking into these boxes!

I am getting close to finishing my bed for my new to me 2013 International Prostar, I was hoping that rather than build some under bed boxes I might just purchase some, does anyone have any brand or source recommendations? I have found plenty on line but I know that quality varies widely between even between different lines from the same manufacturer. I am tempted to pick up some they have at Tractor Supply simply because I know what I am getting. any other suggestions?

I have used autosocks in the past, they work pretty well, meet the requirement for carrying chains, and are much easier to put on than chains. they are however expensive and if you run them on pavement they are damaged very quickly. PS one major problem I have had in snowy weather is be careful not to put the parking brake on when you park park or it may freeze to the drum, also make sure you when you park you are not on snow or ice that could melt and freeze again. It sucks being frozen in

Did you get your truck in to get looked at? I love colton truck terminal, but often times the lead time to get in is way too long. So i often use Direct Truck & Auto Repair, which is just around the corner in San Bernardino. Now they are pretty much my first choice, if I really need something done quick and basic, P & S Truck repair they do a decent job, and reasonably priced.

curious where the facebook discussion for this