Old Uhaul Trucks?

toddcla2002

I'm looking to grow my business during my exterior res. repaint season and was looking into picking up a couple used uhaul box trucks that are Fords with 7.3L diesels from the late 80's and early 90's. They usually sell for about 4k a pop and prolly need 1.5k-2k in work to make them solid. Also instead of having a professional body shop paint it (5-6k) I was thinking about doing it myself. What products would you use? I know I'm going to get some slack for this....but I don't have 80k lying around to buy new ones. I'm just curious if anyone has done this and if you may have any other recommendations for cheap box trucks. THANKS!

~todd

mdshunk

Check out user IHI's profile. He's got a pic of a pretty nice UHaul he fixed up. It runs in my mind his might have been a 5.8, though.

JNLP

Company I work with has one. They sprayed it white, slapped on some racks, and end up having to get a new engine. Makes a killer work truck though.

mdshunk

I can see where that slide out ramp would be really nice if you're in and out of it all day at the same jobsite.

ron schenker

Make sure to consult the paint pros here. They'll tell you the right brushes, rollers, paint, primer, and sandpaper to use

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Don't worry, the baseboard will hide it!

IHI

Mines a 89 with the 7.3 diesel and no overdrive, weighs in at 10,960 last trip to the dump and averages 14mpg. Biggest thing prior to buying is walk through all of the trucks on the lot they're selling and check the obvious-oil stians on the ground, oil leaks on the engine, tranny fluid does'nt smell burnt, tires in good shape, lights all work, etc...being they're rentals they have a pretty good maintenance schedule so the everyday items should all work-lights/brakes,etc..Mines been great, but I've heard some bad stories from other in the area that bought some old u hauls and lost engines shortly after. Before deciding I gave the truck a overall apperance grade-meaning the interior was like new, tires were new, no dents, no signs of obvious prior damages, test drive went great, everything looked really nice-and so far so good. A few minor things, but that's ANY used vehicle.

Before treking out to paint it yourself, take it around and get a price from different auto shops to get it squirted. A big shop here quoted me $1K to redo mine which I thought was more than fiar considering the PITA factor of a vehicle this size..granted it was only the cab being painted, but papering off the box so it dont get over sprayed is a big deal, removing EVERYTHING from the cab-literally-to get a legit paint job is a paint is a PITA since doors get gutted/hood gets gutted, weather stripping pulled off, bumper pulled off, etc...then masking the engine compartment, etc...I've painted 3 cars personally growing up and it takes ALOT of work to do it right, and by the time you price sand paper, masking paper/tape, bondo, sealer, primer, paint, reducer, hardner, clear coat, then buffing compounds/buffing pads you'll be suprised at how quickly that adds up....for a good paint job anyways. For these cab only's your talking easily $600 in materials, plus LOTS of labor on your part which is easily offset by paying a shop depending on what you get back for prices.

All our trucks at the uhaul center had the box lettering covered with white vinyl-like what they make vehicle signs out of, so I had a white canvas to start with. You could try it yourself, or get ahold of a independant sign guy and price out having him just installing white vinyl over the entire sides of the box...money ahead as compared to stripping off the uhaul lettering and then prepping the box for paint.

How to paint...well, your better off going to the library and checking out a book since it would take pages and pages to try to explain things. The one thing anybody that's ever painted a vehicle will agree one-any monkey can paint a car-the real skill is the attention to detail prior to hooking an air line to the paint gun. Paint runs are easily wet sanded out prior to clear coating, and runs in the clear coat are easily wet sanded out prior to buffing pending you get at it within a few days of applying it. You could use 1 step paint, but they you have to know the trick to mixing in more hardner with each coat of paint your applying to get the shine your used toseeing with a base/clear paint job.

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Hot Rod Work Van
Car video clip
Web
The Photo Gear- Type Josh into Contact name when ordering

furbis

IHI do you have any photos of the inside of the box? I'm interested in the same truck and always enjoy looking at others truck/trailer setups.

IHI

Just snapped these, so truck is messy and stuff not put away where it's supposed to go, but it's the general jist of things...mobile tool shed is all, I do all my work on site so no need for us to set truck up for any work inside the box. The tool bins on the right were hastily made to get truck into service but serve the purpose. Above the cab is my table and chop saw along with tarps, visquene, carpets, 2' step ladders, etc...

I built a shelf over the left side wheel well since we haul alot of windows and doors for filler job installs, so the shelf made it easier for loading mutliple sizes and quantites of either. A guy could've made drawers under the wheel well shelf too but I did'nt see a need for just hauling tools. Not the fanciest, but it was all done in a few hours to serve a purpose, and that's just hauling tools

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Hot Rod Work Van
Car video clip
Web
The Photo Gear- Type Josh into Contact name when ordering

joasis

If you think that is messy, I need to shoot some pictures of our step van.....looks good Josh. How many miles did the U-Haul have on it when you got it?

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furbis

thanks for the pics. it gives me an idea of how big the back of the truck is.

Glasshousebltr

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-...em190053196908

This doesn't look like a 90 to me.

Bob

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Bob

joasis

This is my step van, purchased to replace the blown motor truck. 95k miles, 6 cylinder, 4 speed, cold natured, 4 feet shorter then the old tool wagon, and I have had it for months and not put my signs on it...maybe that is an indication I don't want to keep it?

http://www.contractortalk.com/attach...1&d=1163942253

http://www.contractortalk.com/attach...1&d=1163942253

And the mess if for Josh....told you mine was worse then yours! What I like about IHI's stuff is the graphics.....the truck is advertising...I don't know what I haven't signed the step van yet, but oh well....my little girl doesn't look to worried!

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paintr56

I painted my lift truck 3 years ago with a oil based equipment and tractor paint I got at BigR A farm supply store. I spray buildings out of the basket on this truck so overspray is a given. Due to the over spray I can't comment on the shine but the paint still looks solid. It has held up well to daily abuse even the walls on the inside of the bed. Only cost about $25 a gallon.

Jim Bunton