Comments on: John Labovitz Tiny Housetruck

By: robbie

robbie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Very nice indeed, have drawings and “mental” scriblings running about myself, but the base i was planning on using was from an old 26 ft U-Haul truck. If you know your stuff bout older diesels they are pretty easy to maintain. Many, not all of course, have been very well maintained already, mechanically speaking of course I’ve already found several here locally and from a website for sale pretty cheap, picked up the idea from a youtube spot i ran across, type in uhaul annex motel in the search to find the vid. If anyone is interested in what i have drawn up just let me know and I’ll clean up what drawings i have and scan them and send them out to ya’s.

Have a good one all

Bleau in Montana

By: James NomadRip

James NomadRip — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:14:38 +0000

I’d been thinking of doing something similar. I have spent a lot of time around those trucks and they are fantastically-running vehicles.

This guy in Australia has done similar to the extreme with his truck, not once but twice now. He is truly ingenious, though the build journals and details will keep you busy for days.

http://www.robgray.com/graynomad/wothahellizat/index.php (I have nothing to do with him at all, just sharing the link because it’s interesting and relevant here)

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:28:35 +0000

A nice looking set up. It sounds like a great way to build a tiny house. Looking forward to seeing the results as it is built.

By: John Labovitz

John Labovitz — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:26:21 +0000

@Arlo — Thanks for your comments & info.

I did consider putting water/waste storage under the frame, but found that it made more sense to use that area for my power system (batteries, controller, inverter, etc.) and possibly a future waste-veggie oil tank alongside the existing diesel tank. Also, I was concerned about weight disparity, if one side of the truck had a lot of water and the other side had none.

I chose to put my water storage instead above the frame, at floor level, with two identical tanks, one on each side of the truck. Those will be filled at the same time, so the weight will be more evenly distributed.

By: Arlos

Arlos — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:38:49 +0000

I have a 1996 Isuzu NPR that I have been planning to do the same with. I would have considered a much lighter gauge metal frame, even an aviation grade aluminum to further reduce weight. The frame height offers the potential for more fuel storage, water and waste holding than a trailer. None the less, it’s great to see someone else thinking about the use of these mid duty trucks.
In California with the change in diesel regs affecting commercial users, these are now dumped on the market and available for about 1/4 what they were a year ago. You can find a model with low mileage for as little as $4K. You can expect with regular service to get 500K miles from the engine. I run mine on biodiesel with no ill affect and currently completing a catalytic cell to generate hydrogen to increase mileage and reduce emissions but here I digress. I found mine getting about 15 mpg regardless of load which is a lot more than a truck pulling a trailer.
I look forward to seeing progress on this project.

By: Kent Griswold

Kent Griswold — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:11:16 +0000

I would very much enjoy having you do a write up on your tiny house. I will email you shortly…Kent

Okay the email did not get through, so if you would email me at tinyhouseblog(at)gmail.com I would appreciate it.

By: LebnJay

LebnJay — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:05:12 +0000

Reminds me of my tiny house that I put together this winter, I put up a few pics here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lebnjay/sets/72157622413848623/
I could give a actual writeup and more pictures if people were curious. It has been a blast building it and now living in it for the past 4 months.