Storing and working on large vehicles..

Since I already have an enormous pile of projects and a big property, I thought it would be a good idea to look into a project that involves parting out three box trucks. I've run into the logistical problem: I can't park them at my house in a nice area, I can't work on them in any of the RV/Boat rental lots, and they need to be registered to park there anyway. Self storage doesn't let you work on things in them, and any warehouse space is going to cost enough that it eats too much of my potential profits.

Does anyone have any suggestions for seeking out space for something like this? Outdoors is ok, but I need to be able to park and tear apart three full size box trucks without fear of a landlord or zoning official suddenly saying I need to remove them. The only things I've come up with are warehouses (too expensive) or airport hangers (too far away). I'd like to rent something, but purchase isn't out of the question if I could make rental income off of parts of the property I wasn't using.

The area I'm looking is Columbus, OH. It may just be that the area is too expensive for my needs.

More details on the project itself if it comes to fruition or if I permanently pass on it.

I've thought of buying a lot just for stuff like this.  I can get a 90x50 lot for $5000. Pour a 20x40 pad and use a small solar panel system with batteries to run tools. 

Remember that stuff on big vehicles is HEAVY.

You may not want to do it out in the middle of nowhere by yourself. And you will probably need specialized equipment.

But *on* topic I got nothing.

My friend has been going through this for a while now. Bought a 26 foot snap on truck.

He keeps it on his asphalt driveway and has been going crazy trying to figure out where or how to get it in the air to fix the brake line and kingpin.

Good luck man. Every shop we've seen big enough has been priced outrageously even to rent, and he's trying to sway me into buying a house with a giant shop so he can work on it there. 

Maybe find an empty lot somewhere and rent a shipping container to keep tools and stuff in? 

Robbie - I agree on the specialized equipment, assuming heavy lifting and handling tools qualify as specialized. And that's a good point that doing it alone an hour from home might be sketchy.

Stampie - I wish I could get appropriately zoned land around here for that! There's one lot for sale, .37 acres, with a 20x24 garage, already paved, in a shabby part of town at $80,000. I doubt the trucks would survive being stored there without windows being broken, etc. The closest thing I've found for sale that would work includes a warehouse and is $300k. Just too much for me. I texted about a listing for an assemblage of buildings that the seller bought in 2019 for $180k and asked their price - $700k! Well now.

Rico - I'll keep looking for empty lots. If it's in an area with zoning - everywhere near me that I know of - then it needs to be paved to park on it. (Storing vehicles on unpaved surfaces is a no-go with code around here. I guess unless you operate a salvage yard.)

Maybe I could rent space from a salvage yard? What do you call those lots where they store semi trailers - maybe that would be an option?

Ask around with construction companies, and guys with single trucks like chip and soda delivery routes.  They often know a place that rents commercial spots. When the town passed an ordinance that I couldn't park my tow truck at home I rented a few spots from a cement company that was fine with me working on the truck and keeping wrecks there. 

In reply to Wally :

That is a good tip! I even wonder if there are any salvage yards that would rent me a few hundred square feet of their lot.

A long shot would be renting from a car auction lot. I know some of them rent space out for Repo companies to work out of and they have their own security.

Want another box truck to part out?

Its got a full tool body!

Don't you know anyone with a few tens of acres, wooded, a little ways out in the country?  You can store a lot of vehicles on a big wooded lot without anyone being the wiser. Just sayin'.

In reply to dculberson :

Following up on Wally’s suggestion...

More specifically, you want commercial site and grading construction companies.  Companies with lots of heavy equipment- asphalt, roads, bridges, utilities.

In reply to SVreX :

Good tip! On the additional box truck, the trucks I'm looking at are a little "different."

In reply to dculberson :

So is mine. It’s in the classified section. 

Utility box van

In reply to dculberson :

I recently got put on the list to bid on city owned properties. I'm hoping it'll be a source of the cheep lots. 

rustybugkiller said:

A long shot would be renting from a car auction lot. I know some of them rent space out for Repo companies to work out of and they have their own security.

I would expect this to be a very long shot as the repo companies are probably towing the car to the auction anyways - as repo'd cars are auctioned off.

You need a friend and if you don't already have this friend identified its going to be hard, especially within 30 minutes of where you live.  

I know others have suggested gated truck lots (and that could be good) but if you don't already have a friend at this lot I imagine it will be hard to convince them.  What you are asking is if you can come into the place where they store their "valuables" and more than just come in, you want to bring tools with you and continuously disassemble.  Without the trust of an already friend, you might have trouble convincing them that you wont be secretly disassembling their vehicles also.  

Lots of Farms in northern WA with buildings for rent. And if you are nice to the farmer they often have a loader Tractor....

These are pretty awesome if you have the room. That one has the Wanderlodge, 8 motorcycles, a race car and a project pickup with lots of room to work on all of them.

dculberson said:

In reply to SVreX :

Good tip! On the additional box truck, the trucks I'm looking at are a little "different."

Is somebody hanging out on Iron Planet? Starting an aftermarket MRAP customization shop?

You should look for Crain rentals, they tend to have extra space (at times) and might let you use some of their yard equipment.

Paul B

This is relevant to me. I have a 2 car garage, but the truck doesn't fit inside. If I park it in front of the garage doors I have some room to work on it outside, but then the garage is otherwise gridlocked. 

mtn said:

rustybugkiller said:

A long shot would be renting from a car auction lot. I know some of them rent space out for Repo companies to work out of and they have their own security.

I would expect this to be a very long shot as the repo companies are probably towing the car to the auction anyways - as repo'd cars are auctioned off.

Some of the auctions I delivered to had a Repo companys storing cars on the auction lot but the cars were shipped to other auctions. It's up to the bank which auction the cars go to. Typically a local repo won't be sold at a local auction. It might not even be allowed.  I say this because I can't count how many damaged or rusted out junk I hauled from an auction in Cleveland to another auction in Pittsburgh just to be sold for scrap. Someone is burning a lot of money.