HDT question

[SPEENO]

Hello HDT community.

 

I am new to your forum. I was originally looking at building a truck conversions but had a change of heart do to warranty issues. The truck manufacturer I want to use will void the warranty if the cab is cut to attach a motor coach. That's when I came across the HDT option. I can retain my warranty, register as a RV and still drive my bucket list truck.

 

My question is aimed at the HDT's with jeeps on the back. From reading the forum I see the singled HDTs do not have a problem getting into most campsites. From my calculations, the HDTs with jeeps on back are close to 35 feet. Do these vehicles have any problems getting into most campsites.

 

Thank You

Speeno.

[Ronbo]

I have a rollback deck with a jeep wrangler up top. I tow a 42 ft 5th wheel. We have never had any problems getting into any campground we want to be in. A better solution may be to flat tow the jeep behind the RV.

[SPEENO]

Thanks Ronbo,

 

I will consider the flat tow option. Can I find a pic of your rig somewhere on this site or can you send me one?

[SPEENO]

One more thing Ronbo, Can you tell me why you think flat towing will be a better option?

Thanks.

[Phil D]

One more thing Ronbo, Can you tell me why you think flat towing will be a better option?

Thanks.

 

Welcome to the Forums, Speeno.

 

There are no perfect solution for RVing with an HDT and a Jeep. You have essentially two options, both with significant negatives, and unless you haul the Jeep while parked at a rather steep angle, neither one can be made legal everywhere. You pretty much have to choose your poison and go with it.

 

Option one is the one you've already considered -- a very long wheelbase, tandem HDT. Unless you tow a very short fifth wheel trailer, you'll be overlength almost everywhere, and the combination could be a challenge in tight campgrounds.

 

As Ronbo has pointed out, option two is flat towing. That allows for a singled tractor with a much shorter wheelbase, allowing for a more reasonable overall length of the HDT/trailer combination which will also be more maneuverable in campgrounds. But the tradeoff is that your overall length will also, as with option one, be overlength almost everywhere while double towing, and double towing is itself also illegal in many states, even if you're not overlength. There are also many things that can go wrong with the towed vehicle, which you will be unable to see, unless you install one or more cameras on the back of the trailer to watch it.

[SPEENO]

Thank you for your feedback Dr Phil. I guess I have some thinking to do.

[Dollytrolley]

Hello HDT community.

 

I am new to your forum. I was originally looking at building a truck conversions but had a change of heart do to warranty issues. The truck manufacturer I want to use will void the warranty if the cab is cut to attach a motor coach. That's when I came across the HDT option. I can retain my warranty, register as a RV and still drive my bucket list truck.

 

My question is aimed at the HDT's with jeeps on the back. From reading the forum I see the singled HDTs do not have a problem getting into most campsites. From my calculations, the HDTs with jeeps on back are close to 35 feet. Do these vehicles have any problems getting into most campsites.

 

Thank You

Speeno.

Speeno good afternoon,

 

We are pretty odd ducks in that our "kids" are one grouchy cat named koi and a 1,050 lb paint horse named Dolly so no company makes a RV that fits our needs at all.......oh did I mention I take along a Honda quad AND a Samarai or sometimes a full size Blazer.......

 

Wife is the horse person I am just a horse-support-slave.....so we looked high and low for a single-horse horse trailer with living space for people.......even the custom builders were not wild about a single horse unit.......

 

One day the wife was cruising Craigslist and she found a 30 ft 2004 tt toyhauler that was mostly a shell unit with just a galley and a open space up front bed room / bathroom up front.....

 

Being a high end home designer the wife had no problem with the "basic shell" since she wanted to build out the interior as a rustic cowgirl bunkhouse interior.......all I had to do is make the running gear work AND also somehow fit Dolly into a comfortable horse-space.....gulp....

 

As jack said.....look at the frame and then consider up grading the running gear.......well, the frame was pretty basic but hefty 2 x 8 heavy wall rectular tube full length with a pair of 6,000 axles so was not very high tech but useable....

 

So the wife made a few truck load trips over to her suppliers and in short order the "cowgirl-bunkhouse" interior was well on it's way to being done.......my job was to simply design and fab a removable Dolly horse "module" that fit in the last 3 ft of the "garage / living room of the unit.......a self contained tub-like fiberglass removable floor unit was faberacated and two full height removable wall panels were fabed in short order.......not much more work than the international space station but what the heck Dolly likes to ride in the module and the Dolly-momma is happy and when the module is removed (5 min) no one knows we had a horse in our living room......

 

I am not a big fan of RV trailers as load haulers so except for the 1,050 pound of Dolly weight we pretty much off load all of the heavy stuff to the Freightshaker......the Dollytrolley a 97 FL Century with a condo and sometimes a 12 ft simple wood flat bed but most of the time we have a Morgan 20 ft X 8 X 8 cargo box garage with a roll up back door and a 4 ft wide curb side door the is ideal for hauling the 330 gal tote of water and 3,000 lbs of horse feed and "bling" ( cowgirl lingo for horse tack)......

 

Here is where things get interesting.......the simple 30 foot toyhauler has proven to surprise us with the open living space since it is a very open interior, even without a slide......we have a long fold down side table and just basic furniture. What we did not consider was how popular the 20 ft Morgan cargo box has become as a "reserve-bunkhouse-home theater-community center-workshop-and whatever....."

 

We spend much of our time boondocking at horse camps and on the road we often spend nights at fairgrounds since not very many RV parks have horse facilities.....

 

Our rig has become pretty popular with other "cowgirls" since we have TWO completely spare PRIVATE living quarters in the "Garage" and the other in the Freightshaker condo, each with a porta-potty and sink......we never intended to have a Three bedroom RV......but I am not in charge here......Dolly is the center of the universe......

 

Odd combo but it works fairly well......keeps the horse-slave busy enough to stay out of the bars......

 

The short-nose FL Century keeps our overall length combined at 64 ft 8 inches so we are RV legal in all states here in the West.

 

We have 11 ft of tail-swing (about mid-range for class A motor home tail swing .....I have measured one at 14 ft).......the tail swing has good and bad points (just like everything RV)......We often navigate fairly "rustic" gravel and dirt roads to remote horse camps at at times IF we are unsure we will pull over and unhitch and throw the ramps on the garage in about a minute we unload the Samarai and take a run up the road to the horse camp or trail head to see what we are getting into. Our FL Century has a fairly low cab right at 10 ft but our 20 ft Morgan cargo box / garage tops out at 12 ft 2 inches so we have to keep a eye peeled for low hanging limbs.....our toy hauler is at 10 ft 4 inches so if the cargo box does not hit the limbs the trailer will be fine.

 

Many of the 5ers here in the forum exceed 13 ft height so limbs often are a real concern since they can do real damage to roofs and roof top mounted items.

 

I do have a 18 ft long electric generator powered pole say that I keep hanging on the garage wall and a few times the Samarai has made a few delimbing passes on some of the more remote roads.......

 

Seldom are horse camping space so tight that we have much trouble getting snaked into the spots but watch those tree limbs.....

 

Drive on.........(so how many bedrooms do we have reserved for tonite......)

[SPEENO]

Thank you Dollytrolley, that was informative and entertaining. I guess I never thought of a TT option, that would shorten things up.

[RickW]

I haul a Jeep Wrangler on the truck bed with a 40ft trailer.

 

If you can get a 40ft Diesel pusher in to a site I have no problems getting the trailer in. With the hitch as far back as I have it, it makes the trailer very responsive when backing in to a site.

[SPEENO]

Hi Rick, your rig was the one I saw on the internet that gave me the inspiration. How long are you overall?

[GlennWest]

My best guess is 36'. When Rick post back we will see

[SPEENO]

Hi Glenn, you think the toter is 36' then overall about 74'?0

[GlennWest]

One needs 60" clearance for turn radius of coach. I used a full length frame and am just shy of 30'. His jeep takes up what appears to be stock rails. So best guess is 5' added. So 35-36' my guess. Let's see if I win the prise. Lol If you search Rick been asked this a lot.

[RickW]

One needs 60" clearance for turn radius of coach. I used a full length frame and am just shy of 30'. His jeep takes up what appears to be stock rails. So best guess is 5' added. So 35-36' my guess. Let's see if I win the prise. Lol If you search Rick been asked this a lot.

 

Sorry Glenn no prize for you today. My total length is 33'. With the shocker ball hitch installed I am 34'.

 

The original frame rails were 12' back of cab to end. I added another 6' of frame. The actual bed is 17' 5" (just measured this morning by another considering his options here at the ECR).

 

From the back of the Jeep (Spare Tire) to my pin is 44". No I can not do a jack knife. In 6 years that has never been a issue. I can also pick up some space by removing the spare tire off the Jeep. With the hitch so far behind my rear axles the trailer turns on a dime. My original Jeep (the red '87) was about 6" shorter than the one we carry now (white '14). I do have a few scuff marks on my cap from the spare tire. I keep telling myself I am going to relocate the spare on the Jeep. 2 years and counting. Hopefully I will get around to it before I replace the Jeep. But as you can see the problem is no so severe that it is on the top of my list. It is not causing damage but I do need more space between the Jeep and trailer.

[GlennWest]

Oh shucks. lol.

[Wrknrvr]

Sorry for not posting sooner.

 

Just measured the truck, front to back is 28'8".

The hitch slides back 27" behind the bed to have clearance for the jeep.

With the hitch rearward the RV tracks much closer to the truck pattern.

Also there is a lot of storage space under the ramp assembly.

 

There are pictures of the bed and loading at the test section of the forum.

 

 

Safe Travels, Vern

[SPEENO]

Thanks Vern, I assume you load the jeep with a winch?

[Chad Heiser]

SPEENO, a member just posted his HDT for sale on the forum. It is set up to haul a Jeep on the bed and is a very nice truck. You should check it out.

 

Here is the link: http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=122823

[SPEENO]

Thanks Chad, I'll take a look. I need to sell my vacation property before I jump into the HDT and I've wanted to own a W900 since I was four years old.

[les_garten]

 

Sorry Glenn no prize for you today. My total length is 33'. With the shocker ball hitch installed I am 34'.

 

The original frame rails were 12' back of cab to end. I added another 6' of frame. The actual bed is 17' 5" (just measured this morning by another considering his options here at the ECR).

 

From the back of the Jeep (Spare Tire) to my pin is 44". No I can not do a jack knife. In 6 years that has never been a issue. I can also pick up some space by removing the spare tire off the Jeep. With the hitch so far behind my rear axles the trailer turns on a dime. My original Jeep (the red '87) was about 6" shorter than the one we carry now (white '14). I do have a few scuff marks on my cap from the spare tire. I keep telling myself I am going to relocate the spare on the Jeep. 2 years and counting. Hopefully I will get around to it before I replace the Jeep. But as you can see the problem is no so severe that it is on the top of my list. It is not causing damage but I do need more space between the Jeep and trailer.

 

 

Hi,

I am looking over rigs to carry a Wrangler with HDT and 40 something trailer and found your posts.

 

The overall length for the current Wrangler is 13.7' or 164"

 

What is your Overall rig length now?

 

I was considering my options, One is like how you did it.

 

I don't want a TOAD config behind the Trailer

 

But...

 

I'm thinking of the Semi based 57' Spacecraft with 15' of Garage on the back.

 

I thought most folks singled their rigs to save weight, cut down on axle Tolls, and that it was easier to be registered as a Motorhome. As well as move the axle to Fifth Pin location.

 

But you didn't single yours?

 

What are the advantages/disadvatages to not singling the rear axle?

 

How much more would Toll roads be with the extra axle?

 

Does it matter for tolls if the extra axle is on the trailer or tractor?

[HERO Maker]

 

RickW can answer you why he is not singled, but everyone has their reasons.

 

What are the advantages/disadvatages to not singling the rear axle? See this link and do some reading. You will get fully educated.

 

How much more would Toll roads be with the extra axle? Each Toll road will be different.

 

Does it matter for tolls if the extra axle is on the trailer or tractor? No. It's how many axles are in combo.

[rickeieio]

1) A 57' trailer would be legal in very few states.

 

2) A properly balanced 57' trailer will severely overload a single axle tractor, unless it's a simple day cab.

 

3) If you can afford a 57' Spacecraft, why would you be concerned with the price of tolls?

[Ronbo]

If you are going to have a wrangler on the truck, you need to remain tandem. You will also be over length if you have a truck with a sleeper. I have a roll back deck to load my wrangler. I have no had no problems with my length in any state so far. If I receive a ticket, I will look at it as a housing expense.

[RickW]

I'm thinking of the Semi based 57' Spacecraft with 15' of Garage on the back.

 

I thought most folks singled their rigs to save weight, cut down on axle Tolls, and that it was easier to be registered as a Motorhome. As well as move the axle to Fifth Pin location.

 

But you didn't single yours?

 

With a trailer with a length of 57' there could be issues in finding places to stay. Also check with your state of domicile, there could also be issues trying to register a trailer of that length.

 

I did not single because of weight transfer to the front axle. A Volvo 780 is already front axle heavy. I would have had to single long in order to carry the Jeep. Singled long, the Jeeps weight would primarily be before before the rear axle not over it. This would transfer some of the Jeep weight to the front axle. By remaining tandem the weight of the Jeep is more centered on the tandems vs a single axle.