A big excavator with some chain and a cutting torch for the bolts and the dump body should come off pretty easy...then figure out what to do with the body (re-sell or scrap). Find a good 5th wheel plate at your local big truck junk yard and bolt it on. Then plumb out for the trailer air brakes and wire up the trailer electric pigtail for the lights.
None of this is hard to do as long as you or a friend have the equipment to handle the heavy stuff. If you don't have access to heavy equipment you can always just cut it up into manageable size pieces (like eating the elephant one bite at a time)...
Mike B
Mike Boteler
1956 Chevy 3100 Resto Rod 1952 Willys M38 Army Jeep 1983 Jeep CJ7 Laredo 1984 Jeep CJ7 +++++ Silver Spring, MD
A big excavator with some chain and a cutting torch for the bolts and the dump body should come off pretty easy...then figure out what to do with the body (re-sell or scrap). Find a good 5th wheel plate at your local big truck junk yard and bolt it on. Then plumb out for the trailer air brakes and wire up the trailer electric pigtail for the lights.
None of this is hard to do as long as you or a friend have the equipment to handle the heavy stuff. If you don't have access to heavy equipment you can always just cut it up into manageable size pieces (like eating the elephant one bite at a time)...
Mike B
Awesome stuff, even I can sort that. I'll go back to looking through grain and dump trucks and see what pops up. There was a mention on the web about setting up a valve so you can lock the trailer brakes while hooking up the 5th wheel, (a Trolley Brake?), I'm hoping this isn't too complicated either.
Find a donor 5th wheel truck and remove ALL of the air brake parts for the trailer and transfer to your truck. Doing it that way will be way cheaper than buying it one piece at a time. Also, make sure you take good notes and pictures of how everything is connected together before you take it apart. Google truck air brake diagrams and get familure with the system before you go hunting so you have a rough idea of what your looking at and what it does.
Mike B
Mike Boteler
1956 Chevy 3100 Resto Rod 1952 Willys M38 Army Jeep 1983 Jeep CJ7 Laredo 1984 Jeep CJ7 +++++ Silver Spring, MD
