C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab Build

[NeverEnough]

"C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab WAS NOT ENOUGH Build"

Now that is hitting the nail squarely on the head! :iagree:

I am psyched about your new chassis! I think you will feel so much better with those massive wheels beneath your work of art.
I vote for a new thread, but I'll be watching regardless.
When I decided on the International chassis for my truck, everything indication but the spouse said I should go for it. She thought it would be just too large. I'm glad we aren't completely emasculated in this country (yet)

I must admit I'm psyched as well. I've got 22.5's on the Topkick, but the rims on the 7400 are a bit wider and will let me run a better traction tire. I'm hoping the investment in an adjustable air suspension, along with a roomier cab, will make getting to and from more pleasant for everyone- my spouse's only complaint about the rig is the bouncy ride. And since I now have an excuse to paint the whole thing, it should become a bit more attractive- in a manly sort of way.

 

[NeverEnough]

Progress, Surprises, and Winches

Note to self- next time I buy a truck from afar, request photographs UNDER the skirt, as well as in the boxes.

Things are moving along nicely at Tulsa Truck. Great guys to work with. Here's the frame cut:

And the new steel stitched on:

You might have noticed the factory rear air suspension. According to the Rig Dig specs, it has a spring rear suspension, and the body, mud flaps and buckplate made it impossible to see the suspension from the pictures. I asked the seller several times if it had rear air suspension, and he said it had springs. Go figure. Anyway, that little stroke of luck saved me a bundle and speeds up the chassis work.

Another surprise was in one of the "tool boxes"- an 4000W Onan gas generator- also something the seller had no idea existed.

I also posted a "for sale" in the classifieds part of the forum for the body, but I know a lot people look here. I've never seen it in person, and I've asked for the guys at Tulsa to send me more detailed pics, but it might make for a VERY inexpensive shell for build on a pickup chassis. PM me if you're interested. I'll post more detailed pics in the classifieds post as I get them. Same goes for the generator. In case you're wondering what it was- it was a promo vehicle, first for Adidas then for TBS. It had 3 big TVs mounted in the body. I'm guessing the other openings were for speakers. That explains the onboard generator as well. Personally, I think it looked like a hurse for Lurch from the Adam's Family.

I've also been researching winches. My buddy that owns a recovery company here in Utah has offered some reasonable advice based on his many years of pulling big trucks out of ugly spots. His first preference is receiver mounts front, back and sides, and a portable winch with sufficient tackle to get the pull needed. Since my body prevents a decent side receiver mount, and I don't want to schlepp a massive winch around anyway, he's suggesting fixed mount winches in the 15K range front and back. His view is that will be plenty of winch to help prevent me from getting "really stuck". He opines that sizing for self-recovery for a truck of my size is not practical in his experience. I could pay for 2-3 super nasty rescues in the middle of nowhere for what it would cost for a decent self-recovery rig- not to mention the fact that it's difficult to find an anchor to match the winch, as well as the danger factor with rigging those types of loads. I'd love to hear other opinions, keeping in mind it is highly unlikely this truck will ever venture beyond the USA and Canada, and I've got excellent communications ability on-board.

 

[mog]

I'm looking forward to another (or continued) build. Your work and concepts are outstanding.
It is great to hear for once a seller's 'error' was in favor of the buyer (air susp & gen).
Pretty cool as the promo truck (those must have been some heavy TVs :sombrero: )
Best wishes for the build and your travels

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I like it!!

Good score on the genny and on the air suspension, that rig is going to be a beast with your kit on it. That OEM box that it came with is pretty sweet. It would make a great jump off spot for someone with a cab and chassis! Cant wait to see this with your stuff loaded up. I forget, are you going to paint it or keep it as-is?

 

[Ford Prefect]

Perhaps you should just paint the body to match the existing truck. I already looks pretty awesome in black!

Congrats on the build going so well (again).

 

[dwh]

I think I agree with your buddy on the self-recovery. My dad was a core driller, and was always taking rigs like this:



into places with no roads -and getting them stuck.

They had a dedicated recovery vehicle. It was an ex-military wrecker with the biggest and slowest winch I've ever seen mounted behind the cab Something like this but without the crane:




The winch was something like this:




For a rig your size, I'd say if you get it really stuck, just call in a Big Boy to drag it out. Why kill yourself?


Of course, if you were gonna solo RTW the truck, my opinion would differ, but for stateside use, there is plenty of help available.

 

[K2ZJ]

If you are near Denver (Loveland north of Denver 50 min) or know someone there, this might make a cheap trade for you.

 

[NeverEnough]

Nice pics, DWH! Back when men were men!

Pretty sure I'm going to paint the thing desert tan, keeping all the bolt-on stuff and hardware black. Black trucks are cool, but hot and hard to keep clean.

Chassis work is all done, gets delivered to Utah early next week.

 

[NeverEnough]

I like the new truck..

The "new" 2006 International 7400 got delivered yesterday from Tulsa Truck. The stretch looks great, measured right up to spec. I drove it over Complex Fabricators this afternoon so they can do the mods to the aluminum subframe and get it mounted up on the new chassis. It was my first time in the truck, and I'm pretty stoked. The "adidas" marketing crew were slobs, so I'm going to need to have some minor work done on the interior. But they also left several more surprises that will be kinda fun: an Xbox 360, four integrated video screens, including on the dash, 3 DVD players, a massive amp and subwoofer, and a very nice speaker setup. I'm going to recover all the seats, however, because they all have "adidas" embroidered on the headrests. I'm not a "pimp my ride" sort of guy, but this truck may leave me no choice!

I only drove the truck 5 miles, but got a good feel for just how different this platform will be. The air suspension, cab air-ride, and air ride seats made for a far more comfortable ride, even without a load on the truck- when compared to the Topkick. I'll miss the Topkick's turning radius, visibility, and more nimble feel (just a matter of size and weight). There's no comparison, however, between the Duramax 6.6 and the DT570. While the Topkick could sprint off the line, it definitely struggled under a big load. The DT570 takes its time getting underway, but it's obvious I've got plenty of motor for my rig and anything I ever want to tow.

The 7400's rails are .6" wider than the Topkick (and 2" taller, thicker steel, much stiffer), so all the "boots" for the spring mounts have to be cutoff, new ones made, and welded to the subframe. The 7400's "rail to top of cab" is also 6" taller than the Topkick (with the air ride fully inflated). I decided to shim up the subframe 4", since I wanted to bring the cabover down 2" closer to the cab roof than I had with the Topkick. That's not an insignificant rise in the CG, but I don't think it will make any real difference in handling because of the much stiffer rails. I'm curious to see how much sway I get with the air ride. Here's what the subframe looks like flipped upside down for the work:

The subframe mods should be done on Monday or Tuesday. We'll do a dry fit, air everything up and see just how tall it's going to be!

I'm also seriously considering switching to super singles, probably a 425/65R22.5. Any feedback on the Michelin XZL vs. the Goodyear G278 MSD would be helpful- in addition to other options. Specs indicate both those tires have enough sidewall strength for my build in a single configuration, even air'd down quite a bit.

Tulsa also found that driver's side front spring set is a bit flattened out, so I'll also be taking the truck to the suspension shop after the subframe work to do some spring work and get dual valves for the rear air suspension.

 

[Overland Hadley]

The new rig is exciting!

 

[graynomad]

Re the winches, when in it's first life my truck had a gross mass of about 10t and mid-mount winch with the same rating (ie 20,000#). So my thinking is that the army was happy with a 1:1 mass/winch ratio and if you want to self-recover from all situations that's what you would need. Mind you my 6x6 model was often used as a dedicated recovery vehicle, maybe they had something bigger to recover it (a tank?).

I would put as big as you can afford/fit on each end and buy a satellite phone for when they aren't up to the job.

 

[NeverEnough]

The new rig is exciting!

After driving it, I'm actually very excited to get the whole rig put together and back on the road!

Re the winches, when in it's first life my truck had a gross mass of about 10t and mid-mount winch with the same rating (ie 20,000#). So my thinking is that the army was happy with a 1:1 mass/winch ratio and if you want to self-recover from all situations that's what you would need. Mind you my 6x6 model was often used as a dedicated recovery vehicle, maybe they had something bigger to recover it (a tank?).

I would put as big as you can afford/fit on each end and buy a satellite phone for when they aren't up to the job.

Rob, flattered to have you chime in. Your work was a big part of my inspiration to also attempt the impossible! I look forward to the day when I can spend enough time outside to try and take pictures like you and Hadley.

I placed the order today for a Buckstop front bumper for the rig, as well as two Warn 16.5 ti's, one for the front and one for the back. Superwinch has a slightly higher pull rating and a synthetic rope for the same price, but the installation and layout are cleaner for the Warn. Their purpose will be to avoid getting stuck. Having watched my friend do several big truck rescues, I'm more than happy to call in the calvary when needed.

Had the suspension shop check things out today, might have to fix a slight frame tweak, but springs and air suspension are in good shape. Also thinking about chopping the rear bumper plates down an inch to allow a bit more lowering for an air dump.

Still working on the wheel/tire configuration. Offset issues look to be forcing 13" wide wheels on the front and 14" on the back. I should be able to carry a single spare on a 13" wheel, and mount it just behind the rear axle like I did on the Topkick. Turns out the Goodyear G278's are in short supply, so the Michelin XZL's are most likely going to be the call.

 

[graynomad]

I look forward to the day when I can spend enough time outside to try and take pictures

It will be worth it, even though there are many times you wonder what the hell you've started, for me at least there was.

Your doing an amazing job there. It looks like you started about 3 years ago and would be finished now if you had stayed with the Topkick. That's about par for the course with a big build like this I think. Wothehellizat Mk1 took 3 years of actual building and maybe 6-12 months before that planning.

 

[NeverEnough]

The subframe was dry-fit to the chassis yesterday afternoon, and the mods to the spring-bolt boots finished up today. Always a big relief when things fit according to plan! I'll drive it over to get sandblasted and powder-coated on Monday morning.

I also pulled the trigger on new wheels and tires, a bit of an experiment to see how the truck will behave on rear singles. The wheels are Hutchinson 20" military split rims with bead locks. It was quite an exercise getting everything measured up to ascertain compatibility with my hubs and axles. I'm having some spacers made for the rear to deal with the offset issues. Tires are the military Michelin XZL 395/85R20's. They'll look something like this:

The XZL's are 46" tires, which will add at least 1.5" more height to the rig. But the wheel/tire combo seems to be the setup of choice for the big International expedition rigs made by the pros. I'll be hanging onto my Alcoa's until I've had a chance to see how the setup performs.

 

[Ford Prefect]

I also pulled the trigger on new wheels and tires, a bit of an experiment to see how the truck will behave on rear singles. The wheels are Hutchinson 20" military split rims with bead locks. It was quite an exercise getting everything measured up to ascertain compatibility with my hubs and axles. I'm having some spacers made for the rear to deal with the offset issues. Tires are the military Michelin XZL 395/85R20's. They'll look something like this:

The XZL's are 46" tires, which will add at least 1.5" more height to the rig. But the wheel/tire combo seems to be the setup of choice for the big International expedition rigs made by the pros. I'll be hanging onto my Alcoa's until I've had a chance to see how the setup performs.

Those are good tires. They provide a very nice ride, and really seem to work well for us (the Army). I have heard very few complaints about them at all. The only thing is that when people leave them sitting for too long it can damage the tires occasionally, by splitting the tire a bit. Really, though, that happens on any tire if you leave it sitting for a year or two with that much weight on it etc.