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12xalt
I got lucky and was given a 96 f250 diesel, it's only a crew cab, but for $300 (though I'd had the truck for 4 years by the time my aunt asked me to pay off the loan and switch it into my name, and she'd been paying the insurance that whole time) I'm certainly not gonna be too upset it doesn't have 4 doors.

So its an extended cab 2dr, not a crew cab 4dr?

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

I just bought -97 Chevy Express Conversion van yesterday for 1600usd... Cold A/C, 2 new tires, 7 seater (now just 5 anymore)... Runs more or less well..
If you see us in Salem, it wasn´t a bad buy...

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darkknight9

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12xalt
I got lucky and was given a 96 f250 diesel, it's only a crew cab, but for $300 (though I'd had the truck for 4 years by the time my aunt asked me to pay off the loan and switch it into my name, and she'd been paying the insurance that whole time) I'm certainly not gonna be too upset it doesn't have 4 doors.

So its an extended cab 2dr, not a crew cab 4dr?

leave it to me to just having got done reading which one is which and screwing it up already

2 dr extended, I wish I had 4 doors, maybe it was a freudian slip lol

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12xalt

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darkknight9

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12xalt
I got lucky and was given a 96 f250 diesel, it's only a crew cab, but for $300 (though I'd had the truck for 4 years by the time my aunt asked me to pay off the loan and switch it into my name, and she'd been paying the insurance that whole time) I'm certainly not gonna be too upset it doesn't have 4 doors.

So its an extended cab 2dr, not a crew cab 4dr?

leave it to me to just having got done reading which one is which and screwing it up already

2 dr extended, I wish I had 4 doors, maybe it was a freudian slip lol

Whether screwing up or in any other direction, its always good to have lots of room and plenty of exits in case of emergency.

How have you been?

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

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darkknight9
Whether screwing up or in any other direction, its always good to have lots of room and plenty of exits in case of emergency.

How have you been?

true, but just shy of free is a really good price to give up some of that extra room and additional exits

actually, considering she paid for the insurance for four years while I had the truck, that kinda puts me ahead huh


eh, okay, busy, nice to see you back (maybe you weren't really gone? just we weren't in the same threads?)

OP for what you are looking to spend you can have a boxtruck with a real diesel and drivetrain.

Six wheels is such a big damned deal? How often do you use it? If not very then don't register it and use trip permits! Call in the insurance and go pick up your insurance card.

'Tiny' is my Kenworth boxtruck with an 8.3 Cummins, six speed fuller box with air brakes.... had 45,000 on it when I purchased it six years ago for six grand. 26' box with storage underneath. I use a pair of ramps to get the car into the box. Easy. They are out there and cheap.

Hint: Juice brakes suck! Real truck everything while heavy doesn't require all the babysitting of weenie 1/2 - 1 ton trucks that are built to be thrown away after 150,000 miles.

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JohnLane

Overkill is consistently more fun

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JohnLane
OP for what you are looking to spend you can have a boxtruck with a real diesel and drivetrain.

Six wheels is such a big damned deal? How often do you use it? If not very then don't register it and use trip permits! Call in the insurance and go pick up your insurance card.

'Tiny' is my Kenworth boxtruck with an 8.3 Cummins, six speed fuller box with air brakes.... had 45,000 on it when I purchased it six years ago for six grand. 26' box with storage underneath. I use a pair of ramps to get the car into the box. Easy. They are out there and cheap.

Hint: Juice brakes suck! Real truck everything while heavy doesn't require all the babysitting of weenie 1/2 - 1 ton trucks that are built to be thrown away after 150,000 miles.

The OP lives in the pit of despair that is Massivetwoshits. No such thing as "Trip Permits" or "temporary tags" down there. You have to be insured before you can go get any sort of plate, the registry people have no sense of humor, the state troopers will sometimes go after people from NH running on temporary tags and say they're not valid and have the car towed. Pretty much the only reason to go there is to watch the Red Sox or have a job that makes tons of money.

I'm sure there are a multitude of onerous regulations that make it miserable to own anything with a GWV of more than 9,990 lbs in Mass.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

I was going to say...you've never lived in Massachusetts, have you?

The only reference to trip permits was in the International Registration Plan manual for aportioned commercial vehicles...

At any rate, I do want to use this vehicle for around the house stuff and as a back-up if the daily driver is down for a while. More than just a few times a year to rallies and back. I don't have the space for a big rig, either. Jobs may pay well, but it doesn't mean much when you go to buy a postage-stamp of property.

A vehicle is commercial if there are more than 4 wheels on the ground, more than 6,000# curb weight (turns out a lot of diesel trucks, regardless of wheel count are over) or more than 10,000# GVWR. Calling my insurance agent to see if a commercial vehicle will really be that much of a cost difference. Hopefully not, because those restrictions are rather limiting.

A heavy 1/2 Chev , 2000 or newer with a 5.3 will pull what you are intending with ease. Get a 4.10 rear axle, G80 LSD if needed or 4x4. Extended cab will seat adults in back ok...not luxury theater but ok none the less. They all have the 4 doors now. Easy to drive and will get around 18-20 empty and 12ish or so towing a decent load. Live a very long time, 300k is not unusual on that engine and chassis with little maintainance. The only sore spot is a few of them had heads that cracked from an outside vendor named Castec. Only a few though. Best of the gas trucks nowadays and can be had in your price range. Great daily driver, decent tow rig.

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12xalt
actually, considering she paid for the insurance for four years while I had the truck, that kinda puts me ahead huh

Heh... 'head' heh he he he heh ha ha ha heh....

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12xalt
eh, okay, busy, nice to see you back (maybe you weren't really gone? just we weren't in the same threads?)

Well, gone for a little while when I went back and finished my college degree. Not a heck of a lot of time for much of anything extra of the rally variety. But I'm done until I can get into grad school somewhere and start all over again. So, since the only project I want to get done before school starts for me again might be related to some of the best reasons to come around here... Ta-da!

Any actual physical work is going to have to wait though... its gonna be -9 tonight. Metal tools turn into tools of evil when it gets too cold...

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

About to put my van for sale. 98 E350 7.3 turbo diesel long body. Have had it since ~2006 without any problems, just usual maintenance. Has 2 new batts, glow plugs and filters. Made several trips from Braintree MA down to Rally West Virginia and TN at an average of 15mpg. Great at towing at 80mph or driving down the stage to get the broken car. $3500

I'll keep you in mind. For now, I'm shying away from a van platform just because of maintenance difficulties.

There is an f250 4wd utility body I am going to look at and an f350 2wd ambulance. Both low miles. I want to see what the gearing is in them.

Turns out that if the truck's GVWR is 10,000# or less, I can run on personal insurance, still need commercial registration, though. Ambulance (or any dually) might exceed that, might or might not be able to register it as a 10,000# vehicle, depends on who you get at the registry.

We'll see. I think just about anything will work, and have it's pros and cons so it comes down to niceties and mileage. The ambulance is super cheap so leaves a lot of money for maintenance and upgrades.

Never had one but I always thought a diesel ford excursion would be a good rally service/tow rig.

rack on top for tires etc....

This is a classic want, Want,WANT!! vs. need. dilemma. I was minutes away from buying the coolest ever!! monster International dt4600 four door ambulance body that was a retired SWAT truck, gun racks and smoke grenade storage and all. big generator and air compressor, dimondplate running board everywhere. The ultimate zombiemoble, seriously kick ass...

But facts are that: some people drive there car to and from rallies. Some flat tow. Randy Z. towed subarus with subarus...

I tow a 3600lb car,tools and spares with a 2001 Jeep Cherokee and a tow dolly. Jeep and brand new dolly = $4600 and my wife daily drives the Jeep. I towed to Ojibwe from south Kansas with a 1990 Chevy regular cab with a old 4.3, no problems.

The "Attack Van" is my favorite tow vehicle. It belongs to a friend of mine, and we use it to tow a triple axle trailer for all of our racing comps. Dually conversion an an E350, V10, chipped, huge brakes, upgraded diff (keeps cracking the forged carriers, next up is a bus diff). It has 15 captains chairs that all recline, and a flat screen for movies.
This is the BEST way to travel and tow. It even gets decent milage, about 12mpg at 65-75.

I'm a big fan of the van. They are a little harder to work on, but not too bad. Have you ever worked on a 80s-mid 90s Ford truck, those are bad to work on!