Insane modifications....

[rollscanardly]

Thanks for the kudos, folks!


If I had to guess...there are about 120 hours of actual fabrication time in this job, not counting engineering time and prep/painting. Plus, I erred on some of the math, and had to re-do the pin box.


A newer 5th wheel is out of the question, at least for now. Our camper is old, smaller with less frills than most, but for the amount of camping that we've done so far (not much...) we love our little camper.


I forgot to post up some pics of the accessories.


Safety chain clamp...














Also made an adjustable top cap (to keep the rain out...)...













The lift blocks...











Rich

[rmac04401]

Great job Rich. Both your camper, and hitch will outlast anything you hook up to it. Great job.

[RockDodger]

Thou art truly a shop god!!

[babock]

Would you mind sharing what welding equipment you are using for all of this? I am a hobbyist welder and have a Miller 240V MIG, a Thermal ARC 240V TIG and a Hypertherm plasma cutter

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

Great job Rich. Both your camper, and hitch will outlast anything you hook up to it. Great job.

Originally Posted by RockDodger

Thou art truly a shop god!!

Thank you both, for the kind words.

Originally Posted by babock

Would you mind sharing what welding equipment you are using for all of this? I am a hobbyist welder and have a Miller 240V MIG, a Thermal ARC 240V TIG and a Hypertherm plasma cutter

I have an ESAB MigMaster 250, and a Thermal Dynamics 300GTSW stick/tig machine.

I had a sweet L-tec plasma cutter for about 25 years. When it died and couldn't be repaired, I decided I wasn't going to spend a lot of money on a new plasma cutter.

So, I bought a 40 amp HF plasma cutter and it kicks butt!!

For a hobbyist, you have some nice stuff!



Rich

[babock]

Originally Posted by rollscanardly

So, I bought a 40 amp HF plasma cutter and it kicks butt!!

For a hobbyist, you have some nice stuff!



Rich

I like nice tools. I have actually done quite a bit of welding. I have put in a lot of fence and many gates. I have even had many people stop to ask me to give them bids for their houses.

This is my MIG. Just bought it a couple years ago
https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.c...uto-set-907614
Blows away my old Lincoln I had.

Looks like you may have rotator/positioner for some of those welds?

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by PatrickY

I was a little scared at first - a rookie welder building something like that could easily end up with cracked/splitting welds - but then I went back and actually looked at the welds - yours are a thing of beauty - no porous spots, almost no spatter anywhere, nice steady bead ...

My guess is that you've done about 50 miles of welding in your life, and judging by some of the tool boxes and pick-a-nut cabinets in the background you're probably in your 60s or you inherited your grandfather's garage. That, or perhaps you own a fab shop.

Either way, great job!


[EDIT] I just went back and read your profile - that explains everything [/EDIT]


But I question your sanity: wouldn't have been easier to simply skip lowering the truck and building your custom hitch/receiver and just buy another (slightly newer) 5th wheel?

In all seriousness, great design, great planning, great finished product and great truck.

Well...you are quite the psychic! I am in my 60's and do have a small fabrication shop.


I have been doing high-quality welding since 1974 (nuclear submarines, and I was a self-employed industrial metal fabricator).


Even if I bought a new 5er, the overhang of the camper would be maybe 2-3" higher than our current camper.

There would still be the issue of little clearance.

I don't want to be one of those guys that drives with the camper on a 15 degree nose-high angle. Or worse, have the camper smash into the bed rails on bad approach angles.

I work with a guy that just bought a beautiful 2020 F350 PSD. He will use it to retrieve a family-owned 5er that has been parked on some land for many, many years...from Maine to RI.

I measured his bed rail height at the rear axle (not the tailgate). It's 61" tall!

I think that he will be in for a rude awakening!

I hope you love your truck as much as I do mine.

Thanks for the kind words!


Rich

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by babock

I like nice tools. I have actually done quite a bit of welding. I have put in a lot of fence and many gates. I have even had many people stop to ask me to give them bids for their houses.

This is my MIG. Just bought it a couple years ago
https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.c...uto-set-907614
Blows away my old Lincoln I had.

Looks like you may have rotator/positioner for some of those welds?

Nice welder!


No rotator/positioner...all freehand. I have never ever walked the cup. I don't even know how, nor do I care to learn.
I did flip the piece from time-to-time...


You can certainly make some good money welding/fabricating. Just make sure that you charge enough!


Rich

[babock]

Originally Posted by rollscanardly

You can certainly make some good money welding/fabricating. Just make sure that you charge enough!

No plan on ever doing that. If I wanted to make some money on the side, could make WAY more doing engineering consulting. I retired for a reason!

[nayther]

Holy Fabrication Batman! Beautiful work and very well engineered. The old "Brick shithouse" solution.

[mxtreme30]

Can we just please get back to my off-road winch bumper???
In all seriousness and I don't want to get too far off subject, but does anyone have experience with the 3 in 1 welders out on the market? I have pondered these since they could mig/tig/stick with just a bottle and electrode change. Are they just OK at all three, but not excellent at any one process? Due to budget and space restraints this is what I have been leaning towards. I did pick up a small Jobsmart fluxcore at TTC on clearance and was surprised how good it worked. Haven't really tested the duty cycle, but in no hurry none the less. TIA

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by mxtreme30

Can we just please get back to my off-road winch bumper???
In all seriousness and I don't want to get too far off subject, but does anyone have experience with the 3 in 1 welders out on the market? I have pondered these since they could mig/tig/stick with just a bottle and electrode change. Are they just OK at all three, but not excellent at any one process? Due to budget and space restraints this is what I have been leaning towards. I did pick up a small Jobsmart fluxcore at TTC on clearance and was surprised how good it worked. Haven't really tested the duty cycle, but in no hurry none the less. TIA

It's like anything else...you can buy better, more expensive name brands, or you can buy cheaper brands and hope for the best.



Everlast makes some nice stuff.



I don't have one, so I can't speak from experience, but I'm sure that they're fine.


The downside is that if the machine goes down, you're out of everything until it's fixed.


There's plenty of research and reviews of those welders online.


Welding off-road bumpers, etc. requires some pretty good skills.


Rich

[rmac04401]

It’s not the size or quality of the tool but how good you can use it. [emoji106]

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

It’s not the size or quality of the tool but how good you can use it. [emoji106]

That's what she said (supposedly)

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

It’s not the size or quality of the tool but how good you can use it. [emoji106]

Thank God for that!......


Rich

[mxtreme30]

When I was with an aerospace company down in TX I knew the guys that used to tig weld the mounting hooks onto the missile casings. The welds were works of art, but they had to be with all the QA checks they put them through. Last time I tried my hand at tig welding I accidently let the filler wire touch my sweaty neck!
That was the end of my tig career.

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by mxtreme30

When I was with an aerospace company down in TX I knew the guys that used to tig weld the mounting hooks onto the missile casings. The welds were works of art, but they had to be with all the QA checks they put them through. Last time I tried my hand at tig welding I accidently let the filler wire touch my sweaty neck!
That was the end of my tig career.

Lets you know you're alive......


Rich

[joeuncool]

Dude, you just need to stop posting pictures. This is all welding porn. I'm not a welder and I am getting a bit tingly in my nether regions.

If you truly learned most of your welding doing this work then you have been in the wrong profession your entire life.

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by joeuncool

Dude, you just need to stop posting pictures. This is all welding porn. I'm not a welder and I am getting a bit tingly in my nether regions.

If you truly learned most of your welding doing this work then you have been in the wrong profession your entire life.

Didn't mean to turn you on, Joe......


See post #27. Gives a little history of my welding career.


Rich

[mxtreme30]

Originally Posted by rollscanardly

Lets you know you're alive......


Rich

Yeah, but now every time I see someone getting tazed on an episode of Cops, my left eye starts twitching!