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HDT add ons


Nwcid

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I know there is a ton of different configurations for HDT trucks.  As I think about many of the reasons I would like a HDT I have some questions. Of course all it takes is the concept, time and money to create anything but looking to see if others have already done similar things. 

We boondock a lot.  One thing I would really like is to be able to spend longer times on location.  It would be great to add at least a 100 gallon fresh tank and at least a 50 gallon waste tank.  Is there room to mount something like this below a deck?  

I don't think I would add an APU, but I might look for a truck with one already on it.  I don't think we will use the HDT stand alone very often but having one would do a few things for us.  It could pre-heat or cool the cab on travel days.  Also if the truck is not connected to the RV, it would keep the batteries up so we dont have to shut off the fridge if we are only stopping for a day or two.  Last but not least depends on a couple of things, but using the charger to charge the RV.  How much fuel does an APU use and how loud is it compared to the 5500 watt Onan built into toy haulers?  My though was in the rare event we have "neighbors" it would be quieter and use less fuel. 

Adding to the battery portion, can/should the HDT batteries be used to add additional capacity to the RV?  I know starting batteries are not the same as deep cycle, so I am not sure how much capacity they have.  To do this I would run a separate, likely 4ga, power wire between battery banks.  Between 50 amps of solar or the 125 amp charger when the generator is running, plus the possible APU would be more than enough to keep them in good shape.  Also being interconnected would allow the fridge in the truck to stay on while we are connected. 

Last thing I can think of right now, is carrying a vehicle.  I understand the popularity of a smart car, but we don't need to pay for an additional vehicle that is only used with our HDT.  Are there other smaller, popular vehicles that can be used without creating a ridiculous length deck?  I think I have seen some "ramp" systems where you pull up at an angle to reduce space.  Is there a limit to the angle a car can be transported in?  I think most of the time it would be used to haul our side by side but when we get to traveling longer times having a car would be nice. 

If there are good links for reference I am happy to check them out. 

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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"Standard" HDTs as far as I know, are NOT generally designed for "off road" use. The tires usually found on HDTs really want to be on hard pavement. I expect an HDT could be modified with tires that are more suitable for off-roading. Before spending a lot of money, I'd recommend that you insure that the HDT you buy WILL go the places you want to take it (and be able to get back OUT). Have you seen the Heavy Haulers Resource Guide? LOTS of good information therein. Link below

 

PS: My HDT is a Class 7 Freightliner based Super-C diesel puller. I've gotten stuck in a KOA on WET GRASS.

 

http://www.hhrvresource.com

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Anything other than a Smart you will have a long truck. Even with a Smart the most come to 30'. Can carry a jeep on an angle, but it will be long. Some use the truck for their commute vechile. You could then get a shorter truck and single it. Can be near lenght of a cc lb dually pickup. As far as tanks, their is room under mine for a large tank. I intend to do just that when I retire. 

2003 Teton Grand Freedom towed with 2006 Freightliner Century 120 across the beautiful USA welding pipe.https://photos.app.goo.gl/O32ZjgzSzgK7LAyt1

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Just now, jkoenig24 said:

"Standard" HDTs as far as I know, are NOT generally designed for "off road" use. The tires usually found on HDTs really want to be on hard pavement. I expect an HDT could be modified with tires that are more suitable for off-roading. Before spending a lot of money, I'd recommend that you insure that the HDT you buy WILL go the places you want to take it (and be able to get back OUT). Have you seen the Heavy Haulers Resource Guide? LOTS of good information therein. Link below

 

PS: My HDT is a Class 7 Freightliner based Super-C diesel puller. I've gotten stuck in a KOA on WET GRASS.

 

http://www.hhrvresource.com

I have heard this several times but I pulled on a section of grass and front tires sunk. Back tires were on grass also. There had been a gas line run a nonth or so earlier and I pull on it. My truck backed out. Teton was hooked up too. 

2003 Teton Grand Freedom towed with 2006 Freightliner Century 120 across the beautiful USA welding pipe.https://photos.app.goo.gl/O32ZjgzSzgK7LAyt1

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Yes you can add water tanks to your truck. Size would depend on your final configuration of your truck.

APUs are not necessarily quieter than a Onan, go to a truck stop at night and listen to the trucks with them running next to you. One nice thing is they run on diesel and as long as you have fuel in the truck they will run. The Onan unless you pay the money for a diesel one, will either be gas or propane which means you need to find a way to fill it's tanks at the truck stop.

If you want a longer vehicle than the smart, consider getting a Toyhauler with a larger garage. We can haul our 4 door SUV in our Dune Sport Toyhauler (we can fit a full size van if we want). A longer truck to carry a longer vehicle may not work as well boondocking. As others have commented, the front axle weigh a lot and can easily get you stuck if you are not careful.

2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch
2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler
Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you!

 

Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/

for much more info on HDT's.

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Also, I would not use the trucks batteries to supplement power to the trailer. Your truck may need every bit of that battery juice to start. Maybe get solar and extra batteries for the trailer.

2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch
2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler
Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you!

 

Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/

for much more info on HDT's.

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13 hours ago, jkoenig24 said:

"Standard" HDTs as far as I know, are NOT generally designed for "off road" use. The tires usually found on HDTs really want to be on hard pavement. I expect an HDT could be modified with tires that are more suitable for off-roading. Before spending a lot of money, I'd recommend that you insure that the HDT you buy WILL go the places you want to take it (and be able to get back OUT). Have you seen the Heavy Haulers Resource Guide? LOTS of good information therein. Link below

 

PS: My HDT is a Class 7 Freightliner based Super-C diesel puller. I've gotten stuck in a KOA on WET GRASS.

 

http://www.hhrvresource.com

Of course they are not, nor am I planning on climbing to the top of the tallest mountain with it.  As you said I have been stuck on wet grass before and having 4x4 fixed that.  While they do make 4x4 HDT, that is not a practical solution for what I want to do.  We do however we don't want to limited to pavement. 

I have not seen that page, I will do some reading over there also. 

 

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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13 hours ago, Star Dreamer said:

Yes you can add water tanks to your truck. Size would depend on your final configuration of your truck.

APUs are not necessarily quieter than a Onan, go to a truck stop at night and listen to the trucks with them running next to you. One nice thing is they run on diesel and as long as you have fuel in the truck they will run. The Onan unless you pay the money for a diesel one, will either be gas or propane which means you need to find a way to fill it's tanks at the truck stop.

If you want a longer vehicle than the smart, consider getting a Toyhauler with a larger garage. We can haul our 4 door SUV in our Dune Sport Toyhauler (we can fit a full size van if we want). A longer truck to carry a longer vehicle may not work as well boondocking. As others have commented, the front axle weigh a lot and can easily get you stuck if you are not careful.

I know what a reefer trailer sounds like and that is way louder or the truck ideling.  I am not sure I have ever heard an APU, I will have to pay more attention next time. 

I already have a 38' toy hauler and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. 

I have a ton of research to do on truck length still.  I appreciate the input. 

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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Commercial truck APUs are notoriously loud and nothing at all like an Onan except for the TriPac, which is almost tolerable. They're certainly not as bad as your typical reefer, but you wouldn't want to run them around other campers, unless you really don't like your neighbors. Jay

Edited by Jaydrvr

 

 
 
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Tanks

Depending upon the config (singled / tandem / long / short / weedeater or not) you will likely have room to get additional tanks under the deck of the hdt.  Being singled long as example made a ton of space under the deck.

 

An APU

The truck ones are loud; significantly louder then any of the quite inverter gensets or onan's which are built into an rv.  There are some nice configs where folks have added a smaller inverter genset to a truck for us when on its own.  We thought we'd need a genset on the truck; but ended up not really needing one.  The truck could sit for weeks without having issues with engine startup and the onboard heat/air was plenty to keep the cab comfortable.

 

HDT Batteries

Don't mess with them; you always want a bunch of good power for start up.  Add capacity to the rv and save yourself a pile of pain. My hdt had 4 group 31's I believe; pretty standard setup.

 

Vehicle on the deck

I set mine up to haul a smartcar or quads (our jeep didn't fit).  We used it to haul a side by side and a pair of quads; worked very well.  The smartcar is common because it'll fit sideways on the deck.  When you go to a jeep (or pretty much any other vehicle) they need to go length ways which drives the deck length topic. 

 

The 'adds' we really liked.

All new leather interior; totally changes the experience.  Audio / visual in the truck, swapped out the head unit all the speakers and added a panel for watching videos and multiple cameras (backup / on deck / back of 5th).  Winches on the deck for loading the sxs and quads; completely removed the stress of getting them up on the deck.  Absolutely get an auto shift; having the ability to have others drive the hdt is a big plus.  Big fuel tanks (we could get just over 300 gallons on board) speeds up the trips and removes the pain of getting into tight fuel stops.

2000 volvo 610
2013 cyclone 3950

 

ontheroad.jpg

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I have a 40 + gallon black tank, just a regular fresh tank, mounted beside the front driveshaft, on my singled short 630 it is mounted to the bottom of the frame and is exactly the same as the bottom of the fuel tank.  I have 2 18? Gallon fresh tanks behind the drives next to the frame with toolboxes toured the outside. These tanks could have been much bigger without the tool boxes. They are T together and use one fill and one pump. I use a mascarater pump on the trailer to fill the black tank and a 1" flex pipe to gravity empty. I use quick conect  fittings on all hoses and they will all conect together so I have lots of reach. Looks much nicer than pulling a hunny wagon with a HDT! Works a lot better also. I can send pictures if you are interested. 

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2 hours ago, Lance A Lott said:

I have a 40 + gallon black tank, just a regular fresh tank, mounted beside the front driveshaft, on my singled short 630 it is mounted to the bottom of the frame and is exactly the same as the bottom of the fuel tank.  I have 2 18? Gallon fresh tanks behind the drives next to the frame with toolboxes toured the outside. These tanks could have been much bigger without the tool boxes. They are T together and use one fill and one pump. I use a mascarater pump on the trailer to fill the black tank and a 1" flex pipe to gravity empty. I use quick conect  fittings on all hoses and they will all conect together so I have lots of reach. Looks much nicer than pulling a hunny wagon with a HDT! Works a lot better also. I can send pictures if you are interested. 

I have never used a wagon and I have no plans on it, don't even own one. 

I had planned on using a macerator to get waste from the RV to the truck. 

I am flexible on tank sizes, but right now with normal conservative water use (daily short but not Navy showers, no excessive running of waters etc) we can go about a week on 100 gallon of fresh.  Another 100 would let use easily extend to 2 weeks.  The 50 gallon of waste would completely empty most black tanks and help with grey.  Also without getting into opinions, grey can be also be dealt with in alternative ways depend on your location.  

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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7 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

Guys, the last thing i want on my truck is a poop tank. just can't see that

Is there a better method for moving black water?

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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40 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

Most use a blue poop tank. Go to dump station with it. Now I know some have none. Reckon you stay till tank full. Don't most only allow 14 days anyway?

I am just the opposite, I can't see using a blue tank.  Also they have a limited capacity, even with a large one it is only 30 gallons, and the typical ones you see are 10-15 gallons.  You have to have a place to store it vs a built in tank.  This might work if you are just traveling across the campground to a centrally located dump.  This is not the kind of RVing we do.  

This year I have spent more time in campgrounds than all of my past years.  One weekend was because that is where our friends were staying.  The next 4 days were because we needed internet access to do my job, and there no good places in the hills where it was cooler.  The temp was over 90* and the cost of the FHU camp was cheaper then running my generator.  I then spent just over a week on a wildland fire and the camp was at a fairgrounds.  We had access to full hookups, so I used them.  We have spent about 90 days in our RV so far this year. 

In most cases the black tank is really the limiting factor on length of stay as fresh water can be readily found many places.  Even for places that have 14 day limits on boondocking may not have dumps readily available if you are staying in the same area. 

One of the places were went this summer the closest dump was over an hour away and a local place we like to stay is about 30 min to get to the closest dump.  Neither of these these places have length of stay limitations.  It would be much easier to just run the truck to the dump/fill than to move the whole RV. 

Edited by Nwcid

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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35 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

I question of you could get to those way off the beaten path you mentioned with a HDT

I can get my 4 door family car there with no concern or damage.  I also currently get my 55' long, 13.5' high combo to these places.  Adding an additional 5 or even 10' OAL with a HDTis not going to make a significant difference for the two spots I mentioned above.  Yes there are a couple spots we currently go that may no longer be options.  With my current set up, there are currently place I can't go that people pulling 25' RV can. 

Just because a place is a long way from a park or dump station does not mean it is on bad roads. One is less than a mile from a main highway. 

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

How you pump out or do you use gravity and a valve like the rv? 

As long as the tank is higher than the dump you can just do regular gravity.  You also might not need a full size hose assuming you filled the tank using macerator and everything will be "ground" up.  You can even carry a wand to "flush" the tank well. 

Of course you could also use a macerator to dump from the truck if needed. 

I know some people use bladders that roll/fold up for storage when not needed, then put them in the bed of the truck and fill them just to run them to the dump.  Something like this, https://www.aireindustrial.net/flexible-liquid-storage/pillow-tanks/waste-water-pillow-tank.html  In some cases this might make more sense then fixed tanks. 

For my use I would rather have the fixed tanks since I could use them and the RV.  This would give me the option to fill both, then dump both when we leave. 

 

Edited by Nwcid

2014 Volvo 630. 2016 Fuzion 325T, RZR 900 Trail 
675ah AGM, MSH 3012 inverter, 960w Solar.  (2016 Chevy 3500 DRW, backup)

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We boondock for extended times so I changed the black tank in the Teton to a 70 gallon tank.  That with the 100 gallon waste tank on the HDT we can stay  a long time.  The Teton has two 45 gallon grey tanks.  It also has a 70 gallon fresh tank plus the 100 gallon tank on the  HDT and we occasionally carry a 50 gallon barrel.

Randy

2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift

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