# Suggestions on new truck setup please



## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

I've only worked out of a van previously and got my new truck Friday. I had my van cleaned out and just threw my personal stuff in and drove home.

I'm going to use a jet rack to mount my 6' ladder on the ceiling but I'm not sure what kind of shelving I want to do. 

I have parts bins full of conduit parts (straps, connectors, couplings...) and other typical supplies carried in your trucks.

Any pictures of your setups or ideas would be great, I want to get it right the first time :thumbsup:


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I think you took a downgrade.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Plenty o tools... no material, tho.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

Congrates on truck, I'd ask for security and for the missing door shock on the passage side. JMO your going to need both!


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

MDShunk said:


> I think you took a downgrade.


I had a 95' chevy 30 that was beat to the ground. I mainly do PQ, thermal imaging and low voltage data work so I'm not in and out of the truck to often. I have been doing a lot more commercial high voltage when that is slow. 

The parts bins I have may go to someone else but I still need to plan a good layout.

Thanks!


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

CADPoint said:


> Congrates on truck, I'd ask for security and for the missing door shock on the passage side. JMO your going to need both!


Both sides have one missing and they are on the way :thumbsup:


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## TattooMan (Feb 10, 2012)

I would suggest making a sliding drawer the length and width of the bed to keep your stuff on. A lot easier to pull a drawer out than constantly climbing in and out or reaching in from the side.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

480sparky said:


> Plenty o tools... no material, tho.


Most of my material is in my garage waiting to get on this truck...


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## stuiec (Sep 25, 2010)

Keep some kneepads by the door.

Empty the trash _every_ day.


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## CFL (Jan 28, 2009)

TattooMan said:


> I would suggest making a sliding drawer the length and width of the bed to keep your stuff on. A lot easier to pull a drawer out than constantly climbing in and out or reaching in from the side.


I've never worked out of a truck but I know tattooman is right. I would hate to have to crawl all the way up to the cab.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

I agree with _TattooMan_: I work out of a covered pickup, and your knees will hate you after the first month of crawling around in that thing.

I got a couple pieces of solid strut and some strut trolleys from McMaster Carr and built a platform between the wheel wells that can roll the whole length of the bed. 

I put on a hinged pole inside one of the pieces of strut so I can pull or push the whole setup to the front of the truck without climbing into the bed.

I'll see if I can grab pictures on Monday.

-John


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

CFL said:


> I've never worked out of a truck but I know tattooman is right. I would hate to have to crawl all the way up to the cab.


X2. Get a bed slide.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Some material in my garage


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

How long did it take you to stack it all like that? :jester:

-John


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## thegoldenboy (Aug 15, 2010)

Whats the name of that cap? I'm looking for something to throw onto my personal truck and I like the way that looks.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

thegoldenboy said:


> Whats the name of that cap? I'm looking for something to throw onto my personal truck and I like the way that looks.



it's a knap kap


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Having had a numerous vans and quite a few trucks, and if you do the least bit of service work you will, curse the day you got a pickup, at times you will want to commit suicide or kill the person who made the decision to give you the truck. I drive a truck now and really would prefer a van, except they are noisy and I try not to work.

No m atter what you do in a pick up it won't work.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

brian john said:


> Having had a numerous vans and quite a few trucks, and if you do the least bit of service work you will, curse the day you got a pickup, at times you will want to commit suicide or kill the person who made the decision to give you the truck. I drive a truck now and really would prefer a van, except they are noisy and I try not to work.
> 
> No m atter what you do in a pick up it won't work.


It wasn't my decision, but I plan to make it work the best way possible. Doing some research on sliding shelves for the floor. 

Thanks guys!


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## Theriot (Aug 27, 2011)

On a recent post someone had blue lights in their boxes,was that done with rope lights?


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

Theriot said:


> On a recent post someone had blue lights in their boxes,was that done with rope lights?


Yes, It was mine. Here.

I can blame it all (credit) to 480!


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

CADPoint said:


> Yes, It was mine. Here.
> 
> I can blame it all (credit) to 480!


Looks great! I didn't even get a chance to consider the lights in there


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## Theriot (Aug 27, 2011)

CADPoint said:


> Yes, It was mine. Here.
> 
> I can blame it all (credit) to 480!


Were they 12 volts?


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

Theriot said:


> Were they 12 volts?


yes...


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## ElectricJoeNJ (Feb 24, 2011)

Wrong thread


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Some progress as of today.

I'm using the shelves from my old van to save some $$$. Got most dents out, degreased, sanded and went with Rhino coating. Should be tougher and I like the look :thumbsup:











Storing power tools, some meters, etc... on the side compartment.












Getting some material back in













Mocking up the next shelf before painting it.













Prepping the mobile office. This will work out well for downloading thermal images and PQ data.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

That look nice and as other mention sliding bed for the parts that will be the best answer.

I have a good reason why to stay with truck due there are some are that the road is pretty rugged that ya really need the 4X4 on. ( I used pretty often ) 

Just make sure you make addtional braceings to keep the shelf stronger but leave a little spaceing on the bottom due the truck body will flex when you do the offroad driving or try to go over the curb you will know why.

Merci,
Marc


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## TattooMan (Feb 10, 2012)

Looking good man.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

frenchelectrican said:


> That look nice and as other mention sliding bed for the parts that will be the best answer.
> 
> I have a good reason why to stay with truck due there are some are that the road is pretty rugged that ya really need the 4X4 on. ( I used pretty often )
> 
> ...



I'm looking into incorporating a sliding bed, just so expensive...

Good call on extra reinforcement. This is a view from the outside, I'll be doing one more shelf above the one pictured and put an aluminum backplate to seal them off and prevent spillage into the bed.












This has actually been a fun project, If I had the cash I would have had something custom made but I think in the end it will work out well.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

you have a nice web site


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

zwodubber said:


> I'm looking into incorporating a sliding bed, just so expensive...
> ll.


The cost of doing business and saving you knees and sanity.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

I don't know if you did look at this link this may work for your situation but let me throw it out for ya.

http://www.industrialladder.com/productDetails.do?productID=3025&categoryID=406

Merci,
Marc


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

360max said:


> you have a nice web site


Thank you, I created it :thumb up:

That is part of the reason I take so many pictures of jobs we are working on. I need to update it soon though there are many projects I don't have up there yet.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

frenchelectrican said:


> I don't know if you did look at this link this may work for your situation but let me throw it out for ya.
> 
> http://www.industrialladder.com/productDetails.do?productID=3025&categoryID=406
> 
> ...


Thank you, the only other product I have seen was the extend o bed.


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## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

You forgot to blur this one out:whistling2:


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## TattooMan (Feb 10, 2012)

zwodubber said:


> Thank you, the only other product I have seen was the extend o bed.


It's not too hard to actually make one yourself and save some cash. Build a frame that can anchor down to the bed of the truck. Couple
Of 2x4s and some little L brackets will work. Get a track system from the local hardware store and make in essence a big drawer from 2x4s and plywood. Voila...maybe $75 total and a couple hours of time and you have your slider. I've seen some carpeted that look nice, but you could just spray it with the liner and it would look like the rest of your truck.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

freeagnt54 said:


> You forgot to blur this one out:whistling2:


Yeah, but I'm not going to delete it now. At least from now on I'll save some time in photoshop...


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

TattooMan said:


> It's not too hard to actually make one yourself and save some cash. Build a frame that can anchor down to the bed of the truck. Couple
> Of 2x4s and some little L brackets will work. Get a track system from the local hardware store and make in essence a big drawer from 2x4s and plywood. Voila...maybe $75 total and a couple hours of time and you have your slider. I've seen some carpeted that look nice, but you could just spray it with the liner and it would look like the rest of your truck.


Merci for mentioing about the spray liner that will really cut down the noise and reduce the damaged items inside the pickup box.

That one way you can do that if you want customized the way you want to set up.

Mine is little differnt due I have salvaged parts from forklift truck ( the lift track is dammed strong if not watching weight it can actually act like see-saw thing :blink: )

Merci,
Marc


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

TattooMan said:


> It's not too hard to actually make one yourself and save some cash. Build a frame that can anchor down to the bed of the truck. Couple
> Of 2x4s and some little L brackets will work. Get a track system from the local hardware store and make in essence a big drawer from 2x4s and plywood. Voila...maybe $75 total and a couple hours of time and you have your slider. I've seen some carpeted that look nice, but you could just spray it with the liner and it would look like the rest of your truck.



I've been using spray bed liner on the shelves I have constructed so far in the hope it will take more of a beating. As of now I have three rows of shelves cut to size for the left side. The middle row is the one installed in the pictures and I have another one for above that built and painted. These will only be accessible from the outside as I am putting a sheet metal backplate on those. I also have another shelf cut that sits just above the wheel well but needs paint.

Next is one more shelf on the right side above the wheel well and then I will attempt to build a slide out drawer for the remaining middle space. I can't promise I'll get it done or that I won't smash it in frustration when it doesn't work but I will give it a shot.

Thanks once again everyone!


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

How come your paying to kit out a company truck mate?


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

chewy said:


> How come your paying to kit out a company truck mate?


Well I'm kind of a neat freak and being able to set up my truck is good for me...

The shelves are from my old van I'm just modifying them and the boss gets receipts for reimbursement on materials. I'm really only putting time in but to me it will pay off in daily use


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

A little more progress... And I may have scored a Bed Rat :thumbsup: The guy is getting back to me soon.






















The crooked rear support is temporary, need to do some modding before the back plate goes on.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

That setup is turning out pretty slick! What is the interior height of that cap? Looks to be about 40" or so. How bad is it having to crawl into the front of that thing?


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Going_Commando said:


> That setup is turning out pretty slick! What is the interior height of that cap? Looks to be about 40" or so. How bad is it having to crawl into the front of that thing?


Thanks, I'll have to measure it tomorrow. I'm not sure off hand. It's not too bad getting to the front but I'm still kind of young.


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## Dush (Mar 31, 2012)

*Ford Transit*

We bought a Ford Transit and use it as a service van for our generator company. Other than the great mileage, the really great part about it is you can stand on the ground at any door and reach just about everything n the back! It's a gas, knee, and back saver!


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

Got the last shelf in now I just have to get the rest of my stock inside. I think it is going to work pretty well, the parts I use most will be accessible from the outside.


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## TattooMan (Feb 10, 2012)

zwodubber said:


> Got the last shelf in now I just have to get the rest of my stock inside. I think it is going to work pretty well, the parts I use most will be accessible from the outside.


It's amazing how an organized vehicle makes you want to do some work. Looks great IMO.


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

one last shot with some of the cat6 out of the way


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