Build the new ride

I've been mentioning that I am adding another machine and retiring my butler to back-up and local jobs. I found the machine that I wanted and am now drawing up the plans to outfit the next vehicle. I thought it might be fun to let the board help design the set-up and carry this to reality.

Here is what I have so far:

2011 Judson TNT with low hours (453)
LG 4HT heater

This is what I am leaning towards:

Ford 1-ton with a 10 foot box and liftgate
Roll-up rear cargo door
Auxillary heater for box
Roof vent and overhead lighting
Electric Hose Reel (300 ft)
Solution Reel (300 ft)(Sectioned at 100, 75, 50, 50, 25)
Poly water tank (150 gallon)
APO
Maybe a second waste holding tank (75 - 100 gal)

Obviously, this is a dream sheet approach and it will be predicated on my wallet, but it is good to aim at the ideal to get ideas. Remember, this is mainly a commercial truck that will be working 6-10 hour jobs in the evenings. I really don't know where I am going to store it in the winter, but I am getting tired of cramped cargo vans and feel that a 10 ft box would help with that and still keep a smaller vehicle to fit into residential as needed.

I still don't have the propane tank thing ironed out yet and this plan keeps evolving daily, so your input would go a long way towards helping me avoid design mistakes. I have made a few bad ones lately and would like some cover fire.

This is the new machine...should be here later part of this week.

sweet,   we are building something very similar right now...    tnt should be here in about 2 weeks

10ft box truck is a good size,   but Ive been servicing homes in a large city with a 14ft with no problems so you could consider larger if its right for you.    

for us,   there is either suburban homes which is most all of our work,    box truck handles all these no problem

then there is downtown,   and really cramped neighborhoods near downtown where you cant really do anything with even an express so it doesnt matter.     Just need like a little transit connect with VLM equipment,   or a toyota truck with a canopy.      Were not so into these jobs as there is no where to park so that alone is a huge pain.  

what ever box truck you go with I would cut a door in the side if it doesnt come with one,   Terry has pics on how he made that happen

we have a different problem,  there is only side doors which is hard to figure out set up since most all carpet cleaning trucks you can find have a back door...    

the only thing I would go with is a turbo diesel,   15mpg makes a huge difference over a 5yr or 10yr run   just make sure you have everything such as the turbo looked at if you do.    

an isuzu will hit 300k + miles easily and still have 100k left before needing a motor replacement. Ive seen them running with 450k original motor, they are bullet proof

you might get 8 mpg in a loaded v8 triton,   or vortec     v10,  even worse  

I say this because I used to drive around an f450 14ft dump truck all day every day and those things are 24/7 thirsty for fuel,    I spent so much money in gas over the 4yrs I drove that thing

diesel is a little harder to work on,   but they are true fleet vehicles and parts are cheap    

just make friends with a good heavy duty diesel mechanic like I did


I like all your ideas for the roof vents etc,     but im really interested in what you come up with for layout.

I'm surprised that you prefer the diesel. I ran a E450 diesel for a couple of years and it was a very solid vehicle, but then you would need a seperate fuel tank for that TNT...not a big deal, but one more detail to create an issue.

I do like the Isuzu trucks for their tilt cabs, sure would make life easier, but to me that 14 ft box is just too large....maybe a 12 footer would be a good compromise? Of course, winter storage will be a pain for anything beyond a van.

Decisions....decisions.

14ft and 10ft difference is hardly anything,     when would it come into play..    driveways are plenty big enough,   the only time it would matter is if your trying to parallel     but I havent had to do that even once.  

a lot of service companies run 20ft, tree service, all sorts of delivery etc

also not an e450 diesel,    isuzu       America is great but were horrible at building cars,   sorry but its the truth

it shows in the value they hold,   look at how fast a brand new camaro drops in value..  there is a reason     we build them to break

the fuel thing is another thing to figure out, but we went with the tnt partly because it comes with a factory propane engine so the big tank is for the heater and the machine. running propane the engine can hit 8500 hrs instead of 5500 and propane is cheap around here... the main thing is just finding a good fill spot that is convenient

Got it, I didn't realize you purchased the propane fueled engine....nice idea if you can find good fill locations.

Actually, now that you mentioned it, you should look into propane injection for your truck as well. Guys around here claim some huge economy and power increases by propane injecting their diesels.

I have thought about that,      it could be really a cool idea..  but I just think the demand from already a machine and LG might be enough for only a 50gal tank.    

right now I am starting to look for good fill locations that are close to home,   but if I knew there wasnt any in my area I would have gone with a gas motor.

Also adding a reg gas belly tank is pretty inexpensive if you were to go diesel on the truck,   the money youll save in fuel will more than pay for it

its not just the diesel that makes the fuel economy,   the turbo is what gets you up hills and up to speed on the highway for cheap when carrying a heavy load

the torque after the turbo kicks in

Oh but I should mention that if I had all the money in the world I would have gone with a 14ft sprinter

21mpg, not as wide but tons of space

but at the time the cost was like 15k more than what we spent on the isuzu

You made a wise choice by not going with the sprinter. In this area anyway, they rust out real fast and parts are hard to come by. Not many happy waiting for parts....

You have me really re-thinking the Isuzu again...I do like that easy access with the tilt cab.

I just looked up the overall length on my Chevy extended van and it's 244.10 inches. An Izuzu NPR with a 14 ft box is 224 inches. Two feet more cargo length plus the additional width in a shorter overall package. I would go measure an Isuzu though to verify this, but this is what I dug up on the internet.

the tilt is really nice, you flip the cab forward and you have an engine sitting on a table for you to work on.

I flushed all the fluids, changed all the filters, was really easy.

wonder why the sprinters rust out real fast? usually thats in areas near salt water but we dont have that problem here partly because the rain washes it away

there is tons of sprinters on the road here, fed ex, dhl, and lots of large companies are using them

they are just expensive still too new, maybe thats why the parts are hard to come by.

but also if you buy a new/used one its not like your going to be needing lots of parts, prob looking at ten yrs down the road when you start needing more repairs.

I thought the chevy extended were more like a 155in wheel base

but your right, looking at our regular express nxt to the box truck its not that much longer, just a lot wider and taller with no wheel wells

Pro Touch wrote:I just looked up the overall length on my Chevy extended van and it's 244.10 inches. An Izuzu NPR with a 14 ft box is 224 inches. Two feet more cargo length plus the additional width in a shorter overall package. I would go measure an Isuzu though to verify this, but this is what I dug up on the internet.

You are probably correct, the box truck helps in the height instead of length or width. By having a stand-up height of near 7 ft., you can get the tools off the floor to provide greater space to move around. For me, the biggest gain is seperating the cargo from the cab for improved climate and odor control.

Still, I haven't eliminated the potential of an extended van as it would make life easier in the winter. I just hate crawling through the doghouse to service things not to mention all the time wasted digging through the cargo area to find a tool or spotter. A cube van / box truck eliminates those things.

You're right AC, 155" wheelbase, but 244" overall length. Regular wheelbase 135" and 224" overall.

I see,  the overall length is more than I thought.

the height adds some cu ft,   but the width is a lot.     I think boxes are about 6.5 ft wide

I think it just depends on how you use the van,    we dont have a machine right now in the box truck so were using the express daily and its fine


but when there is a machine, LG, rotary, crb,  tile tools,  chems,  sprayers,  etc  it takes some careful layout to not get really cramped       the way we have our van layed out is not easy to get regular vac out and the crb is hard on my back to pull out from on top the water tank.      

our express is not a real cargo,   its a regular van turned into a work van so we dont have as much space

W0W How exciting, it looks like a new Judson!!   

I've always had a 10 gal. belly tank on my van, and that my preference as I don't normally like carrying tanks in my van......

But I do sometimes throw in a 5 gal BBQ tank if my belly tank is low and I'm afraid I might run out.....I put a fitting on to connect a hose to my belly tank that enables me to connect to a BBQ tank and feed from that if I need to.   

"Solution Reel (300 ft)(Sectioned at 100, 75, 50, 50, 25)"

I like 100' on my fist hose off reel, but then why 75' second? I would think the 25' would make the most since (50" at the max), and wish that's what I had....and may do, 25' as second hose......because usually if I need more than a 100' it's only 110-120', so the 25' would be perfect second hose rather than my 50' now.......and ez nuf to roll off and connect 50'er if needed and in your case leave on 25 and 50''er for the 75' total.   

But maybe your jobs need are different than mine?......usually I need 50-100', which my first hose covers, then if I need more, it's more times than not only another 10-20'.

Thinking about this, I think I'll go ahead and make a 25'er for my second.

That is a great point Davey, I like the 25 as the second section for residentials....will have to change that thinking.

ACpower1 wrote:I have thought about that,      it could be really a cool idea..  but I just think the demand from already a machine and LG might be enough for only a 50gal tank.    

 I think you're right AC. I was inquiring about converting my 18 hp briggs to propane and was told that my 10.5 gallon tank wouldn't vaporize the propane fast enough to keep up with the demand especially when it was low in propane

So, I spent some time looking at vehicles this past week. I inspected and drove a step van, Isuzu NPR with 14 ft box, and a 10 foot cube van. Each one had pluses and negatives, but in the end, I like the 10 foot cube.

The key here is that you have added width and height over a cargo van without the length to cause parking issues. Sure, a cargo van has about the same length, but since you get the added height, you can mount your reels from the roof instead of the floor.

This should leave lots of space for floor machines, air movers, etc. To me, that looks like the winner for this next build. This is what I am laying out right now.

Judson TNT in side door.
LG 4ht sitting next to it or behind to shield from wind
Water tank along driver's side wall
Hose Reels suspended from ceiling on Passenger side
Shelving on driver's side elevated on wall

Anyone running that way? Any flaws that I am missing?