body removal 1977 dodge MB400 chassis

[sbilka]

Looking for advise regarding the possibility of removing the coach off my 1977 dodge brougham.  I want to put it on a foundation or slab for use as a hunting cabin.  Additionally, I intend to put a flatbed with a hoist on the MB400 chassis and use it as a 1 ton dump truck.  Anyone out there ever attempted this?  I've searched the internet under everything I can think of and can't find much of anything on how the unit was assembled.  ANyone know if the coach was assembled and then placed on the chassis?

[LJ-TJ]

   
• They haven't changed much in how they were constructed.

   
   
• http://video.answers.com/winnebago-industries-in-forest-city-iowa-259883708

[sbilka]

Thx LJ-TJ - I keep getting "error on page" when I try to go to the link.  Maybe you can just tell me if my unit had the cabin unit lowered onto the chassis as one piece or was the floor attached then the walls built etc..  I haven't gotten under the rig for any extended eyeballing - it's cold here in sdak.  Am I crazy to consider using this chassis as a small dump truck?  Granted, it may end up looking like something off of the Red Green Show but I've got all new tires and it runs great.  I just can't get much use out of it as an RV anymore.   

[Oz]

The link works, it must be a flash player issue on your browser.  The video really isn't as instructional as it is just "nice to watch".

Anyway, the RV is built like this, basically:

They build the chassis completely.  Then, they lay down the entire floor first.. then they add the walls and roof. 

The cabin is not a separate built unit lowered onto the chassis.  Only some of the one-piece, fiberglass cabins were - Ungers are an example but even those had the entire floor put on first.  It may be possible to raise the body off as a unit but you'd need to lift it from the rear just enough to make some kind of bracing structure underneath it or all hell will break loose... along with all sides of the body. 

Not something advisable to mess with.