Anyone near Houston able to shed some light on this dealer?

[Dl5treez]

Hello all,

I'm looking into this truck as a possible addition to my fleet up here in Washington. Through some searching it appears to be a reasonably well maintained Texas truck. Price per mile is about normal for what it is--the crane is huge for the chassis size, a rare bird all considered.

I'm not very up on the 4500/5500 Ram chassis cab trucks. Anyone with knowledge is sure appreciated to reply. Thanks!

https://www.kksautosales.com/vehicl...-crane-used-commercial-truck-houston-tx.shtml

 

[gsbrockman]

I’d look into the total hours (idle and drive) although I’m sure the idle hours may be a little high if the crane is PTO driven.

The 6.7L V8 worries me a little though....

It has a few nice features per the window sticker.

https://www.dodge.com/hostd/windowsticker/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=3C7WRNFL1GG162727

 

[JR]

I would definitely want to inspect how that crane is mounted. I would expect something of that size to be mounted center of the truck behind the cab not at the rear corner. With that much lifting capability you could really twist some stuff up if it wasn't professionally done. Even the Class 6 Pete service trucks that come service our cranes only have a 3000 lb crane....and thats a lot of truck.
The one thing it does have going for it is extendable outriggers, which help with stability and capacity but again there has to be a heck of an anchor point under neath that turret.

 

[Wiredawg]

Im in SanAntonio TX so cant put eyes on it. Looks pretty good and offer to have Ram dealership checkout mechanicals is good.

My BIL built one like this on an F550 and have seen this setup on other trucks as well. There are outriggers to stabilize the truck and the crane is off centered to allow for carrying cargo. My BIL carried smaller gensets 25KW to 100KW on his truck. I've seen this setup on fleet tire service trucks also for carrying larger construction equipment tires and parts. My BIL used his to lift and hold the front end of my compact tractor while he welded the frame back together. And, the crane looks big enough to load a trailer as well.

Anhoo, I see these service trucks all the time down here in TX.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Timd32]

Just throwing this out there here is a new Just truck.

Working off JR'S and Rons comment, what do you need in a crane and work body, they are plentiful at times. I also had found very limiting factors on overall capacity when I went to add a crane to my configuration.

https://www.sanantoniododgechrysler...-cab-tradesman-4x4-crew-cab-3c7wrnfl8lg194214

 

[Wiredawg]

WRT the crane: good reach for smaller loads like truck tires, but for heavy loads like a generator, you position truck beside it, and use crane more vertically. Configuring on flatbed gives more carrying capacity. Biggest consideration is what you are going to use it for? I see these, FL 60s/70s, all the way to series 8 trucks with flat beds hauling loads of brick.

I've thought about mounting smaller one on right front corner of my bed to load and unload genset cables, trailer spare tires, and other lighter types loads if I wanted to still tow gensets.

I guess that's all I know about it.

Cheers, Ron

 

[JR]

The ad is a bit misrepresentative, the "8051 lb Tiger Crane" is not the capacity but the model #. Tiger Cranes website says this is the largest crane on the market for a 19,000 lb GVW chassis. Not just what they offer, but the entire market.

Specs from Tiger Crane website.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
19,000 lbs. GVW Rating- 84” Cab to Axle- 300,000 in-lb frame RBM- 8 GPM @ 2900 PSI – open center hydraulics- 50,000 ft-lb rated crane tower reinforcement and outrigger

Assuming professional install it should be ok on paper, right on the edge but ok. Definitely not typical for that size truck. Would take some good common sense operating to keep the outriggers up, which I am sure would not be a problem for it's potential new owner

Getting off topic now, but a few shots of the rigs I run

 

[Timd32]

Very cool pics.

 

[Topzide]

Hey @JR, How'd you get yours mounted to your 3500? Very cool pics! I bet the stress levels go up with the wind!

 

[Ozymandias]

Hey @JR, How'd you get yours mounted to your 3500? Very cool pics! I bet the stress levels go up with the wind!

As soon as the wind picks up he gets a coffee break. Windy days are often boring for a crane operator. Safety first. We don't wanna have load and crane lying flat on the ground, or worse harm people with swinging load.

 

[Dl5treez]

Thanks guys! Great pictures of the cranes at work, too.

The STI Tiger crane 'brand new' is about $31,000. Not including the flatbed or install. It's kind of crazy how much the mechanic truck cranes actually cost. My current truck has an Auto Crane 5005EH and that is over 20 grand new...I'm looking at getting something with a little more oomph as the real capability of a service truck crane is about 25-70% of the actual rating they like to sell them at, based on load charts and such.

My biggest questions were if anyone is fairly local to that dealer's area and knows much about them---there are a TON of rigs like that for sale all over the oil & gas areas and many are sold by dealers just like that one. Some know the equipment, some are just flipping auction rigs and don't know a Dodge from a Ford or a Cummins from a Powerstroke. 6.7 V8 diesel, caught that right away

It is a long haul for me to see it in person and if somebody in Houston knew they were a dealer worth working with or staying away from, it's much appreciated.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Thanks guys! Great pictures of the cranes at work, too.

The STI Tiger crane 'brand new' is about $31,000. Not including the flatbed or install. It's kind of crazy how much the mechanic truck cranes actually cost. My current truck has an Auto Crane 5005EH and that is over 20 grand new...I'm looking at getting something with a little more oomph as the real capability of a service truck crane is about 25-70% of the actual rating they like to sell them at, based on load charts and such.

My biggest questions were if anyone is fairly local to that dealer's area and knows much about them---there are a TON of rigs like that for sale all over the oil & gas areas and many are sold by dealers just like that one. Some know the equipment, some are just flipping auction rigs and don't know a Dodge from a Ford or a Cummins from a Powerstroke. 6.7 V8 diesel, caught that right away

It is a long haul for me to see it in person and if somebody in Houston knew they were a dealer worth working with or staying away from, it's much appreciated.

I'm not too far from Houston, but I've never heard of that dealer. I'd google them for reviews and check their BBB rating and maybe the Texas Auto Dealers association.

As to questions regarding the crane mounting, it looks as if it is mounted with a support frame at the back of the bed, with outrigger support legs, so I bet it is up to the job.

 

[Wiredawg]

Houston and suburbs is MASSIVE and literally has hundreds of car/truck dealers... call the dealer and talk to them.

The truck looks good, the dealer made the offer to take it to Ram dealer for a checkup, take them up on it if you're serious. Since you're taking truck out of state you're not looking for on going dealer services. Haven't seen many used vehicle dealers post offering to have a unit checked out by a Ram dealer...I would take that as a major positive... if they were hiding something on the truck. I would think that would be the last thing they would offer.

 

[Dl5treez]

Houston and suburbs is MASSIVE and literally has hundreds of car/truck dealers... call the dealer and talk to them.

The truck looks good, the dealer made the offer to take it to Ram dealer for a checkup, take them up on it if you're serious. Since you're taking truck out of state you're not looking for on going dealer services. Haven't seen many used vehicle dealers post offering to have a unit checked out by a Ram dealer...I would take that as a major positive... if they were hiding something on the truck. I would think that would be the last thing they would offer.

I've been in communication with them for a bit already; truck went to the local Ram truck dealer and got a clean bill of health; figured it would since the dealer sent me a file of maint records on it, and they look thorough.

It never hurts to ask, no matter how big a metro area is. The dealer seems to market many trucks of this nature. There are dealers up here who operate similarly and most are well known by the people who buy them. That's all I was really hoping to find, see if perhaps someone on here 'knew something'... More than once has the TDR family come through with six degrees of diesel Dodge haha

Now I can dig deeper into the Ram 5500 v. Ford F-550 mud slinging contests

Thanks all!