Truck Bins

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Oakey

Oakey

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
I went to the Chevy dealer today on my account's advice and checked out a van. The smiling salesman behind the counter wants to sell me inside storage/tool bins made of composite material instead of steel. Claims they are quieter and the latest/greatest for the inside of the truck. Anyone have these type or know of any negatives versus good ole steel ?
Short of robbing me for my trade in as usual I dont trust sales ppl one bit..Thx for any help
 
I get a lot of the trade rags and haven't seen any info on this at all.
Adrain and Weatherguard are the old line and quality steel bins.
Might be OK, but I would ask for references of three persons who have the composite bins and ask them.
 
hm.....

hm.....

I bet you a nickle to a dollar that the plastic bins cost more than the steel.
and he is nothing more than upselling you.

Now, if the bins are less they have a plus. Your material does not get waste on them from rolling in metal bins.
Ever put conduit in one of those aluminum pipe racks? then you will know what I mean.

I would use KBB.com to determine the value of the Van. Then ask them to add the extra's. Then shop the internet for the same product.
None of the dealerships vans come with the barriers or bins. They send them out to have them installed. The Bins are not covered by factory warranty because of this.

A friend of mine is a supervisor at a Ford plant where they roll out E-150's and E-250's. All are shipped to the dealership stripped of anything in the cargo area.

Price the van from the dealership then shop kbb.com and the internet to build the van you want and compare prices.

Even the new ford vans with the utility cargo body is shipped to the dealer with just the cab and chassis.... The dealer has the full sized cargo body installed.

We save thousands of dollars each year by buying a stripped cargo van and installing the bins ourselves. Takes only one day with 1 tech.
 
macmikeman said:
I'm wondering about that accountant of yours.
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Right.

Why would an accountant send a person to the Chevy dealer, anyhow? My mentor, quite a long time ago, told me that if I didn't run Fords, I would not be successful. He was right.
 
mdshunk said:
Right.

Why would an accountant send a person to the Chevy dealer, anyhow? My mentor, quite a long time ago, told me that if I didn't run Fords, I would not be successful. He was right.
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Agree I always run E350's , just looking at bowties for now.
My now ex-accountant (3rd one so far) didnt take out enough tax this year, so this was his solution. But my blood pressure is high enough over it.
 
Oakey said:
Claims they are quieter and the latest/greatest for the inside of the truck.
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Yeah, definately want to be quieter on the job site. Dont want to make the pipe fitters mad by banging around in your van.
 
My company trades in trucks at about 140,000 -well that is to say they sell them to a man who then takes them to auction
I was recently given a van (I am one of 3 people whom drive a van in the new construction dept. named systems, all others drive pickups )
this van came with the composite shelves you mention and I do not care for them and here is why
the lip that keeps material from falling out is rounded and short -about 1" tall with a ramp up for matireal to slid right off
I liked my old metal shelves much better
 
Overkill said:
Yeah, definately want to be quieter on the job site. Dont want to make the pipe fitters mad by banging around in your van.
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LOL

I pretty sure he meant quieter while driving.

I fix that by lining all my metal shelves with carpet. :smile:
 
bins

bins

Oakey,
My new van is decked out with steel bins. I use mostly metal boxes and fittings so they're louder than the dickens, and I hate it. I've tried lining the bins with cardboard but it doesn't sem to help. But when I bought the van I quickly rejected the idea of plastic bins. I didn't trust them to hold up as well as the steel. I'd have to take a good look at them installed in another van to be convinced that they are as good as the steel. I've also got a ladder rack that whistles really loud when I go over 45 mph. I love my new van, I just hate driving it because it's so loud. It's a chevy, by the way. Just like my previous two pick-ups.
Also, when I bought mine, the bin package was included as long as you register the vehicle commercial. This came right from GM, but I don't know if they still offer it. One of the dealers I visited didn't even know about this until I told him. But it was just the basic bin package - open shelves, which I thought would be pretty useless. When I took the van to get the bins installed I upgraded to the "electrician package" and it only cost me about 800 bucks. Adrian Steel. It's the best.
 
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I buy extended Vans (prefer the GM product myself). I build pull out drawers in the back (except where my 10' length conduit goes in) and the sides. I have a 14" shelf on each side about 20" down from the roof. The drawers have a top on it so you can put material in and still pull the drawer out. I really like it. You don't have to climb in/out of the Van very often. I sometimes go weeks w/out climbing in.
 
One of the neater things I saw the other day at the supply house was a new van that had doors that opened up where the indents were that would be windows
The guy said it came that way from the dealer for not that much
 
Tori said:
One of the neater things I saw the other day at the supply house was a new van that had doors that opened up where the indents were that would be windows
The guy said it came that way from the dealer for not that much
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Yeah GM was selling trucks like that and I checked out a few.

Pretty cool IMO, but I heard they stopped selling them.
 
JES2727 said:
When I took the van to get the bins installed I upgraded to the "electrician package" and it only cost me about 800 bucks. Adrian Steel. It's the best.
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Jes, would you mind sharing the supplier? That's a pretty good price. PM if you prefer.
 
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