The Big Toy

Note:  this is a rather old set of pages.  Some day I will clean up the formatting.

Well, as the saying goes, the difference between men and boys is the size of their toys! 

This has been a rather lengthy project.  I purchased the truck in '93.  Because of a rather heavy work schedule, the project took much longer than I had planned.  I used it as a shell for a couple of trips in '96 and '97 and finally got it to a somewhat functional level in '98 and to a very functional level in '99.  We took several trip in it these last two years and plan to use it extensively in '00.

It is based on a 1986 IHC S1900 truck chassis which I purchased in Canada.  It has a DT466 Diesel engine, five speed transmission, two speed rear end, and air brakes.  It has a GVW of 34K pounds.  I have added air suspension on the rear end and plan to fabricate an air bag system for the front end as well.

The motorhome part is a 12 1/2 foot box with a full queen size bed over the cab.  It has a lot of cabinets, microwave, TV (with satellite), roof air, large generator, refrigerator, large water and holding tanks, heater, large inverter and battery bank (to supply 110 volt power), water heater, etc.  The is a large opening between the cab and the camper.  It still needs to have the carpet installed, cabinets finished and shower installed.  It is fully self-contained.  We have stayed in some remote areas for several days with all the luxuries of home.

This is Jim and the sons-in-law erecting the camper frame (May, 29. 1994).  The frames were built from 1 1/2 inch square steel tubing.  They were fabricated in the garage and moved to the back yard for assembly.  Additional tubing was welded in place as  the design evolved.

This photo shows some of the jerry rigging that was done during the fabrication.  A mobile scaffold was mounted on the jeep and the tractor bucket was used to support planks for the assembly of the front of the camper.  The skin is aluminum sheets which are riveted to the frame.  I can't begin to tell you how much fun it is to drill hundreds of holes!.  The rivets were not too bad since I used an air riveter for that operation.

In June of 2002 I sold this project.  The following pages show the information I posted on the truck.  It gives most of the details about the project and shows several photos of the camper.

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