3/4 ton or 1 ton both extended?

GRK STL

Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
7
Hi all,

Very green to the TM cleaning scene. Looking to purchase either a 3/4 ton or 1 ton extended van to put a TM in.

The equipment will be a sapphire 570SS and I will be adding a 200 gallon fresh water tank.

The used 1 tons in my area are really beat unless I go to a dealer and purchase 1 or 2 years old and pay a lot for it.

The 3/4 tons are a lot more available, pretty reasonable prices with clean bodies in the 06' or 07' year range.

I know the 1 ton suspension is what I need, the question i have is can I get around it with a 3/4 ton? Maybe a 3/4 ton with a leaf spring upgrade in the rear? I have been leaning towards the Chevy over the Ford because of the extended wheel base and 6 liter motor.

Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Bob
 

Blue Monarch

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Location
Lincoln, NE
Name
Dirk Wingrove
200 gallons is a whole hell of a lotta gallons to be haulin around. I would go with 1 ton as I think it will prevent headaches.
 

Art Kelley

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May 19, 2007
Messages
4,200
Location
Clawson,mi
Name
Rainbow Carpet And Upholstery Cleaning
My 03 Express w/Pro1200 is a 2500. It's super heavy duty and handles fine w/100K miles on it. You should be fine with a 3/4 ton. though I wouldn't fill that 200 gal tank every day and pound on it. I do fill my 100 gal tank a lot and beat the crap out of the van without problems.
 

GRK STL

Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
7
The water tank will be used at full capacity roughly 40 percent of the time on real large commercial work. The rest of the time it will probably be around 100 to 125 gallons.

I don't plant on beating on the van. I really don't beat on my vehicles.

Bob
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
3,797
I wouldn't buy a standard cargo van.

Buy a new Nissan UV 3500 or a Sprinter.

The Nissan should have a great warranty and you can get new for under 35k.

And there is no way you should work with anything but a 1 ton or more with that amount of weight.
 

joeynbgky

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Jun 27, 2009
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Bowling Green
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Joey
U don't need an extened....u can buy a new 1 ton chevy or ford for under 25k now

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2
 

Dolly Llama

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Oct 7, 2006
Messages
31,225
Location
North East Ohio
Name
Larry Capitoni
200 gal is 1600 pnds

donno about Chevys, but Ford's 3/4 tons have 1 ton drive trains, wheels and breaks .
The major difference is the heavier frame...which won't make any difference as a practical matter , cause the tires are the weight limiting factor on a 4 wheel'd van...be it 3/4 or 1 Tn

the frame is heavier on the 1T cause dual axle is available .
til it has a rear dualie, the heavier frame capacity is of no additional value



for extra springs, buy a set of Airlift air springs .(they're air bladders like on big trucks)
These are the ones I have on my E-250 ext'd Super Cargo
5000 pnd capacity

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi ... rings.html

They give a better ride than adding another leaf spring .
air adjustable
Last forever
all hardware included
easy to install (takes me a couple hours now)
But I've installed three sets on different vans



if you're mechanical enough to do a full brake job (rotors , calipers, etc) , you're mechanical enough to install them yourself .
Figure 4 or 5 hours for your first time ...3 to get the first side on, and an hour or so for the second side
(cause you'll know how it's done)


..L.T.A.
 
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
37
I have a 3/4 ton Ford with a 6 cyl and a 1 ton Chevy with a 5.7. If I buy another it will be another 1 ton but with a Duramax diesel. You start loading this vans down with even 100 gallons and maybe another 90 in the waste tank it will pretty much be a sluggish gas guzzler. I carry 100 from time to time and it is more than enough for 2-4 jobs.
 

GRK STL

Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
7
Ruff Hewn said:
200 gal is 1600 pnds

donno about Chevys, but Ford's 3/4 tons have 1 ton drive trains, wheels and breaks .
The major difference is the heavier frame...which won't make any difference as a practical matter , cause the tires are the weight limiting factor on a 4 wheel'd van...be it 3/4 or 1 Tn

the frame is heavier on the 1T cause dual axle is available .
til it has a rear dualie, the heavier frame capacity is of no additional value



for extra springs, buy a set of Airlift air springs .(they're air bladders like on big trucks)
These are the ones I have on my E-250 ext'd Super Cargo
5000 pnd capacity

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi ... rings.html

They give a better ride than adding another leaf spring .
air adjustable
Last forever
all hardware included
easy to install (takes me a couple hours now)
But I've installed three sets on different vans



if you're mechanical enough to do a full brake job (rotors , calipers, etc) , you're mechanical enough to install them yourself .
Figure 4 or 5 hours for your first time ...3 to get the first side on, and an hour or so for the second side
(cause you'll know how it's done)


..L.T.A.

Thanks, this was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Bob
 

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