PavementPounder
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- Highland, MI
I've been looking for a way to eliminate hauling my wheeling rigs on a trailer behind my Ram because the Ram is also growing and heading towards not being street-legal itself. The Ram is already regeared to 5.13 with 37's, so I'm already spending a lot on gas. A large truck won't be much different. The main benefit is not having to deal with a trailer. My Ram is rather tall, so its a bitch hooking/unhooking the trailer all the time. The trailer is about 24' with a rack on the front, so its not soemthing I can just push around the driveway without a vehicle hooked to it if its in the way.
I recently went and looked at a M818 locally that had an aftermarket deck/dovetail/ramps installed on it to carry a civilian contractor's bulldozer. I've seen this same deck on civilian truck inthe area, so its apparently popular. While this looked like a great solution that could easily carry even my Ram, the truck felt tired and had some cab issues that I don't think I want to have to deal with, even though I own a forklift and could probably pull it off to do the work (or replace it).
I've been watching GL lately and 2 more seemingly good candidates slipped through my fingers. One was another M818 that had not been modified in any way and was apparently in good running shape and looked pretty clean, also. Bidding got a little higher than I wanted to spend (almost $7k) since I'd have to buy the deck also.
The second one was probably perfect for what I need and my dumbass forgot to bid on it - a M814 XLWB. This was the one in NH that closed a couple days ago if any of you saw it. It looked clean in the pics, appeared to be all there, ran, and went for less than $5k. I should kick my own ass. I'm obviously new to this stuff, but I can see that these XLWB's are apparently hard ones to find, so I'm even more pissed at myself.
I would really like a 6x6 so I can go somewhat off the beaten path and not have to worry much about it getting scratched up by trees and crap and also since I can mount hardware such as a rear winch for loading, toolboxes, etc wherever I want. Recently I have been noticing mid-90's civilian semi tractors with sleepers that the aftermarket deck could also be put on in the $8500 range. While these would be great for longer wheeling trips and a lot more comfy, but there are obviously trade-offs.
Anybody have any suggestions as to what else might fit the bill for hauling up to a full-size, extended-cab longbed type of vehicle? Or perhaps know of something suitable that I have not yet found?
I recently went and looked at a M818 locally that had an aftermarket deck/dovetail/ramps installed on it to carry a civilian contractor's bulldozer. I've seen this same deck on civilian truck inthe area, so its apparently popular. While this looked like a great solution that could easily carry even my Ram, the truck felt tired and had some cab issues that I don't think I want to have to deal with, even though I own a forklift and could probably pull it off to do the work (or replace it).
I've been watching GL lately and 2 more seemingly good candidates slipped through my fingers. One was another M818 that had not been modified in any way and was apparently in good running shape and looked pretty clean, also. Bidding got a little higher than I wanted to spend (almost $7k) since I'd have to buy the deck also.
The second one was probably perfect for what I need and my dumbass forgot to bid on it - a M814 XLWB. This was the one in NH that closed a couple days ago if any of you saw it. It looked clean in the pics, appeared to be all there, ran, and went for less than $5k. I should kick my own ass. I'm obviously new to this stuff, but I can see that these XLWB's are apparently hard ones to find, so I'm even more pissed at myself.
I would really like a 6x6 so I can go somewhat off the beaten path and not have to worry much about it getting scratched up by trees and crap and also since I can mount hardware such as a rear winch for loading, toolboxes, etc wherever I want. Recently I have been noticing mid-90's civilian semi tractors with sleepers that the aftermarket deck could also be put on in the $8500 range. While these would be great for longer wheeling trips and a lot more comfy, but there are obviously trade-offs.
Anybody have any suggestions as to what else might fit the bill for hauling up to a full-size, extended-cab longbed type of vehicle? Or perhaps know of something suitable that I have not yet found?