Work Truck or Van

Aaron_in_Maine

Just wondering what guys here are using for vans or trucks. I have a tundra with a utility cap and a bedslide. Getting my EPA cert at the end of the month. And at the end of the day it is to small to do gas, oil, and adding ac to the mix. Looking for opinions on what you guys drive and why.

Harvey Ramer

This is the kind of truck I prefer. The outside compartments are really nice. It has space for everything.

Leon82

I see a lot of dodge sprinter and ford transit and Nissan nv vans now that the Econoline is gone.

SWEI

I'm wrestling with this myself at the moment. I've been eyeing the new minivans for about a year now, but find their weight capacities to be lacking, especially when you consider the possibility of towing even a small trailer. If the GCWR is only a couple pounds more than the GVWR, no go. The M-B Metris has usable capacities, but runs ~50% more than the other minis.

Roughly half our customers require driving on dirt roads, most of those over a mile in length. Dragging a fully loaded utility body around every day is hard on the chassis, hard on the mileage, and frankly hard on me.

A minivan can probably handle the service work, so we keep looking at those. New construction and major retrofits require heavier tooling and more materials. The latest plan is convert an enclosed 11'-12' utility body (the kind they put on medium duty trucks) into a trailer and pull that behind my F-250 Diesel. We'll leave it on site for days or weeks as needed. A couple of PV panels, 4-500 AH of deep cycle batteries, and an inverter will facilitate new construction jobs and also allow cameras to monitor the site.

NYplumber

Van or real truck. Stay under 10k lbs so you dont have to deal with the DOT. Look into the Hackney company. Excellent product! http://www.hackneyservice.com/shelving.php

Paul S_3

I have 2 ford e350 diesel trucks with dejana truck package....i stock pretty much everything you need to service oil ,gas , air conditioning, commercial refrigeration. ...i stock all parts on the outside shelves. ...i stock fittings from 1/2 to 2 inch ....black...sweat and propress on the inside shelves. ...each truck has a 300 machine and can thread to 4in....i just dont have sheet metal breaks....i make at shop....and i use them for installations i can put boilers,condensers, air handlers etc in there with plenty of room

R Mannino

How about a trailer to augment the Tundra? They tow like SOB's.

RJMCTAFO

I am a single man shop. I have a Transit connect that is set up for heating and air conditioning. When I have an install I have everything delivered to the job and about 90% of the time go there for about 4 hours the day before to prefab boilers as much as possible. A/C and such I also get delivered and have my plenums made by a shop ahead of time. This has worked well for me.
My Connect has 35k miles on it and has been trouble free. Get about 325 miles on $23-$25 worth of fuel. It is certainly limited but because I do service the vast majority of days it work with some planning ahead on install days.

This bin system was a saving grace with the limited size of a van. I have the 6 bin cabinet and then 2 additional organizers. Everything I need neatly organized, and portable.

americanvan.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/C/A/CAC-6_1_2.jpg

Tom_133

I have personally done both truck and vans.

My personal opinion is to go with a european style van (unibody). It provides the most room, ergonomics and MPG's. It won't tow what a truck can, most won't come with awd or 4wd, but at the end of the day room and the lack of cracking my dome when standing in it means a lot to me. I now avoid newer diesels due to maintenance and emissions, and am in the market now myself for a van. It comes down to how much I want to spend ( none cause I am a miser) the fact is I have sold a lot of jobs with just my big van and chatting with people about it.

Trucks unless you buy the right one are easier in the winter and terrible to work out of, Vans (2wd) are terrible in the winter but provide space and a sense of safety by being able to lock it easy and with no windows no access to see what's inside.

Any questions about new vans PM me I have done ALOT of research.

Bob Bona_4

I'm also at a decision point, with my 97 GMC 2wd 2500, Knapheide utility bed. 330k. I'd duplicate it, but 4wd seems to be the way everything's being up fitted today. Don't need or want the 4wd. The Knapheide has flip tops which is a must for me, also not a common option.

Transits are becoming popular, but too small for the work I do. Turtle box trucks are too much truck for my workload. Sprinters also too much. I used vans for my early years, not really fond of crawling in and out, the noise and smells during driving.

It really is a personal choice. A tough one.

Dave0176

I got a Chevy Express 2500. Love it great vehicle. I get 12 mpg with 8500 lbs, so I don't think that's too bad. It's got the 4.8 V8. The headroom isn't really an issue I'm short. Next time I'll be getting a 3500 series, just want the heavier suspension.

hot_rod

Tom said:

I have personally done both truck and vans.

My personal opinion is to go with a european style van (unibody). It provides the most room, ergonomics and MPG's. It won't tow what a truck can, most won't come with awd or 4wd, but at the end of the day room and the lack of cracking my dome when standing in it means a lot to me. I now avoid newer diesels due to maintenance and emissions, and am in the market now myself for a van. It comes down to how much I want to spend ( none cause I am a miser) the fact is I have sold a lot of jobs with just my big van and chatting with people about it.

Trucks unless you buy the right one are easier in the winter and terrible to work out of, Vans (2wd) are terrible in the winter but provide space and a sense of safety by being able to lock it easy and with no windows no access to see what's inside.

Any questions about new vans PM me I have done ALOT of research.

The Sprinter is available in AWD now.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-mercedes-benz-sprinter-4x4-first-drive-review

hot_rod

I had a Sprinter for 4 years, great truck, excellent mileage. A walk in utility style box on that chassis would be great.

I like being able to get to tools and common parts from the outside also.

Chevy had a regular full size van with a few doors from the outside.

It is nice to be able to stand up in a truck and carry water heaters. The Euro vans are nice for that.
Not so nice for underground and parking structures though Parking the long wheelbase versions takes some planning also.

Aaron_in_Maine

I have a lead on a dodge sprinter with 100k on it for a good price. I test drove it today and it was nice I could stand up in it which was nice. Just have to get my mechanic to look it over and hopefully he says it's good to go.

hot_rod

Aaron_in_Maine said:

I have a lead on a dodge sprinter with 100k on it for a good price. I test drove it today and it was nice I could stand up in it which was nice. Just have to get my mechanic to look it over and hopefully he says it's good to go.

Be sure you can find someone nearby to work on it if needed.

Mine was a Dodge badged, but not many Dodge dealers would or could work on it. Mercedes dealers were very $$ and many could not fit it on their racks or even had mechanics trained for servicing them. It was those in-between years when it went from Dodge, back to Mercedes.

I finally found some independent shops that had access to the "codes" to do service once it was out of warranty.


I think the new Dodge van is a Fiat product, front wheel drive. The drive train and axles look fairly small to me?

Aaron_in_Maine

hot rod said:

Aaron_in_Maine said:

I have a lead on a dodge sprinter with 100k on it for a good price. I test drove it today and it was nice I could stand up in it which was nice. Just have to get my mechanic to look it over and hopefully he says it's good to go.

Be sure you can find someone nearby to work on it if needed.

Mine was a Dodge badged, but not many Dodge dealers would or could work on it. Mercedes dealers were very $$ and many could not fit it on their racks or even had mechanics trained for servicing them. It was those in-between years when it went from Dodge, back to Mercedes.

I finally found some independent shops that had access to the "codes" to do service once it was out of warranty.


I think the new Dodge van is a Fiat product, front wheel drive. The drive train and axles look fairly small to me?

I have my neighbor he used to work at a GM dealer but just went to work at a independent shop. They work on everything from cars to big rigs and the I trust his opinion so we will see what he says he used to work on the GMC truck I had before the tundra.

SWEI

Is it a 5-cylinder or a 6?

Aaron_in_Maine

SWEI said:

Is it a 5-cylinder or a 6?

6 Cylinder

SWEI

Fives with low mileage are somewhat rare at this point.

Aaron_in_Maine

SWEI said:

Fives with low mileage are somewhat rare at this point.

Are the fives better than the sixes?

SWEI

Friends who have owned both (admittedly, early sixes from that Dodge/MB ambiguity period) swore by the fives and at the sixes. Simpler to work on, no DEF, and somewhat better mileage. A tad less torque IIRC.

Tom_133

First off, thanks for the heads up Hot Rod I am aware of the 4wd Sprinter but at 50 - 60 K it better be flawless and it's not. I do love them though, and covet the ones that go by me.

Aaron, I have owned both the 5 and 6 cylinder. I LOVE sprinters, but I hate the rust, the lack of mechanical knowledge of them locally, and the cost to buy them and fix them. The 6 cylinder sprinter has emissions that means at around 100 - 150K depending on how it was driven, it will start in with check engine lights and lack of power and you will need a DPF which won't be cheap to replace and really won't hold up if you bake it out.

If you have a decent dodge dealer nearby, then I think a new promaster with a 5 year 100k mile warranty is a better option, and I say that knowing Chrysler and their products well. I hate them but if you can get into the swapping out of vans every 4-5 years depending on what mileage you put on, then I think you will be happier.

Just my 2 cents.

AirborneTrav

Thinking of getting rid of my E-350 and going with a Transit 2500 High Top. I am extremely tired of climbing in and out of the van, and I want to be able to stand up, hence the high top. Has anyone bought a new Transit with the racks that Ford offers? Any feedback on them? I do both installs and service, heat and A/C, so I find that the van gets extremely crowded, especially in during the transition seasons when I'm doing both heat and A/C at the same time.

Aaron_in_Maine

I wanted to go new transit but the boss (wife) says my budget is whatever I can get for the tundra. My next one after this will be new.

Harvey Ramer

Normally if you start looking a year or so ahead of time, you can come across a good deal somewhere. The one I have pictured is a chevy 3500 express. I picked it up for 6k with less than 100k miles on it.

rick in Alaska

I am running a 2004 savanna 1 ton with the four wheel drive conversion. The only reason I got a one ton is because it was the last one on the lot at the end of the year, and they wanted it gone. Therefore, great price to me. Gas mileage is terrible though. usually 9-12 depending if I am pulling my trailer.
Where I am, the four wheel drive is a must. I can be in town at 0 elevation, and then head out of town and be at 1500 feet. Then you factor in the snow.......
A nice tall rig like the sprinter with four wheel drive would be nice though, and since my van is 12 years old now, I am going to have to start looking for its replacement.
Rick

aircooled81

I'm rocking a new f250 with boxes on the back, man i'm loving it. Through a 48" gang box in the back insted of a bed cover, cause the boxes were no good for big stuff being secured.
Not shooting service anymore, so storing parts isnt necessary.
I spent over the last 12 years in a van, and i am so glad to be back in a truck. The ride is not noisy, and i dont have to crawl inside everytime i need a tool.
Truck pros - reach into all the boxes standing, less cab noise, skys the limit with stacking equipment in the back, get to use the rear view mirror.
Truck cons - gotta lock all the boxes indavidually, cant just throw the tools in a pile and hit the road, unless the bed is covered, you gotta consider what the elements or thieves will do to that stuff back there.
When i drove the van, it was nice to stack all my parts on shelves, and i could just lock everything down easily. Tinted the windows so no one could see my aquarium of tools, and put armaflex against the cab cage, to keep the noise and climate out... Kinda helped.

Charlie from wmass

I drive an old F super duty utility truck. 11 foot long body, the roof is retractable so I can stand up with the threader in the truck body. I hate working with a van. I prefer not to be with my tools. Next truck will be a 12 to 16 foot box truck. Isuzu, Hino, or Fuso. I am not worried about being over 10k. The extra weight and working volume is worth the extra paper work.