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Fantasy Sprinter C Unit

G

guest

Guest
Okay, tell me why this wouldn't work:

I have seen Sprinter box trucks at Freightliner dealers. Why not get the Sprinter box truck, remove the box, put a small sleeper on it and put a shorter replacement box on it so that the overall length is the same, and make the new box dock high. The new box would be, say, 12 feet long, so you could carry 6 pallets.

I assume you could carry about 4,000 pounds of freight. 4,000 pounds of weight capacity, 6 pallet capacity, and presumably mileage in the mid to high teens. This rig could handle LOTS of D unit loads.

Just a little mental outfitting.
 
R

RichM

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I think you would find it very interestering going around sharp curves if you made the new box dock hight and put 4K in the back.
 
X

X1_SRH

Expert Expediter
I've actually looked into this somewhat...

Daimler Chrysler is very picky about anything being done to modify sprinters. A modification such as this would raise the center of gravity beyond their set limits - thus voiding any and every bit of warranty on anything on the vehicle.

Also...

By modifying a sprinter to accomodate a box you would incur a lot of additional weight in frame reinforcement and in the actual box itself. All of these things together would require boosting your GVW to beyond 10,000 pounds if you are going to generate any revenue with this creation. What this means is that now you are required by the DOT to keep a log book. With all this expense you would be better off with a straight truck in the long run.

The company that creates a dock high vehicle under 10K GVW will change the industry and make an absolute fortune in the process.
 
LDB

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
It's an interesting concept but I can't see any van or class 3 type vehicle ever working as a dock high vehicle. The cargo box would have to be raised too much and handling would be precarious at best and nonexistant at worst. The Sprinter would be sadly underpowered for such a vehicle as well, at least in my opinion. If Unicell could do something like this with an Aerocell body on a Ford/GM platform with their diesel it would be a much stronger package with enough power to handle most loads.

Another problem I see is classification with carriers. All carriers I've ever heard of require a C unit to scale 5000 pounds of cargo. That will put the unit into DOT territory. I don't know of any carriers that would pay D rate to such a unit but it certainly would get C rate instead of van rate.

Except for the dock high spec a similar unit could be assembled with the 17' Aerocell body on a GM4500/5500 or Ford F450/550 chassis. It could be set up to easily scale 5000 pounds of cargo. It could also be set up with a partitioned 8' sleeper and 8'6" cargo area to carry 4 skids if one wanted to set up a really nice sleeper area. The other option would be a setup similar to dieseldoctor's where the bed lowers from the ceiling and storage is concentrated at the front. That would allow up to 8 skids. A vehicle like that would probably average 16mpg on diesel.

Leo Bricker
OOIDA 677319
truck 4958
73's K5LDB
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 
G

guest

Guest
Here's a thought on how to get a dock high setup in a C unit.

You could get a four wheel drive pickup and put a cargo box on the back. Then you could put some monster truck tires and suspension on it. This should raise you up AT LEAST dock high.

I'd kind of like to drive around in something like that. You could widen the stance of the truck when you were modifying the suspension to make the curves a little less scary.

It would still be scary, though.
 
terryandrene

terryandrene

Veteran Expediter
Safety & Compliance
US Coast Guard
Since we're being a bit foolish here, how 'bout some hydraulics like the southern California low riders. Should be no problem getting to dock height for p/u, deliverias and gettin' down for the long haul.

This setup would be helpful in shaking the lot lizards off the running board.
 
X

X1_SRH

Expert Expediter
Wait....wait....

We forgot the part about the 22 inch gold rims with low profile Goodyear Eagles. Oh, and a really cool graphics package.

Sweet.
 
M

MSinger

Expert Expediter
I saw an interesting setup in Indy the other day. Someone had a 2001-2002 Chevy Silverado 3500 with the single rear wheels (GVWR 9900#). They took the pickup bed off and stretched the frame giving the truck a 120" cab to axle ratio and placed a 16' cargo box in it's place and used spacers between the box and frame to make it dock high. It did look a bit strange with the single rear wheels but hey it works. I have found that many times it's not the extra weight capacity that makes having a unit larger than a B practical but the actual size allowing for more or taller freight, etc. Even if the truck weighed 7500 empty that still gives you 2400 to play with.
A 16' truck could carry 8 standard skids. 2400/8=300. I have hauled many single skids weighing only 300#.
 
M

MSinger

Expert Expediter
I just checked the Supreme Corp. website who is the only manufacturer approved by DC to make and install the cargo boxes on the Sprinter cab/chassis. The Sprinter cab/chassis' GVWR from the factory is 10,200. Gee thanks DC. But they also scr***d themselves in the process IMHO. The Sprinter 3500 dually van is under 10K so why they made the C&C more is a mystery to me. Guess they didn't want to hurt their Freightliner Medium class sales too much.
 
M

MSinger

Expert Expediter
1997 Dodge Ram 3500 with 12' cube. Dock high with jackstands. 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel.


LDB,
I own the above mentioned vehicle. It handles just fine loaded and even when overloaded....(SHH....). I bought the truck used from a local Chrysler stealer oops I meant dealer who used it to deliver Mopar parts around the area. When I bought it the floor of the box to the ground was 43". I took it to a local truck/trailer repair shop and had it raised 5" with iron spacers between the box and the frame and longer fuel hose and U-Bolts to make it 48". I also had a set of used dolly legs placed on the back to make the silly UAW plants happy....knowing full well that they cannot get a forklift on the truck because my rear door opening is only 65" high. I guess it makes them feel better when they hit the dock plate and the back of the truck does not squat. I carry a pallet jack and unload all the freight at least to the rear of the truck if not on the dock plate.
The only place I have ever had trouble was at the Visteon Sterling Heights Plant and I could care less if I ever went back in there anyway......what a bunch of crybabies. They wouldn't let me on their precious dock to move the freight for them so they had to use a little manual labor and do it themselves.....BIG DEAL.. I offered to move it for them.
 
G

guest

Guest
I saw a Ford one ton pickup chassis with a dock high box and a sleeper the other day. Perhaps if you put training wheels on such a rig it would make it safer.

On the subject of adjustable box height, I was in Laredo on an involuntary vacation a couple of months ago, and during my five day stay there I found myself "cruising" in my straight truck a little. I guess I just wanted to fit in a little better, but I started letting the air out of my rear air bags at the stop lights and looking at the guy next to me like "yeah I got switches."
 
Lawrence

Lawrence

Founder
Staff member
I can see a video now...

Mods Gone Wild!

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com


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