building my first rig. flatbed truck or trailer?

Justin B

New member
hey everyone
Well this is my first actual post besides introducing myself

So im working on building my first rig, i am currently working on building a trailer, but i just came across a good deal on a 96 chevy 3500hd flatbed with a 6.5l turbo diesel . the flatbed is 14ft but is only as long as the frame so im thinking i could add 2-3 ft off the back to make a 17ft flatbed and for $1,200 bucks seems like a deal i shouldnt pass i know the guy who has it he just bought company and it came with it and he has no use for it but does owe 450 in taggs but its pre smog so that is a plus does anyone have any experience with the 6.5l td?.

Now the trailer im working on is a 24ft with tandem dexter axles with serge brakes not sure if axles are 5200lb or 6000lb but im planning on shortening it to 17ft by taking a few feet off the back and a few feet out from in front of the wheels i already got all the braces made for the trailer so either way im going to finish the trailer and if i get the truck ill just sell the trailer...any buyers;)

what im hauling:
all american 5.0gpm hot water unit
alkota fury 2400 vac system
x2 325g water tanks one fresh one waste
also the black multi chamber recover water filtration system
and a 55 or 100 gallon drum main seperation trank
plus hose reals and vaccume hose 26" surface cleaner and other misclanious stuff

also i should have space on the sides of the truck under the flatbed to mount a few boxes or rack for misclanious stuff mabe even surface cleaner or hoses. fabrication and altering is not an issue as my fabrication sills are good enough and if needed my dad is a master fabricator.



so just looking to get some pros and cons on both an see what others would do any advice would be great as iv been working really hard at getting this funded and finished and want to buy that truck asap if its reasonable for what im hauling.


thanks in advance
 
Question 1
http://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy-gmc-6-2l-6-5l/91924-6-5l-good-engine.html
Go down a few posts for a long explanation.

The more length you add on, the less payload you have. If you are planning on hauling a full tank of water, with this truck I would not count on it. Typically payloads from this era were not very high, if you just fill up on site you should be fine.

What part of the industry are you going after?

Getting the full menu of equipment right off the start is risky and many rigs have ended up on craigslist this way. Not trying to scare you, just trying to not let you fall where others have. I don't know if you have customers/work lined up, maybe start with the truck/trailer and a pressure washer and go from there. Just an idea, if you have work and customers lined up then go for it.
 
Justin, make sure you calculate your weights correctly. If not the DOT will have a field day with you. Since you'll be over 40' combination wise you will need a CDL if you don't already have one.

To give you an idea of weights though with 1 Hydrotek hot water pressure washer, 3 hose reels, 1 top toolbox loaded, 2 underbody toolboxes not loaded that much, 550 gallons of water and the machine full of fuel, gas as well as the truck full of fuel I'm at 16,100 lbs. My 2011 F-450 is rated for 16,500 lbs.

Hope this helps a little. Overweight tickets here in California aren't cheap and they will deadline you on the side of the road until you take the weight off or properly adjust it.
 
Vince make sure you only hire skinny light weights that ride in the truck when she is full....

lol I'm 6'0 and only 135 lbs. People say it will catch up to me someday, my problem is I actually have a hard time keeping weight on. If I'm not careful my weight will slip to 120 or 125 lbs within a week.

Maybe I can convince Josh D to move out here someday and he can be my full time helper.
 
lol I'm 6'0 and only 135 lbs. People say it will catch up to me someday, my problem is I actually have a hard time keeping weight on. If I'm not careful my weight will slip to 120 or 125 lbs within a week.

Maybe I can convince Josh D to move out here someday and he can be my full time helper.

Oh, stop whining. Now, where is my donut?
 
lol I'm 6'0 and only 135 lbs. People say it will catch up to me someday, my problem is I actually have a hard time keeping weight on. If I'm not careful my weight will slip to 120 or 125 lbs within a week.

Maybe I can convince Josh D to move out here someday and he can be my full time helper.

Full time helper? How much does that pay? I'm 42 years tired of Indiana.


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thank for all the info and advice guys, i think im going to stick with the truck and trailer, mostly for the fact that if the truck breaks down,a tow on something that size would be expensive and it would be a pita to remove the equpment if i couldnt afford the imediate repairs on the big diesel. but with the trailer i can at least hook up another truck and continue if my pickup breaks down and my pickup is allot cheaper and i know how to repair everything on it myself, but diesel i have no clue how to fix. and the weight issue vince pointed out, i dont think i calculated correctly lol allot of little things i didnt think would add up but they equal allot.

As far as equiptment i got a smoking deal on it all so i just couldnt pass it, i did plan on starting with allot less but hey its better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it. i plan on hopefelly getting some commercial business an do gas stations resturaunts department stores strip malls places like that, there allot of places around here and i consider myself a prety good salesman so i plan to make a few pieces of advertising go out and plant some seeds, water them and hopefully get some customers to grow lol. i know it wont happen over night so until then ill continue with my day job of fixing and fliping cars until some business picks up enough to become fulltime.i do have a gas station and burger spot a block away interested in my services, and a big name resturaunt in the mall parking lot thats interested, the gm is my neighbor so that a pluss. they told me when im in business come talk to them.now i just got to figure pricing out.
 
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