Diesel Box Trucks?

Yeah, I'm the CarKid of utility vehicles.

I'm thinking about picking up a small diesel box truck with a liftgate, somewhere in the 10'-14' range. Initial thoughts tends toward cabover Isuzu (or GMC re-brand), but I suppose there are some made of Ford and Chevy diesel vans.

Any opinions?

Depends on what you'll be using it for.

Headed to the $2004 Challenge my tow vehicle puked the clutch. We were hauled in by an Isuzu flat bed 4 cylinder turbodiesel automatic. My truck was on the flatbed, the car trailer & BatVan behind. Didn't miss a beat, kept up with traffic and I'm guessing decent milage.

I want to slam one, put a dually box on the back painted satin black with red wheels.

It's on my list........

Also research NDs.

Dan

I've sold a lot of both.You are more than likely to find a liftgate on a GMC/Isuzu.

For Used GMC's and GMC/Isuzu's, look at Penske. I believe that they are selling them in white as well as the Penske yellow. Budget was a good source for the E-450 diesels.

Not sure about the rest of the trucks, but you can't go wrong with the 4BT cummins or the Nissan/UD diesel. The other diesels are fine, but parts can be expensive since they aren't as widely used in the US. Most of the smaller boxes should be avoided if they are automatic. Small diesel, small tranny, plus big vehicle = rebuild. Some are fine, but they fail much more frequently.

I have a 24' full size F80 with the Cummins 6BT followed by a Spicer 6 speed. Perfect ratios, bulletproof, great combo.

I can definitely imagine a truck like this being useful. When I moved all of my tools 6 months ago, I rented a 24' truck with a lift gate from Penske and it made the job much easier.

However, be sure to check a few things as "commercial duty" trucks can be expensive for the casual owner, depending on where you live. In PA, trucks are registered by GVWR, and the yearly registration fee seems to go up exponentionally the heavier the truck. For example, my 8800 lb Dodge 2500 Cummins costs me $153 year (compared to $36 for the cars) - which is a bit annoying considering how little I use the truck.

I'm not saying this should be a reason not to buy a truck like this, but one should be aware (and budget) for this.

I saw a cab over box truck that was a Ford with a 4.5L V6 turbo diesel motor in it. It seemed like the perfect vehicle for everything besides the daily commute!

can't go wrong with the Isuzu. I drove the GMC version for years.

came in three flavours. Chevy, Isuzu, and GMC.. Chevy is so stripped you would be better off pushing the car. GMC is the most "luxurious"

Those trucks will run forever with minimal maintance. Many parts are also DIY. Air brakes are really "air over oil" which means you do not need an endorsement.

just be VERY careful on the highway. You WILL get pulled by every truck inspection place on the road. Those trucks are made for short haul duty and if they see out of state plates, they are going to assume you do not have proper logs and have not been taking your naps

Hmm. Can you elaborate on that point? Around St. Louis there's a special 'highway enforcement division' of the local PD which seems like a 'commercial harassment division' to me. They basically pull over every truck on the major interstates to check logs.

I've seen big trucks in private use with NOT FOR HIRE on the doors. Does that help? Where could I find details on such a thing?

Dunno about all the regs but from a reliability standpoint about the only way to kill one of the Isuzus is with a howitzer. And even that is dependent on your aim. Tough sumbitches.

I used to have as a customer a local produce hauling company which ran exclusively Isuzus, the average was 300K miles with some over 500K and still going strong every day.

I wouldn't mind having one as a race car hauler except the cabs are sorta small for 2 people on a long haul and unworkable for 3 or more. There are some extra cab versions around but they are much newer and thus much more pricey.

My friendly ex Ford mechanic told me if I bought a E series diesel box truck he would kick my a$$. To work on them your need to be a Proctologist. You cant reach anything without sticking your hand somewhere nasty. He also quit the Ford dealer over the 6.0 diesel. They are apparently a real POS and stupid expensive to fix.

I am currently looking for a International crew cab with the DT466 engine. They aren't much more than the smaller box trucks and have good power. Should haul my trailer anywhere I need. I would like to build a camper on the back and cut out the hotel rooms at autocrosses as well.

well, the GMC I drove was the W7. The biggest of the sub 26,000 pound Isuzu based trucks. It would hold three people (feel sorry for the guy in the centre seat) and would get 11mpg.

that is.. 11mpg empty or 11mpg full to the maximum Gross weight. The Nissan, Mitsus, and HDs I also drove on occasion would usually hover around 9mpg.

The Bigger International Drove was a totally different matter.

The Cab on the W7 was pretty much the same as the other Isuzus except for the smallest trucks. With the third seat down, I could lay across all seats and JUST touch both door panals. I am 5'11", so I could always catch a good nap.

As for the truck inspections. You are at their mercey. As long as you have commerical tags, you HAVE to pull off of the highway when directed and you WILL get hasseled by the local mobile units. Keep the truck neat and clean, keep your logs in order and obey the same rules the OTR truckers do in regards to hours driven and hours resting and you will be fine. Inspectors like neat trucks and neat logs.

If you can handle a stick, I recommend the manual transmission trucks. The Autos are ok, but to get the most control in both slowing and in bad conditions, a manual is a good thing.

As for problems with the W7. I put the first 200,000 miles on that truck. I started blowing fuel lines at 120,000 and I think 5 of the 6 I blew were due to bad lines as it was always the same line that blew out.

Also had trouble with the 'spitter valve" at the bottom of the brake airtanks. I could spend $75 for the part plus labor to replace it.. or I could take off of the tanke, undo four bolts, clean the diaphram ( 4 inches diametre) with a rag, and put it back together and reinstall. It would get gummed up with oil from the aircompressor.

The Turbos started to go after I stopped driving that truck and letting it cool down (oil cooled turbos) before shutting down.

Be sure to bleed down and drain the airtanks at LEAST once a week. One "new" truck I did it had it's tanks 3/4 filled with water. The braking got a LOT better after I drained them.

best advice I can give any potential driver.. find out how tall your truck is.. add four inches and put stick on letters where they cannot be missed reminding you how tall your truck is.

I have put about 75,000 miles on this truck in 31 states and never stopped at a single weigh station and never got pulled over. Since you're not driving it for hire, and since it is under 26,001 lbs, you are not a commercial vehicle.

I drove our team's hauler for thousands of miles and only got pulled over once- expired tag. In Virginia, one of my least favorite states to drive in. Just got a ticket, no real problem. I would stop at all inspection stations, and normally got waved through. Only time I had to open it up was when an inspector wanted to see the race car. This was an old Frito Lay baby semi. Cab was a 1 ton chevy pick up with a Grumman aluminum body, total weight of 22K. Drove like crap, got lousy mileage with a 350 gas motor. Straight through from Boca Raton to Mosport was a bad memory.

What about a used 18 wheeler cab? I've seen these for $10-20K. I think Wally World guestimates 8 MPG with their fleet, loaded.

I've thought about a 2 axle cab like some of the shipping companies use when pulling 2 trailers. I bet I wouldn't even know the car hauler was back there. I bet that one of those pulling one of those toy haulers with the apartment in the front half would be a real nice way to go.

Dr. Hess wrote: What about a used 18 wheeler cab? I've seen these for $10-20K. I think Wally World guestimates 8 MPG with their fleet, loaded.

These things are a smashing deal. 4mpg loaded is more like it. Rv conversions driven conservatively get around 6mpg.

Add a toilet to a small sleeper cab and register as an Rv.. instant no CDL.

Dr. Hess wrote: What about a used 18 wheeler cab? I've seen these for $10-20K.

That's what's know as a Heavy Duty Truck in the hauling world. You'll want to check in at Truck Conversions for info on commercial and DIY versions of those haulers. FWIW, most of those guys over there claim it takes $50k to make an RV out of a truck - and they're right.

http://truckhome.com/eve