Timber Frame A Truck Body

[32vld]

My son and I along with a welding shop turned his 1946 Chevrolet 2 ton rack truck into a pizza truck with a wood burning oven. This link:      (pictures must be in user gallery no offsite picture links) 
will show how a steel beam was welded at each corner to support the roof and an awning along one side when the truck is setup to work.

Now to the question. Planning on doing another truck though I would like to use a timber frame to enclose the bed of the truck. The bed is about 13.5' x 8.5' with 1 3/4" x 2 1/4" rack pockets. There are 3 rack pockets behind the cab and 4 pockets at the rear of the bed and 6 pockets on each side. Want to have a clear span along the sides.

The roof has to be strong enough to support a man putting up and removing the oven's stove pipe. Whole structure be able to stay together driving on the road. Original drive train so top speed will not break 55 MPH.

Would like to use a wood that is light and water resistant such as Cedar.

Can this be done?

[Den-Den]

I certainly believe it could be done with traditional timber framing but don't believe it could be light weight if done that way.
You might consider laminating thin strips into two inverted "U" shapes (one for each end).  Attach a beam to each side and some laminated curved pieces to those for supporting the roof.

[DDW_OR]

my two cents



  
put a metal beam in the center
or


 
put this to cover the "customer side" of a beam

[Don P]

How cool, we've talked about a trailer model for the local farmers markets, pizza and bread.

Laminating would probably be a better way to go. Den-Den's suggestion made my mind wander to doing it like a West System hull. Laminated veneers to form entire relatively lightweight sections rather than discrete pinned frame members covered by a panel would give you better strength to weight and I think better durability.


For the ribs that form the roof ash was the old choice, its also the frame in canoes, baseball bats, hockey sticks, etc. It takes impact and bending loads well. It can be sized to a better strength to size/weight member than something brittle but lighter like cedar. What I'm proposing is those veneer panel stiffeners are glassed in while making the panels.

I read an old Forest Products Labs paper from the '20's where they were concerned that the automobile industry was going to wipe out the ash trees for building car frames. They were testing alternatives and had decided red maple would be the next best choice to move to. We soon went to steel car frames. My 35 dodge was the first year of an all steel truck. During our lifetime we've seen maple baseball bats come into play.

[Mad Professor]

Now this is what I was imagining...... :D

Two porches, woodstove, antenna TV, handicap accessible, crosscut saw and froe, ........

Think it's square or scribe rule?