Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

What is a good price? I've seen identical 3 bobtails with the same engine/trans as mine with 400-600k miles (I have 102k miles currently) post for $140,000.

I posted my truck for $170,000 (My shipshe bed is almost $30,000) No one would pay that much. People are posting on the boards looking for a haul and tow for $25,000. Maybe if I convert back to a semi I could get 140-150k for the truck if I am lucky. I posted my bed alone for $25,000 and got a couple of interested people but nothing came of it.

 

It would take the right buyer to pay top dollar for it. Those people asking $140k for a 400-600k mile truck are probably out to lunch anyway. You'd normally expect to pay around half of what it cost new for something like that in good shape but with nothing special specs.

Depends how serious you are about unwinding the whole thing but I would imagine the bed might be easier to sell as long as it was made to fit a somewhat common frame length and you said it was attached with u-bolts. Then put the truck back to stock and decide from there. Could always try a 5 or 7 car trailer. Somebody looking for an excuse to go trucking will find one if they really want to. To me it's a fun job (most days) that also can pay decent. Nothing glamorous or adventurous about a 4am alarm clock 5 days a week for a factory or office job but that's just me.

 

Yeah, that's probably not enough to make it worth it. I am comparing it directly to power-only RV hauling where right now they pay $2.00-$2.50/mi out and most of the time $0/mi back to Indiana so really only $1-1.25 for all miles but it's not directly comparable. The bobtail insurance is only like $200-300/mo for that and you get 18-20 mpg on the way back, so there is some money to be made doing it but it still falls into the realm of "cheap freight" for sure.

 

3 car lo-pro wedge...okay. Do they have to de-rate it on the VIN sticker when it's built for inspection purposes or is that just a paperwork thing that can be altered later? That's a new twist I was unaware of. A lot of those are 14k trailers that would put me just a hair over into CDL weight class but if they could back it up to 13.5k on just a paperwork thing. A trailer big enough to put 3 units on would be a challenge to stay under 26k even if they were small units.

Do they only look at the total combination weight and tire/axle ratings when a trailer is de-rated to stay out of CDL territory? Because a 3 car trailer de-rated to 13,500 with a pair of F-150's on it is going to be way over that de-rated limit even if the trailer perfectly safe for that weight. Pair of F-150's probably around 11,000 lbs on the high side. Truck's around 7,500 with fuel and me in it so that would leave about 7,500lbs for the trailer to weigh. It would be close. 3 cars at 3,500 lbs each would be about the same.

It's a 99 cab and chassis like a 450/550 so it never had a bed but it's still just a 350. Oddball configuration. 2wd. Manual transmission. Dana 80 DRW rear end.

 

Why not get a CDL ?
So you don’t have to worry about the gross weights being under 26?

 

Yeah, the manufacturer will derate it for you if it's new. Personally if buying new and I was derating it, I'd see if they'd give you a tag for both normal-weight rating and the derated one so if you ever got the cdl you could up it. Also, if not new.. I've heard there are guys on ebay who sell trailer vin plates with everything stamped as you request.

 

Shhhh. You can't tell the truth.
Not anymore.

 

The department of truth will send you off to a labor camp for posting something they don’t agree with .

almost like we are in North Korea or communist china now

 

The wonderful world we live in

 

I already have one but there are some practical considerations. Can't afford a big trailer right now without financing it and then I'd have to park it somewhere else besides my house. I have a feeling they are probably going to kill non-CDL driving sooner or later by lower it down to 10,001 GVWR or above to require one. And they already made it harder to get one a couple months ago by requiring everybody go to driving school before you can take the test.