Race truck running costs.

[Paul D]

OK, a few questions for the people on here who run a race truck based on a 7.5 ton truck. I'm considering this as an option, but would like a few ideas as to costs, etc.

If it's insured separately, what would I expect to pay for this (ballpark), and is there a specialist insurer that some of you use? I guess it would be registered as private HGV. I've read somewhere that if it's private HGV and not used commercially, then insurance can be found surprisingly cheaply - do any of you have experience of this?

What's the MOT situation for this type of truck? Does it have to go to VOSA for test (I suspect it would), and what's the cost of that? Does anyone know if they're just as strict on a truck that's registered as private as they are on one still used commercially?

Any info will be greatly appreciated!

[Mike Bell]

Paul, having done the 7.5 tonne bit and moved up, the taxing and testing is same. VOSA and they don't differentiate on what truck is doing for a living or not. I use a local HGV garage to organise so they clean underneath if necessary, book, pre test and then take for it. If you are not towing a trailer normal car licence will suffice and in theory you won't have to use tacho. However I used mine, especially in Europe. Towing a trailer and full HGV 1 licence needed. Watch the weight as if a heavy tail lift fitted, then loaded it could quite easily be over 7.5 tonnes, and if stopped you would be in trouble!

Mine was insured through NFU for private use. Specialist broker like them best route.

Hope that helps.

[matlockscot]

If you're only using for the racing season then your mileage will be minimal which brings down the premium. I run mine on a 5000 mile limited mileage policy (and only that much because we do Spa each year). There are a number of brokers out there, MORIS, Adrian Flux, REIS, Competition Car Insurance etc etc.

[Colin McKay]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

If you are not towing a trailer normal car licence will suffice

Just a clarification - this rule only applies if you gained your car licence before 1st Jan 1997. After that date you will need C1 entitlement.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

Just a clarification - this rule only applies if you gained your car licence before 1st Jan 1997. After that date you will need C1 entitlement.

I have an HGV1, I can drive a 32ton truck and tow any trailer providing I don't exceed the vehicle's GTW but according to my licence I can't tow more than 750kg with a 7.5 ton truck. Test passed in 1976

[quantic]

So I bought a 7.5 tonne lorry this year as I got a single seater instead of a tintop and needed either a covered trailer or a lorry, and to be honest I just fancied a lorry.
Costs so far: unconverted 2003 Iveco 75e17 with a 20' box and taillift, from ebay 1850
Insurance (Stevenage insurance 3000mile fully comp) 400
Road tax 90
Service items, headgasket (gotta love ebay 'bargains'!) various ball joints, lights, odds and sods for MOT 500
MOT 100
Metal to extend tail lift 200
That's about it cost wise, I've done all the work on it myself, (including a couple of days at least cleaning it-it was the filthiest thing I've ever seen!) so saved a fortune on labour and hopefully now its ready to go for a while..
Apart from the unforseen repairs its been great though, no more mucking around loading and unloading stuff every meeting, its got twin bunks and a night heater so no more tents, and I just like being a 'toytown trucker' too!
Its a bit juicy mind, and the 56mph limiter takes a bit of getting used to..

[TheSpiderMan]

I also picked up a 7.5 tonne truck from Ebay. Then spent money sorting it out. New clutch, slave cylinder, starter motor etc, and now its just perfect for what I need. Being 21 years old it has no limiter, but then more than 60 is hard anyway.
They are great for weekend meetings, especially with the big awning

[Bob Pearson]

If you want to avoid buying a truck limited to 56 mph I think, if I remember rightly, it needs to be 2001 or earlier. We run a 99 MAN which has no limiter and cruises happily at 65mph with somewhere about 7.2 tons GVW, ( two single seaters etc)
It's certainly right what someone said about weight, I look at some supposedly 7.5 tonners in the paddock with the De Hollandia tail lifts and I would be very surprised if they would pass a weight test. Avoid the idea of downgrading an HGV2 to 7.5 tons, the bigger vans are so heavy that most of them exceed 7.5 tons unladen!!
We have had surprisingly little running costs, a propshaft mid bearing, a tail pipe and an oil change in 5 years..............fingers crossed.

[PeterY]

We've run a 7.5 for 5 years and now run it along side an 18t as well. We had ours converted from a box van to carry 2 cars by PRG trailers, not cheap but they did a good job.

I always take mine in once a year to have it checked over and MOT'd, i factor £2000 a year for this including a couple of repairs. but repairs are expensive mostly due to parts cost although labour is never cheap
I find that being low mileage the brakes suffer from being stood and I've ended up having to spend money on them every year.

I've just looked up and since the MOT last year I've done just under 3000km and I've just had a bill this year for £2012 to get it through the MOT after needing a front caliper due to a brake imbalance that was undetectable when driving but showed up on the VOSA brake test.

They are good but weight can be an issue we can *just* carry 2 Caterham and bits needed for the weekend (tools etc.).

Insurance wise I used to use CCI before I put everything on a trade policy and it used to cost about £500 a year with no mileage limit and 2 drivers one of them being under 25.

[Tim Falce]

Peter, I take it that you are a private operator and don't have an O licence. We have to have our trucks serviced every four weeks which includes a rolling road brake test, we also get penalties against our licence if a truck fails an MOT test.

[BQF]

I have a 7,5 ton transporter for sale at £3,750 if you're interested - decked out in alfa romeo livery...

anyhoo - Stevenage Insurance are best for motorsport trucks - £400 a year in yr one for me

[TheSpiderMan]

I fell over when I heard this, but it's true. My race truck is 21 years old, and the very nice insurance people at NFU have told me it qualifies as a classic truck, and if I limit my mileage to 5000 per year they will insure it for £78.00 per year!! AWESOME!!

[PeterY]

My truck is now up for sale on both racecarsdirect and Pistonheads if anyone is looking for a good 7.5t

[fatman]

hi
i hope someone here can help me please as i am after some info about running a private lorry
i am looking at 2 at the moment a 7.5 ton iveco 1988 and a 1994 vw lt50 5 ton.
i go to hot rod shows and want to transport my own classic cars and hot rod to shows on a classic type lorry (but one that should get there)

are the rules the same for 5 ton and 7.5 ton lorries? i am intending running it for personal use only to transport my own cars to shows. I really just want to have had a lorry to play with but most of my friends kepp saying a 3.5ton would be a much better bet???? help????

where do i stand with this with vosa,, any help much appreciated.