Build your own service truck!

[lanceman73]

I built this in front of my garage, as you can see in some of the pics the concrete. I live in San Diego county, which is pretty well populated. But, oh well, dream it, weld it!!! Right?

Build it from scratch and weld it up myself like you did no. Just don't have the facilities to build it and move it around. Thought about it though.

I did spend quite a bit of time designing this one and had it custom built for me. Spent almost 2 years deciding how I wanted it built.


Attachment 14860

Attachment 14861

Attachment 14862

Attachment 14863


Modifications from a standard body. Started off as one of their crane bodies as far as a partial basic door layout and deleted out the extra reinforcing for the crane tower. Extra reinforcing on the side walls so I could mount D rings where needed. Had the boxes raised to 5', the max height they could and narrowed the boxes to widen the bed to 60" minimum. Had the front compartment split into 2 sections with double doors on the 2nd compartment. Also flipped to layout so the single door was 1st so if I add the aux fuel tank I can go thru the single box for the pump hoses. The box over the wheels has split adj shelves added. Wanted the double door config over the wheels.

Had the top raised to give me a minimum of 60" vert height inside so I can stand up 4X8 sheets. Had the pipe doors added to the upper shelves so I can store long 10' lengths of pipe. Don't find them as useful as the ones in the old truck but they were not that much extra so figured it couldn't hurt. Roof is a 3 piece sliding design so I can access the roof rack that I am working on now, and let me have large stuff stick out the top like doors and such.

Had the doors over tailgate done because I hate the limited vis out the back and wanted the option to remove the doors if I found them too much of a PITA. The tailgate lets me have large 12' sheets stick out and still keep the back closed up.

Thought about a possum door under the tail gate for a ramp but it became too much of a pain to get them to make the changes I wanted so I went with out it. I plan on most likely cutting one in now that I have the truck and a ramp to try and store. There's more room under the floor than I was lead to believe so that is almost a given at this point. I also plan on using the space between the frame and boxes to add extra batteries for the inverter eventually when funds become available.

I thought about a sweet work bumper that the offered with storage, but it made the truck to long for my purposes. The front pass box is getting tank bottle mounts and there is a set in the bed that I can use. Roof will cover a 282 cf bottle.

There's a few more mods that will likely be done this winter if funds are available and work is slow. There are a few minor things I might have done different to the body but overall I'm happy with it. The mileage the cab and chassis get sucks however. I just wished it had not taken as long to get the body built as it meant I ended up with the new 08 Ford rather than the 07 without all the emissions BS on it.

[lanceman73]

I built this in front of my garage, as you can see in some of the pics the concrete. I live in San Diego county, which is pretty well populated. But, oh well, dream it, weld it!!! Right?

I've got a real good inverter that I've been using. It has 50 amps and four outlets. I can run a 15 amp pump and a 2500 psi pressure washer at the same time. If you are interested, let me know, I've used all kinds of inverters and generators in the past.
Lance

[mooseman63825]

I have alot experience with inverters there is alot of hidden facts and myths that alot of people don't really pay attention to when purchasing them especially in a commercial enviroment.

here is a few of my rules

1.believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.

Reason being there is no governing body to tell you that what they put on the box for that inverter is true or not. So as soon as you see the max and cont. wattage on a inverter automatically cut that number in half even if they give the correct numbers its nice to have a solid cushion as alot of our toys have a heavy start up wattage.

2.Location Location Location.
Finding a good place to mount your new unit can be a challenge. Where do you want the outlets how much wire are you wanting to run. Is their a good location for a good solid ground wire. Where should i place it in case i do pop a fuse when i power up my tools ( I have built many custom inverter/breaker boxes with built in voltage/amp gauges to tell you how many amps you are pulling and the current charge of your batteries and to make the units easy to reset in case of a overload). proper ventilation is key as well as MOSFETS tend to get very very hot under load

3.What tools do intend to run on a daily basis
this rule really should be the first thing you consider when looking into inverter over generator. what is the wattage my power tool uses at start up as well as normal running and under load and how many items running at any given this is crucial as overloading the unit will cause breakers to blow and premature system wear and massive amounts of heat which will destroy mosfets quickly

anywho enough on my long post just thought i would throw in my two cents worth

don't forget a alternator upgrade maybe needed as well most local alternator shops can do this for you and build it to the amperage you need
(Learned most of this when i was in the marine corp building stuff for my buddies cars for them to run computers and such plus i had to make them look cool lol )

[lanceman73]

I'd like to check it out but there are no pics.

there are lot's, so please check it out!

[lanceman73]

Thats amazing work

This was all about total control of the fabrication. My needs and quality of strength. Most bodies are made of thin material, and mine, was made of 10 ga. floors and 14 ga. skin and double sided.

[albertawelder]

Very nice job..I like where you have the reels on the back near the bottom. Do you find they work well back there? Are they manual or automatic?

[lanceman73]

A few new job pictures! Enjoy.

[lanceman73]

Very nice job..I like where you have the reels on the back near the bottom. Do you find they work well back there? Are they manual or automatic?

They are spring recoil loaded. I've got pressure washer, nitrogen, oxy/act, 110V Power, and air.

[lanceman73]

It was 6K pounds of material when said and done! All American made, by the way! Have fun and do crazy projects.

[m.k.swelding]

The Body looks good the truck on the other hand the truck is kinda small. but i guess it works for you.