Box truck as race support vehicle?

I would like to hear about people's experiences with using a uhaul style box truck as your race support vehicle.

They seem like they would tow reasonably well and you could fill them up with tools and camp in it.

The drawbacks I'm imagining are the bed height and relative lack of amenities compared to an SUV or similar pickup.

You don't want one with too much rear overhang.  Compromises the hitch strength and balance.  

I borrow a 5.4 E350 with a fiberglass unicell body for our Chumpcars adventures, and it is fabulous.  Tons of room, and the gas mileage is comparable to a similar pickup truck.

Trouble is finding a place to park it when not in use.   If you have an HOA that is.

I would imagine that many of us could outfit one as a very spartian RV (bare essentials to keep weight down) and do well. There was one for sale within my autocross club for CHEAP that was set up to put a spridget in the back of it with ramps. I think they ended up scrapping it when it only needed brakes, a rear door, and a water pump. 

Yeah, I think climbing up and down into the box would get old quickly if you had to do it to fetch tools back and forth.  They're also pretty uncomfortable to drive to and from the track.

Motoiq has a story about turning one into a car hauler, but the ramps and stuff for getting the car in there would be a pain

A few things to consider, tag and title cost, inspection (if you live in an area) will be much higher, repair cost for certain parts is much higher, if it breaks down towing will put you in the heavy truck rate $$$$, and as another member stated parking.

Yes, I looked into one. I decided a pickup truck was the way to go to me as I can use the truck as a back up vehicle that can be parked on most any street or parking lot without gaining unwanted attention.

Paul B

I got hooked up with a guy that ran midgets. Not MGs, think Sprint car with four cylinders. Anyway he used a box truck to pull his enclosed trailer. Tools and equipment plus car in the trailer. Sleeping/ living quarters and some spares in the truck. 

I crewed for him on a weekend that we hit three different tracks in three different states in three days. I thought it was a terrific solution.  He used hammocks for sleeping. I drive the rig back home from Michigan and it towed fine. Not a bad way to do it IMO.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/2425/The-Ultimate-No-Budget-Racecar-Transporter.aspx

That's the kind of thing I was looking for 

We towed to a Lemons race with a 26 foot Penske truck. I never drove it with the car on the trailer but the guys who did said you couldn't tell there was anything back there. I did drive it around town unloaded though and it wasn't terrible at all to drive. Not as nice as driving firetrucks(the only other big stuff I've driven) but still pretty nice. At the track we unloaded all of the race gear and all (8?) of us camped in the back. We've seen other people outfit their rentals with couches and the like which is probably pretty nice.

most Uhaul box trucks are based on production cut bodies from the either Ford or GM, as long as you stay away from anything larger than the 20' truck, you should be fine. Except for the truely large 26 footer, they generally have a pretty low load floor that is not too much higher than your normal tow behind trailer. They also tow pretty well because of the low load floor and even lower rear bumper.

the worst thing about a uhaul truck, it came from uhaul. This means a long string of non-caring and inexperienced drivers and probably not a lot of maintenance.

from my experience moving, but not towing.  If you go over 20', you want a diesel.   You want one if you can swing it anyway.  Seems like massively less stress on the engine.   Diesel didnt notice the hills nearly as much as the smaller gas trucks. 

These work very well. Easy access, tows well, seats the entire team, and with the HC lift, loading the spare engine/lift/pit bike is a breeze. They can be had cheap on Govdeals or similar. This one set me back about $1500. 

Nick Comstock said:

I got hooked up with a guy that ran midgets...

So many opportunities for comment...

Another I've seen infrequently as a support vehicle is a converted Fritos truck. Questionable for towing though.

I have driven a few but never towed with one. My thoughts are that yes they suck to park and such, but imagine how nice it would be for lowes depot runs. It would totally out truck a pickup. If I were shopping for one I would be looking for an Isuzu npr. They are a cabover design, the cab rolls forward for the easiest service access you will ever see on almost any vehicle. The engine is (at least on every one I have seen) is a gm 350 and gm whatever auto trans. They are actually enjoyable to work on. You aren'tgoing to say that about the ones with van cabs.

gearheadmb said:

I have driven a few but never towed with one. My thoughts are that yes they suck to park and such, but imagine how nice it would be for lowes depot runs. It would totally out truck a pickup. If I were shopping for one I would be looking for an Isuzu npr. They are a cabover design, the cab rolls forward for the easiest service access you will ever see on almost any vehicle. The engine is (at least on every one I have seen) is a gm 350 and gm whatever auto trans. They are actually enjoyable to work on. You aren'tgoing to say that about the ones with van cabs.

odd.. every NPR I have driven was a diesel.

mad_machine said:

gearheadmb said:

I have driven a few but never towed with one. My thoughts are that yes they suck to park and such, but imagine how nice it would be for lowes depot runs. It would totally out truck a pickup. If I were shopping for one I would be looking for an Isuzu npr. They are a cabover design, the cab rolls forward for the easiest service access you will ever see on almost any vehicle. The engine is (at least on every one I have seen) is a gm 350 and gm whatever auto trans. They are actually enjoyable to work on. You aren'tgoing to say that about the ones with van cabs.

odd.. every NPR I have driven was a diesel.

I've got a buddy that drives one for work and it's a GM 6.0L (of the GMT800 era) hooked up to a 4L80E. Same basic drivetrain as a 2500HD gasser pickup from what, 2003.

Brake_L8 said:

mad_machine said:

gearheadmb said:

I have driven a few but never towed with one. My thoughts are that yes they suck to park and such, but imagine how nice it would be for lowes depot runs. It would totally out truck a pickup. If I were shopping for one I would be looking for an Isuzu npr. They are a cabover design, the cab rolls forward for the easiest service access you will ever see on almost any vehicle. The engine is (at least on every one I have seen) is a gm 350 and gm whatever auto trans. They are actually enjoyable to work on. You aren'tgoing to say that about the ones with van cabs.

odd.. every NPR I have driven was a diesel.

I've got a buddy that drives one for work and it's a GM 6.0L (of the GMT800 era) hooked up to a 4L80E. Same basic drivetrain as a 2500HD gasser pickup from what, 2003.

That makes sense, it has been quite a few years since I worked on them, so the Lx engine taking the place of the old small block would be natural progression.

mad_machine said:

most Uhaul box trucks are based on production cut bodies from the either Ford or GM, as long as you stay away from anything larger than the 20' truck, you should be fine. Except for the truely large 26 footer, they generally have a pretty low load floor that is not too much higher than your normal tow behind trailer. They also tow pretty well because of the low load floor and even lower rear bumper.

the worst thing about a uhaul truck, it came from uhaul. This means a long string of non-caring and inexperienced drivers and probably not a lot of maintenance.

Funny enough, new neighbors are moving in a few doors down. They just ran over their brand new fence with the Uhaul they rented. I was just writing this last night and this happens today

Toyman01 said:

These work very well. Easy access, tows well, seats the entire team, and with the HC lift, loading the spare engine/lift/pit bike is a breeze. They can be had cheap on Govdeals or similar. This one set me back about $1500. 

Looks perfect for a burning man special. Either that or a liveaboard. That might not be pertinent to most of the country, but in Northern California vehicles like that are pretty prized if they aren't already roached out.

A box truck was the standard support/tow vehicle for Nascar when they were running lots more races than now.

In reply to Kreb :

I'd like to do Burning Man one year. I'm reasonably sure it's not my "thing" but it would be a great place to people watch and hang out. I have another bus that's probably more suited for that.

I had a buddy that did Vintage BMW racing and had an older Ford F350 (early 80s I think) 16ft Box truck that could hold a CSL inside and tow a car on a trailer behind.  Had long ramps that worked well, and the car was on 'ramps' inside as well.  That made the angle not so bad, and also you could work on the car underneath if needed and provided some storage.   I remember the engine and brake performance was not very good, but I think that was due more to the age and upkeep of it. 

I recently picked up a car in San Diego that I didn't want exposed on a trailer, and couldn't get a shipper to agree to a small time window and haul all the extra parts, so I rented a box truck and did it myself.  It was a GMC, and with the 6.0L engine (I think - maybe a 6.3?) it was awesome.  Comfortable, lots of power, didn't feel any different with 2500lbs than zero lbs, and even handled snow well.  

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There are companies that make ramps for loading cars in semi trailers, but if I was going to do it, I would make some attached, hinged ramps, attached to a little winch to lower and raise easily, and use jack stands at the hinge.  

If I hauled more cars, or started racing with frequency, I would see one as a great option, especially when you can keep stuff more secure, and use it as a minimalist RV when needed.  

My family up in Buffalo uses a box truck as the support vehicle for their circle track car and they love it. It's also tall enough for the Ogres to stand in. 

Also a family friend uses one for a support vehicle for SCCA and Chump events. Tows the race car with it too has an apartment in the back with an A/C unit as well so you can sleep at the track. 

I'd love to buy one or a church van for a support vehicle but I have an HOA so I need to sell my house first and move somewhere that doesn't have salty people with no hobbies making up fairy tale rules. 

This is almost exactly what I borrow for the Chumpy weekends.  As I said above, tons of room, relatively easy on the gasoline.  Works great for what we do.  Tows an Integra on an open trailer like a champ.