Went a Different Route on a new/used Vehicle.

So I was talking to my mechanic about the Dodge ProMaster Cargo Vans and he said "Why not just buy a use UHaul Box Truck?" I said because they are ragged out POS he explained that yep 95% of them are just that but about 5% of them are very nice and didn't get much use but still get retired when their model years time is up.

SO last night I get a call from Fred and he say "I Found your new truck over in Louisville KY a 2007 with 72k miles,Ford F-450 6.8L V10 362hp in great mechanical and physical shape. Took it for a a test drive back to IL. ran the $10,000 for it over to Fred (His shop is a Uhaul Service and Repair shop as well) He did the Uhaul Phone thing and a service and inspection for anything I might have missed and decreed it in great shape and I signed all the papoerwork and brought Reds Replacement home to start making my personal mods to it Ran 75-90 all the way back across I64 and must say I was impressed with the ride and performance. MPG not very impressive figured it at around 14-15 LOL would probably be better if I kept my foot out of it

Truck has a lot of potential for personal and business applications.

 

Good job.

 

I'm surprised a V10 got double digit fuel mileage.

 

Not bad...just don't over-rev it. Rockers tend to pop off the valves..

Btw, that's better mpgs than my 5.4 gets...but it's geared lower.

 

So my middle son is ready to move up from his auction $500 dollar car to a $3000 ish car. Any advice?

 

Must have AC because its Texas. He is able to drive both a stick shift and an auto since he learned how to drive a stick up with his grandpa BT Post.

 

Early 2000's Camrys with the four banger are pretty darned reliable, relatively easy and inexpensive to work on if required, and usually fall in that price range.

 

4.56 and a 5 speed

 

Huh...same gearing. A lot of stop and go though...plus 4x4

Still good, especially with the low mileage!

 

This was all highway and not many slow down speed ups. I will top it off before I get to market tomorrow and again right before I hit the last 15 mile stretch to the farm. Will be more accurate with a mix of 2 lane, interstate and going through 3 towns. MY guess is it will be more like 11-12 in that trip. Errr long day not tomorrow it won't be rigged right for markets and shows for 2 more weeks.

 

Rare find for a U Haul. Not often that they are used and not abused. Great find.

 

Interesting - possibilities.

V10s have been known for their sucky fuel economy, but you can't expect compact car gas mileage out of a van like that anyway. So that's a tossup.

If you could insulate and refrigerate it, you may be able to use it for transporting your produce and meat. That way you could sell it elsewhere and wouldn't need to put up with those Chicago-ites (trying to be nice here and it's not easy) coming down to your farm.

Just an off-the-cuff thought.

 

Cool! I want one and I want the snow-flakes to pay for it so I'll paint "Get Chipped" on the sides ((Covid Health Incubation Positive Prevention Electronic Device)

 

25%-30% profit margins on the packaged meats and 20%-60% depending on the produce. Prepared foods 120%-150% profit margins being the producer, warehouse, distributor and restaurant And that is with my low prices. Break even money on most of what I prepare and sell is $2.37 per meal. So not planning on going back to raw and packaged foods. Damn people will argue and complain yer too high at $5.00 per pound for ground pork. Same people will drop $26.00 on the same pound of ground pork cooked as pork burgers and smile at you while telling you what a great deal it is. *Shrugs* And keeps on cookin

 

So got the truck back from the shop last Wednesday and have not had time to mess with it much since. I did top the tank off and wrote the miles down before I left town. Next time I top off I should have a pretty accurate MPG that it gets. Hopefully the next top off will be a good ways out with a 47 gallon gas tank

As usual the Trailer shop I use (Country Blacksmith In Mt. Vernon and Carterville IL.) Did a great job at a fair price. Took the Uhaul hitch off and then welded and bolted on a 16" receiver tube and rewired the plug to match up to my trailers wiring.

Uhaul hitches have never impressed me..... mainly because they insist on welding the balls to the bar. That does not leave much in the way of versatility, more so when you use everything from 1 7/8th up to 3" Balls.

Finally got around to hooking the truck up to the Chuck Wagon. LOL was like WOW! The Truck makes the Chuck Wagon look small.


Have it scheduled to hit a body and paint shop I use to get the truck the right colors with a Red and Black paint job in November. And the Tire and Rim Shop for some better tires and chrome rims.


Going to partition off the front 4 feet for a small living quarters and a twin mattress fits perfect in the overhead. Partition, 20 gallon water heater, grey/black and potable water tank, shower shower stall and a toilet won't burn me for too many dead presidents and will save me a lot of money in the long run. Motel Rooms even at Cheap motels dig into the pocket pretty quick for the 2-10 day shows I do where it is not practical to work all day until 10 at night and then drive back and forth to the farm. Or take a second truck and the camper along and then have to pay to park the camper. And well don't need a kitchen in it since there is a full commercial kitchen behind it After the partition I still have 13 feet of Box for shelving for dry storage, all of the grills, smokers, open grills and the 20x40 tents and 10x10 tents, tables, chairs fridges, freezers and propane tanks........ and the two generators.


Has a payload capacity of 6,160 pounds in the Box and the Chuck Wagon has another 7,500 pounds of cargo capacity. So I am great on weight. Fully loaded the trailer and truck would weigh in at 24,500 pounds. Yeah the Plates for both hurt the wallet bad in IL. On the bright side adding the truck to my fleet insurance only bumped it up $18 per year...... It do pay to have 30 year clean no accidents and no tickets driving record.

The debate on whether to retire the Big Red Thunder Chicken has been settled. LOL I have been driving this truck for 20 years now and just can't bring myself to put him out to pasture. So he is going to Fred my mechanic friend for a engine rebuild, a tranny rebuild, and new rear end and then to the body shop for some dent pulling, paint stripping and a new paint job. The biggest reason for keeping him, after 20 years the seat fits my butt just right The second biggest reason...... The new trucks I have looked at and test drove are just JUNK in comparison to Big Red. A comparable new truck to Red Would start at around $45,000 and by the time I customized it up to maybe half the truck Red is would come in closer to $60,000. I can get everything that needs done to Red for around $15,000 and pretty much have a new truck. All of the customizing I have done to Red over the years from the Turbo, the suspension, beefing the frame up, the 7 speed rockwell tranny, the high performance injectors and the after market chip set and making a Dodge 2500 basically a 2 ton that gets 26-27 mpg Highway.... Yeah he is worth making new again

 

Theft proofing. For some reason, hitch balls are collected by scum, especially if it will inconvenience someone. One trick that slows them down even on non welded arrangements is to upset the threads below the nut on a "conventional" installation. Recommended by me, also prevents losing the ball and load in the event you don't torque the ballnut properly.

 

Or just take the hitch out of the receiver and throw it behind the seat of the truck

 

That's what I do, with a single pin to pull. Upset the threads anyway, the lurching and jerking will tell you that the ball is loose and the boat is about to part company with the tow vehicle.

 

So I get a $10,000 used box truck and Mrs. T5R Rolls in today and tells me we have to go pick up her new $40,000 Ram and I can drive her old ford F150 with no AC home from the Dealership LOL. Sounds fair to me........

 

She got a dingle dodge? You came out on top, they ain no doubt.

All the same, pretty soon you'll be vehicle poor, if you know what I mean ---