Transport: Toy Boxes
October 1, 2005
With any trailer design, you will need an appropriate truck to pull it, and
many toy boxes are simply beyond the capabilities of most pickup trucks.
However, there are Ford Super Duty trucks rated for such loads that drive just
like pickups, and GM, International, Freightliner, and Peterbilt all make
medium-duty truck chassis that various niche manufacturers modify specifically
for trailer pulling. If you can operate a manual transmission, you have all the
physical coordination needed to operate a medium-duty truck with an automatic or
clutchless gearbox.
Garage Motorhomes
There are two types of motorhomes currently being
produced with garages, although the Prevost-chassis road palaces are not among
them. One style looks like a typical big-box motorhome, the other like a truck
cab with a moving van on the back.
Both garage motorhomes from Teschner and Travel Supreme use a Spartan
mid-engine chassis, where the Cummins 8.9-liter diesel sits just ahead of the
rear axle and does the same for road manners that a mid-engine does in a car. It
also frees the back of the coach for the garage, and in the case of Travel
Supreme’s Me2, that space has a deck 10 feet long and almost 8 feet wide that
lowers to ground level. Designed primarily for motorcycles, the space will fit a
small car (no larger than an original Mini) of one ton or less. And with years
of experience manufacturing luxury RVs, Travel Supreme’s Me2 offers a very
comfortable interior with roughly the same floor space as other 41-foot
motorhomes.
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The mid-engine Travel Supreme can carry a pair of motorcycles. (Click image to enlarge.)The other growing garage motorhome segment caters to weight and longevity, sharing components with semi-tractors designed for high mileage and hill-flattening climbing power.
By starting with a Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbilt, or Volvo cab, the coachbuilders have all the driver interface and automotive engineering done by automotive experts. Their 12.7- to 15-liter engines deliver more than 1,650 ft lbs of torque and good mileage relative to weight. Buyers can specify every component from the air filter to the batteries.
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