Building a custom cab ? The mHET

[kochevnik]

OK - maybe this is a nutso idea (wouldnt be the first one I ever had - nor the last LOL) but I keep looking at the M1070 HET (see avatar profile album) and looking at the M915 ... and looking at the HET ... and looking at the M915 - and thinking ...... (which is a dangerous thing LOL )

If you got an M915, pulled all the sheet metal, saved all the wiring and electrical gauges pedals etc - it just seems like it would not be an impossible thing to do to replace the cab with a custom one. The 915 is my choice because it is the best truck for my needs, and if I screw this up, it's not like there aren't a lot of them in circulation and the prices are not that high (like an M916 or 920).


Yes of course, it would not be an EXACT duplicate - but maybe just something pretty close - get the basic angles close - you move the cab foward about 6 inches or so, pull the radiator or replace it (or move it elsewhere ?) to get the slanted hood effect - lift the cab 6 inches ? then slant the windscreen and extend the cab back so that you could put another row of seats in the cab.

The thing about the M1070 is that all the sheet metal is at nice straight ANGLES that would lend itself very well to welding - most other trucks would be hard to do with the round sheet metal, but this one just seems made for a project like this. I was thinking something pretty thick like 10, 11 or 12 gauge sheet steel - makes it easy to weld and safer. Of course adds weight as well.

I found these guys pretty close to me :

Morse Steel Service

If those prices are correct - a ton of sheet steel (14 4x8 sheets of 12 gauge - which is a very rough estimate of the amount of sheet it would take) would run about $1400.

My welding skills are decent - get a nice plasma cutter and go to town. For any crucial impoortant bits (shortening the steering shaft ?)- I have a guy with 40 years experience, certified instructor - used to build ships - etc to make sure there is no doubt those are done right.

Lots and lots and LOTS of work of course - but what would be the technical problems I would run into that would make this un-doable ?

I'm thinking the RADIATOR, DOORS, steering shaft and the shifter would be the biggest issues - what else have I forgotten ?

I'm thinking of calling it an mHET (as in mini-HET LOL) if I ever actually ever do this.

 

[deuceaid]

I say do it!!!! Weld some extra spikes on the front,we can get Mel Gibson and dingo Kid to drive it for ya......just kidding, but I would say go for it,,,You may also want to look at the thread of the guy building the baby hemtt......

 

[kochevnik]

HAHA - great

Yeah I watched that thread for a while - if I remember correctly that one was going good until he slid a big steel plate into his ribs and broke them. I've broke ribs (several times) before and needless to say, you are lucky to be able to put your shirt on after that.

I'm lucky because I now have the money to try something like this thanks to working my ass off 60+ hours a week for the last couple of years.

When I asked the wife what she thought of getting a truck or two the other day, she said something great (like she always does) she said : - well if you want to keep getting milk from the cow, you gotta feed em every once in a while too.

So I took that as a yes.

 

[KsM715]

Get ahold of SS member M920 (Soni I believe). He has an awsome custom built truck.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/5-ton-up/43786-my-own-idea-m920a1.html

 

[73m819]

Why not, with enough money and time anything can be done, GO FOR IT

 

[wreckerman893]

Get ahold of SS member M920 (Soni I believe). He has an awsome custom built truck.

Soni's truck rocks....I met him when he came to Redstone to pick up an M820.

The truck is an M920 that has been heavily modified.

 

[kochevnik]

Yeah - Soni's truck is something else that's for sure. I've looked at the thread of his for a long time now - and I've thought about a 916 or a 920, but to be honest, it's too much truck for me (hard as that is to admit LOL).

For me I like the 915 because it has the fully auto trans (and non-electronic is a plus), the turning radius is a lot shorter and the weight and size is better for what I want to do - not to mention the price is a lot lower.

Since the wife has agreed - don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth for too long - she might change her mind LOL. I got Richard there to at least talk to me about his 915 but still waiting to see if he sold it yet.

The big problem being on the west coast is the shipping - but I figured two trucks on a step deck will spread the cost over two trucks so that might make it more palatable. I was kinda hoping to find at least one (or maybe two ?) of the 915s that had been rebuilt in the last 6 or 7 years. Anyone has any leads - please point them my way - I'll put an ad in the classifieds in a week or two now that I got my membership upgraded. I figure this is at least a two year project as I have to go back to bustin ass in another month so am not going to have a lot of time for this, but first step is to actually get the vehicle(s) and that I can work on now.

So anybody have any idea if there are any other big problem areas of this I forgot - or in their experience would be really difficult to pull off ?

 

[KsM715]

Not trying to steal your thunder. I agree with Ron, if you've got the time and funds to do it, by all means DO IT. I love the custom "big" truck builds. There's a couple of rigs on here and each one is awsome in its own right.

 

[booger]

All you need is time and money. And, a lot of both. Sounds like a great idea, I hope you can pull it off.

 

[wreckerman893]

This is something to consider....the engine in the M915 is a PITA to work on due to the batwing design of the hood. Putting it further under the cab is going to make it a lot worse.

If you are going to do a custom job I would consider a tilt cab design to make access to the engine/transmission easier.

If I keep my M915 or buy another one I am seriously considering making the front end a tilt up to make maint easier.

Just my for what it's worth.

 

[rrrr]

This is something to consider....the engine in the M915 is a PITA to work on due to the batwing design of the hood. Putting it further under the cab is going to make it a lot worse.

If you are going to do a custom job I would consider a tilt cab design to make access to the engine/transmission easier.

If I keep my M915 or buy another one I am seriously considering making the front end a tilt up to make maint easier.

Just my for what it's worth.

The tilt up engine hood is awesome on my 932a1. Easy to get at most things unlike my Deuce !

 

[eldgenb]

every trucker I have talked to said that it is the same cab as the older interational's, it should be super easy to retrofit a tilt nose on it since the radiator and such are already cross braced in.

 

[quickfarms]

neat project

 

[kochevnik]

I have been in discussions with several members about their M915s and I have an ad in the classifieds looking for some trucks.

I am definitely planning on a tilt-hood. I am not interested in going firberglass or anything so the **** thing is going to weigh a ton. So how do you tilt a hood that weighs 500 pounds ? I've been thinking about that and I think I have an answer.

Boat Trailer Hand Winches - iboats.com

I am planning on modifuing the bumper to something that looks like the double bumper that is in my avatar. I would weld a couple of short pieces of short square tubing to the back side of the new 'bumper' and then weld up a gin pole type frame that would fit in there with a boat trailer winch on the top. The cable for the winch would connect to a hook (or better yet, hooks) welded on the top of the hood.

If you look at this foto you see lifting hooks sticking thru the hood - I'm thinkinf of welding the same hooks actually ON the hood and then you stick the gin pole on with some pulley-type apparatus and the boat winch on the bottom and crank away and up comes the whole thing. The bumper would have pins on it so it rotate out a bit to act as a big door stop to rest the hood on when it is fully tilted forward.

Not sure if those trailer winches work in both directions allowing you to slowly lower the hood back into place ? If they dont I'm sure someone makes something like that, or even just a real small electric winch would do the trick.

When you're done, remove the gin pole with the winch and store it under or in the back of the truck. Could even be folding with [ins in it to make storage easier.

Anyways ... this is all gonna take a long while. I'll probably just add to this thread if I ever get really going on this.

 

[73m819]

just use hood openers that the some of the otr trucks use, these are 12v screw actuators, OR use the hyd. pump and cylinders as used on cab overs, you can get this with a hand pump or electric pump with a hand pump backup

 

[kochevnik]

Found this

http://www.powerpackerus.com/documents/cabtilt_a.pdf

73m819 it's a great idea, I'm just thinking it would be fairly complicated thing to pull off and as much as possible I want to stick with the KISS principle. These projects generally never end usually because they get bogged down somewhere like this.

If I can figure out a not very complicated way of doing this I'll give it a shot - or if I can scrounge the right parts at a good price.

Also I want the hood to tilt as far forward as possible, for safety reasons (wont fall back on top of you) and because I want it to be really easy to get at everything under the hood.

Question ? better to attach the fenders to the hood as a single unit or attach the fenders to the frame. I'm thinking frame is better.

Also - whatever apparatus is in place for the lifting it needs to be totally manual - you are generally lifting the hood because someting is wrong in there - no electrical no hydraulics etc. So instead of a dual-power system, manual seems better to me. Slower yes, more work to lift yes, but human power means a lot fewer things that could go wrong.

I should add. this truck is mostly going to be used for three things - 1) pulling crap around the (future) farm 2) pulling crap to the farm and 3) a last ditch bugout vehicle - so everything needs to be as simple and bombproof as possible.

So that is going to affect a lot of the choices I make on this project.

I guess you could also do some type of human powered screw actuator - but the problem I see with screw actuators is that they need a very long screw, which needs to go somewhere when it is not fully extended. I dont think there is a lot of room for that under the hood.

Also to add - I'm going to be doing a lot of thinking out loud on this thread - just my style. I can also guarantee you I will change my mind about a lot of stuff as I go along. Just the way I think. If I think I can do it better I will start over on something if need be.

Forewarning for anyone following this thread - might make you a little nuts after a while LOL

 

[73m819]

Use the HYD. hand pump, no power needed, I would use the powered pump for everyday odd and ends, just easer ,

put the fenders ON the hood, gets everything out of the way when working on the beast

"but the problem I see with screw actuators is that they need a very long screw, which needs to go somewhere when it is not fully extended."

just put the actuators close to the pivoit point

 

[kochevnik]

just put the actuators close to the pivoit point

duh ! Shoulda thought of that.

thanks.

LOL found this :

The HoodXpress - YouTube

The company ( Hoodxpress) is out of business but interesting idea.

 

[73m819]

REMEMBER, you need to raise the hood just for everyday stuff, filters, starter, oil change, on and on and on, ect, NOT just if something breaks

 

[Bighurt]

REMEMBER, you need to raise the hood just for everyday stuff, filters, starter, oil change, on and on and on, ect, NOT just if something breaks

What you have to check that stuff before use...surely you jest. I mean if that were the case there would be a "before" table under PMCS for which to use...

I'll be the first to admit if I had a tilt hood on the M915 it would be a lot easier. I'll also admit that laziness will in sue and the "I checked it yesterday" attitude will become "grounds dry, lets go". If the M915 had fender liners like the M925 I'd be screwed, most of the time I squeeze between the tire and fender to check belt tension/condition and obvious leaks. But that's not the right way.

So to the OP, looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I wouldn't be to worried about weight. As someone who has attempted to pick up the hood assembly of a M915, it's not a one man job. Two people, and a 2x4 will struggle, and those butterfly's seam so light all by themselves.