Mah new box truck.

build thread on Pirate.
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=969976
not much to speak of right now. I'm doing PM and mechanicals. Once it's good mechanically I can use it to go get my cabinets/countertops and salvage a camper for the doors/windows.

it sucks needing the truck to finish the truck. Updates during the week, it's stored about 10 minutes from me in a barn, so I'll work on it weekends.

this is both awesome and ridiculous!


why the f*ck not, right??? haha

I never thought someone would actually live in one of these. I've sold a few at my center, most were just using for their moving business and one guy is making it a mobile shop. I've always wanted to do that. I'm amazed you got it for 2k, the ones I sold were 2.5 to 3k. Always helps if you can pay cash for them though, if you wanna finance they will make you pay full price. Only ones we got left are the old diesels without boxes on them but they are fun as hell to drive around the lot.

Not sure if they told you when you bought it but if you need parts Uhaul still has put together maintenance kits with oem parts. Cheap too cause they are just trying to get rid of it all.

this is the coolest thing ive ever seen on this forum...

pics with the air suspension all the way down?

goldnknight22 said:

this is both awesome and ridiculous!


why the f*ck not, right??? haha

Click to expand...

It's an interesting story how I ended up here. Prior to this I've not had my own vehicle to tow my Jeep. It's been trailered on a borrowed trailer (super PITA, always needed something fixed) behind my father in laws 1/2 ton pickup. My wife got tired of dicking with the trailer this last trip, so she told me I could buy a trailer. Turns out a decent car hauler is about 3 grand, so this was cheaper, we can "camp" in it for quick weekend wheeling trips with no setup/tear down and I don't have to borrow a damned thing anymore to go wheeling.

Tilted_Muffler said:

Not sure if they told you when you bought it but if you need parts Uhaul still has put together maintenance kits with oem parts. Cheap too cause they are just trying to get rid of it all.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've already ordered the Uhaul PM kit with all the filters and belts. $200 is real reasonable for that. I'm probably not going to use the oil filter. The powerstroke one fits, has more filter media and holds an extra quart. not thta it matters on an oil system that holds 4.5 gallons of motor oil. SInce you work at a Uhaul place whats the chance I can get a spare tire and wheel? The rinky dink place I bought it from had nothing. It's G rated 245/70 R19.5 I tihnk. Really I just need a wheel or two, the half worn steers on the rear are probably going to be replaced with some traction tires and I can use them for spares since they're not retreads.. SOmetimes the campgrounds where I go are messy, and I don't want this pig stuck.

imaricer:) said:

this is the coolest thing ive ever seen on this forum...

pics with the air suspension all the way down?

Click to expand...

Those pictures are with the bags dropped. Rear deck goes to 24" all the way down. I'll just use some jackstands under the frame to level it for camping when I drop the bags. At that height I could drive the Jeep up into it without ramps, but I'm going to build ramps long enough so I can drive a car into it as well. It would be sweet to go cross country, setup camp, back your sedan out the back and use it for a town car. Plus I'm sure it will be used for other things and other equipment.


You know how when you buy a pickup truck everyone is your new best friend and has a project they need moved? Yeah, now imagine what happens when they find out you've bought a box truck.

nsjames said:

Yeah, I've already ordered the Uhaul PM kit with all the filters and belts. $200 is real reasonable for that. I'm probably not going to use the oil filter. The powerstroke one fits, has more filter media and holds an extra quart. not thta it matters on an oil system that holds 4.5 gallons of motor oil. SInce you work at a Uhaul place whats the chance I can get a spare tire and wheel? The rinky dink place I bought it from had nothing. It's G rated 245/70 R19.5 I tihnk. Really I just need a wheel or two, the half worn steers on the rear are probably going to be replaced with some traction tires and I can use them for spares since they're not retreads.. SOmetimes the campgrounds where I go are messy, and I don't want this pig stuck.

Click to expand...

Don't you just love how they pretty much put racing slicks in these huge trucks? Getting them out of snow and ice is a *****. I'll ask about the wheel/tire thing as work but its gonna depend on the U-haul shop around you, if there is one. Most shops will have a field of trucks/trailers for parts so a lot of things are still used, I don't know how they would feel about selling wheels.

It sounds like you bought the truck at an independent dealer so I would have you call the truck sales department and ask them. Or you could just find a U-haul shop in your area but they don't list them online, might have to ask around at centers and such. I once sent a customer that bought a tow dolly ages ago to the shop here in Denver and they helped him out.

I checked out that Pirate 4x4 site. I think later on once I'm done with college I'll be grabbing a 24ft diesel to convert into a mobile shop/tow rig. Like the ones that pull broken down semi trucks.

yeah, the steers on the rear for drives will get interesting in the muddy grass for sure. This thing probably isn't going to see winter roads, so at least I'm good there.

I bought it at the local U haul place, but it was purchased from Uhaul corporate from AZ. The local place was a complete clusterf*ck. I had called earlier in the week about it, gave them the truck# and VIN, told them I'd be by saturday to test drive it and buy it if it drove good. cash money. The Uhaul Truck sales website rated this one 3 out of 4 stars and said it ran and drove. I get there Saturday, when I told them I wold be there. They didn't have any keys for either of the JH trucks, so I waited for an hour and a half for the fleet service guy to make me a key. Then I found out that it hadn't been run since it drove onto the lot, the fuel tank was bone dry, as was the entire fuel system.

I took the fleet service guy's word that it was a good running and driving truck, he remember it because it had no radio and he had driven it to that lot. it had the dealer's diesel stickers and I had the maintenance records, so I took a chance and basically bought a non-running Uhaul. 4 hours spent priming the fuel system and getting it to run and I drove it home.

Not bad for the first diesel motor I'd ever touched, seriously. The people at the Uhaul place thought I was a diesel mechanic, because thye'd had people trying to make them run and couldn't. Which is why half the injector lines were partially open. You shold hae seen the fuel spraying out when I finally got it to light off! I tightened all of the injector lines while it was running, you have got to love an engine bay you can stand in ith a running motor.

All in all it was a great deal on a truck with a crap ton of new drivetrain stuff, but I was very disappointed that I had called monday and showed up to a dead truck on Saturday. I mean, to not even have keys when you knew someone was coming to look at it! I also didn't really enjoy being covered in diesel fuel for half a day and driving back 80 miles home reeking of diesel in the cab. At least I know I can make it run anywhere after that ordeal.

Well it looks like both batteries are toast. hopefully Interstate warranties them as they are less than a year old. If not I will understand, I'm not the original purchaser, the local interstate guy is trying to hook me up though.

I've got to pull the alternator this weekend to get it to the rebuilder.
And pull the 20 feet of driveshafts and investigate my weird vibe.
Here's to hoping it's not in the third member....

If I can get all that **** done this weekend I should have it running and driving by next weekend so I can start using it to go get cabinets and stuff to finish out the inside.

SykVSyx said:

Like the plans.

Would like to see a project thread as well, once you get things going.

Click to expand...

fastflyinaccord said:

I will be subscribing to your build thread

Click to expand...

Both of those.

update.

alternator off being rebuilt and having it's Amperage increased.

battereis are at the interstate dealer. hoping Interstate will warranty them even though I'm not the original purchaser. Batteries had a Man date of 10/10, 2 brand new Interstates toasted

Found what I hope is the cause of the driveline vibration. Bad u joint at the transmission output and a carrier bearing that has daylight through it's rubber mount.

located a spare wheel and 4.33 third member, but it's in Alabama. Have to just bite the bullet and have it shipped. Whatever, it's just money. New top speed with 4.33's : 76 MPH according to the calculator. Figure 72. That's faster than I need to be going anyway, but 65 will be nice. bummer this one has 5.57's in it, but I knew something was up before I bought it, so I can't complain.

Assessed my box damage. It's worse than I thought. Oh well, just have to repair it the best I can and make it watertight. Maybe one day I buy a 14 ft box and do an open flat bed and separate living quarters, maybe the damage gets no worse and I roll it like this forever. Only time will tell on that one. At least the funky smell has been replaced with standard barn smells.

Hopefully I can get somewhere with it next week when I start getting parts.