Originally Posted by matador
I'd think that you're spending way too much money with those plans.
How is this any better than a rollback on an F350? I'd get a regular rollback, personally. The maneuverability of the NPR comes at a steep price. An F-350 or similar would probably be plenty. I had an E-350 box van with the 5.4. You'll want more engine for going down the highway.
Ideally, I'd think that an F-Super Duty (Basically an F-450) or a Chevrolet 3500HD (Same thing) would be overkill.
For the type of money, I'd take this truck:
Out here, an NPR will cost you about $10,000- even with high miles. I passed on a 1999 GMC 3500HD Cab and Chassis for $1500. In hindsight, I wish that I didn't. But, point being- I think that the NPR project would be more costly than you'd want, and would involve a lot more effort than needed.
Just my $0.02
here i had the exact opposite problem, i hunted for almost a year for a f-superduty or 3500HD chassis to put my rollback bed on and couldn't find one that wasn't completely ragged out for less than $9K, then i found a ready to go npr cab and chassis w/ 110,000 miles for less than $4k so i went that route.
yes, alot of highway time is a bit to ask out of the truck, but most of what i pick up is either in town or tight off road areas around farms were the maneuverability outweighs the speed disadvantage, i can haul at 60MPH loaded all day, and really carrying a car or equipment on the back i don't see any need to be able to go faster than that.
also i think an npr chassis is way better than a rollback bed on a f-350, the npr gvwr is 14,600lb (3500HD is 15-16k) vs. 10-11,000 of a standard dually and the brakes and axles are a world apart from whats under a regular one ton truck, i had a chevy 3500 with a ramp body and loaded it always felt like the brakes were working overtime to safely stop, where the npr feels perfectly capable even with a 6300lb lincoln navigator on the back.
I'm am not trying to start issues with anyone, i just thought i would reply with my experiences with these trucks, i was a bit leery of these trucks before i bought mine, but now i wouldn't go back to a conventional cab truck for anything, i love the maneuverability and fuel mileage of this one too much, and if you need more capacity there is the NRR series by isuzu, as well as some of the larger Hino and Bering cab-overs that go all the way up to 25,000lb gvw and even use the more common cummins 5.9l diesel and an aisin transmission.
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