Help me find a work vehicle

[Jarlaxle]

OK, now to go way outside the box: a 10' box truck (SRW GMC Savana 3500 chassis) from U-Haul. Decent mileage (they have 4.8 engines), plenty tough, huge cargo room, most are 2004-5's with 85-110,000 miles. One will run you about $7000.

You can get a bigger one cheaper, but they tend to be older, more worn, and serious gas hogs (10MPG).

 

[hattaresguy]

Go buy a base V6 2wd Ford, Chevy, or Dodge pickup with an 8ft bed and put a cap on the bed if you can to keep your tools dry. With a ladder rack up top your good to carry long ladders.

Fuel mileage should be 15-20, and they will run forever.

Oh and spend more money, they get used up, $10k is a good budget. If your going to run 20k a year on it, you want something your not going to have to fix every five minutes.

Remember trucks especially work trucks are not like cars, they tend to get used and as a result used up. As a result finding an older one is hard and anything decent commands a good buck.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Go buy a base V6 2wd Ford, Chevy, or Dodge pickup with an 8ft bed and put a cap on the bed if you can to keep your tools dry. With a ladder rack up top your good to carry long ladders.

Fuel mileage should be 15-20, and they will run forever.

Oh and spend more money, they get used up, $10k is a good budget. If your going to run 20k a year on it, you want something your not going to have to fix every five minutes.

Remember trucks especially work trucks are not like cars, they tend to get used and as a result used up. As a result finding an older one is hard and anything decent commands a good buck.

Some time around 2000, Ford fixed all the leaky problems with the 4.2 Essex. Turned it into a pretty darn reliable engine. You could probably get a 2004 Heritage STX that has primarily been a passenger vehicle. Someone will have pried off one of the door handles and stolen the fancy factory Pioneer, but install an affordable less desireable radio and fix the door handle and go.

Chevrolet/GMC has a solid 4.3 V6. CPI spider might fail but that's about the only weak spot.

I can't think of any problems that stand out with the 3.7 Dodge other than it feels weaker (to me) than the 4.2 Ford or 4.3 Chevy/GMC with a 5-speed manual.

 

[hattaresguy]

In my business 2wd half ton WT trim Chevy's are all we have ever run to build houses. They carry an honest 1 ton for short trips, never really break, and when they get stuck since 2wd generally sucks on job sites their is always plenty of equipment to pull them out.

Since 2005 I have never seen a 4.3 have other than a minor electrical problem. GM sorted out the intake manifold gaskets and everything else a long time ago. The 05, 09, and 11 have all been flawless.

 

[01rangerxl]

Just don't buy one that has already been in the business. Concrete doesn't come off of rockers or out of carpet easily, and a lot of times maintenance is an afterthought.

I didn't know it was reasonably possible to knock off an overhead console and have it dangling by a wiring harness, but my cousin or an employee of his managed to do it. Actually that poor Lariat went to [censored] before all the other Super Duties because everyone liked driving (beating the [censored] out of) it. Another one, a 7.3L XL, had a hard front impact and continued to be used daily. It would leak a massive amount of oil, apparently due to the front collision, but was never repaired. An F-150 Lariat met a similar fate with duct tape around the rear window and dented side steps.

 

[ronbo]

If you rip out seats to turn a vehicle into a work van you might run into this problem. Last year I failed my yearly New York State Vehicle Inspection on my SUV because I had my rear seats out. I was told they was nothing for my rear seat belts to attach to.

I had to re-install the seats for it to pass.