C4500 Ambulance Camper

[cjken]

Next potential project is to modify lift gate to accept spare tire.

So my idea is to cut a 21” radius hole through the gate.
Build a cage on the back side that will accommodate the tire. Tire will sit just below flush with the front (top side when down) of gate. A cap will go over tire to retain the usefulness on gate as a deck.

So the idea would be roll tire onto lift gate, drop tire in hole, strap down, put on cap, fold gate up.
Tire removed and placed from topside of lift gate.

I tested trying to fold gate with tire in proposed position. While it is heavier it is not unreasonable.
While I have concerns about adding weight to the mechanism, in the folded position when driving I believe it will be plenty strong to handle it.
I’m going to mount it as close to the hinge point as possible and inset it into the gate as deeply as possible.

Any thoughts on this plan?

Am I crazy?

Better ideas?

Really want to claim back the inside space that the spare has been taking up.

 

[cjken]

All right one more post while I’m thinking about it.

MPT-81’s

I hear so many conflicting views on tire pressure.

I’ve been running 65 in the rears and 60 in the front.

Truck weighs about 8500 rear and 5400 front.

Front suspension is quite harsh.
Has just 2 thick leaves with minimal up travel before bump stops.

Decided to air fronts down to 50.
To me it made a huge difference in Ride comfort without making the truck feel at all unstable.

I’ve heard that the Earth Roamers run the fronts as low as 35 psi.

I’m certainly lighter than that

What is everyone with MPT’s running?

Anyone have the official pressure vs load chart from Continental?

I’d like to try to dial my pressures in a bit.


(I was getting to the point of maybe upgrading the front suspension to either Deavers springs or an air ride setup, but simply going down to 50 psi has me thinking that I can keep running my current spring setup and be happy)

I’m trying to avoid making the truck any taller and both options add an inch or two to the height. I understand it is to allow for more up travel before hitting bump stops, but the truck is quite tall as it is.

 

[cjken]

Some beach camping this week

 

[BBD]

All right one more post while I’m thinking about it.

MPT-81’s

I hear so many conflicting views on tire pressure.

I’ve been running 65 in the rears and 60 in the front.

Truck weighs about 8500 rear and 5400 front.

Front suspension is quite harsh.
Has just 2 thick leaves with minimal up travel before bump stops.

Decided to air fronts down to 50.
To me it made a huge difference in Ride comfort without making the truck feel at all unstable.

I’ve heard that the Earth Roamers run the fronts as low as 35 psi.

I’m certainly lighter than that

What is everyone with MPT’s running?

Anyone have the official pressure vs load chart from Continental?

I’d like to try to dial my pressures in a bit.


(I was getting to the point of maybe upgrading the front suspension to either Deavers springs or an air ride setup, but simply going down to 50 psi has me thinking that I can keep running my current spring setup and be happy)

I’m trying to avoid making the truck any taller and both options add an inch or two to the height. I understand it is to allow for more up travel before hitting bump stops, but the truck is quite tall as it is.

I've been wondering the same thing - especially on vehicles that are much lighter than the mpt81 load spec. My assumption (possibly wrong) is with a vehicle roughly 1/2 the weight of the rating of the tire, (yours being ~14K lbs. vs 27K lbs rated tires) maybe one should run beadlocks and super low pressures (30psi?) all the time, simply to have a similar feel as a heavier truck. Comparing this with a 15Klb rated light truck tire at normal pressures, which could work on a 14Klb truck. I'm curious how others are doing with heavy duty tires (ps22, xzl, etc) on lighter trucks. Also - are your mpt81's surplus (older mfg dates) or 'new'? I'm curious if a lighter truck might be less prone to blowouts on older surplus tires, simply due to less load on the tires.

RE: tire under lift-gate / deck - great idea. It seems easier to drop it through the hole, onto the ground when you need access to it than lifting it up out of the hole, then onto the ground from the elevated deck. Maybe you could come up with a clever solution, so you could access from either side, possibly using the lift gate to push the tire up through the hole (against the ground), or the other way, if that would provide easier / better access.

 

[cjken]

Yes my MPT’s are/were current date code.
Still experimenting with tire pressure
Ran 40 rear, 30 front on beach
65 rear 40 front on hwy home.
50 felt good in front, but aired up to 50 once home and will run that way for now.

Yea still kicking around ideas for spare.
Have a few thoughts. I will figure something out eventually.

 

[tmckenna13]

Some beach camping this week

This is cupsogue correct?

 

[cjken]

Yes Cupsogue

 

[cjken]

 

[cjken]

 

[cjken]

 

[Darwin]

The total weight on the front and rear axle should dictate the PSI for the tires. I believe Continental has some of this information on their website.

 

[cjken]