Looking at a Uhauler. Need some advice.

[EvilM0nkey]

Looking at a good ol Uhaul 7.3 26 footer. I have the maint records in front of me and it had a remanned engine installed 50K miles ago, and other records back to 2000 (about 6 pages front to back).

I went and saw it today but didn't drive it since I was right in the middle of rush hour. But for the past 10 years it's been locally run and maintained (The actual Uhaul garage is about 15 miles from where it's located now) So I'm fairly confident it's in good shape.
But I want to be sure.

I'm test driving it Monday and want to know what to look for.
When the truck started today it had a bit of a knock but I didn't investigate too much. It had been sitting for a few weeks and we didn't let it run till it got warmed up so I don't know if it was an actual knock or not.

When it started it just smoked a little bit and cleared up very fast, then ran fine. When I drive it Monday I'm going to take it to my house to make sure it can handle the approach angle of my driveway, so I'll have it at my house for a while.

I'm confident with everything on the truck except for the engine and the air ride suspension. (I work on cars for a living) So this is why I'm turning to the experts.

The price is really right so I don't think I can go wrong as long as it runs and moves on it's own power. They only want $3,300 for it. If I buy it it's going to pull a 20 foot concession trailer and possibly haul my Wrangler in the back a few times a year (not at the same time). So it's never going to have any massive loads.

http://www.uhaul.com/trucksales/truck_detail.aspx?id=JH3802P&location=782050

Thank you very much in advance. I've poked around other threads and learned a lot already.

 

[junk]

We bought one of these for my parents earlier this summer. They are in the middle of a cross country move. Having a recent engine is a good deal. The engines are basic to work on.

I would basically just look at what's been replaced recently. My thought is that the less amount of time a part was being used by uhaul customers the better.

We've had good luck with ours, but I think that was dumb luck more than anything.

We had ours loaded full of household goods and had about 6,000 pounds of car & trailer on the back. It pulled fine. They aren't a power house, but it tools down the road at 60 with that load just fine.

Deal with them on the price. they were asking 4,000 for ours, but we got it for 2600. So offer about 50% to start with and let them come up. Our guy told us they'll go back and forth on price 2-3 times.



Good Luck
Jeremy

 

[EvilM0nkey]

Excellent to know on the price. They have it listed at $3700 but said he would go down to $3300. I was going to throw down $3000 in cash and hope he takes it but I'll start at $2600 and hope for the best.

 

[Agnem]

I rented one of those once. They have a clarke 5 speed, and when I opened the hood I got service envy real quick. Compared to a pickup, they are a dream to work on. You don't have to struggle to do anything! The radiator is massive, and you have to look when you see the radiator shroud. The air intake is like 5 times the size of our pickup ones. The front pulley is quite impressive with like 7 grooves in it. The air pump is a fantastic accessory, and the kneeling rear is very cool. Read our FAQ and tech articles for relevent shopping tips.

 

[EvilM0nkey]

How about buying tires for the pig? The rears need to be replaced soon. The 19.5 tires aren't cheap at all.

 

[Mat J]

thats a sweet rig. id like to have one as a flat bed.

anyone have specs on the MD 5spds?

 

[EricW]

How about buying tires for the pig? The rears need to be replaced soon. The 19.5 tires aren't cheap at all.

Do they do recaps for the 19.5 wheel size? Also what about used? I've put many a used set of tires on my rigs w/o any issues

 

[vegas39]

thats a sweet rig. id like to have one as a flat bed.

anyone have specs on the MD 5spds?

The uhaul dealer here has some 1992 van chassis (no box) pretty cheap, I think they were letting them go for around 1500

 

[vegas39]

We got our 26 footer here for 2500. My uncle loaded it up and hauled to Kentucky last month, ran great.
If you notice, the starter on these 7.3's look bigger also than what we have on our trucks.

 

[EvilM0nkey]

If you go to the Uhaul fleet sales you can search for trucks with the box removed.

 

[Chevyboy_0]

"Features"
Air conditioning
AM and FM radio
Power steering
Power brakes, with GM power assist 4 wheel disc brakes
Mom`s attic: 4' overhang
Approximate MPG: 6 to 10
Box lowers to 24 inches
Pullout aluminum ramp on the rear
Air bag suspension on the rear
Rear door is a roll up garage type door
Fibreglass flip forward hood


for the price it seems like a good buy

 

[EvilM0nkey]

for the price it seems like a good buy

I think so
Plus I'm not buying it to drive to work. It's going to help me run my wife's business.
I think I found a better one though. It has a NEW engine that was put in 5k miles before it was put up for sale.

 

[RLDSL]

If it's got a clark tranny, those are VERY nice. I maintained a fleet of busses with IDIs and Clarks, stout setup, no OD, but very sturdy, forgiving box.

As far as maintnence, don't count on it. The truck wound up there as it's final destination, but it's been everywhere in the fleet, and when those things get rented out, the dealers don't do squat to them, I think they don't wantto have to wait for the reimbursements. I had to rent a uhaul truck and a car trailer to get a dead car home from NY state one time and they told me to wait in the motel for 2 hours while they supposedly got it ready, , but after I picked it up and got my car loaded uop on the trailer, I went for fuel 2 blocks away and checked the oil and it wasn't even on the stick, this was on a new V10 with only around 10k miles on it

I would offer as little as humanly possible. You are talking a vehicle with a sketchy service history and multiple unskilled drivers.

 

[EvilM0nkey]

Need opinions!

I drove the first one and it seems to be in good shape minus a few things.
The engine runs great! The knock I thought I heard was actually the air compressor.
It's going to need two bags soon. It has two new tires on the front, and the rears have about 5/32 left. The truck is fairly dry. The "Brake pressure" light came on while I was driving and the pedal seemed high??
The left front caliper seems to be sticking. The GM of the store said he will check it all out for me. This truck still has current registration, inspection and tags.

THEN I found a service truck!! It's the same truck with an INSULATED and lit box, shelves, oil/ fuel tanks, a heater. It even has a retractable awning on the back! The engine looks new. It has an orange intake and oil pan. There was no belt on the air compressor. This truck had noticeably less power than the first one I drove. It has dual exhaust too
The interior is better with an aftermarket radio, tinted windows and vent visors. Speedo isn't working, alternator gauge stuck on 12V till I was on my way back and then it eased up to 14V.
It also has running lights all up and down the side of it like some semis do. It's been off the road since 2007.

 

[EvilM0nkey]

Pics

Some pics of the second truck...

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