Hi all! This may or may not be a question that has been asked several times and I've searched for two days now to find some answers myself, but at last I must ask the question myself and hope someone on here has some insight. I just a few days ago purchased and 96 Carry with a freezer box on the back. I chose this truck because I am going to be carrying a rural mail route and thought it would be great with the box to help haul the mail and it all stay dry and secure. Well, all was great and wonderful until I drove it the first day and it was a nasty stormy day.....did I mention it was WINDY!!?? OMG!! I couldn't believe how bad the wind made it!! Of course like many have mentioned on here before, the headwind was murder and thank God I allowed a LOT more time to get where I was going! LOL! What my problem was was the crosswinds and when large trucks would pass me. It whipped that little truck around what seemed so bad. BUT......I'm not sure if I was just being way too paranoid it was going to tip over or not. I have been driving a 1/2 ton GMC which of course handles great in any condition but I am also a HUGE veedub nut and have been driving them for years (68 Ghia). But as we all know, those little cars sit very low to the ground and I have no concerns of it flipping. Two days later in pretty weather, I got the nerve to try driving it again and found it to be just fine just like when I test drove it before I bought it. What I'm wondering is am I being way to paranoid of this little truck turning over when in reality it's not that likely, or should maybe I take this truck back and swap it for a regular bed mini and then look for some sort of canopie to keep the mail dry in the bed. I'm really torn cause I LOVE the way this particular truck runs and shifts compared to so many others I tried out and also the enclosed box for holding mail......BUT the freezer box sits directly on the frame and I can't remove it without a lot of cost not to mention the cost of purchasing a complete bed to replace it with. Any input would be great. Thanks so much!!
Yeah, the trucks are a bit light. Your freezer box will not help that situation at all. However, I have had a freezer box truck myself (AWESOME COOL) and what I can say is you will get used to it in a hurry. There will be some time to get to know how the truck behaves. Your freezer is right to the frame? Mine was bolted to the deck and was easy to remove. If I was near you, I would give you bed, swap all the labour in exchange for the freezer box. I bet there would be a dealer willing to do that if you dont really need the box. The trucks are not really tippy. We 4x4 off road with them and do extreme things (Climbing hills, jumping/ramping etc) without problems. Your freezer box will have a slightly higher center of gravity, but I wouldnt worry about it too terribly much. Give it a solid month of daily use before you make any decisions.
ya they stay planted on the ground pretty good. there was one guy on here that wiped out into the ditch this winter and his truck stayed upright.
yeah, I was shocked to see that there was no bed on there too! The guy I bought it from said it had one, and then after my scary day with the storm and all, I started looking and sure enough, there's NONE I like the idea of the box on the back of it but it made me really uneasy that day. I hope you're right and it just takes some getting used to on my part. I think I will take your advise and drive it a bit and see how it goes. Another question I've been wondering is what is a good speed to keep this truck under so I don't over do the motor. It's so small lol! I usually keep my vw's about 65 and under but this motor is a 3 cyl, my vw is a 4.
Thanks y'all so much for all the advise. These little trucks are all new to me. I've always really liked the strange and odd cars and these minis fit right in there! I just have the perfect excuse to buy a new toy.....I need it for work lol! I just wish I lived around some slower roads. I've gotta run down a 4 lane divided highway that's speed limit is 70 mph! Talk about slowing things down haha! But I still really like it (on the pretty days anyway ) I was really curious if the regular bed mini's were affected as much and I'm betting those little vans drive just like my truck is or do they?? I thought about buying one of them and I could still swap this one for the little van. hmmmmmmm......
I daily drive a '92 Suzuki Every Van kitted out with a fiberglass combi kit. The thing is pretty light, about 1800lbs or so and stands fairly tall with a pretty good sail cross section. I have oversized 175/70/13 all season radials on 13x5.5" steel rims so I have a lot more rubber on the ground than stock. It'll drive fine on the Highway, up to 110km/hr, but, I normally cruise on the highways at 85km/hr, yah, I know, rolling roadblock! The crosswinds are a little scary from large trucks and windstorms, but, fairly manageable overall. I put it down to the combi kit cutting down on the airflow getting under the van.
