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Seven questions to ask before you buy a specialty vehicle
Seven questions. Each one has an answer you can check.
Most problems with a specialty vehicle trace back to a question nobody asked before the contract. Ask every builder these seven, us included, and get the answers in writing. Then compare them side by side.
1. What is the wall made of, layer by layer?
Ask for the frame material and tube size, how the steel is protected from rust, what the insulation is and how it is held in place, and what the outside skin is. “Steel frame” alone is not an answer.
Our answer: a 1.5-inch powder-coated steel tube cage, foam insulation cut to fit each cavity and glued on both sides, under a composite skin. See how we build it.
2. How is it wired, and what is at every connection?
Ask whether the harnesses are built on a board or run wire by wire inside the vehicle, what protects a wire where it passes through steel, what connectors are used outside the body, and whether butt connectors are used anywhere.
Our answer: we build our harnesses in-house. They are fully loomed, every pass-through has a grommet, exterior connections use marine-grade connectors, and we use no butt connectors.
3. What are the cabinets made of?
Ask for the material by name. Particleboard swells when it gets wet and lets go of its screws on the road. You will not see it on delivery day. You will see it in year two.
Our answer: solid hardwood. We do not use particleboard.
4. Who added up the electrical load, and can you see the numbers?
Air conditioning, clinical or lab equipment, lifts, lighting and computers all draw power, and some days they all run at once. Ask for the load calculation and how the generator, shore power and batteries were sized from it. A unit sized by estimate fails the first day everything is switched on.
Our answer: our engineers total the load from your equipment list before the build starts, and size the generator, shore power and battery system from that number.
5. What will it weigh loaded, who can drive it and where will it park?
Ask for the estimated weight with equipment, water, fuel and people aboard, set against the chassis rating and each axle rating. A vehicle rated at 26,001 pounds or more generally needs a driver with a commercial license. Decide who drives it before you pick the chassis. Then measure where it will park: length, height, the turn into the lot, and the power outlet it plugs into overnight.
Our answer: ask, and we give you the loaded weight estimate with your proposal, set against the chassis and axle ratings.
6. Do you water-test the finished unit, and for how long?
Ask whether every unit is tested or only some, how long the water runs, and whether a person is inside looking for leaks while it does.
Our answer: every specialty unit we build goes through the rain booth before it ships: at least 15 minutes under full spray, with a person inside looking for water.
7. What does the warranty cover in writing, and who does the service?
Ask for the terms by component, what is prorated, how long parts stay available, and where warranty work is done.
Our answer: the written warranty comes with the proposal. Nothing prorates, and replacement parts are available at least 2 years past the warranty. Warranty · Service
Use the list
Send the same seven questions to every bidder and keep the answers in your procurement file. If you want our answers in writing for your vehicle, ask us.
More detail: How to vet a builder (twenty questions) · Inspection checklist
Request a proposal
Tell us the vehicle. We tell you what it costs and what to attach.
Pick a plan or describe the program. Say whether you need a price, a bid package, a grant kit or a formal proposal. A person at HLE reads every request; nothing goes to a queue.
Or call 574-343-2150, 7:30 to 4:30 Eastern, and ask for Tabatha.