Learn me: 10ft Box Trucks

I'm wanting to sell my 2003 Tundra 4x4 and replace it with either a tall van or a small box truck. My concern with a regular cargo van is the door height, tough to ride a motorcycle into it, can't stand up inside to change into moto gear. Enter the short box van, these seem to be reasonably priced, have a big rear door and plenty of room to stand in. I could haul multiple bikes and even string up a hammock to sleep in. I have my Aliner pop up camper that I plan to tow with the box truck for camping, so not really looking to build it into an RV. I'd like to be able to run around on gravel roads, rough campsites, couple inches of snow etc. I know I won't be able to roost around the sand dunes with it like I can in my Tundra, and I'm ok with that. I would use this as my daily driver in the winter. I have a 2 mile trip to work, so even at 8-10 mpg city, I'm not burning a lot of fuel. That's about what I get in the Tundra anyway going from stoplight to stoplight.

So, any unforseen holes in my plan? Single rear wheel or dualies? Step van? Sprinters are probably best but really expensive. Planning on $8 to $12 grand. How similar is the 6.0l in the GMC compared to my 6.0l LS2 in my Corvette?

I looked at this one tonight, http://www.halltruckandauto.com/2003_GMC_3500SRVSTRUCK_Redmond_OR_241425407.veh

I really like this one, http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/4751370996.html

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/4754862548.html

We towed a stock car all over the east coast with a van like the top one. For bikes you shouldn't have a problem with the single rear wheel. Just be mindful of your height in drive thrus and garages. Ours had a wall seperating the boxin half. The front half was open to the cab and had four more seats. One problem ours had was a large rear overhang. With all our storage behind the rear wheels and a very heavy bumper pulled trailer you could practically lift the front wheels off the ground. It made for some white knuckles at times.

The one without the roof air deflector will suck gas big time. We had one of those at a dealership I worked at and the air drag is substantial.

Dual Rear Wheel only if you would be overloading a single rear axle, and it sounds like you won't, or if you need the extra body width of the DRW van.

Try to find a diesel powered box van. The fuel savings will help when you go on trips.

I drove one up from Florida just like that. Cost me a couple hundred in gas, but even loaded down, was fairly comfy for what it was.. a heavy duty van

I know they have some rust issues.. but would a sprinter work for you too?

shouldn't a 14' be easier to find than a 10'? not that much bigger but a little more common.

For 12k you might be able to find one of those newer tall nissans. Note: I have no idea how much they are worth, I could be way off

You can get old u-hauls that match your description for about $2-5k. A little bit of maintenance, and you're golden. They already have a low deck height and a ramp. Some are even diesels (if they're older).

Before you buy anything, check with your insurance co. Some companies look at box trucks as commercial vehicles and insurance can be a good bit higher on them. Good to check first so there aren't any surprises.

I think its a good plan. get a GM or Ford over a Sprinter though. Much cheaper to maintain and easier to get parts. Check to make sure it's OK to park a "commercial" vehicle in your neighborhood.

I've occasionally seen 26ft with liftgate for $5-7k around here.....screw a hammock, take a couch, tv, fridge, etc with you.

yamaha wrote: I've occasionally seen 26ft with liftgate for $5-7k around here.....screw a hammock, take a couch, tv, fridge, etc with you.

I know I could get bigger ones for the same price, but they would make a really E36 M3ty daily driver for the winter months when the Corvette is hiding from the snow and sand. It has to fit in a normal parking space.

Dual rear wheel vs single, gas mileage different? I've heard of people getting a rock wedged between the sidewall of two tires and damaging the tires or come flying out at speed. How about traction in the snow? Dualie > SRW? I think SRW is better for what I want, but they're less common, and they usually have the 4.8 instead of the 6.0, every Ford seems to have the 5.4 Triton.

Which motor would you prefer? 4.8/6.0 GM or the 5.4 Ford? Towing, gas mileage, required rpm to climb a hill, etc.

old_ wrote: For 12k you might be able to find one of those newer tall nissans. Note: I have no idea how much they are worth, I could be way off

They, as well as the Sprinter, are still way over budget.

In reply to Petrolburner:

Ahhh, you'd be fine......

DRW sucks in the snow, especially if its deep enough and you're only going down tracks.

It will be easier to find a 14' in a single wheelbase. 01-03 going to run about 5-8K in good shape and with sub 75K miles when you can find one. Biggest thing is most are going to be liftgate and not ramp in a D. Wind deflector and a gas motor, with extra gas, and it will be cheaper in the long run then the maintenance on a ford or Chevy with the D motor. The older ones are maintenance hogs.

I've looked into this quite a bit for similar reasons (racing mtn bikes).

Registration and insurance should definitely be investigated. For me in PA, yearly registration for trucks goes up substantially as the GVWR increases. RV registrations are less weight dependent. I'd hazard a guess insurance would have similar differences.

To be honest, it's hard to beat a 1/2 ton raised-roof conversion van for this sort of thing. Find one 10 years old or so and they're cheap as dirt. Pull the seats out and you've got a big cargo van that has a much nicer interior and more comfortable front seats. I hauled motorcycles a couple of times when I had mine. Can you ride into it? No, but the added roof height makes loading/unloading much easier. Plus, it has a lower deck height than a typical pick-up. I'm 5'10" and could almost stand up inside for changing. It was tolerable.

A big advantage was security - a conversion van is damn near invisible and as long as you don't go nuts with stickers or other stupid crap, it'll look like any other conversion van and nobody would know the contents of the van (bike, tools, gear, etc) can far exceed the value of the van. Lastly, registration and insurance were cheap. At least in PA, my 1/2 ton conversion van was titled as a station wagon so I paid car fees ($36/yr vs. $54 for a 1/2t truck and $153 for my Dodge 2500 Cummins).

good point.. you might be able to get away with registering it as an RV.. especially if you bolt in a bed and a small toilet area.

I drove over a million miles commercial in all manner of box truck. I only ever had one blow out and that was due to me nudging a kerb while backing up and catching the sharp corner of a storm drain that ripped the sidewall.. so do not worry about rocks.

You -will- have to worry about paying more for tyres, registration, and tolls with a dual axle.. for just carrying motorcycles and their associated gear, you do not need the complexity and cost of having 4 wheels across the back.

As for mileage. One of the trucks I used to drive was a 26' GMC box truck.. really a big Isuzu. With a total height of 12'6", it provided a big flat wall to the wind. Adding a wing to the roof of the cab to deflect the air up and over the box increased the MPG from 11 to 13

I have a 14' Savana with the toolbox sides. Mine has a 5.7L and duallies.

This is not the truck you want.

The first problem is that with the tool boxes, there is less than 4' of floor space left. It would work fine for 1 bike, no more. It would also be awkward to hang a hammock in.

The second problem is the gas mileage sucks. About 7 mpg. Maybe less.

The size of the box encourages people to load too much, so they geared it really low.

The duallies are expensive. They are also too hard to maneuver in daily traffic.

And the high roof plus the length make the thing too darned bulky to drive regularly.

Great work truck, but it would suck as a bike hauler or daily.

Having said that, I think you are on the right track. Find a smaller box with single wheel and a full width floor. Look for full standing height, but make it tight. If you add a foot "just because" you will regret it.

mad_machine wrote: You -will- have to worry about paying more for tyres, registration, and tolls with a dual axle.. for just carrying motorcycles and their associated gear, you do not need the complexity and cost of having 4 wheels across the back.

That is a good point. Box vans are at least 3/4t chassis trucks. There's nothing wrong with that if that's what you need, but be aware everything to maintain one costs substantially more: tires, brakes, suspension bits, and so on. A 1/2t van will still tow your small camping trailer without difficulty.

Like I said, I've been having this same debate and I'll likely be buying another conversion van in the near future as a stop-gap for what I really want - custom built Sprinter RV that will likely cost as much as my house. Although maybe not if I can make the van work.

I have a friend here with a Sprinter that he has setup as a toyhauler/camper. It's awesome. Out of budget though. I wish there were more regular size vans with tall rear doors and tops. One thing to note is that a regular 1/2 to 1 ton van is way cheaper and readily available. I could buy one for $2 grand and try it out. If I didn't like it, sell it for what I paid and then get a box van if I still wanted to go that direction.

Here's an idea;

Make an angled ramp so you could drive in the side door and straight out the back door! The side doors are extra tall, rear doors are standard height. Head room seems nice inside the van. I'm only 5'8" Having room to change into moto boots and gear inside the van, even if hunched over, is better than standing on a floor mat next to my Tundra.

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/4702335220.html

this is on the wrong side of the country, but is exactly what you want

In reply to Petrolburner:

I've looked into those as well - mainly because I want the additional length for camping. Most have wheelchair lifts, which isn't too big of an issue. In my case, I'd talk to a local lift dealer and see if they'd buy the lift out of the van.

Biggest problem is price/condition - by the time they are being sold for cheap (which is still a good 2-3x a similar condition conversion van), they are fairly knackered. On the plus side, diesel versions are more common (diesel conversion vans are very rare), but tend to command an even higher price.

Personally, I wouldn't be so hung up on the tall doors. Yes, they'd be nice, but I wouldn't consider them mandatory - or at least not worth spending 2-3x extra to get. Riding a bike into the van is really a YouTube video waiting to happen. Eventually it will go very wrong.

That 16' van in Mass is nice, but the loading deck will be high and unfortunately, the salvage title might limit potential buyers. From what I remember, banks frown on offering loans for rebuilt vehicles.

Rollover extended or crew cab pickup plus standard cab plus box done challenge style? If you wanted 60's-80s dodge I could set you up with almost everything for way under your budget, some assembly required.

Other that that, perhaps an ambulance?

Or just go for the class B motor home and gut it out for space. Then, at least, it will already be registered as an RV.