I Need Advice

[The Fireman]

Its been a while but I'm sure most of you remember I hauled home an old Mack back in august. I have her in the barn now and am working on stripping the old paint and doing the body work. This truck is going to be a tractor again when I'm done so keeping that in mind I have a few questions.

First how much room do I have to have between the king pin on the trailer and the back of the cab? (I know this probally depends on the trailer but a general estamate would be great)

Second I have been toying with the idea of putting a small sleeper on this truck, I have 103 inces from the back of the cab to the end of the frame now, would it be posible to squeeze a 30" sleeper in there and still be able to turn? Any pics of A's or B's with sleepers would help me alot at this point because I dont want to go spend a lot of time and money to find that the truck dosent look the way I hoped (or worse yet wont turn with a trailer) Thanks for the help

Here she is for those who dont remember, I now have the drivers side fender off and the fuel tank is hooked up with an electric pump tucked in the frame. This set up keeps the fuel from ending up in the base from the original pump and it seems to work real good without detracting from the truck Thanks for the help

[Lmackattack]

Edit: posted the wrong page

this site may help? look at the bottom of the page for info??? http://www.trailerservices.com/tip/duraplatespec.html

36" is the king pin depth for the trailer listed in the link

I have also seen some 46" depths

dump trailers and lowboys will have something short like 15"-20" depth

[ThaddeusW]

You know not too long ago I was looking at a detailed pdf from either holland or fontain's website about how to properly select and install a fifth wheel. It included all the calculations on determining the exact position to properly load all axles etc. I cannot find it now but I will try to.

[Packer]

Some thoughts:

The old trailers had rounded corners. The reason was so the truck and trailer could be as short as possible for "Town" driving and have a short 5th wheel to cab distance and still not jamb the trailer into the cab with you.

The 'B' 67 was concaved to give a little more room from trailer to cab.

If you have an 8ft trailer, with square corners, I would think that ,without a magic stick, (tape measure)the distance would be somewhere between 60-70 in. 5 feet would be absolute minimum!

70+30 (for the sleeper)=100in and that ain't much room.

Headache rack? Better add some more!!!

Your picture looks alot like my '48 EG> Theres room for a trailer or a sleeper but not both!!! LMAO

If you measure from the king pin to the corner of the trailer, that distance is MINIMUM for any thing!!! I like to see some daylight in there!!! Leave enough room to throw a cat thru and you should be fine!

Packer

[The Fireman]

Thanks I thought it would be close for a modern tarailer, so I guess I'll just have to find an old trailer and go from there. I would like to keep this rig looking fairly close to the vintage so pulling a 53 footer is definatly out but maby an old 40 footer would be alright. I dont need a sleeper but I thought it might look good, but not with a crushed back Thanks for the help I need to call on a sliding fith wheel tonight that should also answer a few questions wen I get it bought

[Lmackattack]

your frame is pretty short for a sleeper and a 5th wheel. maybee you could build sleeping quarters in the trailer and keep the truck stock?

I want to adda 60" sleeper to my truck but may have the same issues with the trailer hitting the rear wall??? if the 5th wheel is to far foward?

[The Fireman]

You must have read my mind What I would like to do is find an old stainless trailer form the 50's or 60's and convert it into a camper. Now being that I want to keep the look of an old semi I hope to cut and hinge the sides in the areas over window and doors so that they will fold down and latch for going down the road then open and be an awning over the windows when I get to the truck show Alot of work but if I can pull it off I think it will be well worth it

The only reason I though about a sleeper is for the old tractor shows. When I get straighted around I would like to get a low bed or drop deck to haul a few of my old tractors around. In that case I'm still in a tent, but it will be well worth it. When I made a few measurments tonight with the general figures everyone gave me it become very obvious that I barely have enough room as it is let alone an extra 30" to spare, so it looks like i'm still in a tent but at least it will be next to a nice old truck

[b61mack]

I have a B61 with a 24" sleeper, was on the truck when i bought it , looks good on a tandem axle,i have a picture of it in the gallery but it is more of the front view, cannot see the side view very well, it is in "rons trucks" thanks Ron

[Packer]

Nice old trucks will keep you warmer than a mad wife!

When setting up a fifth wheel on top of the rear diff,remember- - - that may lighten your front axle a bunch!!! 6-8in FORWARD ofaxle is pretty good: up to a foot or so to load your front axle. too much and you can't steer!

Trial and error alwas worked for me - - -but some think I'm 3 french fries short of a happy meal!

I don't here anything about that last statement being false!! Do you?

Packer

[paccarnut]

I've been considering trailer/camper ideas for a while now. I'd also like to be able to haul tractors or another truck. When time and money allow, I'd like to find a nice 45' or 48' stepdeck. Prefer at least a 10' upper deck. Either one with a dovetail and ramps, or have them fabbed up. Then I'd add a cube van box to the upper deck and convert that to camp. Just big enough for a bunk, shower, toilet, table, mini fridge, microwave, and sink. Not big enough for a family. But, plenty big enough for just me. But if I ever did have a family, a nice stainless roundnose would make an awesome camper.

[The Fireman]

Thats kinda what I'm thinking. We go to a couple truck shows and I sure would like to be able to show up with an old trailer also. When I do get a flat bed I'll need all the room for tractors as we'll be hauling at least 3 ot 4 of them, so not much room for a camper on there. I've always made due with a tent so thats just how it's going to be for a while. (until I can find another old Mack to haul my camper then I'll be cooking with gas as it were )