Car hauler

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Have any of you seen these car haulers that are made from a 4WD pickup with a tandem axle trailer stubbed into the chassis right behind the cab? They are converted to run as front wheel drive. Some guy in Siloam Springs, AR apparently makes them for big bucks. I saw one on eBay but didn't put it on watch so I've lost it. Sounds like a good hot rodder project.

Any idea what the modifications to the trans are to do so?

Charlie

[enjenjo]

Years ago, a buddy built one out of a Blazer. It was part time four wheel drive, and he had to make no modifications to the trans or transfer case.

[PeterR]

Have any of you seen these car haulers that are made from a 4WD pickup with a tandem axle trailer stubbed into the chassis right behind the cab?

Charlie

I liked this one.   http://www.442.com/articles/hauler.html

[phat rat]

Some trucks that I've seen ran a Toronado or Eldo front clip complete  with that motor and trans

[tomslik]

actually know a guy that built one, said it wasn't worth a crap on a snowy/icy hill....
guess it'd be ok in the summer but i tend to use stuff year round..

[OldSub]

I would not think any mods were required in most cases.  Years ago I broke the rear drive shaft on my four-wheel-drive and simply dropped the shaft and ran off the front until I was able to get a new drive shaft.

Every time I think through building a car hauler I conclude that while it would be cool unless you use it a lot you're licensing and insuring a single use vehicle and simply pulling a trailer is much less expensive.

I would never use it enough to justify it.  I'm sure some guys haul so often it makes good sense for them.

[Rrumbler]

Back in '88 when I bought my last dually, a guy that I worked with mentioned that to me - the truck was a Chevy K3500 - said he had met the gent at some time in the past.

[WZ JUNK]

[quote=" Some guy in Siloam Springs, AR apparently makes them for big bucks. [/quote]  Not far from where we delievered the engine Charlie.

I know the guy who builds the trucks.  He deals in street rods and often buys, sells and trades with a friend of mine here in town.  I have been to his place also.    

Let the buyer beware.

John

[Charlie Chops 1940]

John, I wasn't thinking of buying one from him, just mulling around making one to haul a small hot rod. My concern was how to utilize front wheel drive from a 4WD or AWD system with some reliability.

Don't know much more now than when I asked the first question.

I remember the article in Hot Rod Mechanix and always thought that was neat. Those early 70's FWD v-8 cars are nearly extinct here abouts. The 79-85 Rivieras and clones would work but they're 25 years old now and a bit like hen's teeth too.

Just pondering...to much spare time?

Charlie

[wayne petty]

how much does your rod weigh... front and rear... is it as wide as a full size car???

so you have a good strong attachment ring or point on the front of the car..

there are several ways to make it work ...   using a front wheel drive mini van nose.. with the rear section moved up to make is a coupe... but still retaining the hatch.. so you can open it up to the car deck when the car is not there... forethought may also leave you enough room to completely recline the front seats... for snoozing..

this car platform could also be rented out for parades.. with proper rails ..


if you use 14 inch rear  rims.. there are load range E tires available for them.

don't forget the removable fender skirts for the rear wheels..

there have been mods to the rear wheel wells to flip them out flat when lowering the deck to the ground..

only drawback.. that would take some forethought.. rigging the biggest brakes on the front wheels you could get..    you might want to run electric brakes on the second rear axle.. as displacing enough brake fluid to active 4 rear wheel cylinders is going to be hard..

i liked the rotors and calipers i saw at the parts store for an 03 monte carlo.. thick beefy rotors..

i saw a trailer design a few weeks ago.. had hydraulic rams to lever a bell crank to drop the center spring perch between the tandem springs..

there  are various types of rear trailer axles also some with rubber bushings like a torsion bar.. so you can keep the rear deck low..  they were in a trailer supplies catalog i had a bunch of years ago.. probably from northern.com..


these are just ideas... nothing to be taken seriously..

[OldSub]

I've seen front drive Cadillac limos with 8-lug hubs and big brakes  I don't know the modern models well enough to suggest which ones they are, but that powertrain might be something to look at.

For a time there was a GMC front drive motorhome on the market.  There is still an active community that seems to love the things.  It used a stronger version of the Toranado stuff but with much bigger brakes than the cars.

A local guy had one and was planning to put it under a COE project.  I think that died when he COE was stolen.

[GPster]

Charlie, I've wondered the same thing in the past. To keep from getting to many (more than one) projects started I've not carried it very far. I'd think the transfer case would be the weak link. I think some of the older transfer cases were gear-to-gear and I'd think they'd be up to the task. The newer transfer cases have that internal multi-link chain in them and it's probably strong enough. I think that's what's in Toronado etc. drive transfers anyway. Seems that I thought something (Jeep?) had a transfer case with a differetial in itso they might require locking the un-used driveside (Rear in your case), AWD might be the same consideration. I know that rear axels are rated by capacity, are 4x4 front axels rated? My plan was to make a camper out of a school bus and use FWD by changing transmission and front axel/suspension so maybe I could get it closer to the ground. GPster

[OldSub]

are 4x4 front axels rated?

They are.  Most straight axle 4x4s have a lessor axle on the front than in the rear.  The Dana 60 was used at the front of 1-ton GM trucks starting in '77 and up until the IFS days.

The front diff in a GM 1-ton IFS is a 9.5 inch similar internally to the 9.5 inch GM 14-bolt.  The diff in a 1/2- or 3/4- is an 8.5 and the S trucks are more like a 7.5.  It may be what determines which front diff in the full size trucks is the number of lugs with 8-lug trucks having the big one and 6-lug trucks having the small one.

I have one of each and have never crawled under to confirm which diff is in place.

The early 1-ton IFS diff has some funky control system that might make using it a bad choice.  I don't know if they have changed that more recently.  My information is mostly about the 80's and 90's trucks.

[Harry]

For a time there was a GMC front drive motorhome on the market.  There is still an active community that seems to love the things.  It used a stronger version of the Toranado stuff but with much bigger brakes than the cars.

I have two of the old, 1973 to 1978 GMC motorhomes and have thought about making a car carrier from one. The rear wheels are "tag" axles so you do not have the problem of dual wheels which makes the space between narrower. They do have a large master cylinder, so the brakes would be OK. You can buy one of these motorhomes for $5,000 or so. Maybe cheaper if it needs interior work. Olds 455 in the early models, Olds 403 in the later.

[OldSub]

Olds 455 in the early models, Olds 403 in the later.

Cadillac 500 in the one I've been following on another site.