New (used) IH 7500 Dump Truck purchase, modification & fix up

[repete]

Also found this in aluminum. Really nice.
Hinges can be moved but I’d have maybe 6” of overhang beyond my frame. I don’t think aluminum can take the punishment though.

View attachment 773072

Are you worried about corrosion or dents?

 

[Hay Dude]

Are you worried about corrosion or dents?

Yes, but I think corrosion (from steel) is less of a concern than dents (with aluminum).
Steel also considerably cheaper.
I think aluminum is too fragile for what I will be doing.

Found this SS 13 footer on CL

 

[repete]

Yes, but I think corrosion (from steel) is less of a concern than dents (with aluminum).
Steel also considerably cheaper.
I think aluminum is too fragile for what I will be doing.

Found this SS 13 footer on CL

View attachment 773075

And you could redeck the steel with a new sheet over the old.

 

[mrmikey]

Aluminum bodies are nice until they start needing repairs. Personally, I'd never own an aluminum body of any kind, work trailer, dump body, service body or whatever. They work harden and can't take the flexing. Once you get a crack in a joint or anywhere it'll be never ending repairs and they are a royal pia to work on as they have to be clean.
I'd be a bit leery also of an aluminum rock body unless you line the bottom with something and then you're defeating the weight savings.
Those are my opinions and they're free so take into account what you paid for them LOL. Good luck on finding a good body, be sure to keep us in the loop.....Mike

 

[Hay Dude]

Aluminum bodies are nice until they start needing repairs. Personally, I'd never own an aluminum body of any kind, work trailer, dump body, service body or whatever. They work harden and can't take the flexing. Once you get a crack in a joint or anywhere it'll be never ending repairs and they are a royal pia to work on as they have to be clean.
I'd be a bit leery also of an aluminum rock body unless you line the bottom with something and then you're defeating the weight savings.
Those are my opinions and they're free so take into account what you paid for them LOL. Good luck on finding a good body, be sure to keep us in the loop.....Mike

Yeah, I don’t think aluminum is a consideration anymore.
I‘m careful with equipment, but aluminum dump bodies need to be treated like a china doll

 

[Paystar]

I'm late to the party Hay Dude, but nice truck. Solid engine too.
Just a couple things I saw mentioned here.....your Allison will have PTO provisions being a Rugged Duty Series.
Put a Chelsea pump on it and it will work just like the full time pump that is on it now....in that you can just flip the air switch and engage the PTO without stopping with the Allison auto.

And you mention using it to haul hay also. Too bad you can't find a nice deck-over dump body for it. Then you can fold the sides down and load from the sides like a flat bed.

 

[Hay Dude]

I'm late to the party Hay Dude, but nice truck. Solid engine too.
Just a couple things I saw mentioned here.....your Allison will have PTO provisions being a Rugged Duty Series.
Put a Chelsea pump on it and it will work just like the full time pump that is on it now....in that you can just flip the air switch and engage the PTO without stopping with the Allison auto.

And you mention using it to haul hay also. Too bad you can't find a nice deck-over dump body for it. Then you can fold the sides down and load from the sides like a flat bed.

Thanks, Paystar.
I’m going to use this truck to do a lot of ditching work, off road dump truck work, and hauling mushroom compost in fields.
I will probably end up with a longer tandem for square bales, so I can pull a pup trailer if i want. Maybe a 6x6 if the right one comes along.
Always looking. Something like the one I let get away last year.

 

[Paystar]

Many years ago I used to work for a company building logging roads and I drove a 6x6 Paystar 5000. It's amazing the difference that front drive makes compared to even having 4 way locks in a 6x4.

 

[Hay Dude]

Many years ago I used to work for a company building logging roads and I drove a 6x6 Paystar 5000. It's amazing the difference that front drive makes compared to even having 4 way locks in a 6x4.

It really is. I discovered this years ago. A guy I knew had a 6x4 with locks and it couldn’t go where a 6x6 or 4x4 could.
Of course even the 6x6/4x4 can get stuck pretty easy, but sometimes it’s just enough to keep you going through mud.

 

[Hay Dude]

Removed everything. Just bare chassis left now.

Now the fun begins getting this frame restored and fixing some other things, like the transfer case cooler.

And this exhaust pipe.….you know, I thought the truck had a blown exhaust manifold gasket….maybe this is where the popping noise is coming from? I hope so-heck of a lot cheaper to fix this than the exhaust manifold!

I hope all goes well. It’ll be a fun day to give her some new rims, too.

 

[crashz]

A transfer case cooler huh? Never saw anything like that before. Are you sand-blasting the frame? A method of getting the heavy scale from the double frame is beat the heck out of the top and bottom flanges with a sledge hammer. Then get a fluid fillm like oil in there to creep in and stop the rust.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I will probably end up with a longer tandem for square bales, so I can pull a pup trailer if i want. Maybe a 6x6 if the right one comes along.

These things come up for sale a lot near me. I would consider them low priced. This one is a 1990 5 ton, auto, 6X6 with a little 10-12 foot trailer for $14,500. My brother in law got a much older one and it has done him well. They have a lot of drawbacks but also have a lot of good going for them for the price.

 

[mrmikey]

….maybe this is where the popping noise is coming from

Probably have something to do with it . If you can, you may want to go for a downturned exhaust if it'll clear the tanks, hard to tell from that angle.
What's a set of wheels worth as opposed to blasting and painting? We've got a company around here that bakes the wheels to remove the crud and then paints them.
Frame doesn't look all that bad, scaly but wet. I see you actually got the body pins out, any I've ever done requires a torch and a FBH to beat the burnt off pieces off, you lucked out.

 

[Hay Dude]

Guess I need to hack off the front frame and move the bumper back….although a front winch would be pretty cool there.

 

[Hay Dude]

A transfer case cooler huh? Never saw anything like that before. Are you sand-blasting the frame? A method of getting the heavy scale from the double frame is beat the heck out of the top and bottom flanges with a sledge hammer. Then get a fluid fillm like oil in there to creep in and stop the rust.

Yep. Thats a good way. I don’t think I’m going to sand blast. Thinking about wire cone brushing it. Not sure yet.
Also need to start investigating paints. I sure as heck only want to do this once.

 

[Paystar]

Back in the early days before I was fortunate to be able to have new dump trucks, ran a lot of ones bought used.
I used to just scrape the scale of the frames and dump box with a metal putty knife and paint with Tremclad and a brush. But the Tremclad you buy today isn't like the stuff of old.

Me, I like polished aluminum rims. Even if you don't actually polish them, use SOS pads, keep them wet with lots of soap and the rims look almost as good as polished. Easy, fast and never have to worry about them looking rusty.

 

[Paystar]

And if you want steel rims, there are cheap powder coated Accuride ones you can buy. they weren't much more than painted rims but they stay looking good way longer.

 

[Hay Dude]

After the “must-do” repairs get done, I hope to have some play money left for some nice rims and front floats

 

[two_bit_score]

Good for you @Hay Dude! Congratulations - nice truck!

 

[Gregster613]

I want to echo two_bit_score, Nice truck and project Hay Dude!!