Anybody ever use a box truck for a race car hauler? I sold my enclosed trailer and believe I can purchase a box truck and install a shower and toilet and register it as an RV to get lower RV insurance. The cost is about the same as the new enclosed trailer. What’s the downside is that you see?

Not so easy to get a existing commercial truck registered as a RV.

The bed of your trailer is 4 feet off the ground.

The suspension on the truck is built for lot's of weight, the ride will be very rough inside the box unless you run it at max capacity. Even then the ride will suck.

Even though you might get lucky and be able to get RV plates for it and max it out with the nicest RV stuff, it will still look like a truck and the DOT will look at you all the more because you will be a hi-bred.

Why do you think it will be less insurance cost since it is a truck?

I think you will have more trouble finding insurance for it since it is a truck and you say it is a RV...coming from someone whom has had a truck RV for 16 years now.

The upside is you will have HD RV and race trailer...I like that part!
This chassis was built at freightliner as a RV chassis from new and has different features than a commercial truck to help it ride better for one.

The ride and HD factor is workable, getting past the DOT as a motor home shouldn't be ruffer than converting a school bus just not sure about the insurance.

I see the height of the box as the biggest draw back. I did see a fellow use one a few years ago and he got around that problem by installing a hyd ram to the front of the truck. It was on a rotating mount, so that when he got to the track, he would pull a pin, rotate the ram vertical and raise the front of the truck 3-4 feet in the air, unload the car and set the truck back on the ground. He could also use it to help level the truck somewhat. If I remember correctly, he used a ram off of some type of heavy machinery (dozer maybe?) and the pump & controls off of a wood splitter. Worked pretty good.

Brian

I agree, but one item not yet mentioned, what GVW are we talking and/or air brakes? Those details will complicate your plans and on the road enforcement scrutiny, especially when outside your home state.

You thinking is fairly sound, but the constantly tightening DOT regulations may make you wish you had non descript tag along behind a PU..

I’ve been looking and thinking for a while.I was told to register it as an RV I will need 4 things which include shower, toilet, electrical and plumbing. I will ad RV windows and wrap it so it looks like full body paint. This truck has a 4400# lift gate that I will use slide in ramps to extend the so the rear tires can sit on. It is also on air ride. It also has a passenger side door with steps to get in and out of so your not climbing in and out of the 4’ high box. Great input keep the info coming.

If it is registered as a motorhome, then the weight don't mater.

Anything goes if it has motorhome plates.

But like I said, I think many are under estimating being able to get those plates and the cost of insurance?

I agree with the opinions given so far. I drive a box truck a few days a week at my job. The ride is rough, ( make sure truck you are looking at least has an air ride seat) , maintenance is a lot more in a truck that size, depending on GVW you will have to pull in to open DOT scales for weight, also depending on GVW you may need a CDL in N.J. its over 26,000 lbs. Depending on height you have to be aware of bridge heights.( P.S. the body on the truck in the picture looks high) DOT officers are always doing spot checks and you could be targeted, also I know around here you have to follow truck routes as some streets and roads have weight limits the list goes on and on….

One time with my poor wife we detoured off the interstate around a major accident. She points to the right and says that was the truck route...me keeps going cause the car GPS had said so. Got to a low overpass RR and had to backup that red rigg and a 49' race trailer for 3 blocks in a small town. Embarrassing! Should listened to her and got a truck GPS right after that. We treat ours like a truck when we travel in it which has been a lot.

I see you are in Texas , any vehicle 26,001 gvwr or over , you will need a class B license ( even for a motorhome ).

That high deck is going to be rough to load/unload, imho.


Paul

Pretty sure that truck above is rated at 25999 lbs just under the CDL requirement. That truck appears to be a med moving truck. 250-300hp

The 26000 or more CDL is a federal law, same in every state.

If I recall correctly when the factory teams had box trucks they had ramps inside the truck box that angled the race car up rather steeply.

In Florida, DOT goes by the highest weight for enforcement/penalty, or as it weighs as it sits, as it is registered, or what the OEM door tag states, meaning, you can not register it under weight, other then for the tag costs.

In Florida I got a lot of DMV static trying to register a box truck to RV status, and decided not to continue the mods, as the it was not certain it RV status would be given.

I have been looking for that type of hauler but they are kind of rare. They seem to be more popular in Europe.

That high deck is the killer.. I made up a
flat bed version and got rid of it in short
time.. if your car is low you will need some
real long ramps

One of the differences is the location of the truck frames, there are differences. That hauler above has low and narrow frame like a motorhome unlike a truck chassis.

It's a tempting idea, but the Oleyniks we used had beavertails and much lower rear sill (floor) height; yet the ramps still had to be at least 8 feet long and positively lock into the sill.
Very tough deal to modify the rear rails & floor to make a beavertail out of a "normal" box truck.
I've seen some moving vans that sit lower, but still iffy on load height and then there's the wheelwells.
Medium-duty truck maintenance is not like working on a pickup; stuff might last longer, but it's half again as large and seems like triple the weight!
We'd get a million miles or so out of a GMC 6500, but any wheel/tire/suspension/brake/drivetrain maintenance was a back-breaker.

The best deal for this style is the 26' U Haul truck. Lower than any box truck and most can drop down several inches in the rear. All aluminum floor. Modern GM V8 with auto/OD. I saw a racer from the west coast do this. He opted out of the sides and roll up door. Used the frame for the roll up door as an attachment for his crane.

Many early touring semi and professional SS and Pro Stock racers used box truck for hauling there cars
No reason why you can't, Bob Mazolini used one for a short while back in the early 1980s, I think. Same thing on John Dianna, Bob "bucks up" Lambeck, Paul Rossi, Butch Leal and many other racers from division Seven

same here thought it would be cool to make one of these into a hauler