Post A Photo Of Your Truck As It Sits.

TBFGhost

I been seeing a few posts asking how guys get along with just pick-ups or that you need to have a full size or box truck or this or that. Well I say to each his own, but I took a few shots of my truck while I was leaving a job site today. So this is usally how my truck looks. Not all cleaned up and organized for some fresh photos to impress... This is my down and dirty work truck....

1996 Ford Ranger 4x4 XLT Supercab. 3.0L V6 with 5 Spd Manual. 199,*** miles on the clock.



This is the back of the cab. Got some filler, some BIN, sand paper, misc stuff in the net. Quart Caulk gun. A flannel sheet to protect finished products in the bed. A 9x12 2 mil tarp to protect anything if I get caught in the rain (hardly ever)...my jacket and tool belt hanging from the hook. Products to clean clothing and what not at a lundry mat. And a heat gun for whatever reason I still had it in my truck.



This is the Front of the cab. 18 awg brad and 16 awg finish I was using today, D-handle router that has been riding around with me, 2 magazines, my day runner and file folder. New Tape in the cup holder, Business cards/post cards, pens, construct. calc and flashlight by the shifter. Cell phone and dust mask on dash.



The Bed...what you see is what you get. Some pine, some poplar, pole sander, tool box, 2, 4 and 6 level. Primer, 6 ton bottle jack. Chalk from some late night framing at a friends home a few nights ago...missed the chalk box....


My Toolbox, where most most common "hand" tools always are. Its water proof and lives damn near in the bed of my truck. 10.8 volt Makita Impact and Drill, Damn near replaced my full size cordless Makitas. I live in a safe area....





Passenger Box. Starting at rear. Straps, under the straps is a rotary laser, glue gun and glue sticks and 3 in 1 oil for the nail guns, powder gun...whatever.

Next section foward is Tajima Chalk, 3M 77 Spray Adhesive, 3/4" and 2 1/2" Powder Fastner Nails, Brown, Green and Yellow Shot. The Powder gun, 5 lbs of 1 1/4 Fine Drywall, 1 lb of 2" Fine Drywall. 1 lb each of 1 1/4, 1 5/8, 2" exterior screws(my general purpose screw of choice, combo drive, aggresive thread, w cut tip self drills well and much stronger metal then just drywall screws). 2" torx trim head screws. Small tube (few oz) of GE Silicone II for some reason. Tube with rough, finish, mech pencils and a sharpie.

Next section foward has 1 lb of 3" exterior screws. 1 1/4" 18 awg brads, 1 1/2", 2" and 2 1/2" 16 awg nails, Ryobi router bit kit in case, painters tape, Tec screws, Bosch 1590 jig saw, Kreg Pocket screw kit ,

Last Section has Bosch Colt Trim Router, some random bits, 2 pads and all the tools and guides for the trim router.

The top "runner" shelf has 6 baby 12" Jorgson clamps, usally 8 1" spring clamps, 2" 18 awg brades, 23 awg pins (1/2", 5/8", 3/4", and 1"). Jig saw blades (under them is the plastic protective base plate for the jig saw), 2 router bits (3/8 R.O. and 1/4" flush trim). Dremel Multimax with attachments.

There are a few things are missing, some of the 1" clamps are currently holding a drop ceiling grid in position waiting for tile and what not. Some other things are out of there, normall glue and things as well, but its getting cold.



Drivers Box.

Starting at rear, there is two small packs of 100 and 150 grit sand paper, a Makita 5/8" Hammer Drill, and usally a Makita drywall gun, a 10 oz caulk gun. The trash bag box has one roll of trash bags and one of normally 3 yellow jacket cords. In front of the trash bag box is a box of 5" paper for the R.O. sander

The next section has a Makita 4 1/2 grider with a griding wheel, a few cut off wheels, two diamond wheels and some 50 grit paper for coping. The R.O sander, and usally a small saw-z-all by Ridgid....that new fuego one they have.... all the way forward is the Fuego Circ saw with 4 extra blades. Three new and one used. EDIT: 5 blades, just put a 40 tooth Avanti blade from Lowes in there, was on clearance. This box usally has extra room and becomes a catch all in bad weather..


And that is my truck.....

Five Star

TBF, most of us started like you in the begining but all i can say is if this set up works for you then good luck! to me it seams counter productive!

Maybe you should start charging your GC for deliveries like the depot and you can buy yourself a van to keep your stuff dry!

my trucks not much neater than yours inside because ive been busy,But everything fits,and nothing has ever been left behind!gets 20mpg+

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________

Cole82

Five star he wants pics of the inside in daily work mode.

This is mine today after clearing out of a 3day door and window job. Way to many tools in a small space. Yes I know it is a mess but only is that way for a day untill it gets ready for the next job.

Five Star

didnt want to show the mess, but here goes

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________

stp57

Great graphics on red!
Steve

stp57

Man, that thing is so tall that you could build an upper shelf to store your ladders & stuff & also mount dome lights underneath. You could even have drop down bins built into it. That thing would still have at least 5 1/2 feet of clearance with the upper shelf installed.
I would have done that to my Sprinter, but I didn't have an extra $2K for the high roof.
Steve

TBFGhost

I have thought about it, but he takes care of me very well....always finds work for me to do if I call him and let him know I need some to fill in voids here and there. It makes going out on my own a little easier b/c I have that safty net to fall back on, so in apperciation I cut him "favors" like that. He always pays right at the end of the job, cuts a check then and there, never had a bad check, allows me to pick his brain on things I don't know....even lets me use his shop if I have to.

I have looked at vans a few time, but I dunno...


And those are the kind of photos I am talking about, daily, here is my truck as it sits. There are posts about peoples shops and truck already, but most of the time you can tell they took the time to clean things up a bit...I am not really interested on how well your truck can look, but rather what it DOES look like. Believe it or not, I can clean the Mighty Ranger up well. A good wash, white wall cleaner to bring out the raised white letters, wheel cleaner and some elbow grease to clean the wheels up, a light buff of the paint and good coat of good wax followed by some chrome polish on the chrome stuff, and last Mothers Back To Black for the black plastics that have faded a little. The truck looks brand new. I used to do that but I don't have time anymore....


Cole 82. What do you think of your table saw. I was looking at that before I bought the Bosch b/c of the price, but I found that everyone had alot of play in the arbor, I could wiggle the blade side to side....

shesaremonclus

If you are employed by a GC of course you can get away with a PU even a small one like a ranger. You are only required to have a limited amout of tools and supplies its not your esponsibilities to have everything needded to complete a job. But in the case of the guys who run buisness for themselves i dont see who the will get around with a minimal amount of stuff. In my case i have a Box the size of any one of yours just full of fastners not to mention the different ammout of caulk. I also carry 3 step ladders, generator, tablesaw, miter saw, welding torch, compressor, cooper tubbing, pex tubbing a full line of fittings, rotarry laser level, belt sanders,palm sanders, shop vac, wet saw, 10 different pneumatic tools etc.. Try to carry all of this in the back of a PU and try to keep it dry, secure and easy to get. Dont get me wrong I not putting your set up down just trying to find out how much work does a crew working out a PU can accomplish with the tools the normally carry or do they load and unload according to the work the will do certain day. I have seen myself unload nearly half my tool for a 1/2 day job.

Cole82

I like the saw a lot it the fence is allways square and powerfull motor. Haven't noticed any blade movement. Right out of the box though the up down adjustment was very loose. Tighetened up the mounting bolts for the all thread piece. Oh yeah it was cheap too. It replaced a old dewalt that my Dad gave me that he used, it was like 12 years old.
The bad this realy isn't that light of a saw for it's size. Second the stand is one big pain in the a$$. Most times I don't even bother un folding the legs just put it on saw horses.

Leo G

Heres mine. A little messier than usual because of winter. Only thing missing is the lunch pail which usually sits on the floor in front of the passengers seat.

GMC 2500 HD V8 6.0L Vortec extended cab w/a 8' bed, Fire Red. Weather Guard Super Boxes, 21 Cu Ft each side (2't x 16"d x 8'L)

__________________
Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

jtpro

This is a question to all the guys who have/had 6 bangers. It's not a dig just a question. Do you feel or have proven to your self that you get better gas mileage with a fully loaded down V6 as opposed to a V8.

I'm asking more for a comparison between a V6 and say a 5.3(323) or 5.7(350). and if you have pulled trailers in the comparison also.

My friend had a Ranger, beat the shiz out of it had the three tool boxes fairly loaded and swore by it. Now he did carry tools for elevator work and was more of a supervisor then a mechanic so he didn't have every tool known to man loaded in it.

Five Star

Thanks, i was also strapped for $ when i bought this, i was gonna get the 2500 shc. but then the guy showed me the red one and told me it was ordered and the guy backed out so he let it go cheaper then the 2500, im glad i got the dually,But now that i gotta put tires im gonna feel it in the pocket $$.
I didnt like the red at first,but it grew on me

__________________

Cole82

I started out with a 6c ford that got great milage until I bought that trailer. It went from 22mpg to 10mpg. Going up any hill was like going through the DMV line. 4 hours later you make it, but you know there is a better way. After selling that I went to a small v8 ford not trailer gets 19mpg with trailer gets 17mpg. Would have to check but think it has turned in my favor for gas expense.

jtpro

I would say that's MORE than satisfactory if you are only dropping 2MPGs with a trailer I know guys happy to get 15-16 without a trailer.

BCConstruction

Unloaded i have always found the smaller v6's better than the V8's but as soon as you start increaseing your payloads then the v8 is the better option. The v6's struggle with any heavy loads and your always on the redline trying to get that load moving and your eating fuel. The V8 with the same load is unlucky to go above 2k rpm. I would say go for a v8 over a v6 just because most of us use the truck for what it was designed. i get about 20mpg from my 5.4 v8 on flat lands unloaded and around 16 on the mountain roads unloaded.

TBFGhost

The GC I work for works out of a GMC 2500, ABC Utility Body with system one ladder rack.....yeah he has more space then me, but still it ain't no van where everything is stuffed in it. He doesn't build homes anymore, he mostly does commercial tenent fit-ups and high end trim outs. But he has never had a van...always worked out of a pick-up... Do you need the torches everyday? all that caulk? fastners? generator?all 10 air tools? Do you use them everyday? maybe you do. I don't, when I do need them, I load up what I need.


No. Who ever said it is for the gas mileage is full of it. Said GC from above gets the same as me in his loaded 2500. I live in North West NJ, it is kinda hilly around here....I wish I had the V8....but then again my ranger has the smaller 6, the 3.0. The new rangers have a 4.0 with over 200hp and more torque...which is 40 or more HP then what I have.....I only get 17mpg....

BKFranks

__________________

jtpro

Fair enough. I was just wondering why if not for better gas mileage someone would go with a 6 cylinder unless initial cost of buying the vehicle and up keep played into the decision and/or if unloaded some, loaded some overall averge mileage was better than a V8.

Like I said my friend to this day talks about the love of his ranger.

My GF and I between us have owned one 4 cylinder car(current) in our life time and no 6's(currently 2 trucks,past 2 vans and various cars all V8s) so I have no real world expierences with the over all plus side.

TBFGhost

I own one b/c it is cheap...super cheap, parts are cheap and honestly I have had great luck with reliabity....

TBFGhost

no one else dares to show their truck?