8000 lb tool box

[318fekim]

I drive a service van @ work that currently has 77,000 miles. My company has been changing over from the vans to F250 Ford trucks with utility bodies.
The normal trade in point is 100,000 mi. I did this a couple of years ago and it sucked as I could find no box that would fit into the utility body. I dont have measurements available but thought others may have faced this same problem. I currently use a C-man top box in the van but it wont fit in the truck even with removal of the lid and lock mech. I also have a Kennedy but dont like the thought of forcing it in there.

 

[jeep450]

You want to stick with craftsman boxes because you will have to replace them every couple of years.

The lack of suspension beats the boxes to death. Don't waste your money on anything real nice.

 

[Provincial]

I put a Craftsman box in my Stahl Grand Challenger right front compartment. In order to get it in there we had to remove the rear vertical support, insert the box with no lid, support the box with 2x4's while we replaced the vertical support and added 2x2x1/8" angle iron for the box to sit on. I bolted the bottom of the box to the angle iron supports and the drawers just clear the opening. I put a strip of 2" foam rubber on the door to hold the drawers in.

Tell your boss that custom fitting the box will cost less than putting the safety screens in a van and he should pay for the installation.

 

[318fekim]

I put a Craftsman box in my Stahl Grand Challenger right front compartment. In order to get it in there we had to remove the rear vertical support, insert the box with no lid, support the box with 2x4's while we replaced the vertical support and added 2x2x1/8" angle iron for the box to sit on. I bolted the bottom of the box to the angle iron supports and the drawers just clear the opening. I put a strip of 2" foam rubber on the door to hold the drawers in.

Gott a photo?

Tell your boss that custom fitting the box will cost less than putting the safety screens in a van and he should pay for the installation.

These are fleet vehicles and ordered at corporate level. The vans come with the screens and shelving already installed. They do have more blind spots than the trucks but I hate to give up all the storage.The last time I did this swap I had 2 pallets of stuff in our shop for a month!

 

[Provincial]

These are fleet vehicles and ordered at corporate level. The vans come with the screens and shelving already installed. They do have more blind spots than the trucks but I hate to give up all the storage.The last time I did this swap I had 2 pallets of stuff in our shop for a month!

It's a good thing you aren't dealing with my wife. If you left something sitting for a month, she would throw it out! She thinks that if you don't use something regularly, it should be thrown out.

Seriously, I have a tendency to fill up the compartments of my service bodies with stuff I never end up using. I get something extra when doing a job and it just stays on board forever. I've changed trucks three times in the last 15 years and every time I have a big pile of stuff that I don't put back on board.

Before I had service bodies I used Ford shorty vans. I had some shelves in them and they filled up just like the service body compartments. A long wheelbase van has so much room you could operate an industrial supply store out of one.

 

[nti06]

I would like to see the service body companies agree to some standard dimensions for certain compartments. Like the box over the axle. If built to one standard size, Craftsman, Snap-on, Waterloo, etc could build various configuration of drawer chests to fit these compartments. Better organization means more tools on board and being able to find them when you need them.

 

[bobcatdan]

I have a 26" top and middle friction slide craftsman in the side compartment of a dually body KUV. It has been in there since '08 and is holding up fine, I honestly have no complaints on the quality of the box.

 

[fatfillup]

Definitely want to go friction slide for a road box. BB slides won't hold up to the pounding.