Diesel truck alternatives

[gasman]

When it comes to licensing,  my 2008 WR250 dual sportcost me more to license then my 2014 Ram 3500, and I'm on the west side, it Tacoma.

And no more emissions in WA state.

Mine is chipped, straight 4" exhaust coming off the turbo,, man dows it sound beefy now, and the power is awesome,  not that it has a lack of power stock, but the RACEME tuner can add up to 200hp, but keep mine in default mode, 60 hp..... you can hear the turbo spool at idel....... 

[Night goat]

Yeah brakes are very important. Something about having a heavy rig that isnt gonna get squirrely with a big tall trailer makes me feel better.

When i was crabbing we used to haul a flatbed with 200+ coast pots behind a 12 valve dually and it worked great except the suspension was so damned stiff you felt every pothole

Too bad dodge and allison never got together or even if gm resurrected detroit diesel badging enough to make an on-highway pickup engine.

Id consider something with like a 4-53 Jimmy or the 12 valve or 3116 cat or similar.

Its gonna be a while was more or less trying to come up with some ideas of things to look for other than a pickup truck.

On a trailer my boat is Probably going to sit 12-13 foot high because it has a deep keel. It draws 4.5 feet of water then from waterline its another 5 or 6 foot to the cabin top and its 8 foot wide just to give an idea of what id be dealing with. I gotta find a good trailer first though.

[Special T]

Yeah brakes are very important. Something about having a heavy rig that isnt gonna get squirrely with a big tall trailer makes me feel better.

When i was crabbing we used to haul a flatbed with 200+ coast pots behind a 12 valve dually and it worked great except the suspension was so damned stiff you felt every pothole

Too bad dodge and allison never got together or even if gm resurrected detroit diesel badging enough to make an on-highway pickup engine.

Id consider something with like a 4-53 Jimmy or the 12 valve or 3116 cat or similar.

Its gonna be a while was more or less trying to come up with some ideas of things to look for other than a pickup truck.

On a trailer my boat is Probably going to sit 12-13 foot high because it has a deep keel. It draws 4.5 feet of water then from waterline its another 5 or 6 foot to the cabin top and its 8 foot wide just to give an idea of what id be dealing with. I gotta find a good trailer first though.

This could be quite the feat of redneck engineering but here is to thinking outside of the box...

Take some long framed vehicle like a bus or box truck with just a cab. Move the drive axle in front of the skegg and put a drop swivel axle at the end of the frame. That way the cradle pads could be closer to the frame and the Skeg could drop between the frame rails. lowering the overall height keeping it easily under the 14' requirement and keeping your center of gravity lower.   

Just my rambling thoughts of how ot do this with out opening up your wallet too much. 

[dyhardhuntr]

Find yourself an older freightliner FL 70 with a 3126e cat motor in it. They have Allison’s in them. You’ll have plenty of brakes if you can find one with hydraulic brakes. Heck it might even have an exhaust brake on it. That’ll tow anything you throw at it.


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[yorketransport]

If you want something a little different, you could pick up an old stepvan and work with that. I've spent a lot of time in International and Freightliner P1000s (full size UPS/FedEx trucks) and I've grown pretty fond of them. You can pickup used International P1000s (up to about 2003 when International quit making them) with a T444E and an Allison tranny for pretty good prices. I sold my last 2003 for $6K with 260,000 miles on it. They're great for converting to shop trucks or a camper. If you aren't afraid a project you can pickup some of the older Internationsals with the 5 speed Spicer transmission and a 7.3L IDI, for around $2500 if you shop around.

Or if you wanted something newer/nicer you could grab a Freightliner MT45 and convert it to a camper/RV. They ride nicer than the MT55 but still have plenty of capacity for what you're doing.

Browse online classified adds for used FedEx trucks and you'll find all kinds of trucks like this.

[UpperleftPNW]

Personally I would bite the bullet and just pick up a decent truck.

The reason I say you should get a truck is because of the versatility. You can daily drive it every day in the city, then get home after work and throw a truck camper on it and hook up your trailer and you are ready for vacation. Sure you could save some money and get a bus or an ambulance but then you have a big project to finish and a vehicle that wont make a great daily driver or have as much re-sale value as a truck when it comes time to sell.

I got a 05 Duramax a few years back with 180k on the clock for around $17k. To me this was an expensive vehicle, but I have had 75k trouble free miles with no sign of stopping. I do put about $1500 in upgrades and maintenance into the truck each year just to ensure it lasts many more miles. It did suck dropping this kind of cash on a old high miles truck but now that it's paid off and it's my second vehicle so it doesn't get many miles on it, it has been pretty cheap to own and use as a weekend rig.