Slide in unit

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Does anyone have, or has anyone ever considered a slide in unit for a full size pick up?

Something along the lines of a slide in camper. Without water in the tank, it would not weigh much more if any than a camper.

Pro's, Con's and whatever else.

[dpaull 80]

Pros:

can drive it anywhere, easily unlike a trailer

Cons:

if your truck breaks down, you're out of business.

--

I considered a truck cap and so on for my 07 f150, but ended up with a trailer for the simple fact that if something did happen, I get a rental, and I'm back up rolling while it's getting fixed.

[wesley 15]

Alan, this is our out of town truck. Great on fuel and I dont have to worry about my guys pulling a trailer.

Pro's= To many to list.

Con's= Truck breakdown. I have never had a breakdown but this is a diesel and Alan you know as well as me when a diesel goes in the shop for something minor it does take longer than a gas burner to fix. If you only run one truck I wouldn't do it, but if you run multiple trucks you will be fine. I have had this one in the shop a couple of times (03 F-250 6.0) so it is a minor inconvenience but if you have other trucks to pick up the slack its no big deal. This is by far my most efficient rig to date!

[squirtgun 122]

Alan, this is our out of town truck. Great on fuel and I dont have to worry about my guys pulling a trailer.

Is that the truck I saw in Albany Wesley?

[wesley 15]

Yes, but when you seen us that night I think we actually had a trailer behind it. The 8 gpm trailer usually stays in town with me

[squirtgun 122]

I still can't believe your guys got you that far from a golf course..........lol.

[wesley 15]

My golfing has slowed down a little, I am coaching a travel baseball team and we practice three days a weak. Deer season (bow) is only a couple months away so the handicap will be going up in a few months....lol

[squirtgun 122]

I ordered 2 new hose reels today so a new bow is not in the near future.I miss the bow hunting more than any other hunting I have done.

[StainlessDeal 16]

Pros:

can drive it anywhere, easily unlike a trailer

Cons:

if your truck breaks down, you're out of business.

--

I considered a truck cap and so on for my 07 f150, but ended up with a trailer for the simple fact that if something did happen, I get a rental, and I'm back up rolling while it's getting fixed.

Alan is asking about a slide-in unit, I'm assuming self-contained like a camper. I take that to mean free-standing to back under and drive off. If that is what he's asking about, then I'd guess that the advantages are identical, and that if your truck breaks, you still just get a rental and away you go.

For that matter, as long as the equipment isn't hard-mounted, or under a difficult cap, it could be transferred to a rental as easily as it could be loaded in your own rig.

I use a small step-van (former Fed-Ex) and wish I had both more space inside, and a sturdier than 1-ton chassis. I have to move a lot of equipment to change types of work.

I imagine this would be even more of a pain in a pick-up.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Yes, slide in like a camper to mean one that can be jacked up and taken off in a short time. Could be transferred to another vehicle fairly easy if needed.

My F-250 ran pretty hard for 5 years with no downtime other than scheduled maintenance. I know things can happen, but I do not see any reason that the new truck will be out of service. I believe in Ford for a reason, they never let me down.

The design would be set up for a dually though. Not sure how the weight would distribute on a SRW.

1 ton Fed Ex van seems like a low rating. That old 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton thing on pick ups is so outdated, that I am sure it is on the van too. Seems like the names stuck. My F-450 is rated at over 3 tons on the bed payload. An F-350 DRW is rated around 5800 and my 01 F-250 was around 2000 something.

[dpaull 80]

Ahh ok...that makes sense. I didn't realize that a camper slid right out and could be slid into another truck. Sounds like quite a task though.

[Cleveland Mobile 14]

Once saw a sparkle wash truck like that. The whole unit including the tank was on an aluminum platform that had casters under it. When you pulled it out a set of legs would drop so that the platform became literally a workbench if you had to work on the unit. I thought it was pretty slick and totally solved the problem of working on a unit while its in a van. However that was the only truck I saw like that....all the sparkle wash vans i've seen since are just van mounted.

Andy

[Russ Johnson 141]

I tried to rent a truck several months ago to tow a large trailer. Every agency I called told me that their trucks were not set up for towing because they don't allow their vehicles to be used for that purpose...

[PA Dutchman 14]

I tried to rent a truck several months ago to tow a large trailer. Every agency I called told me that their trucks were not set up for towing because they don't allow their vehicles to be used for that purpose...

Same issue I ran into last year. THREE week until I recieved a check from having my truck totaled by an out of state "lost" driver.

I've seen units built in a kind of cage...perhaps to be lifted off with a hoist/crane/forklift of sorts. Great concept...then top with a truck cap to "conseal the secret weapons" I've been toying and talking with my cousin who welds...we are close for a cold water situation.

[Jeff 232]

I tried to rent a truck several months ago to tow a large trailer. Every agency I called told me that their trucks were not set up for towing because they don't allow their vehicles to be used for that purpose...

Same here and the Uhauls have their hitches welded to close to the bumper for most trailers except theirs. I couldnt get my trailers hooked to Uhauls

[MMI Enterprises 289]

In the spirit of Wesley and Scott..ditch the slide-in idea and by a decked out Switchback with all the goodies...be the most satisfying $1200 ya ever spend..Bow hunting rocks!! :)

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Enterprise around here rents long bed super duty's. With a slide in, it could be switched to one in minutes. My only setback to doing this, is that I have a fairly steep driveway and I can not safely in good conscience put it there if it was dismounted. Angle of driveway to garage will prevent that too.

For those that have wonders, here is a slide in camper. Note the jacks on the corners.

[Doug T 19]

Alan,

Over the years I have thought about the same thing a couple of times. Its always been on the back burner and I think its time to move it forward.

I'm thinking in a P/U it will have a cap over it so no need to have it enclosed like the camper. Just something with retractable rollers on the bottom, that will fit between the wheel wells and run the length of the bed. Maybe some way of having folding legs under it to support when not in the bed. Or just slide it out and let it rest on 55 gal drums, if you have a garage to store it.

I take it your 450 has an eight foot bed, how wide between the wheel wells? I think a standard P/U is about 54"

Let's hear your ideas, I'll know more around the 4th or 5th of August, will be consulting with my brother.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Doug,

My width is 50 inches +/-, and I have the 8' bed. I am not looking for an encloser, just the theory that it can be jacked up. I feel the jacks would be safer and easier to handle vs pulling it out and having foldable legs on a multi thousand pound unit.

Less wear and tear when you can set it down vs drsagging it in and out. I guess I should have called the thread something else vs slide in.

It can be built with a storage unit under the unit, for wands, lay flat surface cleaners and so on. On a dually, you can go over the bed rails a bit too for more space.

[Doug T 19]

Alan

If/When I come up with something I'll send you a PM, probably a week or two, as I'm also in the middle of moving, finally.