I am looking at upgrading to a bigger service truck. I’ve found one I’m interested in. The crane base has what looks to be about a 12” riser on it. Obviously it is to give the crane more reach but what application would this be for? I’ve noticed it on several trucks.
so you can fit a welder/compressor/whatever under it.
That's the only reason that makes sense.
Are they going to add two or three spring leaves to level out the truck?
A homemade version of a Maintainer?
It’s air ride so I doubt it
I think I’ve noticed them all on IMT beds. This truck has a hydraulic compressor on the left front. Maybe just to leave room for a top tool box.
You could dam near hang a hammock in there!
and now I have to buy it so I can hang a hammock off of it. Thanks a lot.
LOL your welcome my friend!!!
I've built them a few times for guys so they can keep the boom down with something underneath.
Actually it's so some numbnuts doesn't wipe out the cab with the boom. You can still whack it with the block, but less damage.
What lantraxco said, plus its a cheap extra 12-14" of height. The one we have on our 450 is lower mounted, and you have to pay attention if you have the bed full, the control wire (and back box with the valves) can get into stuff in the bed as you swing.
Don't they actually make different height service bodies now that I think of it? Seems like I've seen some really tall tool boxes.
Yea they do. The one In The picture is stepped down in the rear. Some are full height the whole length and some of the plain utility bodies are short and not very deep
i was out at the Cat proving grounds in Tucson and they had a couple of Maintainer bodies on the Cat truck chassis. You damn near needed a ladder because the compartments were so tall. They had pull out step bars along the bottoms to assist in access. The chassis was high too.
My last 2 dealer trucks were a peterbilt 337 and a kenworth t370 both with a maintainer body. The peterbilt chassis was so much taller that I got in the habit of dropping the air suspension when I got to a job just to gain a couple inches. Still had to stand in the body to reach the stuff stashed way up top.
I kind of wonder how all that truck is a benefit to the service customer. How many items loaded into that truck never see daylight? How much extra charge is put against mileage to cover the extra expenses of running that truck? How many times has that crane stayed parked in the cradle because it doesn't have the capacity to reach or lift a counter weight or an engine? What are the fall hazards of getting into and out of the bed of the truck, not to mention having to stand on steps just to get access to the top of the tool box? How much does a mechanic have to hassle with licenses, insurance, government regulation and such just to step into that big fancy white elephant. I had a colleague I would meet on the road from time to time who used a regular boom truck with boxes he grafted onto the flat bed of the truck. Bigger boom, more reach and lift, a flat deck to load components onto and purpose built steps to make it easier to get up and down. His point was that his truck cost less to purchase and outfit and had a much great capacity to accomplish the type of service work he did. He also had a drive train that would run the truck over the passes at the speed limits instead of crawling in the right side lane.
My peterbilt was loaded down pretty good with a ton of stuff that I never used. But once in a while when I was in a bind, I’d get digging around and come up with some god awful cobbled together mess that would get the customer going and that was why I kept all that junk.
How much money were you charging your customer though? As an independent I'll give some leeway as you never know what you are going to run into. As a dealer wrench, you know your line and you are charging usually double or triple the mileage cost of the truck. Your name is all over the truck going down the highway and your customer is just paying for your advertisement.
That was when I worked at the dealer. They were $150/hr flat rate, no mileage charge. Now I believe they’re $180/hr. Our service manager would send us to work anything and I mean anything. Another field tech was once sent to work on somebody’s lawnmower. I’m not kidding. I still hoard stuff on my truck because I work on a little of everything.
The C5500 I was in for a while the top 4 drawers weren't ever used in any of the cabinets. Personally I think any drawers over 5 feet above the ground are a waste. Last thing I want to do is climb up on steps or a ladder to reach the top shelf.
I was in bigger trucks but if I was mami g new today would see if I could tech my way in to a 250/350 maybe long bed extend box, common truck.
So going back to my original post I think I understand why the riser was put on. The truck originally had a telescopic top over the bed and I’m thinking the riser was put on so the crane could pivot without hitting the top while it’s closed.
My biz isnt exactly the same as a service mechanic. But I got a flat with a knuckle, battery tools, inverter welder sawzall, 4T wire rope cumalong and a sleever bar I can get by anymore, I haul it back to the shop and if I really gotta load a welder skid in a pickup which is rare anymore. I dont have old and busted around the country I got to service, most of it all been worked out long ago.