M925A2 Trailer Made From M923A1 Truck

[JohnnyBM931A2]

Relax, I just thought of it today, and already have the donor truck sourced. I'm going to need a used 923 type cargo cover in camo.

Negative Ghost-Rider on the alternator delivery trailer, nobody is going to want them at the $350 price level. I currently can't get it lower unless my work let's me become the distributor and cut their $100 off the price, but I don't think that is going to happen. Conflict of Interest type of thing. Oh well.


Will trade new 130A 24V alternator for used 923 camo cover? ha ha ha

$350 for a good quality heavy duty truck alternator is not ridiculous in my opinion. As long as it's good for 5 years or so, and does what you say it will, I think it would be worth it.

 

[infidel got me]

Ghost rider says------ My stock alternator would have been 125 for a regulator, 60 dollars to install regulator and then I still would have the rest of the components to worry about. So, now I'm at 185 for a marginal/patched alternator, that one switch turned off wrong will let the smoke genie out of her bottle. Idk but if it were me, 350 don't sound to bad, piece of mind is worth that. So simple a caveman could figure it out, and hurry up with that trailer build, my hitch is empty. lol

 

[74M35A2]

The alternator is rated at 130A, but that is in 100C ambient underhood temps. Normally, it will deliver about 140A or so at speed, and just about 100A at idle. It is designed and tested to last a minimum of 15 years and 150,000 miles. Salt spray, over-voltage, reverse polarity, etc...all the standard development cycle stuff. It is a European truck application since they are 24V on-road, so that makes it pretty difficult to acquire here in the states, but not impossible. I am able to get them with a little lead time, but I don't want to buy a batch of them and then be stuck with them because people would rather go the $89 Chinese Delco clone route.

Trailer is in process already. Said source needs about 3 weeks to part the donor truck out. I'll probably be picking it up just prior to Christmas.

 

[JohnnyBM931A2]

Sounds like a plan

 

[infidel got me]

What a Christmas present.

 

[74M35A2]

It's not done yet.

 

[grendel]

I'd had a very similiar thought, since I took an engine, trans, front suspension and front axle from a Cargo truck... oh and the cab's rotted.

I plan to make it dump. I also plan to replace the axles. Already has the super singles on it.

You will need a hefty jack.

There's no engine or trans in that truck and it still makes the loader squat. Talking about after we removed the engine, transmission, front axle, fuel tank, side boxes, tires and springs.





Sadly, I don't have pics of moving that around after the carnage.

 

[wreckerman893]

There's no engine or trans in that truck and it still makes the loader squat. Talking about after we removed the engine, transmission, front axle, fuel tank, side boxes, tires and springs

I parted out a Marine Corps 5 ton a while back and I can tell you from experience that to have been built by the lowest bidder these trucks are notoriously hard to reverse engineer.

 

[74M35A2]

Bought it. Starting platform is a 923A2 with hardware removed from the t-case forward. Full frame rail length, will shorten and bend into an "A". Looks like I will have something to do over Christmas.

 

[JohnnyBM931A2]

Sweet!

 

[brakejay]

This will be awesome!
How do you plan to bend the rails?

 

[74M35A2]

I want the trailer to be as close to the truck as possible, but not contact each other in a tight turn or when backing at an angle. So, I have some math to do in order to know where to cut.

Once I strip the spaghetti off the frame and cut the rails to length, I will then notch the horizontal flanges of each rail, and then heat the vertical flange with an oxy torch. Then bend the rail in with a come-a-long to control the bend. Repeat with other rail. Once contacting, weld flat gusset plates onto the horizontal areas that were notched. I'll need to add a lunette ring to the front dropped down to the same level as my pintle when both are level. This will be below the frame rail level obviously.

I can connect the trailer CTIS to my truck since it is all a single channel system, it has no idea how many tires there are, it inflates them all to the same level. This will be a third glad-hand connection, first two being air brake. If the ABS module is included, I may be able to run that also. I'll have to study a connection diagram to do so. Front and rear hydraulic tongue jack via 24v forklift hydro pump, 2 small batteries, and a cylinder front and rear.

 

[Castle Bravo]

I kinda think that if you provide the ABS ECU with power like it expects, it will work properly.

On one hand, it seems complex to make the brakes work correctly, but maybe it is as simple as just removing all the front axle specific stuff.

 

[74M35A2]

We'll see. It's a science project. It should hook up just like an air brake trailer to the back of the 925. Service and emergency. I believe the air brake system works off pressure and not volume, so it should work as designed/intended.

 

[JohnnyBM931A2]

Oh c'mon.. Don't be a girly man. A real manly man would bend those frame rails with his bare hands.... lol


Sounds like you have almost everything figured out. That's good. Sounds like a plan

 

[74M35A2]

I need to study the ABS module connector schematic, but I may be able to make it active also since ABS is on the rear brakes only of these trucks.

 

[infidel got me]

Very cool, cant wait to see finished product!

 

[srodocker]

That is awesome. Would love to do that as well.

 

[todds112]

Great project! I would love to have the knowledge and means to do something like that.

 

[74M35A2]

I'll keep updating this thread as I do the work. You guys can do this, it is easy. Even if not activating the ABS or CTIS, just buy the back half of a scrap truck, cut the rail, add a hitch, and done. You could even just pay a local welder to do the work, it should be relatively cheap.


Also, we'll see what happens. I say I am going to heat and bend the frame rails after I notch them, but it may not go that way at all. I have never bent metal on that large of a scale. Stay tuned, I hope anybody would be able to use this as an instruction manual.