Step/Box truck recommendations?

[VJG1977]

True...but it'd still be an easy modification to do. (provided you have some basic mechanical/construction know-how)

Same with building a new back wall or doors.

A previous thread looked at this.  01-13-2016, 07:37 AM Cube Van Question

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]You can use an Accordion Boot Seal between the cab and the box.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]http://www.accordionboot.com/[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Site has some good illustrations.  [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]

[/font]

 

[Nemo]

From your title, I'm not sure if you are considering both box trucks and step vans, or if you're just mixing up names...as I was doing not so long ago  

But I have yet to see a box truck with a stand-up pass through...assuming you're over 40" tall anyway. From a question I posted earlier, I've learned that box truck up-fitters have to pad off the main beam, raising box floor height over that of cab. But if you happen to see something that looks like a taller pass-thru, please do post a link.

Step vans have been added to my list of vehicles I'm considering and do searches on, and what I've found so far is this:

1) Step vans in newer condition or low mileage are far from cheap, holding value well above standard cargo vans. At least in south FL anyway.
2) Step vans that drop into the $10k-and-under range often have very high miles.
3) For reasons unknown,  $10k-and-under vans have a "cockpit" that is usually beat to crap, instrumentation often looking so bad I'd want to replace everything there.
4) Having never tried to work on one I'm not sure, but it appears access to mechanicals may be even more challenging than a standard van doghouse.

But if the right vehicle/deal popped up, I'd certainly be happy with the conversion ability of a step-van.

they are out there Brad   http://www.arizonaexplorations.com/2014/03/the-end-of-era-box-truck-is-for-sale.html

 

[BradKW]

I think I would buy that diesel box truck linked...only wanted 6k for it. Sounds like a good deal...

 

[Nemo]

I think I would buy that diesel box truck linked...only wanted 6k for it. Sounds like a good deal...

thank you <grin> thats actually mine.. got very few bites on it when I listed it, so it's been parked for a while now, figure that in time I'll be back in it when family issues settle down.. have been off the road now for too long!

 

[BradKW]

That's a crazy battery bank in it... how'd those panels do keeping it charged? We're you running AC with it?

 

[Nemo]

That's a crazy battery bank in it... how'd those panels do keeping it charged? We're you running AC with it?

No AC, though I had thought about it <grin>  I used to be a hardcore computer gamer, so had those there to enable me to be on the laptop rain or shine for days on end...  a bit of an overkill!  the panels did well with them, but probably could have used another panel to top them off quicker

I bought the batteries used, so geting 8 wasnt a bad deal at all and gave me lots of flexibility.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Has anyone seen a pass through box truck from Penske/Budget/U-Haul?

Every rental box truck I've ever seen has had a middle seat so 3 people could ride in the cab.

Regards
John

 

[biere]

Every rental box truck I've ever seen has had a middle seat so 3 people could ride in the cab.

Regards
John

U-haul and penske and most places just bought a cab and chassis from ford or chevy or whatever. This is almost always a sealed passenger cab with bare rails behind it for u-haul or penske to then have their box fitted onto the vehicle. I am somewhat thinking of stuff for sale today, I don't know if the stuff they spec today for sale in 100k miles is done differently.

Everyone is used to a regular cab pickup, not everyone is used to a van body that only has front seats and is then sealed. Run a search for something like "removing u-haul box" and you should get some pics where people are pulling the box off the truck. Some want the box and some want the truck.

Seats can be changed so even if the truck or van is setup with a bench seat it unbolts and buckets can be bolted in, might need to double check that you have enough material to anchor seatbelt changes and seating bracket changes.

And yeah a hole can be cut in the back of a pickup or van cab but as someone mentioned earlier it is going to be a stooped over affair to get from up front to in the back.

I have looked at rv makers stuff where it comes out over the drivers and passengers seat and you have open space up there, but that is not going to be real simple on a u-haul or penske vehicle. I would want to make sure the body did not flex with so much metal removed, so you would just about need to frame it in and make sure it would hold up over time or the doors might get out of alignment or something.

On the step vans, I consider single rear wheel vans to be skinny. They are generally the width of a single rear wheel pickup. A step van with dual rear wheels is the width of a dually pickup for the whole length of the van. And once I owned one for a bit I did not mind it, if I had to make a dually pickup fit the dually van would probably fit.

I have an older grumman, early 90s model I think, and it is a sort of off and on project.

I would recomend doing a lot of searches and reading about what is offered in the truck trader papers. Some will have links to short youtube vids with a quick walk around of the vehicle for sale.

My grumman on a p30 chassis does not have a whole front end that flips forward. That mt45 link shows pics where the whole front end flips forwards.

Being on a commercial chassis I mostly want to say this stuff should be easier to work on, but sometimes you are messing with stuff not common to most folks.

That mt45 might have an allison 545 automatic transmission. Need to know how it is going to work and who can work on it for you if it needs work.

I like the power of the diesel engines, but having owned a diesel that needed some work when I was out of town I know full well that they can cost a bit if you can't do the work yourself for whatever reason.

 

[TucsonAZ]

I bought a 1997 Utilimaster a couple years ago (175k paid $2,850), it served me well but were I to do it over again I wouldn't opt for another. Here's what I loved and hated:

Loved:

1) EASY engine and trans access even from the inside it was great and most repairs could be done in the rain while never stepping out.
2) Nice and square, easy to build around.
3) All aluminum, no rust to contend with.
4) Many parts are easy to come by, some like rotors, suspension stuff and so on needed a specialty shop however.
5) Flat roof, room for solar and stayed dry without much effort.
6) Serious stealth.

Things that made me sell it in search of a better fit:

1) Before adding anything too serious with the build beyond the basics like solar and such I was already over 10,000 pounds. They're great but not much room on payload as that wasn't what they were designed for.
2) Aluminum boxes and the sun don't mix well, thinking solar oven. This could have been avoided if I was willing to give up stealth in favor of windows and a cross breeze.
3) Even with a 350 and OD trans 8-9mpg was the best I got on flat highway.
4) I did a 450 mile day but it was taxing, the thing was just loud and had rattles and such, to the point of having to wear earplugs when driving it.


I won't say I hated it and if I was staying within 100 miles of home base I would buy another but for any distance driving or heavy builds it wasn't a good fit for me and I would do a box van were I do to it again.

As for the rolling door, wasn't tough, a few days and a couple hundred bucks and not only did I have a solid wall on the back but I was able to maintain the rolling door look by adding the old door skins to the new back. Check my posts as there are pictures in my tread about the step van.

 

[66788]

I bought a 1997 Utilimaster a couple years ago (175k paid $2,850), it served me well but were I to do it over again I wouldn't opt for another.  Here's what I loved and hated:

Loved:

1)  EASY engine and trans access even from the inside it was great and most repairs could be done in the rain while never stepping out.
2)  Nice and square, easy to build around.
3)  All aluminum, no rust to contend with.
4)  Many parts are easy to come by, some like rotors, suspension stuff and so on needed a specialty shop however.
5)  Flat roof, room for solar and stayed dry without much effort.
6)  Serious stealth.

Things that made me sell it in search of a better fit:

1)  Before adding anything too serious with the build beyond the basics like solar and such I was already over 10,000 pounds.  They're great but not much room on payload as that wasn't what they were designed for.
2)  Aluminum boxes and the sun don't mix well, thinking solar oven.  This could have been avoided if I was willing to give up stealth in favor of windows and a cross breeze.
3)  Even with a 350 and OD trans 8-9mpg was the best I got on flat highway.
4)  I did a 450 mile day but it was taxing, the thing was just loud and had rattles and such, to the point of having to wear earplugs when driving it.


I won't say I hated it and if I was staying within 100 miles of home base I would buy another but for any distance driving or heavy builds it wasn't a good fit for me and I would do a box van were I do to it again.  

As for the rolling door, wasn't tough, a few days and a couple hundred bucks and not only did I have a solid wall on the back but I was able to maintain the rolling door look by adding the old door skins to the new back.  Check my posts as there are pictures in my tread about the step van.

I'm building a Grumman Olson step van very similar to the one you had.  Mine has the Cummins 4BT diesel motor with a 4 speed trans.     17MPG is what it gets on the highway, more in the city.   I have 500 watts of solar mounted on the roof and 1 1/2 inch polyiso all the way around for insulation.   An important item to note is that the solar must be mounted with adequate ventilation underneath to displace the heat generated by the panels.   If there is not enough open space, then the van gets hot inside.   The polyiso will help keep the heat out, but it's better to ventilate and save the insulation properties of the polyiso for nature's heat.

I don't care much about the stealth aspect, so mine will have windows for a cross breeze, as well as a Fantastic Vent which can act as a whole house fan.

Look at your needs and see what vehicle suits those needs best.    For me, it's the step van.

 

[Photogal39Travels]

Every rental box truck I've ever seen has had a middle seat so 3 people could ride in the cab.

Regards
John

10 ft trucks uhaul have only 2 seats

 

[skyl4rk]

A lot of the diesel step vans I see on craigslist are high mileage. What is too many miles for one of these? Or should they be judged on actual mechanical condition and not miles? Do they run forever if maintained?

 

[BlackNBlue]

A lot of the diesel step vans I see on craigslist are high mileage. What is too many miles for one of these? Or should they be judged on actual mechanical condition and not miles? Do they run forever if maintained?

A bit of both, maybe more the latter. An idiot can ruin a brand new Cummins 4BT (for example) within 50,000 miles or less. Well-maintained and not abused, the same engine might go for 500k and still have plenty of life left. Other engines won't go as long even with proper maintenance; for instance, I've never seen a GM 6.2 or 6.5 with over 300k (but I'm sure someone will chime in now and say they have one with 301k).

If it gets good compression numbers and doesn't burn oil, I would tend to ignore the odometer altogether except for haggling purposes. Design quality, build quality, operator quality, and maintainer quality are far more important than use quantity.

 

[AZClaimjumper]

10 ft trucks uhaul have only 2 seats

RIGHT on.  UHaul is the only truck rental company that has a fleet of 10' Box Trucks. 
Also, the 10' Box truck is the only one WITHOUT a loading ramp.  The inside box from side to side is 66".  The box is 120" from front to back. 

Of all the trucks UHaul puts on their Truck Sales lot, the 10' Box trucks sell the fastest.

 

[introverting]

Andrew

that box truck you posted has a roll-up garage door on the back. You're going to have to remove it and build either a new rear wall, or build some barndoors for it.
Roll-ups take up a bunch of interior space and headroom...so be prepared. (or keep looking.)

I'm a huge stepvan proponent as well. 8 of 'em so far.

Rick of the DreamSideOut channel on YouTube seems to get along fine with a roll-up back door; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtpojPzbeB_BIbn-5h6Dyxg

 

[Patrick46]

Rick of the DreamSideOut channel on YouTube seems to get along fine with a roll-up back door; 

Good for him!!
hey...and you might like it just fine too!!!

...but NOT for me.
I'm not willing to sacrifice the interior space, or the privacy.
(every time you open it, you expose your entire interior, and all it's contents, to God and everybody else within eyeshot.
...plus, if it's raining out, then all your belongings get exposed to the rain coming in. [a very real issue out here in the PNW])

Not so with a man door, and not a sacrifice I'm willing to make. (and this viewpoint IS based on experience.)

You do whatever makes you happy!

 

[BradKW]

And don't forget you can't insulate a roll up. Check out my build thread for what I did... will say that I spent a lot more time and money doing it than I expected

 

[highdesertranger]

you can't seal them either. so driving down a dirt road is going to dust out the inside. not to mention the cold drafts in the winter. highdesertranger

 

[Matlock]

^
Yea what those guys said.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

To my mind, the only reason for leaving the roll up door in place is if you're trying to play stealth games.  Personally, I have my doubts about how effective those games really are, but that's just me.  There are certainly enough downsides to the roll up door.