Project Baby Hemmt - FOR LEONARD

[Jones]

Not as yet, Jason. Trying to keep up my own schedule has me spread kinda thin. I'll have the trans cooler up in place and plumbed in this week and can light off the engine without a geyser of trans fluid from the 1/2" cooler connections on the Allison transmission. Then I'm gonna prime the fuel system, pre-lube the turbo, and crank it over to see if I can get it woke up.

 

[cranetruck]

Hey Leonard, just curious, my new addition (8x has the Allison TX-206-6 transmission, is that the one you have too or do you have something more modern?

 

[Jones]

Bjorn, mine's an AT-545 N. It's the run-of-the-mill Allison trans that all the FedEx, UPS, rental trucks use.

 

[jh1990]

Hey Jones, didn't mean to sound like i was pushing you, sorry if it came off that way. Anyway, I got a couple questions for you, if it's not too much trouble, how much did you pay for your HEMTT cab? Plus, what was the total cost for you're new tires and wheels? Just trying to work on a ruff price list for the basics of my future project. Thanks in advance, apprecaite it.

 

[Jones]

Jason, I got four cabs for $1200. I picked the best and cannibalized to finish out the one I used. Rims were $75 ea and the tires came to about $120 ea. including mounting and new radial tubes for each.

 

[Jones]

More on baby HEMTT

Still out here-- alive and kicking.
Got the spare tire up in the carrier and found I had to make a support and bracket to keep it from rolling the pass side frame channel.
Putting the finishing touchs on the tire hoist; winch and pulley at the end of the boom will finish it out. Base is permanent, hoist and boom extension are slip joints and disassemble for stowage when not in use.
Here's some pics to share.

 

[red devils dude]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

good to know you makeing progress.

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Thanks Jed. Some days you have to drive a stake into the ground to see if I'm moving. Once the last of the big stuff is placed and mounted, it should go faster... I hope.

 

[jh1990]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Hey Jones, haven't heard much on the baby HEMTT lately, hows things going over there?

 

[Jetnoise400]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Project Welfare Check... Leonard, are you still working on your baby HEMTT? Idle minds want to know

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Speaking of which...any progress?? I mean, not that anyone has asked hehe

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Yeah, I'm still picking away at it in between working for the Nat'l Guard and trying to keep all my other plates in the air. The baby HEMTT sits out on my driveway and it's been kinda hard to get excited about laying under it in the rain as I don't have a shop like some of you rich guys.
Just got the front and rear driveshafts done and in; trans to t-case still to do. Since I did away with the fuel tank on the passenger side in favor of the two "D" tanks on the driver's side, I made another tool box and gas can carrier for the pass side and have them installed. Now working on getting the steering linkage connected and functional, and getting air brake lines and wiring run. Found two more 10X20 rims and two more HEMTT tires 'cause I'm thinking about going duals in the rear. I can't get past the single rear wheel hanging so far outboard and leaving the brake drum completely exposed. Looks awkward and I don't want to find that I'm wiping out rear wheel bearings on a regular basis because of the extreme offset. Thanks to all for the interest. I think I'll actually be driving it sometime in this lifetime.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Duals in the rear eh? How you gonna acomplish that? Bridge truck wheels might be an alternative!

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Kenny, how wide are bridge truck wheels? I'm thinking one stock 10X20 and one with the center pushed out to it's max. That way if I need a spacer it won't have to be 7" thick. If my tape measure doesn't lie, It still should be within legal limits. If that doesn't work I can always drop back to the 1400X20s. I'm trying to stick with only one wheel so I don't have to carry two spares.

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

P.S. Kenny, I thought bridge truck wheels were 6 lug. I'm running 5 ton axles that take 10 hole Budd wheels.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

The bridge truck wheels are around 10'' wide and they are 10 lug. They would carry the tires I would think but don't know about frame clearance. Bridge trucks have wider rear axles but since your truck has the rear springs inboard, they may fit without spacers which helps your cause on width. Need to get one of these bridge truck folks to answer up on the wheels. Don't know if it's the right thing for Baby HEMTT but it was a thought.

Edit; just looked at the HEMTT wheels, maybe just use bridge truck wheels for the inners? If you do that you may only need a couple of inches worth of spacer but you may need to flip the rear hub. Dunno, lots of figuring here.

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Kenny, I'm gonna pull a rear wheel and reverse it to see what kind of clearance I have and while it's up in the air I'll take a picture of the drum exposed. Not sure the big full air brake Rockwells have a flippable hub. The problem with most of the wheels I found, other than these "garbage truck" wheels I'm running, is that the zero to small offset puts the tire outboard of the cab or bed line. Too much the other way and I lose clearance on the front which widens my turning radius into football length increments. Don't want to end up having to run fender flairs or a frame shaped like an hourglass.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

Looking at your rear wheel config, I don't see a need for a hub flip. The big ? will be if an inner wheel and tire will clear the frame. If it's not too much of a task ( LOL) maybe you can pop that spare off the rack and simulate duals with 2 tires and take some measurements. I'm off to see if I can determine the width of a bridge truck wheel.

 

[Jones]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

I think I may have to trim off one of the bed supports on each side but other than that it measures out to be workable. I already know that two wheels with tires face to face will need a spacer about 8" thick to keep the tires from kissing at the ground. That much extra would push my rear wheel stance out to 110" which is beyond legal at least here in Cailfornia. Another possible is giving up on running the 1600X20s and drop back down to the scrawny little 1400X20s I had before, and then getting to resize things like the spare tire carrier and stuff.
This may be one of those times where I finally have to accept the fact that I've been trying to make Chicken Salad out of Chicken $hit.

 

[DMgunn]

RE: More on baby HEMTT

My truck (M139) has 14.00s on 20x10s with LOTS of offset. You would need at least 14" between WMS and frame rail to clear one of these wheels reversed, but I'd bet you wouldn't need much, if anything, in the way of spacers to run your current wheels as outside duals. I will be working (playing really) on it today, and can get a couple measurements if that would help.

BTW, I've seen several posts that claim the bridge truck wheels are 12" wide. I suspect they are measuring the total width, and not between bead surfaces, to get this figure. Many do not know how to correctly measure a wheel's width.