I am doing a bunch of work this winter on my L9000 dump. Among other things we are rebuilding the floor, and I am adding a battery disconnect on the floor to the left of the driver's seat. Ford put an air tank right under the cab on both sides, tucked right up tight to the cab floor. On the driver's side at least, I want to move that tank out of there, partly because I can't put a disconnect there otherwise, and the tank is also rusting because the location traps moisture and debris on top of the tank. The factory setup has two 12" x 29" tanks under the cab, and a 9" tank inside the tank farther back. I am thinking of mounting two smaller tanks "Freightliner style" in the front of the fuel tank behind the left steer. The passenger tank I might leave alone, or possibly put something inside the framerails farther back. Is there anything I should know about this that maybe I don't? Are there any legalities as far as DOT specs? I am trying to keep air volumes the same. Below is a Freightliner: The space I have:
No issues, Mack did that on R series and Superliners. Some with battery box then a air tank below. Don't worry about it.
Post some pictures of your truck if you like. I like L9000's!
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Thanks . . .
What engine do you have?
3406b set at 350hp.
How's that floorboard project coming?
Slowly, in fits and starts. I have everything stripped out of the cab, just picked up a sheet of 16ga steel yesterday. I have never done automotive sheet metal work like this before, so it will probably be a rather slow process.
Don't cut out anymore than you have to, this where one of those cheap HF tiny media blasters would work although messy. Painted with rust inhibitor then Bostic FS 1100 sealer between pieces huck riveted imo. Going to have cab structural to deal with in floor area.
I was going to cut out the floor sheet while leaving in the crossmembers underneath as they are solid. You are saying to basically sandblast all the rust away, paint and seal it and then rivet in some sheet over top? This is basically my cut plan:
How much weight does that pusher axle give you. That truck here, shorter without the pusher Id be good for a little over 16 metric tonne payload, so like 17 and a half. Our little freightshakers are around 10500KGs, so a little over 23000
I got to be honest, I’m not sure I’d be cutting much of anything, floor doesn’t look half bad. I would sandblast it first. On body work like that, I have had great luck, blasting top and bottom, let it sit for a few days, and coat it with POR or Rust Stop. Then I use fiberglass resin, Marine type and if needed use matt or mesh and cover completely. My only issue with welding in patches, is they tend to rust out faster because of the heat from welding. Unless it’s a restoration on something worthy, all you need to do, is keep oxygen from getting to the metal.
That's why I noted using the FS1100 as a sealer, We used that stuff in refer trailers to seal tears in walls and aluminum belt line and holes in floors, then huck rivet, no welding. That sealer once dry is elastic but once adhered you can't tear it apart. It will stand up to fork lift abuse inside a trailer. Can be bought at Refer Trailer dealers/repair hubs.
My truck is good to about 63,000lb gross, a tandem truck is good to like 54,000 or something. All the newer trucks are quads, which run at 73,000lb, usually about 22 tons in the box. The set forward lift axle on a triaxle is an old Wisconsin thing, many of the dumps from the '80's and early 90's are set up that way, but nobody runs them anymore. Old guys have told me that there used to be a weight benefit to that arrangement, but I think that is all long gone.
Is that like the stuff OEMs put on the seams on cabs and car bodies?
Close, but a lot more strength.
Will have to look that stuff up.
They used to run an adjustable lift axle on trailers. It was set ahead almost center. Not quite but enough that you had to lift it at sharp corners. The trailer would have spring suspension then air bags on the lift. More air in the lift would take weight off the drives. Been a few years but if you were loaded right 72 thousand pounds of osb let's say would be 72 pounds in the the lift. Turner quick lift had upside down leaf springs to lift the axle so you would need an extra 20 pounds on top of the 72. Sometimes you had to just look at your tire squat. They did away with the adjustable axle in the 90s. You can still have a lift, but not adjustable and your axle spread is evenly spaced on the cluster