Our 2002 Ram 2500 is similar. Fleet vehicle with ~40k when we got it. 360 CID gets roughly 17mpg on long trips... about 14 city (or the closest we come to city driving). I can load it to capacity and still get the same mileage. Towing the trailer OTOH... drag that 7000 lb tail around, and that dawg starts to dog.
I also use synth oil, platinum plugs, and LT tires. More than anything else, get the LT tires, especially for trailer towing. Tracks much better, and our highway trailer-towing mileage went from 6+mpg to 10mpg.
Not so with mine! The best mileage I get is 17 mpg with 6 guys and all our gear, about a ton, on fishing trips. I often haul a 1700 lb pallet of wood blocks and the van rides better and gets much better mileage...go figure! In the city I get 12-14, depending how I drive and what season mix is in the gas. Summer mix works best. I do have banded LT tires at 80 PSI. Repairs are expensive but the parts are all very heavy-duty and last longer than 1/2 ton parts.
I would expect 28m/USg from a current UK Ford Transit with a diesel engine and similar GVW. Very little difference between local town work and cruising at
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
Anyone know where I can get a diesel service truck or van for under $2000 that only needs minor work?
Gunner
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
You can get halfway decent older Japanese diesel box trucks for about 3 to 4 grand, at least on the east coast. They are fairly reliable but repairs (and tires) when needed can be expensive. Once you get into a commercial truck category you are also subject to commercial truck stops- unannounced roadside inspections that can lead to large fines. Meanwhile they let the really dangerous overloaded Econolines with deadly projectiles bungy-strapped to their roofs drive by.
On Sat, 19 May 2007 22:50:06 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:
Hell, it cost me $89.10 to fill up with regular this week, and my old F-150 gets 18mpg (ideal), 14mpg haulin' ass around town like I usually do with all my tools and a little Burke mill in the back.
Ideally, I'd like to get a super-shortbed LCF like a Ford or Isuzu. I'd toss a flatbed with side toolboxes on it. Anyone here running one of these babies? I see them all over and wondered what the quirks and maintenance costs were. The local Ford dealer doesn't even talk about them, let alone stock 'em. I may go back to the dealership I bought my pickemup from, Bill Fell Ford in Fairfield, CA. He saved me $3500 over the best price I could get from the dealer in LoCal. I'll probably talk to him in July when I'm down that way. If I do get one from him, I'll bring it down to show you (and fill that puppy up again, this time with a higher tonnage than last time.
My truck was orginally a 1994 Ryder truck that was sold to an outfit that went bankrupt. I bought the thing at auction for 3100 bucks. I expected to pay more but I got lucky. nd money left over so I bought a
1995 Aerostar van that had a cracked windshield for 900 bucks. The windshield cost 150 and I drove the truck for three years and 30k miles.
I see a lot of trucks advertised with machinery auctions that might work for you. There is a PPL auction coming up next month. They get rid of a lot of their vehicles at that auction.
But whereat starts the "commercial truck category"? Serious question - the need for a class B license (Commercial Drivers License, straight truck) doesn't kick in until 26,001 pounds GVW - but I seem to recall that my brother's 12,000 lb flatbed was a hassle in part because it was considered "commercial", and he had to maintain a driving log, pull over at weigh stations, etc. for/with the dang thing. Yet u-haul will rent any schmuck a 25,999 lb GVW truck...
It cannot be as simple as "does it have a commercial plate", since every pickup truck in Vermont appears to have a commercial (or at least "truck") plate. In Massachusetts, a personal use pickup gets a "car" plate, while a work truck (or any dually) gets a "commercial" plate.
I've been semi-considering a shortbed cab-over diesel flatbed which seem to show up used for $4-9,000 - sometimes even with 4WD, and in the 9-18 thousand pound GVW class. The whole question of "what level of hassle comes with" is part of the consideration.
My friend got a pretty decent F-350 diesel moving van from (of all places) U-Haul. It's a 1989, runs great, but that big Navistar V8 ain't the thriftiest engine they ever built. U-Haul keeps a truck until it hits
200,000 miles- this one popped the tranny at 199,000 and U-Haul put a reman unit in- should outlast the rest of truck. U-haul spec'd a lot of extra-heavy-duty stuff to protect the moving parts from idiot renters - the engine has a remote oil supply, the gearbox has an external filter, an alternator that could light up Vegas, ect. If you go this route, do what my friend did- cozy up to a mechanic at a big U-Haul center (not the little feed store/tent & truck rental lots) and see what is coming up for sale. Oh, yeah- he paid $3,800 for his.
I rented an Isuzu LCF box truck last weekend for a furniture move (555 miles round trip). 10 mpg and my back still hurts from the sad excuse for a seat. A torsion or air-ride seat is out of the question- you sit on the fender and any up and down movement would shove your head through the roof. Those little trucks are great in the city- they're pretty nimble- but they suck for long trips.
Hummmm...sounds like the Econoline with a diesel would be cool.
Oh..the conduit racks Ive made in the past, have all had a decent and sturdy foot in the front end.
Gunner
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
Hummmmm!!! Thanks for that tid bit. Though I suspect a box van may be out of my league. I could load a lot of shit in it..but the drive up window at Jackoff in the Box would be out of range
I simply need a truck to carry tools, some spare parts, welder, O/A rig, occasionally some 10' ladders, some conduit etc. Now Ive got that utility body still sitting out in the back yard..was going to make a trailer out of it. Still might.
My Ranger/Mazda has done me well over all these years, but..shrug..as my work types change...going from exclusivly repairing CNC lathes of one brand, to infrastructure and facilities work...
Pulling that utility body with the Mazda/Ranger, particularly loaded with Stuff..would put a pretty good strain on a 3.0 engine.
Shrug...decisions decisions....
Gunner
Gunner
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
It would be cool to get a Ranger with an aluminum utility body. Im not sure it would do well with a steel one, loaded.
Gunner
This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)
A lot of laws seem to kick in at 12,000 pounds GVWR. However, the appearance of the truck is also a factor. If it's a cab forward truck, they pull it over. A dually pickup might be able to cruise by.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.