What's a good price for a new FE180?

[clesven]

So, I plan to buy an FE180, then have a 16' morgan dry truck body with roll up door and side door attached to it. I'll make the truck body livable and live on the streets of Los Angeles, CA!

Is this a good price for an FE180 http://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/listing/2013-MITSUBISHI-FUSO-FE180-110928877 ? Does anybody have an approximation of how much a 16' morgan dry truck body with side door costs?

It'll be cool 'cause I'll have the stealthiness of a commercial vehicle (nobody cares about box trucks around here), with the parking laws/plates of an RV (can bypass GVWR restrictions), and there are many urban campers around here (which I've only noticed since I decided to do this)... even a street lined with people living out of RVs, BMWs and Mercedez-Benwhatevers, next to a major hub of public transportation.

I'd rather pay 1k a month and live in a modern and decked-out truck with the latest Samsung washer and dryer, etc. than 2k a month of money that I'LL NEVER SEE AGAIN and basic or sub-par ammenities... Basically, I feel like a ***** paying rent for the low living standards of LA... Living out of a box truck won't affect my social life or income, and I'll be able to save to purchase a reeeally nice piece of land...

The only thing that would give me away is the roof... it'll have a solar panel array, a/c unit, etc. No windows... I'd also like a drumset in here, and that might give me away, too...

Also, is it possible to buy a 1k-2k, or less, sqft piece of land in Santa Monica or Beverly Hills (or anywhere in LA), and park my box truck (I've seen a box truck parked in the Hollywood Hills, on the owners land, that gets rented out on airbnb)? All land in LA seems to start at 5k sqft... I have found 1k sqft plots of land in Santa Monica, but they have homes on them, and demand prices of over 500k 'cause of it... I want to build my own microhome :|... Something like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAOuUkQTqWE ... I admire what he's done...

I intend to build a 2x4 interior frame, insulated with densely packed http://www.homedepot.com/p/Blow-In-Natural-Fiber-Insulation-INS541LD/100318635# between sheeting and hardwood flooring above http://www.homedepot.com/p/DRIcore-...pen-Subfloor-Panel-CDGNUS750024024/202268752#... Do you guys and gals think that the drums will still be audible from the outside? I'll be able to fit a lot in here 'cause I don't need cabinetry

 

[dlh62c]

Does anybody have an approximation of how much a 16' morgan dry truck body with side door costs?

Welcome to Expedition Portal.

Not sure on a 16', but I seem to remember a new 85" H x 14' L x96" W Morgan FRP body going for around $7600.

Is the plan to install a solid wall to block off the rear door?

The wheel base of the FE180 will determine the size of the body, Morgan only sells their bodies in even lengths.

Stay away from a translucent roof as it get way too HOT inside. I would suggest at least one window and a roof vent fan to move air. The standard side cargo door will need to be modified to allow you to secure it from the inside and prevent someone from padlocking you in. You'll need some sort of steps to enter and exit though a side door.

Here's a link to some Mitsubishi truck data that might prove useful.

TruckConversion.net is another great resource.

 

[clesven]

Not sure on a 16', but I seem to remember a new 85" H x 14' L x96" W Morgan FRP body going for around $7600 new.

Is the plan to install a solid wall to block off the rear door?

The wheel base of the FE180 will determine the size of the body, Morgan only sells their bodies in even lengths.

Stay away from a translucent roof as it get way too HOT inside. You'll need at least one window and a roof vent fan to move air. The standard side cargo door will need to be modified to allow you to secure it from the inside and prevent someone from padlocking you in.

Here's a link to some Mitsubishi truck data that might prove useful.

Yeah, when the rear roll-up door is opened, there will be a solid wall of locked doors that, when unlocked and opened, provide access to the outlets that are usually accessed on the right and left exterior of an RV... maybe propane tanks and etc., too. So, I could leave the back roll up door open at all times, with no worries, but that would ruin the stealth factor.

Yeah, I'm definitely not getting a translucent roof...

Do I really need a window? I was planning on just a maxair fan unit, a/c unit, and shower vent for air circulation...

Hmmm, I never thought about somebody locking me in... I'll make sure to take preventative measures... Thanks!

 

[dlh62c]

Do I really need a window? I was planning on just a maxair fan unit, a/c unit, and shower vent for air circulation...

You can always add one later. Keep in mind, RVs go somewhere to DIE. An RV salvage yard would be a great source for water tanks, fixtures, windows, doors, dinette cushions, lights and more.

2x4 framing will eat up allot of space. The Morgan bodies I've looked at had steel Z-posts that are affixed to the FRP panels on the inside.

 

[jhrodd]

Good luck with living on the streets of SoCal in your camper. I've parked overnight all over the region in a commercial vehicle and parking restrictions/enforcement have been increasing exponentially in recent years. Even in industrial areas there is no parking between 2-6 am in cities such as Anaheim and Fullerton. In Ontario places where I parked for years now have an 8 ft. height limit. There are areas where parking is not enforced until someone makes a complaint then they swoop in and kick them out. You will be hassled. I've gotten parking tickets in just about every City in Southern California, their very expensive and I don't pay them (being from out of state) but I can't park in that City again. I ran out of places to park and had to resort to staying in Castaic and joining the early morning commuters. As for living in an RV on unimproved land, you would have to move to a State with few zoning regs. Where I live you can get a permit to occupy an RV only while building a house as long as you have water and septic installed. Here's an example of Anaheim's parking regulations :
http://www.anaheim.net/departmentfolders/planning/CommunityPreservation/VehicleParking.pdf

 

[kerry]

Before I invested that much money to test a plan, I'd buy a used class C motorhome and try it for 6 months or so. Low mileage perfectly functional older class C's are a dime a dozen. You could probably find a nice one for $5k tops. I knew a guy who did it in Denver for a number of years. He had a YMCA membership to get showers so he wasn't always in a situation of having to empty his tanks. But I agree with the issue of parking restrictions. In the city of Denver itself, you'd have to count on the police ignoring the parking restrictions, which they typically don't. You'd also have to rely on a largess of homeowners who saw you parked on their block.

 

[clesven]

Thanks for all of the advice/warnings, but I see people doing all of the above 24/7... I feel like my only issue would be somebody hearing me playing the drum set, and gossip would lead to an attempted robbery of my truck (I'll install a Ravelco, so it's not going anywhere...), or gossip would lead to some stoned people calling the police on me... I live in the city and there's a lot of grey between industrial and residential, which I guess is why so many people get away with living in RVs, cars, and parking their box trucks on major streets. Pretty sure people are too busy living their lives around here... this is a city of immigrants and transplants busy living the American dream, so yeah...

The only rule that seems to be enforced here, and still very loosely (I've seen a converted hippy bus parked here for months), is the 72 hour rule... People around here seem to leave when they get sick of the place rather than get kicked out, LOL...

Also, as for residential, one guy has a lived in a class A parked on his driving lot, another guy has a toy hauler on his front lawn, another guy has an oldschool truck camper on an oldschool truck parked in front of his house... another guy has a toy hauler attached to nothing, parked on the street in front of his house... Nobody really cares around here... Another guy has had an RV parked in the center of an ~10,000 sqft grassed-out industrial lot next to our cities famed, and new, sign for years...

Another guy has an airstream attached to an f350 or something, and runs a business out of it... He's parked on the sidewalk of a major street, parallel to a YMCA... I used to see him in a "nicer" city, and I guess he got kicked out 'cause he's now here (or maybe business was just bad there, 'cause it's the same county), parked outside of a YMCA... Apparently somebody leaves their dog's poop on his truck ('cause he put a sign on his truck asking them to stop), but nobody has kicked him out... He switches which side of the street he's on every couple days (probably to bypass the 72-hour rule).

Essentially, the stealth box truck will keep me safe from people (seeing an RV parked inspires jealousy), and RV plates will keep me safe from parking attendants (I think?).

Just went for a bicycle ride, saw a dude driving a converted short bus/van called "SURF BUS" and saw a permanently parked 90s UHAUL in a dude's driveway... Also saw box trucks, etc. Saw permanently parked passenger e450 and a 1800 Isuzu NPR (I see them all the time) on a street that's only no parking Wednesday at some early hours for street cleaning...

It's more lax here than Venice... and people here seem to have brand new RVs, etc. instead of the junky RVs of Venice, iunno...