Ya,, that darn food truck market... But too, the jump in scrap aluminum prices removed a lot of them from standing around. How do they drive ? Well, I prefer the Chevrolet chassis (P30-P35) with the independent front suspension.
Indeed, it drives practically exactly like a Chev Van front class C because its almost the exact same suspension. A P30 front end with independent uses the same control arms the 1 ton van uses. Which means parts are and always will be an inexpensive no brainer. One thing most steps are missing though that the Class C's often have is a rear sway bar, but then again, most class C's are higher and heavier than any of the early seventies to mid ninetys, Grumman vans.
I have not seen a step without power steering in some time.......
Yes, 4BT diesels are harder and harder to find for a few reasons. One is all the "rock crawler" and "rat rod" guys started paying crazy money for them, but another is just time. What was it ? About 1990 when Frito and the other big players paid Cummins to come up with that little retrofit ? Most of those trucks have already been off the road for some time.
But my choice would never be the diesel, not for MY particular use. One broken injection pump or blown turbo practically costs MORE to get fixed than a whole new small block chevy from one of the half zillion places that will sell you one. People need to do the real math to see if the diesel is really worth it. A complete rebuild of a 4BT, done by a competent shop will be between $5000 and $6000 !!!! I can buy a LOT of gasoline for that ! For generally inexpensive maintenance and repair costs, you just cant beat the carburated Small block Chevy.
The only real downfalls to steps are the drivers compartment. Everything else can be made snug and tight because it is a big square shell. But the Drivers comp has LOT of glass, and a LOT of exposed aluminum. While the large windows are awesome to see the world with, it gets real obvious if you draw your curtains that your living in it. The large amount of aluminum makes for challenges when it comes to heating and cooling as there is only so much you can do to sufficiently insulate that area. The doors have gotten better over the years with newer step van designs, but they are still thin, and demand good seals to keep wind from whistling thru.
For "stealth", none of that is a problem as long as you dont need to have the drivers area LOOK like a home. If you leave the factory dividing wall in one, then build YOUR new insulated wall behind it, you can leave a few coffee cups on the dash, some invoices and paper work up front and nobody on the planet would think anything other than "contractor truck".
Well, that was up until the DOT started to require all commercial trucks to have DOT numbers on the side. If you have a business name on it (even if fake) and no DOT number, you will get pulled over in some states. If you do what I did and get it registered as a motor home, then your plates say "motor home" on the bottom of them ! Can't win ! (I put my plates inside chrome frames that have hidden most of the words motor home, but Cops generally know the plate colors anyhow, so they could pick you out of a crowd.
I LOVE my truck. I DID search and search and search to find exactly the body and wheelbase I wanted. I did not get to make any real progress on it last year due to family issues, but I kept it washed up and operational. (
http://www.data-cut.com/projects/step/Grumliner.html)
Dont give up if you want a step. The thing is, I've owned a handful of them over the years and frankly, I never bought one from an advertisement. I found each of them driving around, looking in back alleys and business parking lots. I bought one exactly like the current Grumliner right out of a junkyard. It had been "Scrapped" by a drywall company because the transmission "went out". I walked in, asked about it, the guy said they used it for storage. Everything has a price though, and I got it for $1500 delivered to me 30 miles away.
I got it home and found the transmission bell housing cracked, but the darn truck had a spanking new engine in it from Jasper ! A $200 transmission repair at a local shop had me on the road in no time. (And those trannies are really easy to drop... just pull the FLOOR out of the truck and work from the TOP !)
Anyhow, you have to be LOOKING for one standing in someones yard and ask about it.
