Isuzu is celebrating 35 years of selling trucks in America in 2019, and today the company rules the small but important low-cab forward market in America. Like all chassis cabs, these low-cab forward units can be upfitted for a zillion different vocations — from landscape dump bodies to hauling flatbeds to snowplow vehicles with giant salt spreaders in the back — but mostly they go into the pickup-and-delivery market.
Recently I found a new favorite cab forward upfit that I hadn’t encountered before — the craft beer truck.
Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. has developed this awesome beer buggy in collaboration with Supreme (a custom body maker), Delivery Concepts Inc. (a manufacturer of specialty temperature-controlled upfit solutions for the food and beverage industries) and Bottle Logic Brewing (an Anaheim-based craft brewer).
Just imagine rolling large to festivals, street fairs and other specialty events in this high-tech beer wagon. This particular chassis is an Isuzu NRR with a 150-in. wheelbase and an impressive 19,500-lb GVWR to accommodate heavier payloads. Learn about gross vehicle weight ratings over here, Copernicus.
This truck is not only beefy, but it’s agile too. The Isuzu low-cab forward design features a 49.5-degree wheel-cut angle, ideal when you’re trying to finagle this rolling serving station into awkward and crowded public spaces. With that nimbleness comes solid visibility (always a selling point of cab forward designs), allowing drivers to see the ground within 8 ft of the front of the truck, and an 85-degree door-swing angle means entry and exit are easy for deliveries and setup.
This NRR chassis is powered by an impressive diesel power plant — Isuzu’s 5.2-liter turbocharged diesel engine which generates 215 hp and 452 lb-ft of torque, for an impressive combination of fuel economy and performance. Moving beyond the chassis, what is exactly engineered into this beer serving truck upfit? Here we go…
- A 16-ft. Supreme Kold King insulated body (16 ft L x 91 in. H x 96 in. W) that is cooled with a Thermo King 680R with electric standby. This setup will provide ample space for kegs and crates while keeping the product refrigerated. The electric standby gives brewers more flexibility in loading the truck in the evening for the next morning’s delivery, all while keeping the product cooled.
- A 2,500-lb Maxon TE25L tuck-away liftgate with side steps to help ease loading and unloading during delivery. E-track has been mounted on the interior of the body at a special height to secure kegs during transit.
- Two 24-in. x 24-in. toolboxes (one on each side) store tables, chairs and event material. A 15-ft overhead retractable awning provides shade for servers and customers alike. When at live events, this will make set-up and operation a cinch.
- Of course, a tap system! The driver’s side of the body has an eight-tap beer station integrated into the side with a 10-gal overflow tank and a special mounting on the body’s interior for the CO2 manifold. Covering the taps on the exterior, is a locking door that swings up to serve as a menu board. LED lights illuminate the taps to provide a clean hi-tech appearance.
For more information, call (866) 441-9638 or visit www.isuzucv.com. Watch the video above to learn more.
Jillian Riches says
July 30, 2019 at 10:15 pmAshley O’Brien Curran Mead