hey guys I am interested in building a building a service truck on a 3rd gen dodge 3500 DRW chassis and I want to get some ideas on how to build it out can you guys posts pics of your rigs? what made you choose the box layout you did?
A lot of this is going to depend on what you want and your budget, A regular machinery service body with a crane? a flat bed with some Pro-tech boxes above an below with a Snap-on road chest on the bed? Air compressor? Welder? I'll dig out a pic of one of my trucks I like the best. Everything is set up to be worked from the ground without having to climb all over the truck.
We went with a 1974 Ford F-350 on the first round back in the early 1990's . Had a 460 tier something engine and KNAPHEIDE tool bed . Miller 250 trailblazer welder , torch tanks , gas drive air compressor & electric crane . Coal mine mechanic showed me how to set it up & what to do with it . "Thanks Ike " Payed for itself many times wrenching on customers equipment in the field and our junk . They are a money machine .
Well Im open on budget right now, I an interested in a dedicated service bed. Im not a professional mechanic the purpose of the bed is to have all my tools and equipment organized and have a full usable bed. I need to be able to fix trailers, random small equipment and whatever else comes my way. I dont need a crane right now but I would like to have the option to add 1 in the future. I was thinking about frame mounting a small air compressor so it is out of the way I would like to have a 2000-3500 watt generator kept on my top lid tie down with E-track but from what I was told by 1 service bed manufacture it would not be possible to have E-track mounted on the Top lid because it will mess up the hinge alignment has anyone done that?
This is my old beast, it needs paint but has never had a chance to hold still long enough.
Is that crane a 6006E? Dam, I sure miss mine...…...I grew up with the full electric rigs and used them up until a couple of years ago. The hydraulic one I have now just doesn't feel right.
Yep, I got it nearly free from a company that was tired of messing with electrical issues on it (they had no ground brush on the turntable spindle). 200 bucks worked for me.
Those were nice service cranes ! Auto Crane is top's in my book http://autocrane.us/about-auto-crane/ What I liked about the electric crane was it just needed a battery to work . Did not have to fire the truck up & engage the PTO . Hand held control was sure handy .
I use it in the shop all the time with the battery charger running the show.
I like the torch location RZucker, I see a lot of welder beds by me now where they have the tanks up in the truck, mounted at a 30 deg. angle behind the cab or just behind the welder. I've seen them change bottles and it sure doesn't look easy.
They don't have an Auto Crane .
The truck was originally a Union Pacific rail welding truck and the torch cylinder rack was already there, but I do like that feature (or my back does), again I can run everything on this truck with my feet on the ground. The air compressor has a remote start and choke so I don't have to climb up to run it. It's been a good rig for 20 years.
No kidding, My Chevy 1 ton has the cylinders right behind the cab in the service body standing vertically, most of the time I use the crane to swing them out using a small "s" hook in the cap hole. Just don't tell uncle OSHA.
I always thought the cap was certified rigging point it's just to simple to not use LOL
Box layout is all on preference if your on the side of the road all the time it might be smarter to put your drawers and hand tools on the passenger side I personally say the bigger and stouter the work bench bumper is the better there is never enough room on them The thing I have learned with 1 tons and why I hate them is you have to put some thought into what you can carry and what you can't carry it doesn't take long to overload them
those are good suggestions thank you, I will definitely have my go to tools and equipment on the passenger side the reason for it being a 1 ton is that its gonna be my daily driver as well. Does anyone have top lid drawers? Do you have E-track installed on them?
I have one that I tapped and threaded a lifting eye into. A full T tank of argon or whatever is 100+ lbs. I don't want to lift that...
Have done the same with a J- hook off the service crane pulling tanks . Don will pardon us for the infraction if it sped up production & cut cost's . " Swap that tank out fast " LOL
Just think of it as beer keg and get loading it by hand. After all you do make beer money from it.
My take on driverside tool boxes is that I'm not trying to walk around in the dark on a steep, washed out shoulder bank, or up against a snowbank or guardrail. I like to get as far to the right as possible and not see much of the off side of the truck in the dark.
That and you can see if someone is coming at you about to hit you as oppose to passengers side your view is obstructed by all the equipment.
That too.
Like I said box layout is all preference I have only worked out of one truck set up on the passenger it was really nice in downtown traffic My own trucks I always put the tools right behind the driver door it's just fast and easy most of the time The other thing we set up was a welding trailer and that helps a lot in a 1 ton for space
Are you buying or building a bed
Im buying a bed + customizing it
What bed
Ive been checking out the highway products bed it seems to be very well built and aesthetically looks nice but I am open to ideas
Just a flatbed? Look at CM beds, they have a really nice bed that has 2 service style compartments in front of the rear tires and a flatbed rear half with underbody boxes. Been looking at that setup for my next 1 ton. Or I'll just build it.
here is the bed i am looking at and then doing some customization for my needs https://www.highwayproducts.com/c/truck-service-bodies/p/standard-service-bodies/
For some reason all I got was their flatbeds when I checked them out. Now I see the service bodies... If that's in your budget, more power to you. To me that's overpriced fluff. A good used body would be a good place to start, and steel is easier to modify than aluminum.
Looking at the other brands of service beds it seems like HPI has much better quality and looks as this is a truck that will also be a daily driver I want it to be a little bit more sleek. I priced out some other beds and they had roughly the same base starting price as the HPI
And what kind of work do you do? Sure you wont need a crane? (couldnt find any cranes on the hpi website.) As far as tools go on which side, I prefer the driver side because I work with my crane a lot, and its easier to be on the crane side. I dont work on the side of the road so thats not an issue either. I had a '13 f750 with a stellar body/crane. Now I have an '18 f750 with a palfinger body/crane (I now work for palfinger so it makes sense we use our own equipment). Current truck has all the tool boxes on the driver side which I dont like, in the future, ill order it opposite. I was always interested in the smaller trucks though, especially the ram 5500's and f550's. Most of the work I do can be done from a smaller truck. However it is nice having a lot of oil, tools, lifting capacity. Interested to see your truck when its done.