Red's deuce camper project

[red EOD veteran]

After considering the differences between a truck with trailer or a larger truck for expeditions I decided to go with an old duece and a half as my platform.

Drove it 330 miles home. First thing I did was adjust and inspect the brakes on it. Other than 1 broken bolt all is good to go. Adding an external brake fluid reservoir to make checking the fluid easier and provide more fluid.

Planning to go through the truck first, then work on the camper. I want the camper to be removable so I can store the camper in the garage. A pop up camper would keep my total height about 11-12'.

Upgrades for the truck:
super single tires
cruising speed of 65mph safely.
power steering
lights
muffler
winches
fuel capacity
storage
radio
creature comforts

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[Titanpat57]

Pics of the camper pod?

Loving the idea...thinking out loud it seems like a zombie proof platform.....good luck with it, looking forward to the progress.

 

[LovinPSDs]

65 is going to be sketchy, but with the proper work possible. Mine old bobbed deuce was pretty difficult at high speeds, but the brakes and steering were never realllllly setup for it. Good luck! I'll be watching, deuces are awesome!

 

[red EOD veteran]

Havent picked up the camper yet, that will be in a few months. I'm leaning towards a 10-14ft pop up trailer (not including the hitch), preferably with hard sides like a "Trail Manor" but if I can find a decent soft sided pop up I'll grab it.

LovinPSD's making sure it's done right to cruise at 65mph is the plan. I have a set of 395's that I'll be picking up in a few weeks that will get the rpm's to about 2100 at 60mph. Upgrading from there will be done with the transmission if required. Either the .69 overdrive gear upgrade or changing transmissions to one with a better overdrive. Not planning to swap the drivetrain until it dies, hopefully a long time down the road haha. When it goes either a duramax/allison or a cummins/nv4500 will most likely go in.

The steering on the truck is nice and tight, in very good shape. Still, it's manual steering and needs to be upgraded for both slow speed turning and high speed stability. Planning to run a hydraulic assist setup, mount a cylinder on the axle/tie rod with a engine driven hydraulic pump.

The brakes on it are now adjusted and will stop the truck quickly.

Thank you Joaquin, pm sent.


Might have it inspected this weekend. Then decide what I want to do with the exhaust. Think I will add a muffler to it and install some sound deadening material to the cab. If it's quiet enough with that then I'll keep the stack. If not then time to figure out how to route the exhaust to exit the rear of the truck.

 

[red EOD veteran]

Forgot to mention, the LED lights are mounted. Tucked them in behind the grill, plenty of ventilation to keep them cool and from the sides you can't tell they are there.

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[Henry_G]

Love these vehicles. I've thought about picking one up but my neighbors would lose it. Guess its time to get some land with the next home.

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[65BAJA]

I don't remember where the thread was but I know someone has installed International medium duty disk brakes using Ford F450 calipers. I believe they did away with the air assist system and went to a 24V electric assist. Might have been on Pirate4x4, not sure.

 

[red EOD veteran]

On pirate they used a ford f550 caliper on f700 rotors, run about 600 dollars per axle. When my brakes wear out I'll upgrade but for now the stock drums are ok.

I've decided to reroute the exhaust to the rear of the truck and install a muffler. Tubing should be here by Friday.

sent from Serenity, passing through reaver territory

 

[red EOD veteran]

Henry mine is parked in the back yard, access from the alley. Have a strict city code officer in my area and its the only way to keep him happy.

sent from Serenity, passing through reaver territory

 

[red EOD veteran]

Brake remote reservoir installed, no more 'vent' line coming out of the master cylinder

sent from Serenity, passing through reaver territory

 

[red EOD veteran]

Got the truck inspected and about halfway through rerouting the exhaust to the rear of the truck. Ran the 4" tubing between the battery box and the passenger floorboard

Little bit of trimming but not much

"Sent from Serenity, passing through reaver territory"

 

[charlieaarons]

LovinPSD's making sure it's done right to cruise at 65mph is the plan. I have a set of 395's that I'll be picking up in a few weeks that will get the rpm's to about 2100 at 60mph. Upgrading from there will be done with the transmission if required. Either the .69 overdrive gear upgrade or changing transmissions to one with a better overdrive. Not planning to swap the drivetrain until it dies, hopefully a long time down the road haha. When it goes either a duramax/allison or a cummins/nv4500 will most likely go in.

.

With all due respect, I think an Allison 1000 or NV4500 might be a little on the light side for a chassis that big and heavy especially with a camper.
I'd suggest a Fuller 6 spd, which will have better gear splits and is easy to bolt up to a Cummins with a different bellhousing. Or even a Roadranger, I'm pretty sure you can get an SAE#2 flywheel housing for a Cummins B series.

Charlie

 

[red EOD veteran]

Good point on the weight concern with the trans. Fully loaded I'm looking at 17-20k pounds, the lighter transmissions would be nearly maxed out constantly. Do you have the specs on the Fuller? Will be a long time before I do anything with the trans so the more research the better.


Mounted more of the exhaust today and its much, much quieter now, can barely hear the exhaust. Some turbo whistle when I let off the throttle.

Current exit, waiting for the 90 to arrive.

"Sent from Serenity, passing through reaver territory"

 

[shortbus4x4]

You can get a SAE#2 setup for a 5.9. Using a SAE bellhousing opens up lots of transmission options, I would try to find a 10 speed with OD.

 

[charlieaarons]

Check out the 6 spds on www.roadranger.com
http://www.roadranger.com/ecm/group...er/documents/content/rr_rrsl-0001.pdf#page=25

In the heavy duty dept. I am personally fond of the 9ALL, an 11 spd with OD = 0.73 but Low-Lo 1st 26.08:1

Charlie