1993 Chevrolet P30 Food Truck Build

reese77


12V dist block with fuses and 12V power supply that I have to remount as it is somehow causing voltage to go through the frame of the truck.

You have a grounding problem,before your remove the system,check first what did you ground too?what size wire?is what you attached to?Did you clean down to bare metal the contact point?Have to checked the battery ground?It very well could have to do with the auto 12V it's self and not the 12V you installed,you are  just now noticing it becuase you are working around it.If all of that is good,then you can always mount rubber washers to the back of the panel to insulate the contact point.

What size is the box area on your truck?I have been looking at a few trucks with 14' boxes and wondering if that's big enough.I'm thinking a 2-3 butt kitchen.
What all is involed in installing the hood and vent?where did you get the fans,etc.what was the labor cost for the setup?time or money wise.

if you are getting voltage to the truck, your ground is grounded to metal of the truck somewhere. Do not ground the box to the truck. I ran into this problem with my panel only I didn't have 12v's  i had 220v. I'll look at my box this week. We shut down the truck for the winter so i have to go in and winterize it and get it ready to sit for a few months anyways.   been a PIA getting that thing making money, lost alot this summer, trying to find one stationary spot instead of 5 weekly spots.

daddywoofdawg

You have a grounding problem,before your remove the system,check first what did you ground too?what size wire?is what you attached to?Did you clean down to bare metal the contact point?Have to checked the battery ground?It very well could have to do with the auto 12V it's self and not the 12V you installed,you are  just now noticing it becuase you are working around it.If all of that is good,then you can always mount rubber washers to the back of the panel to insulate the contact point.

 
I will check into it, I think I just need to remove the 12V power supply inside a plastic box like the dist block, versus screwed to the aluminum wall. I tried this initially but they both would not fit. Either that or one of my 12V wires routed through my truck ceiling is touching the frame but the shock I felt was more than 12 volts. I will get my meter out and check the frame, power supply and all lines for the issue. It has been raining non stop here so I haven't been out in the truck recently.

daddywoofdawg


What size is the box area on your truck?I have been looking at a few trucks with 14' boxes and wondering if that's big enough.I'm thinking a 2-3 butt kitchen.
What all is involed in installing the hood and vent?where did you get the fans,etc.what was the labor cost for the setup?time or money wise.

 
The box area is 11'. I wish I would have held out and purchased a bigger truck but the price was right at the time. I think 14' is perfect, if I had the extra feet I could put in a deep fryer and range top, etc.
 
I do not like the way I have my hood vent mounted but it was my only option. I bolted through the truck roof and put a long iron bar across the roof top to bolt into and distribute the weight across the truck ceiling beams. The fans are Fantec fans and are 12". Go back in this thread and there are links, ect. for this.
 
Labor cost? I've done all the work except gas lines and Ansul system.

THE WILD DOG


if you are getting voltage to the truck, your ground is grounded to metal of the truck somewhere. Do not ground the box to the truck. I ran into this problem with my panel only I didn't have 12v's  i had 220v. I'll look at my box this week. We shut down the truck for the winter so i have to go in and winterize it and get it ready to sit for a few months anyways.   been a PIA getting that thing making money, lost alot this summer, trying to find one stationary spot instead of 5 weekly spots.

 
Your lucky that your area allows 5 different spots. I am only allowed 2 stationary spots in my County.

Once again I am thinking of changing equipment. I do not have enough space to fit all the equipment that I would like but I really wanted a deep fryer on board. I currently have a 12" char grill and a 24" griddle. I just found a 12" 15lb LP deep fryer that would fit perfectly in place of the char grill.

I have a few sandwiches that call for the marinated chicken and lamb to be char grilled but I am thinking that overall the char grill will be under utilized and I could just cook these meats on the griddle even though I would not achieve that char grilled taste.
 
The fryer would allow me to add fries and other fried items to my menu. Plus living in the south, people want deep fried everything.
 
What do you folks think?
 

 

I would have the fryer,and use the flat top

I think Char broilers are highly overrated. They put off twice the grease and smoke as any other piece of equipment and burn a ton of propane. Sell yours and go with the deep fryer.

Thanks for the input guys. Ordering this unit right now. Will put the char grill in the garage and save for my next bigger truck down the line.

We bought a 24" Broiler for ours and later decided it was not worth the space.  Griddle, fryer and a couple burners will be it.  Now its for sale like a few other bad purchases.

BelCibo


We bought a 24" Broiler for ours and later decided it was not worth the space.  Griddle, fryer and a couple burners will be it.  Now its for sale like a few other bad purchases.

 
I've made many bad purchases and re-sold many items during this build so you are not alone.

Rese,
We all have done that...... over the years my garage has turned into a massive new and used restaurant storage depot. I have several 3 or 4 year old items that are still in the box. They all were a great deal or a must have at the time and now I keep thinking I should have an auction but never have done it. LOL

The truck is complete and I am in the process of finding a commissary on my side of town and submitting the proper paperwork to the various departments. The truck is in the shop having some new tires, radiator, master brake cylinder and rotors put on.
 
Once I am approved, I will have the truck wrapped. I will likely have Chasendad print my wrap and install myself as this will save me money
 
I had a moment of pride today when the auto shop called me and said that one of their customers wanted to buy my truck and they were ready to pay cash on the spot. I put too much into this truck to sell right now, maybe later this year when ready for a bigger truck.
Once my truck is home and the new fryer arrives and I remove the char broiler, I will take more pictures and make a video and then also after the truck is wrapped.

Congrats, hope mine will be do this weekend..
for grins I put mine on CL last weekend for a silly amount
but no calls..
 

"maybe later this year when ready for a bigger truck."
 
No it'll be later when you decide gee I wish I had done this or I'd like to change that. LOL And you should write a book on "How To"  I'm anxious to see your finished pictures I hope you take a bunch.

chasendad


Congrats, hope mine will be do this weekend..
for grins I put mine on CL last weekend for a silly amount
but no calls..

 
Thanks. Post some more pics of your build.

Dr of BBQ


"maybe later this year when ready for a bigger truck."

No it'll be later when you decide gee I wish I had done this or I'd like to change that. LOL And you should write a book on "How To"  I'm anxious to see your finished pictures I hope you take a bunch.

 
I won't be writing any books on this topic anytime soon but your right, I am sure I will have some regrets down the line about some of the build decisions. Will post pics soon.

I feel ya, I've turned down $30k for my truck, I posted a CL ad to sell it while it sits for the winter for $45k  and if I get an offer for it, it's gone.  & I'll build another . Waiting on Street Eats to finish the paperwork so I can park it at  LOwes in my area.  Rent is not bad either... Pretty reasonable

I was wondering, how do food truck operators go from the commissary to the working location after they load the food on-board the truck. For the trucks w/o cold plate refrigerators, how does the food in the refrigerator stay cold during the trip? Are you depending on residual cold in the refrigerator from being plugged up at the commissary or is the on-board generator running during the ride?

Gen or converter

Hello, first time to visit this forum. I am building a truck in Florida, and a little stuck on plumbing. I have both water tanks and a 6 gallon hot water heater, hand sink and 3 bin sink. Not sure what kind of pump to use to maintain water pressure and where to get one. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheffyfisher


Hello, first time to visit this forum. I am building a truck in Florida, and a little stuck on plumbing. I have both water tanks and a 6 gallon hot water heater, hand sink and 3 bin sink. Not sure what kind of pump to use to maintain water pressure and where to get one. Any help would be appreciated.

 
Go back to page 1-5 of this topic.
 
Use this pump and this pressurized accumulator tank.
 

 

I had some back and forth with the health department today and I need to change my hot water heater. If I go with a Bosh Arista GL6+ it will suite their needs but it will be too large to fit under the sink and use too much electricity.
 
I have no choice but to go with a propane water heater but my issues are that my sink is on the serving side and I do not want to vent out the serving side. As a customer could get burned, etc.
 
Options:

1. I could have a new regulator, small propane tank and new lines run on the serving side rear of the truck, run the lines inside and have the LP water heater mounted on the inside rear wall (same wall that the LP tank is on the outside of) and vented outside above the LP tank. Then run the water lines to an from the heater from underneath the sink which will be 4' away.
2. Install the water heater on the non-serving side and tap into the existing LP line and vent out of the side wall but then it will be a pain to run the water lines to and from the other side of the truck.
3. ???

All the electric units use too much power and I do not want to buy a huge Honda EU6500 generator for 4K. I had to abandon my inverter and battery bank as this will not work in the long run. So they are for sale if anyone is interested.
 
This is my only construction issue that the county pointed out. Any ideas? This is a pain in the a**.
 
I was thinking of just buying 2 Powerhouse PH2700PRi Inverter Generators as these can be chained in parallel and will fit nicely on the rear bumper or in my battery bay compartment. And this will give me 5400W to work with. All my other equipment, including the 13000 BTU AC uint use only 2,978W, leaving me with 2422W for the water heater. The problem is that all the electric unit that I see pull at least 3KW.
 
I know I will not have the heater on all the time, only when needed and the AC will not be on all the time but still....

Reese,
You may have considered this and it's been talked about 12 or 15 times but my EZ Tankless 101 works very well and it's not very big. 17.5 tall X 12 wide. And vent it out the side towards your customers but put a sign on that side that tells them
Danger Extremely Hot Vent Stay Clear
No one is going to get burnt just walking by even if it is running. People know to stay away from a grill when they see it and no sign needed. If you have a sign I don't foresee a problem unless it's right below your service window.
Sorry to hear your battery/inverter system didn't work out I was rooting for your success.

Dr of BBQ


Reese,
You may have considered this and it's been talked about 12 or 15 times but my EZ Tankless 101 works very well and it's not very big. 17.5 tall X 12 wide. And vent it out the side towards your customers but put a sign on that side that tells them
Danger Extremely Hot Vent Stay Clear
No one is going to get burnt just walking by even if it is running. People know to stay away from a grill when they see it and no sign needed. If you have a sign I don't for see a problem unless it's right below your service window.
Sorry to hear your battery/inverter system didn't work out I was routing for your success.

 
Thanks.
The vent will end up being about 2 feet over from the serving counter/window toward the front of the truck. So this should be good I guess. But this means that I have to have new LP lines installed on the serving side rear.

Why not vent it though the floor?Or make a pocket for the vent and cover it with a louver.Then you would have to try to get burnt.

daddywoofdawg


Why not vent it though the floor?Or make a pocket for the vent and cover it with a louver.Then you would have to try to get burnt.

 
With the LP units you have to have a certain amount horizontal pipe before a downward pipe, you can't make an instant down turn and pipe the exhaust downward. Piping out the side should be fine with a protective cover and a sign.
 
I am not going to buy anything else until I run this by the HD. Tired of replacing equipment. If they are OK with the serving side exhaust then I will go that route.

What do you have in the now?
This is what I put in my truck and most of the other trucks around here have.

Ariston
 Gal. 6-Year 1500W 120 Volt Point-of-Use Mini Electric Water Heater
 
I had a problem with the HD tuesday because it wasnt hot enough but I turned it up form "Ideal " setting  and it hot now..
I ran everything in my truck the other day on my Honda eu3000

What was the HD issue with the tankless heater??
I just ordered a LP tankless pretty much the same size as your electric one.