What's new

Service body trucks

junkytj

Sarcastic Asshole
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
504
Messages
395
Loc
NW AR
My maintenance guys for our campus have talked me into a new service truck. Going to have a 9' service body on it with liftmoore 4000x crane plus a shitload of tools. regular cab dual rear.

State contract and no need for 4wd and no towing. There's right at $4,000 between the most expensive Ford and least expensive dodge with chevy exactly in the middle. All basic work trucks in each company's version of that. The biggest difference I see is Ford has a bit more payload, but open rear diff. Chevy has a locking rear with way less payload, dodge has limited rear slip with only slightly less payload than the ford. The Ford does have the largest alternator at 200 amps which may be a big deal if using the crane often or for an extended period of time.

I'm just not seeing a big difference in the three. Anyone using an upfitted chassis truck enlighten me?
 
I have 5 all on the ford chassis’s. I have no complaints other than the fucking parking brakes will not hold a loaded truck on a 5% grade.

Disclaimer I have never bought a new one so all I get is other people’s used junk.

If your putting a tool box in it look at these guys.

https://www.ctechmanufacturing.com/

They make awesome drawers for the service truck industry. They are a local shop to me and do great work. I fill all my trucks with these drawers!

Good luck on the new truck purchase.
 
I have 5 all on the ford chassis’s. I have no complaints other than the fucking parking brakes will not hold a loaded truck on a 5% grade.

Disclaimer I have never bought a new one so all I get is other people’s used junk.

If your putting a tool box in it look at these guys.

https://www.ctechmanufacturing.com/

They make awesome drawers for the service truck industry. They are a local shop to me and do great work. I fill all my trucks with these drawers!

Good luck on the new truck purchase.

Damn, those are nice drawers. My guys would love the shit out of that. We've been just rolling with divided shelfs.
 
Ford, hands down.

Dodge, great engines surrounded by a piece of shit truck.

Chevy, :lmao:

I put between 45-55k miles a year on my F550 service truck, and the new one the company bought me 18 months ago has been flawless. I roll around grossing 18,760 and the truck still feels quick. I go to alot of shitty jobs sites being in the drill rig repair business and don't have a problem with the open rear end. Mine is a 4x4 but i rarely use it unless the site is a mud pit. At that point a 2wd service truck wouldn't be making it anyway, locker or LS.

Obligatory service truck picture.... :grinpimp:
Click image for larger version  Name:	20190919_174508.jpg Views:	0 Size:	346.3 KB ID:	67009
 
Our entire campus is paved and it rarely gets off campus. I was just looking at differences that I could find. The ford has the least HP among the offerings so the other two must be rocket ships. I'm looking at 350s Is the frame the biggest difference there between the 550 and 350? I am a little worried about the restricted vision from the service body with the guys driving this around. Is the backup camera still there on the chasis trucks?
 
No backup camera on my F550. I couldn't say either way on the F350's.

I've seen other service trucks with aftermarket backup cameras where the screen replaced the rear view mirror. They were pretty cool.
 
Gm 3500hd 88-01
Ford f-superduty 80-97
Ford superduty 99-03
Dodge 1rst gen 77-93 and 94-02hd

You didnt bother to say what trucks specicfaly you were looking at nor what type of materials and tools you plan to carry but it matters.

Beam axle and 19.5 are best. I ran my 99 dodge 3500 pickup @ 14k and it beat the shit out of it. The bed and tools add up a lot faster than you realize.
 
These are my options:
Vehicle: [Fleet] 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD CC (CC31003) 2WD Reg Cab 146" WB, 60" CA Work Truck
Vehicle: [Fleet] 2020 Ram 3500 Chassis Cab (DD3L63) Tradesman 2WD Reg Cab 60" CA 143.5" WB
Vehicle: [Fleet] 2020 Ford Super Duty F-350 DRW (F3G) XL 2WD Reg Cab 145" WB 60" CA

Whichever one will have
9' Knapheide Service Body Painted Red
Crane Mount
Boom Rest and Spring Work
Liftmoore 4000X Electric Crane

They will carry hand tools up to 2"
Files, gauges, rigging for lifting, pry bars, spuds etc
drills, saws, grinders
genset
air compressor
Various meters from vibration to basic multimeter
ppe, air monitor, fall arrestors
various chemicals, greases, and oils, spill clean up shit
Probably some shit I don't know about and some other shit I'm forgetting about.

No idea why the particular tools make a difference about one truck having an advantage over another, but there ya go.
 
I don’t expect this will be helpful but I brought this home today for $500 and nobody I’ve told so far has given a shit. :flipoff2:

70DF80E3-C5E5-4D11-AD0A-433165664F93.jpeg


2005 F-350 rated at 10k with the 5.4L, 2wd. No hitch but was pleasantly surprised to find the 7-way and 4-Way connectors under the rear bumper and the brake controller harness coming through the firewall (for some reason).
 
My maintenance guys for our campus have talked me into a new service truck. Going to have a 9' service body on it with liftmoore 4000x crane plus a shitload of tools. regular cab dual rear.

State contract and no need for 4wd and no towing. There's right at $4,000 between the most expensive Ford and least expensive dodge with chevy exactly in the middle. All basic work trucks in each company's version of that. The biggest difference I see is Ford has a bit more payload, but open rear diff. Chevy has a locking rear with way less payload, dodge has limited rear slip with only slightly less payload than the ford. The Ford does have the largest alternator at 200 amps which may be a big deal if using the crane often or for an extended period of time.

I'm just not seeing a big difference in the three. Anyone using an upfitted chassis truck enlighten me?

I would go with a GM or Ford, I don’t see much payload difference as they are both 14k lb gvwr. GM lists a 220amp single or dual alternatorsetup, Ford has dual as well. I don’t see much difference between the two. I’m a GM guy but I don’t think you can go wrong with either, both have fan boys who say ones the best.
 
I don’t expect this will be helpful but I brought this home today for $500 and nobody I’ve told so far has given a shit. :flipoff2:



2005 F-350 rated at 10k with the 5.4L, 2wd. No hitch but was pleasantly surprised to find the 7-way and 4-Way connectors under the rear bumper and the brake controller harness coming through the firewall (for some reason).

That’s a great deal
 
I would go with a GM or Ford, I don’t see much payload difference as they are both 14k lb gvwr. GM lists a 220amp single or dual alternatorsetup, Ford has dual as well. I don’t see much difference between the two. I’m a GM guy but I don’t think you can go wrong with either, both have fan boys who say ones the best.

Front suspension on the Chevy is a pile of garbage.
 
Front suspension on the Chevy is a pile of garbage.

It’s not that bad for something on reasonable sized tires that isn’t beat on off-road. Yeah, the tie rods are weak when you start running 35’s, and the suspension doesn’t hold alignment great if you’re in the dirt all day. If you’re the type to replace one ball joint when it starts going bad the thing will always drive like crap. If you buy the kit for $200 to replace every moving part and do it when stuff starts going, it’s not that bad.

Bonus of the torsion bars is the ability to adjust/level it after adding a winch, bumper, etc. If I were buying new and expected to keep it a long time, I’d just buy the one with the most proven engine, which to me is the GM 6.0L, assuming it’s still available in the fleet trucks.
 
It’s not that bad for something on reasonable sized tires that isn’t beat on off-road. Yeah, the tie rods are weak when you start running 35’s, and the suspension doesn’t hold alignment great if you’re in the dirt all day. If you’re the type to replace one ball joint when it starts going bad the thing will always drive like crap. If you buy the kit for $200 to replace every moving part and do it when stuff starts going, it’s not that bad.

Bonus of the torsion bars is the ability to adjust/level it after adding a winch, bumper, etc. If I were buying new and expected to keep it a long time, I’d just buy the one with the most proven engine, which to me is the GM 6.0L, assuming it’s still available in the fleet trucks.


The suspension is a non issue, unless you just want a solid axle. The trucks he’s looking at are all 2wd so it doesn’t matter anyways.
The 2020 trucks have a 6.6 gas engine that’s new so that’s a good point, the ford 6.2 has been out long enough to be no issue.
 
I would go with a GM or Ford, I don’t see much payload difference as they are both 14k lb gvwr. GM lists a 220amp single or dual alternatorsetup, Ford has dual as well. I don’t see much difference between the two. I’m a GM guy but I don’t think you can go wrong with either, both have fan boys who say ones the best.

That's well and good if I were able to spec this thing out the way I want, but I can't. It comes just like it is and What I'm telling you is straight off of the spec sheet from the dealer. It's the way of the world in municipal purchasing. We have a state bid we have to match the way our procurement laws are written and this is what the state guys specified for the chassis. It gets us a screaming good deal on the truck itself, but it gives us no flexibility on getting the truck we need.
 
Bonus of the torsion bars is the ability to adjust/level it after adding a winch, bumper, etc. If I were buying new and expected to keep it a long time, I’d just buy the one with the most proven engine, which to me is the GM 6.0L, assuming it’s still available in the fleet trucks.

Doesn't even matter if the 6.0 is available. What I get is the 6.6L. with 6 sp auto.
 
That's well and good if I were able to spec this thing out the way I want, but I can't. It comes just like it is and What I'm telling you is straight off of the spec sheet from the dealer. It's the way of the world in municipal purchasing. We have a state bid we have to match the way our procurement laws are written and this is what the state guys specified for the chassis. It gets us a screaming good deal on the truck itself, but it gives us no flexibility on getting the truck we need.

Pick one out of a hat then, I don’t see one being and better than the other. Most companies buy by price but I’d spend just enough to stay GM or Ford.
Do you get to pick the utility body? I think there is more of a difference in quality of those than the trucks.
 
Pick one out of a hat then, I don’t see one being and better than the other. Most companies buy by price but I’d spend just enough to stay GM or Ford.
Do you get to pick the utility body? I think there is more of a difference in quality of those than the trucks.

I could pick the body, but if I got something really nice my boss would be pissed because the other department that's out in the field gets alot more service bodies than our 1 time every 10 years on average. Those guys would whine like bitches if I got my guys something nicer than they get. The knapheide isn't bad though. The one we have is still in good shape, just won't fit the new chassis.
 
my old service truck is up for sale
https://www.purplewave.com/auction/2...Truck-Oklahoma

Me and slow poke have similar trucks.
2019 f550 4x4 i have the heavy suspension package (40k gvwr)

I have a stellar 7630 double telescoping crane (7k lbs with a 20 second boost making it 7600lbs and it telescopes 30 ft)

I have a efi miller trailblazer 325 which is awesome.

My compressor and crane run off my PTO

I have a knaphiede bed and i like it with one caveat.

We bought my truck from rush truck centers and the unit was a knapheide direct, which means they built and painted it...the paint is terrible. Ive had it about a year and a chunk of paint came off while i was washing it, i was washing it the same way i wash the body. Paint had chipped off my bumper like day 1, and my oxy/act door has a close interference and rubs the paint off.

Im dealing with warranty on that right now.

The new 2020 superduties are quick BUT! If you buy a cab and chassis from ford or a built truck that was a cab and chassis your unit is actually detuned vs buying a assembled truck. Ive been told it was in relation to use and survivabilty but i think its bull shit.

Oh and im talking about 6.7 btw

You mentined back up cameras. I have one points right at my hitch and i can not adjust it. But this is the first truck ive ever had that has a backup camera.

Before you leave you just walk around the truck rear quick, take note of whats right behind you and use the mirrors. (my old truck had one that didnt work FYI)

Where are you in NWA? I work out of springdale once a month for a week. I can probably if you close set up a way for you to look at it if youd like.

oh and im 19,480 all the time

attach76907.jpg


attach76908.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm in SW Rogers. Thank you for the feedback on actual issues you have seen. Superior matches our state gov bids for the truck and puts all the stuff together for us for the bed and it gets painted there. The interference fit on the bed stuff is troubling, but I don't really have a choice on the bed without pissing off my boss. :rolleyes: It sounds to me like it doesn't really matter which I choose the way I'm handcuffed. I'll just check to see which brand the guy driving it is loyal to and go that way.:laughing:
 
I'm in SW Rogers. Thank you for the feedback on actual issues you have seen. Superior matches our state gov bids for the truck and puts all the stuff together for us for the bed and it gets painted there. The interference fit on the bed stuff is troubling, but I don't really have a choice on the bed without pissing off my boss. :rolleyes: It sounds to me like it doesn't really matter which I choose the way I'm handcuffed. I'll just check to see which brand the guy driving it is loyal to and go that way.:laughing:

Close to my AR location. I work on the lowell border off 71b
 
Top Back Refresh