For One Man Operations: What Type of Truck Do You Use?

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Mr. Serious said:
The short bed is definitely a drawback to the Nissan Frontier. With the tailgate on, my 6 foot ladder would not fit in straight, had to put it at an angle. I got a truck cap with rear doors, it replaces the tailgate. It adds about an inch, now the 6-footer will fit straight in with the doors closed.

And I believe this is the longest bed you can get on a Frontier. I see ones with a little 4-foot bed sometimes, they look useless to me.

I see old Toyota pickups with long beds, but the only one I ever saw for sale was $8000 for a 30 year old truck with hundreds of thousands of miles, and this was before the pandemic.
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I didn't know that the cap with doors gives that extra inch. It makes sense without the tailgate. thanks!
 
ritelec said:
A regular van.
How do some guys work out of pickup with cap... is beyond me, insane, I had to once years ago for someone I worked for. smh
Step van, have fun trying to park it and the cost.

Regular ole van. Maybe some rattling, but it's a work truck.

My van has years and miles on it, my concern is if I decide to get another (if I can find one) what will happen if all goes electric?


My 2 cents.

ALL THE BEST
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That is a factor both you and likely the OP will run into and I maybe never will. Parking where I want to don't always happen but there is usually someplace to park and it won't cost me to do so.

I have had a 3/4 ton truck for some time now. With some of what I end up towing at times probably will always have one at least until I no longer plan to tow such things. Enclosed trailer can be like bringing the shop with you to some extent, but isn't ideal to bring to every little call either.

My father passed away recently, he has a Chevy Colorado that I am considering to use as more of a daily driver and only use the big truck when needed. Hopefully will cut back on fuel usage as well. Plan to try that anyway for a bit to see how that works out. Probably would be best to double up on some items to keep on both vehicles though, particularly some the tools, otherwise I can see never having what I need with me and only needing to load up those specialty items as needed when I know they will be needed - which I sort of do with some things anyway right now.

Bigger project, park the trailer with most of what is needed in it at the job and drive the smaller truck every day to and from that project.
 
If you can wait two years and get the last bit out of what you have now, the time to buy will be a lot better in two years. Vehicle inventory for sale is near zero right now. If the frame is not rusted through, drivetrain will go another few years, maybe get some wood block between the bed and the frame and through bolt it back down. Do the tires and brakes and keep running it.

Usually buying new is smart compared to used because of the repairs cost. But the next two years the flakiness in everything could just get worse, the work to pay for the truck can be hard to come by.

The truck model / technology is going to change a lot over the next 3 - 5 years. The stuff for sale in five years is going to be very different from what is standard today. If you can keep driving the old stuff until then and be positioned to upgrade when the future gets here, would be a smart play.
 
Commercial drivers are taught never to back up, as in pull thru parking spaces facing foreward on your way out. Bad idea backing up with big rigs.

For everyone else, is there some kind of evidence that relying on a rear camera is safer than relying on side mirrors?
 
__dan said:
If you can wait two years and get the last bit out of what you have now, the time to buy will be a lot better in two years. Vehicle inventory for sale is near zero right now. If the frame is not rusted through, drivetrain will go another few years, maybe get some wood block between the bed and the frame and through bolt it back down. Do the tires and brakes and keep running it.

Usually buying new is smart compared to used because of the repairs cost. But the next two years the flakiness in everything could just get worse, the work to pay for the truck can be hard to come by.

The truck model / technology is going to change a lot over the next 3 - 5 years. The stuff for sale in five years is going to be very different from what is standard today. If you can keep driving the old stuff until then and be positioned to upgrade when the future gets here, would be a smart play.
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Thanks for your input Dan. I may just try getting some wood in between the frame and the bed. Never thought of screwing it down from inside the bed. It has a bed liner but I don't care about screwing through it. Has the utility cap on it.
hillbilly1 said:
Here is a few Four-wheel drive models for sale Astro cargo vans are pretty rare,

4X4 Astro Van for Sale

Find 4X4 Astro Van at the best price . There are 0 listings for 4X4 Astro Van, from $0 with average price of $0
www.autozin.com www.autozin.com
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Never knew they existed. all I knew about was the Chevy express cargo van had a few years of AWD.
 
Screws will pull out or fail. I would only through bolt it, If you're not fussy how it looks you could use two pieces of strut to spread out the contact area and straddle the frame with threaded rod. Just drill the bed and make like a trapeeze hanger with strut under the frame, sandwich the block, and pull it to the bed.

Good deals on trucks are gone. I always watch the used Hino's around 16k# gvw, was watching for a Hino 195h. They're all gone. The used ones at 30K are hard to find for 60k. But if you've got 30k to spend, you still might get lucky.

Boch Toyota is the best I know of for pricing and inventory. They had a 2021 white 5.7l Tundra 2wd for 37k list. I was going to post the link but it's gone. 2022 Tundras are 50k+. They had some white 4 cyl 2 wd Tacoma's for 30k list. I was going to post the link to the Tundra but it's gone.

Working out of a pickup, pickup with Reading cap, I've done it and would never recommend it unless you can job by dropping off a gang box at the job and commuting. Choosing between a service body and a van, definitely a van. Service bodies are way too heavy for what you get.

I had a Hino FB with a 12 ft box (van body) and pullout ramp. That was a great setup. If I can get the work for it what I want to do, that's the right size for me. I was getting 16 mpg diesel with an 11k# running weight.
 
best of both worlds

mine's on van body rather than truck, I was trying to cut down overall length (10' box}

I had a '06 that I bought used, at 250,000 miles it was needing minor repairs, the local dealer wasn't any better at fixing than Joes's Automotive & Roofing (only perceivable difference was number of zeros on check). I was looking for newer used model, but prices were high enough to make brand new affordable.

It will get 14 mpg but doesn't, pretty consistent 10.7 mpg. Having the stock on the truck I unexpectedly need probably saves enough trips to SH to make it worth the cost
 

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readydave8 said:
Having the stock on the truck I unexpectedly need probably saves enough trips to SH to make it worth the cost
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Nice truck. I had one with the van front on it. Used with many miles. That and other trucks had MUCH stuff on it. Stuff you I NEVER need, but hey, just in case I got it right. Well all I did was just drive a bunch of stuff around with me.
My new thought is keep the truck light, keep basic repair items and replacements but if i need things, It will be a trip to the supply house. (as I say that, my light truck is again getting heavier with things I'll never use in a pinch).
 
ritelec said:
Nice truck. I had one with the van front on it. Used with many miles. That and other trucks had MUCH stuff on it. Stuff you I NEVER need, but hey, just in case I got it right. Well all I did was just drive a bunch of stuff around with me.
My new thought is keep the truck light, keep basic repair items and replacements but if i need things, It will be a trip to the supply house. (as I say that, my light truck is again getting heavier with things I'll never use in a pinch).
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That's pretty much what I do. I figure why should I be a supply house and tie up money in stock that bounces around in a truck and can get banged up?
 
is there some kind of evidence that relying on a rear camera is safer than relying on side mirrors?
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The rear view camera shows the road/parking lot/surface right behind the vehicle. The spot where kids, people, pets and vehicles arriving hide. Along with bicycles, toys, tools, walls, etc but they usually don't suddenly appear after you walked behind the truck before you backed up.

It is the kids/ people being run over by drivers in big vehicles that caused the quick adoption of rear view cameras by the regulators.

It is reaaallll handy for backing a vehicle up to a trailer hitch. I know lots of people who installed aftermarket versions just for that use.

I was with my daughter when she was young and I had to bang on a trunk lid to stop a car from backing over us. We we just walking along the cars in a parking lot going to a store when it happened. I should have been tall enough for the driver to see.... Now, if the inattentive driver doesn't look at the screen.... look at their phone instead.... no help.
 
Roger that, any aftermarket brands come to mind?

Been in the market for front & rear dash cam for a while, but can't find who does the rear camera?
 
ramsy said:
Commercial drivers are taught never to back up, as in pull thru parking spaces facing foreward on your way out. Bad idea backing up with big rigs.

For everyone else, is there some kind of evidence that relying on a rear camera is safer than relying on side mirrors?
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My wife's car has rear camera, I'll admit to hardly ever looking at screen before backing up, simply not used to having it. It is a 2016 model and we had it since new. Might have looked at it a little more when first got it, but I can't even recall looking at it in quite some time now.


Big rigs don't fit in normal parking spaces, when you do have parking designated for big rigs they do pull forward when leaving unless it is situation of parking along the perimeter of something and they back into the space when parking, which in many ways is no different than backing up to a loading dock with other docks next to you.
 
ramsy said:
Commercial drivers are taught never to back up, as in pull thru parking spaces facing foreward on your way out. Bad idea backing up with big rigs.

For everyone else, is there some kind of evidence that relying on a rear camera is safer than relying on side mirrors?
Click to expand...
Not that they can't (or don't know how to) back up, it's the morons who will walk behind a large commercial vehicle while it's backing up even with the audible alarm sounding. Like they are daring you to hit them. So it's better that you don't back up in a parking lot. I do really like my back up camera on my big van for that reason. Even considering getting a forward facing camera because people can't see my big white van coming down the road and will cut you off, and the loaded service van can't stop the same as the little Toyota Camry.
 
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