Reviews on Stellar Crane Service Bodies

Hi folks - I'm in the market to buy (or build) another service truck - probably my last. Anyway back in 03 I bought a new 11' IMT Dominator II crane body along with a 3820 crane and bolted it all to an older IH chassis. Since 03 I had to replace 4 of the doors because of rust at the bottom of them where IMT rolls the steel into 2 plys creates an envelope for crud to lay in and rot them out - same old same old. Also had to replace all the diamond plate that forms the rear bumper/long tunnel cabinet due to rotting out - other than that its never had a crack in it and has held up well. I was considering going to Stellar this time but ran into a guy yesterday with an aluminum stellar body that was spider cracking at most of the cabinet corners - he also showed me where the corner cabinet directly under the crane has cracked and been rewelded multiple times. Was wondering if anybody has any feedback on how Stellar's steel bodies hold up to cracking and corrosion resistance - and door rust. Im running SE PA where the state loves to use all types of anti icing compounds in the winter and would like to put something together that will last at least 10 years without having to fix rust. Also if anybody knows if the bolt pattern for an IMT 3820 crane is the same as a Stellar body. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks

I'm driving a 2014 pete with a tmax2-11 (steel body).
Nope...no better. Rusting inside all the doors, between the double layer. Rust is crawling up behind sealer at the hinges. And the fine folks at Curry used a razor knife to release the bedliner masking, so, there's rust there too.
Just recon'd a 2007 Autocrane Titan 50. Essentially replaced the bottom half. Would've sprung for a new one, but, 24 week wait time was unacceptable.
The Wilcox I had from '98 until '14 rotted all the doors out, but, surprisingly the rest fared pretty well.

Oh, and I've ripped out some of the door stays due to stress of opening and the adjacent locator holes.

No stress cracks, though.

Have you looked at the Stahl bodies, not sure how a crane mounts though. Some years ago,I bought one that was already 15 years old. I only had to put one latch on it, and there was almost no rust. I used it 3 more years, then sold it. The guy who bought it, put it on a newer truck to use again. It seemed like a well built truck body.

Had a Wilcox years ago on a Ford Super duty. All the checkerplate had to be refinished pretty early in its life but the rest was ok.
Currently have a Reading (more of a utility body really) but so far so good.
Has the internal hinges which are nice. Sorry can’t comment on the Stellar

Thanks for the words on the Stellar heymccall. So it sounds like my IMT faired as good as the rest corrosion wise, and better bit better since nothing really ever “broke” on it - just rusted out. I guess my biggest fault is I’ve been fixing things to long and am always looking for something better that lasts longer with less maintenance - probably have a lot of company in that thought process.

Some of our newer service trucks are Stellar bodies on IH chassis. The paint or powder coat is no better than any other. I'm in an Autocrane model on a F750 chassis. Box roofs have no rigidity. Oil can when I walk on them. Cracks at boom rest. Crane seems to be up to task. No cracks observed in bed.
My previous rig was a Ford F550 under a STI body. That thing was stout. Had a Tiger crane, very tough, nothing seemed to affect it.
Before that was an IMT on a short F650 . Very nimble. Could crack a u-turn anywhere. Boxes weren't that rigid, body was, but box sides and roofs were kinda weak. Oil can , cracks beneath boom rest and welder. Perhaps, if the perimeter were reinforced.
I guess for me , the STI boxes are the winner.

Go look at the maintainer bodies. I’ve had 3 maintainers and 1 IMT in my career and the IMT is decent but can’t hold a candle to the maintainer. No rolled steel on the doors so no place for road brine to get into and rust and they are built heavier than anything else I’ve seen.

funwithfuel - just checked out the STI site - never heard of them. I'll have to send them an email and get some more info - or find a local dealer closer to PA. Mike L - I've looked at the Maintainter bodies and cranes but most of them I see have kind of a broke up layout (crane cabinet is usually non existent). Now saying that I've never went on their website or to a dealer to check them out - just looking at used stuff or other guys trucks in person.. I'd agree with what you say about being built heavy - they look like tanks.

Today, I believe, our newer Stellars have independent crane pedestal cabinet. I personally don't like that, I would think they should be integrated into the full service bed for increased rigidity.

I misspoke, my 550 was under a maintainer, the STI was her sister. They were both quite capable. BTW, we had a number of problems with Summit, but in fairness, i think those problems were primarily the Dodges problem and not Summits.

Maintainer has an option of putting the crane on top of a cabinet but typically the crane stands alone. I will say that my experience with IMT’s service department was second to none. Went on my own last May and bought a used truck with the IMT. Had an issue with my wireless crane controller being very jerky. Lucky for me the remote and control box were under warranty and they overnighted me both parts and helped me get them to connect all at no charge to me and all I had to do was give them my word that I’d mail the used parts back to them. That’s worth a metric s*#$ ton in my book!

Yes I was on Maintainer's website earlier and saw one that had the cabinet top mount. Good deal on the warranty on the IMT parts, they are rather pricey - seem to last though.

mowingman said:

Have you looked at the Stahl bodies, not sure how a crane mounts though. Some years ago,I bought one that was already 15 years old. I only had to put one latch on it, and there was almost no rust. I used it 3 more years, then sold it. The guy who bought it, put it on a newer truck to use again. It seemed like a well built truck body.

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I just pulled a Stahl body off an F550 crane truck, because I only need a flatbed so I can tow heavy gooseneck. That tool bed weighs 2700 lbs, and it's as solid as a rock, 21 years old now. No rust that I can see. Only a couple latches are worn out.

Really impressive quality.

Boy i wish anything made of steel up in my neck of the woods would last that long - need that arid Texas air and no road salt is suppose

Dave Z said:

Boy i wish anything made of steel up in my neck of the woods would last that long - need that arid Texas air and no road salt is suppose

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I forgot to mention, my truck came from Iowa and worked enough offroad to wear out the transfer case (chain slapping the case, needs rebuild). And rust did attack the truck frame up on top under the bed. But the bed itself has no rust except for one crossmember underneath in the same area. And its heavy diamond plate floor makes up for that loss. Overall, I would buy another Stahl.

I feel your pain

Pulled the trigger last week on a 2015 M-2 Freightliner at an auction. Hope it was the right decision - looked it over and saw more reasons to buy it than not to so we shall see. Has a Summit body and crane on it.

Very nice! Do us a favor and post up some more pictures with the doors open and keep us updated on your opinions of it.

Will do, headed down to pick it up this Thursday. Down below Orlando - nothing like a 1000 mile road test to break her in !

I did the same thing. Flew to Greensboro, N.C. salesman picked me up. Drove to Danville, va struck a deal and headed back to Maine.