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South Dakota | Have a 5 axle straight truck been thinking about converting to a semi tractor. It has a pusher and a tag axle. The distance between axles are listed below.
1-2: 166"
2-3: 68"
3-4: 54" (tandem)
4-5: 62"
Have thought about removing the tag axle and cutting the frame off behind the tandems while leaving the rest as is and pulling a 50' tri axle. I'm not sure about 5th wheel placement in this case. The front axle to the last tandem would be 288" so depending on the 5th wheel placement wondering what I could gross with 50' and if it would scale out with how the truck axles are spaced.
The other option would be to also remove the tag axle but move the tandems up closer to the pusher and chop the frame farther up. The reason being swing clearance for the trailer and getting more weight on the front axle. I realize this would also require shortening the driveline. The front axle to the last tandem would be around 260" in this case.
What other considerations should be taken into account? I'd like to get as long of a bridge as possible but still be able to scale out correctly.
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Interstate 35 North ia | Do you have both the yellow and red air brake buttons on the dash , if it came from the factory as a straight truck it may not have both valves and it would be a real pain to convert , another thing I have noticed on straight trucks is the turning radius on straight trucks seems to be poor ( different stops in axle ? Not sure) 260 wheel base would be the same as a long nose Pete , I don’t know what your straight truck is but if it’s nice it maybe more desirable to someone else with the long frame and extra axles and then just get a semi tractor to replace it . |
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coast of Maine | I am not sure about straight trucks but most tractors come with tractor protection valves so air is split appropriately when a sudden surge of air is applied,We have gone the other way a few times but not straight to tractor. |
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Osakis, MN | What's the truck specs, any pictures? Those are a lot more rare than an over the road truck. You might be able to sell it for enough money that you could upgrade into a pretty nice truck. |
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| Sell the straight truck to someone that wants a stretched truck and buy a cheap tractor. It cost a lot of money to make a straight truck compared to how cheap trucks can be. |
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Nw Iowa | I agree, semis are cheap, why take something with more value, spend a lot of time and make it worth less. |
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South Dakota | Well I figure since the truck is pre emission, less than half a million on the clock are a couple good reasons. You guys really think you can find a cheap semi as you say with 4 axles, those miles and pre emission? In my experience those conditions are not cheap. |
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| If bridge weight formulas are similar between ND and SD, then chop the frame behind the drives and leave the pusher where it is at. We have an old T600 with similar axle spacing and the 5th wheel is slid all the way ahead with the pivot pin near the centerline of the front drive axle. When loaded the front axle is close to 12k with the air in the pusher adjusted to put about 10k on the pusher axle. I will have to double check, but I think we can bridge 44,000 on the drives and pusher plus 12k on the steer. With a 48’ 3 axle trailer we are at 98,000. With a 10% harvest or a 10% winter permit it will max out the legal gross weight of 105,500 allowed in ND. It is tough to find a nice older long wheelbase 4 axle semi, and not too many guys run straight trucks anymore. |
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South Dakota | This one would be similar as I figure the tandems plus pusher would be 43500. I was concerned that the pusher might be too far ahead of the drives to do the most good. I had thought it may take too much weight off the steer and not help out the drives enought.
How do you figure the max gross weight allowed or where is that found? |
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| As long as the 5th wheel is far enough forward the weight will transfer to the steer and pusher. Most newer trailers should have enough clearance. SD is probably different, but here is the link to the ND weight limitations chart:
https://www.nd.gov/ndhp/sites/www/files/documents/Permits/Weight_Lim... |
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South Dakota | Ok, SD is similar but doubles are allowed here so I believe max gross is much more. |
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Straight truck to semi tractor conversion
