Box Truck info? recommendations.

[Mactruck]

I'm in the market for a Medium Duty Box truck for the business.

I currently have a Mitsubishi box truck and even though it's been OK. I would prefer to buy something more AMERICAN! I have issues with the fact that everytime I need some part that it needs to be airfreighted from japan.



I'm considering International, Freightliner, and others with a GVW of at least 15,000 lbs. I need it to be able to be driven without a CDL. This will be used for residential furniture deliveries so I'm debating a low profile chassis offered by International. I also like the Freightliners, (especially with the Cummins )

I didn't know if there were any websites that have info about pricing. I'm also looking to see if theres any info about longevity. I have heard about problems with some of the new International engines and have heard some issues with the bodies of the FL 60's & 70's. I can't substantiate this information though.



Any help would be appreciated.

 

[E7mack96]

F-650 !!! you can even get a cummins!!!

get a f-550 or f-650 they are under cdl. f-550 - 19,500; f-650 -25,999

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

like you already are thinking try to get a cummins. The only advice i can give you is never ever buy an Isuzu. They are junk by the time you get to 100k miles. Oh one last thing larger trucks are depreciating really fast these days. I would look into buying used you can get alot more truck for your money if it is say 2 years old.

 

[JoeyD]

Not to push a foreign product but the Isuzu motors are a very good long lasting engine. I see your pro Cummins Cowboy but get real.

Now as far as a delivery truck that will see city driving you can't beat the cab over design. Turning radius is tight.

I would go with the W5500 Isuzu or simmilar truck.

 

[Todd G]

I've owned half a dozen Isuzu NPR's and FSR's over the years. They are cheap but parts are everywhere and reasonable. The NPR's averaged 200k on diesel and 100k on the chevy 350's. The FSR's are WAY better. I had several that went over 300k with no problems. I always bought used with under 100k miles on them and drove the living poop out of them. I had a few Freightliner's too and they were a good truck but much more expensive.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

your guys that have owned Isuzu have sure had a different expericence than I have. We had one truck that had a diesel and the rest where gas. The diesel truck did have a good running engine and got about 15 mpg which I thought was great considering the gassers got 6. 5 mpg. Our trucks had chevy 350 with autos behind them. Not one of our trucks got over 30k miles on an auto trans, Out of the 6 trucks not one made it out of warranty on its orginal trans. Every year when it snowed and sometimes we had to spin the tires to free the truck the rearend would grenade ie spider gears. This would cost 2k to get fixed. If looking at an isuzu just look at how the dash is fitted together the panels are ill fitting there are gaps everywhere, Eveyone one i have seen the vent control on the A/C will brake within a few days of the truck being new. One positive now they where easy to drive with a tight turning radius.

 

[Todd G]

The Chevy Isuzu's are a much cheaper truck. I only leased them, so I didn't have to pay for the fixes. I consider them disposible after the lease runs out. At 100k they were absolutely worn out. Never buy a used gas model. The diesels were much nicer. I would occasionally burn a piston from a sticking injector but it only happened on high-mileage units. Cost about $800 to fix. The manual trannies and the Allison autos were bulletproof.

 

[speedracer]

Had a FL70 with a 210hp B cummins, it had a 24ft box. It was a good truck, got 9-10 mpg. It had 530,000 when I traded it in. You would probably have to go with a FL50 or 60 to get it under the 26k CDL threshold. I can see how having a low profile truck(int) would be nice for moving van duty. But if you can use a dock high truck, the Freightliner is a good candidate.