new work truck

I have had all most all of them. I currently have an AWD sprinter. It's very fuel efficient and is an absolute animal in the snow. I bought the 144 and realize now the 170 would be better for me. The down side is it's only good to tow 5k unless u spend a bunch more and then u can tow 7500.

That all said, I would still probably do a GM with a 6.0 gas, and a box on the back with the doors on the outside. It's very accessible without having to get in and out of the back all the time. It can tow, as heavy as it is with the locker in the rear it will do ok in the snow.

Mikedo, its about your age, your spending limit, if its your personal truck or an employee, the amount of snow you deal with, etc.

That probably didnt help…

Tom

I've owned a fleet of different work trucks over the years and worked out of all of them; station wagon, utility truck, minivan, full size van, box truck, sprinters. The best to work out of, that covers all bases is the SPRINTERS.Mad Dog

GM's DOD/AFM issues with the lifters only pertain to the half ton series, and the majority of the transmission issues are also half ton related so you wouldn't be in that category anyway. The 6.6L gas engine in the 3/4 and 1 tons is great and the Allison 10 speed that comes behind them has been pretty trouble free as well. There have been some issues with them behind the Duramax, but the gasser doesn't have enough power to hurt them. I had two myself and the second one was a huge turd with other things (mostly electrical) so I'm pretty turned off to GM now but a close friend of mine has about a dozen of them running around in his excavating business and has been very happy with them.

I run an F350 now with the 7.3L gas and would buy another in a heartbeat. It gets great mileage for what it is, and will pull anything I can put behind it. I personally work out of an enclosed trailer now, but having had vans in the past I'd never go back to that after working out of a KUV. A Ford F350 or Chevy 3500 with a gas engine and Knapheide KUV body would be the ultimate work truck in my opinion.

You seem to just starting out …. A van is a good investment , you can lock up your tools and it takes you to work.. Setting it up is another good investment…

I don't know if want to hold the nut of new …..

If not … Shop around fleet sales , you can find some good ones and they are already set up.. Throw in your tools and go … The American Van catalog is coming to my mind :)

Good Luck , Keep your nose clean and your mouth shut …. from a Older grunt

I ve worked out of vans forever and a few pick up trucks but i bite the bullet and picked up a used e 350 utility body w a kuv body . It was a game changer as for access to tools and seeing the floor . It really cut down on time locating both tools and material . The gas mileage does leave abit to desire but it is about as good as my last 350 van so i can live w that . i wish i would have done sooner but i know this is the last work vehicle being every thing is winding down .

Advise ,do it while your young if you are and if your financially stable .

peace and good luck clammy

Diesel and DEF need to be considered also. Once upon a time diesel was cheaper, way cheaper than gas. Diesel is always 5- 8 cents a gallon more around here. I saw DEF at 29 bucks! at a Quick stop.

Although Walmart advertises their brand DEF for $9.99??

Lat two jobs before I retired at the first place they always bought 3/4 ton Chevys or GMC vans with v8s. This was 2001-20016. Those vans were tough. They like to replace them when they hit 100-120K. but I used to hate switching trucks and would put off getting a new one and would run them to 130-150 with out any major issues. You used to be able to get 100k with only doing tires and brakes. After 100K you would get into ball joints ty rods ect but not too bad. Over 150 K you start spending more and more time with them in the shop and your driving the old "spare" van.

The other place I worked we had 3/4 ton Ford Vans. They were ok but the bean counter there used to say " we don't have more trouble with the Fords than the GMCs but the repair bills on the Fords were higher". Gmc you would get $500 repairs and the Fords were $1000 repairs.

We (at least I did) usually put 30k-35K on a van every year.

I hear that Ford can equip their trucks to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). For home use, you would have to have equipment to increase the pressure to fuel the truck. Does anyone have one of these trucks?

I am switching to the Ford E series cut away with the KUV of Knapheide bodies. My next move will be to the transit nose same body style. My service guys like the taller roof which would mean a dually rear and my new construction like the 350-weight class standard roof single rear. I've found that for a shop like mine where we do primarily new construction this body style is perfect for service and new work.

We have a fleet of extended WB Sprinters, and have always been happy with them. Largest cargo capacity of any van, and we need it. We cover a large area and we need to be certain when we arrive, we have everything we need. Only the big Sprinter can do that. And they are very fuel efficient, and reliable.

But it's true MB service isn't the best. Largely because they are not set up for commercial guys and our needs. They are used to luxury car owners. They will normally only have one tech who can do Sprinters, so a lot depends on who that guy is. And their habit is to just stack all vehicles in for service in their lot, (we’ll get to it when we can!) so that the productivity of their techs is 100%. There’s always a vehicle waiting for them. For their normal customers, they get around this by offering a loaner, which obviously doesn’t work for commercial. Commercial needs to get in and out, and back on the road. Took us forever to get this across, but we have come to terms of a sort.

When Sprinters were hard to get a while ago and we needed another van, we decided to get the biggest Transit. Ford has a commercial truck service center very convenient to us, and it’s great. They understand us, and our needs, right out the door. So the idea was to gradually switch to Transits. BUT, the transit just doesn’t have the capacity we need, so that didn’t work out. Good van though. We are sticking with Sprinters.

All our vans are high roof, with standing room. I would never have anything else.

We also uplift all our vans with Sortimo. This is a great system from Germany, and you can fully customize your installation online, to get exactly what you need, including labels for every bin, shelf, and rack. They are based out of Atlanta is the US. Unfortunately, their distribution/installation network is horrendous! We are RI based and no one could handle our needs. The closest dealer who could, ended up being in Ohio. So we order our Sprinters from an OH MB dealer, then the van goes to the upfitter, and finally they ship it ready to go (except wrapping) to us. Sounds complicated, but actually not. The entire thing gets done without my ever having to leave my desk, until the van arrives and I need to park it.

The 2nd best uplifting system seems to be the Bott Smart Van System. At the time, they did not have enough components to meet our needs, but they appear to be expanding rapidly. Their systems can also be installed DIY, which I am sure will be popular for many.

Good thing you asked

I have a 2019 Chevy G3500 single rear wheel cube van with barn doors. Has a 6 liter V8, 6 speed auto. Now has 42,000 miles. Towed a travel trailer to Tennessee. No problems at all. Word of caution: Do not buy the 1/2 ton GM vehicles, A as they have cylinder deactivacation. Those engines are trash. If you need a pickup truck, get the 1 ton. You shouldn't go wrong

Does anyone watch the Steven Lav Utubes?

He gets retired Fed Ex vans. He has some shows of walk thru of his van, very interesting. He does HVAC, plumbing, boilers etc. A lot of oil burners. One man shop. Even after 48 years, I have learned a lot of small tips just watching him do repairs.

Myself, I have a retired ambulance. E-350, almost stand up raised topper roof.

Got it with 69,000 miles on in 2007. I was on the crew when it was new in 1984 so know of the care it got. Running good for the last 18 years.

It likes gas, the best milage you get out of the Ford 460, 7.5L is 10 MPG. Loaded or not. I got almost 10MPG loaded to 9500LBS for 280 highway miles. But for my business I might only average 3000 miles per year.

It still looks like an ambulance, people give you the right of way at 4-way stops, I have been waved thru road construction also.

When these are ordered from the factory all the options/goodies are added. Heavy duty everything…..even cassette player, 2 heaters, 2 AC. Enough lights in the back to do surgery with.

Of course, not for everyone but for the one man shop not going far every day it works out well.

I recall an article in a trade magazine that some service company had their vans "wrapped" with the ambulance paint design. They paid as much per van as I paid for the real deal. $2250.00 for me. New was over $26,000 in 1984…..and still no rust.