teletech
Registered User
So, I'm working on a medium-duty RV project. The final result should weigh under 17000Lbs and very rarely I'd like the option to tow another 20K.
I picked up a 1991 F700, with about half of the features I wanted (air brakes, tilt nose,diesel) because it was really clean, and had 41K original miles on it, oh and it was stupidly-cheap.
Unfortunately, the already anemic 6.6 is further emasculated by the 3-speed non-lockup gearbox the wheelbase is a bit long for my taste/needs, and the spring rate is really high for my gross weight.
So, the truck in hand was a 16' flatbed that got 10MPG empty and would cruise at 62 on the flat.
On hills, I was right in the middle of the pack climbing with the heavy trucks
With a smaller box on the back (12'x7'x8', 1200lbs) I lost a little speed and mileage, but not much.
With the final box (14'x8'x8.5', 4000lbs) my cruise was down to 57 and my mileage had dropped noticeably (math pending)
On hills I was not dead-last, but was in the bottom 1/4 for sure.
It's a good old truck, county owned low miles and in a few thousand miles it's given not a moment of concern about it's mechanical condition being anything but excellent, that's worth something in an old used truck.
I know I can wake the truck up a lot with fuel since it's just the 170hp tuning now, and the all-steel stakebed under the box is *heavy*, so lowering the box and dropping all that weight should help a lot, but it's still loud, slow, and a bit inefficient.
So, to get from where I am to where I want to be I have three roads:
1) sell this truck (at a profit I expect) and put the money towards something else.
It's hard to find the combo I want, air is a must-have and I really like the 1994 and earlier styling.
I see a lot of trucks that have 1/2 to 2/3 of what I want but without spending a lot of money and travelling finding it all seems unlikely, then you have to factor in cost and condition.
2) strip the bed off and slowly modify while looking for the "right" truck.
Having paid under $2k, if I get something for that bed the truck wouldn't owe me much of anything... if I found another almost-right truck it would be worth keeping around for parts or as a donor (tilt-nose, etc.)3) do the work: replace the transmission, relocate the rear axle, and re-spring the truck.
In a perfect world, I'd be interested in going air-ride on the back so finding a much newer donor-truck is interesting.
I'm beyond usually handy: I've rebuilt a few engines and one car as a every nut and bolt custom job but I have many projects.
What say you?
I picked up a 1991 F700, with about half of the features I wanted (air brakes, tilt nose,diesel) because it was really clean, and had 41K original miles on it, oh and it was stupidly-cheap.
Unfortunately, the already anemic 6.6 is further emasculated by the 3-speed non-lockup gearbox the wheelbase is a bit long for my taste/needs, and the spring rate is really high for my gross weight.
So, the truck in hand was a 16' flatbed that got 10MPG empty and would cruise at 62 on the flat.
On hills, I was right in the middle of the pack climbing with the heavy trucks
With a smaller box on the back (12'x7'x8', 1200lbs) I lost a little speed and mileage, but not much.
With the final box (14'x8'x8.5', 4000lbs) my cruise was down to 57 and my mileage had dropped noticeably (math pending)
On hills I was not dead-last, but was in the bottom 1/4 for sure.
It's a good old truck, county owned low miles and in a few thousand miles it's given not a moment of concern about it's mechanical condition being anything but excellent, that's worth something in an old used truck.
I know I can wake the truck up a lot with fuel since it's just the 170hp tuning now, and the all-steel stakebed under the box is *heavy*, so lowering the box and dropping all that weight should help a lot, but it's still loud, slow, and a bit inefficient.
So, to get from where I am to where I want to be I have three roads:
1) sell this truck (at a profit I expect) and put the money towards something else.
It's hard to find the combo I want, air is a must-have and I really like the 1994 and earlier styling.
I see a lot of trucks that have 1/2 to 2/3 of what I want but without spending a lot of money and travelling finding it all seems unlikely, then you have to factor in cost and condition.
2) strip the bed off and slowly modify while looking for the "right" truck.
Having paid under $2k, if I get something for that bed the truck wouldn't owe me much of anything... if I found another almost-right truck it would be worth keeping around for parts or as a donor (tilt-nose, etc.)3) do the work: replace the transmission, relocate the rear axle, and re-spring the truck.
In a perfect world, I'd be interested in going air-ride on the back so finding a much newer donor-truck is interesting.
I'm beyond usually handy: I've rebuilt a few engines and one car as a every nut and bolt custom job but I have many projects.
What say you?
