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What’s the purpose

Mike L

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Dec 1, 2010
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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. DFFF0BE9-E916-4024-B9F5-0706B34B6160.jpeg
 

Mike L

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A homemade version of a Maintainer?

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.
 

JLarson

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Aug 23, 2020
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AZ
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Owner- civil and heavy repair/fab company
I've built them a few times for guys so they can keep the boom down with something underneath.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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sw missouri
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.
 

lantraxco

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Elsewhen
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.
 

Mike L

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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
 

JD955SC

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Mar 13, 2011
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The South
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.

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.
 

Mike L

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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.
 

John C.

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Jun 11, 2007
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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.
 

Mike L

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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.
 

John C.

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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.
 
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