i have been using old buicks to deliver mail as an rca. going on 10 years now. worked well until now. Im starting to get sciatica, can feel it when i do long routes for a week or so at a time. so started looking around at rhd. Postal pete is out of the question at the moment. 42k for a jeep with 13k miles on it, or 20k for a jeep with 150k. not gonna happen. what are the other options? i see usdriveright and some other japanese importers. 25 year old vehicles. but lower mileage and cheaper. any experience with these? Thing is, nobody wants to finance those, at least for doing anything than being in a collection. So id have to find 15k cash to get one. Seems like youre kind of screwed whichever way you turn on this subject.
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- Thread starter johnwayne
- Start date
Having bought 2 new from postal pete, I agree stay as far away as possible. But having said that, 15 years in, and both shoulders blown, I can't go back to driving my buick either. I currently do have 2 RHD, one in the shop with only 5500 miles and tons of electrical issues, the other has 276,000 miles so praying everytime I drive it. My suggestion, which is what I am going to do, get a pedal kit from dualbrake.com the fat2 system, it won't help the shoulder in my case, but it will cut down on the sciatica that I also deal with. Its around a $400 investment plus having it installed for me cuz I can't do it myself, but have heard its not hard if you are mechanically inclined at all.
another carrier had that installed in a jeep. he had constant trouble with the cables.
Ok, good to know, I have not heard of any bad things with it, so I guess this is a first for me. Currently not needed, but if Jeep doesn't start production soon on a new RHD, we are all going to be in a pickle. The other thing about the older stuff from US driveright, I had one, not from them, but 97 cherokee, I sold it last year because to be honest parts are obsolete and almost impossible to find, some things have to be sent away to be rebuilt. Mine was the window switch, couldn't get one anywhere, finally got a Left hand one, it worked, but made the buttons in reverse order and had to file the openings to make it fit in the spot, but other things like heater core almost impossible to find, luckily when mine was acting up a flush fixed the issue temporarily.
I had trouble finding a core also. Bought a core for LHD and a local radiator shop cut the fittings off and welded them back on in reverse order. So far no problems.
Ive never been around an aftermarket conversion. They always looked kind of "mickey mouse" to me. but are a lot cheaper in the near term anyway.
Havenowgone
Well-known member
When I had to supply a POV I had dual controls installed which worked great for me. There were no RHD vehicles made at the time and I had real trouble stretching and reaching pedals in a LHD from the right side. I would not have lasted delivering like that. By having dual controls installed it opened up a lot of options for me. Almost any vehicle made was now in the picture as well as any year so I could find a vehicle that met my budget, was right for my route and one that was never used for delivery purposes. Getting dual controls allowed me to continue in my career until I retired after 41 years of service. Without them I wouldn't have survived rural delivery and would have been forced either to retire on disability, find another job with the USPS or just quit. I highly recommend them. Try John Bardin in NY state or Morgans dual controls. They each have advertised in the national paper and good luck.
index (Bardin dual controls)
Home Page (Morgan dual controls)
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I have a Toyota MasterAce Surf van that works great for me. It shares some common parts with other Toyotas. It is a diesel, engine parts are a bit hard to find. I have to look overseas. If you look on the internet, there are exporters in Japan with lots full of RHD vehicles...even Jeep Cherokees. Mileage is low, typically less than 80k and prices are around $8k. I paid $7k for my van. I was able to finance through USAA.
Ive been considering going that route. i do need 4wd where i m at. so the vans arent much use to me. But i have seen some 4runners that might be worth the cash. but again with the financing. I cant see how anyone will finance a 25 year old car to do the business we are doing. at least not at a reasonable rate.
Morty
Well-known member
Dual pedals are a great option.
Installation tips: pull back carpet on passengers side, place 3/4" plywood underneath. Mount the padal base to that.
Drivers side, get a piece of iron scrap or from the box store next to the dowels. Sometimes they have predrilled holes. Theres always bolts on the firewall to mount too. There will be an attachment point for the gas under the carpet. Mount pulleys to iron and floor.
Everything has to be sturdy or your wire will go bad. Ive had this on 3 cars. On my last car after over 100k miles, the cable showed no wear. My pedals were sturdy and my pulleys sturdy and lined up correctly.
Installation tips: pull back carpet on passengers side, place 3/4" plywood underneath. Mount the padal base to that.
Drivers side, get a piece of iron scrap or from the box store next to the dowels. Sometimes they have predrilled holes. Theres always bolts on the firewall to mount too. There will be an attachment point for the gas under the carpet. Mount pulleys to iron and floor.
Everything has to be sturdy or your wire will go bad. Ive had this on 3 cars. On my last car after over 100k miles, the cable showed no wear. My pedals were sturdy and my pulleys sturdy and lined up correctly.
Rt2mailman
Well-known member
I've had 3 of carriers in my office order in Japanese Rhd vehicles and have had real good luck with them. All were under $5000 with very low 40,000 -70,000 miles (but listed in kilometres). One carrier applied for a loan on a vehicle he owned outright and used the $ to buy his Rhd. His credit union said that was no problem and I think he got 3.9% interest on it. There are ways to get a rhd, but if I was in a bind I would go with an old Buick/Oldsmobile, because they are fairly big and usually owned by a Grandma, so they are in good shape.
John Winger
Active member
If you're interested in financing, check out PenFed. It's the Pentagon Federal Credit Union. If you're a veteran or active duty it's free to join. All others can join for a $15 donation. They have the best customer service of any financial institution I've ever dealt with. I needed a new RHD 2 years ago and they were the only bank that would loan for a used vehicle. I ended up getting a 2005 Wrangler with a 1.9% interest rate. Interestingly enough someone on Reddit, on the USPS subreddit, recommended PenFed.
My van is 4WD, with manual locking hubs. It's really great, especially when I get stuck in a driveway with 12 inches of gravel. Just lock the hubs, put it in 4 high and go.
I financed it with USAA, got a great rate and low payment.
offx1degree
Member
Has anyone used a cvt on your route? As I have looked around, so many all wheel drives have a cvt, ie: Subaru, for example.
