New work truck, Mishmosh of issues.

[TheReelMuhcoy]

Hey guys,
My business partner and I have been talking about picking up a work truck for various reasons and we knew the only thing we would settle for and agree upon is a 6.0. After looking at many different options that were way out of our price range we stumbled upon a Craigs List listing of a 2003 F350 Extended cab 8' bed (so we thought) with a utility body on it, and came with a plow, pictured below.

They were asking $8900, we thought we were getting a steal! They told us the engine was swapped out with an 06 motor that had 30K miles. The utility body was a bit crappy supposedly was from an old body truck and was a few inches shorter so they added a bin to the front of i; not wanted but we could deal with it and we figured sell it and put a pick up bed on. The body has 180K miles (not bad), and it came with a lightly used plow. KBB suggested $13,000. So we thought it was a good deal.

Registering a vehicle commercially to a business in NJ sucks, waiting about 2 weeks after filing for a CORPCODE to get the vehicle registered and on the road. Expecting a nasty snow storm we decided it was best just to have the truck ready to plow just in case, went to start it and all it did was crank. Turns out that there is a HPO leak somewhere in the system. We dropped it off with our mechanic who noticed the metal fuel tank and realized that the truck was really a Cab & Chassis. Meanwhile I ran the VIN of the CAB which says "Pickup Truck". Thats when we realized this truck was about 5 trucks put gether to make one... We're biting the bullet and dumping more money in it to correct the BS issues and bullet proof it so we can tow all day with it.

Bottom line, I talked with a guy at Dicks Auto Parts in Indiana who sells pick up boxes, he mentioned that he can sell us an extension for the front of the bed to fill in the void between the cab and the bed box that follows the contours of the body. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Have any pictures? Know where else I can get it from? I am happy to buy it form these guys at Dicks, but I just want to see how it looks, how it works, etc.


Thanks guys! :morons:

 

[Spatel23]

Ive seen it before, buddy of mine has one.

Ill snap a picture next time Im there.

Doesnt look too bad at all.

 

[AirFishAutomotive]

We run into this a lot with dually trucks and everyone told us they stopped making them but I have seen them before and they do look decent the old 450 trucks they did conversions on use to use a filler panel. You will still have to put some bracing under the bed where the frame is straight and also re run the fuel lines so you can hook up in front of the wheel which looks like you may have already there with the fill spots on the body.


Btw all cab n chassis trucks have rear mounted fuel tanks so that should of been a dead giveaway.

What are the plans for the truck?

 

[TheReelMuhcoy]

We overlooked the steel rear mounted tank, instead we looked for all of the other give-away's for head gaskets, etc.

The truck will be strictly used for towing our trailers, 4 out of 5 days of the week. To and from job sites, picking up materials etc. Our work trailer is 7,000lbs, and our dump trailer sees up to 13,000lbs. Purely a work horse. Anyone have any idea who sells this kit? We're really curious to see what it looks like, we might put a 2012 bed on it since they're still cheap.

 

[TheReelMuhcoy]

POST THOUGHT:
The fact that it is a Cab & Chassis doesn't bother us. Its the fact that the body isn't the original one to the chassis, neither is the engine original to either one. Just kind of scary, I think we will nickname it "FRANKENSTROKE"

You will still have to put some bracing under the bed where the frame is straight and also re run the fuel lines so you can hook up in front of the wheel which looks like you may have already there with the fill spots on the body.

The mechanic that is doing the work said something that you cannot put a pickup bed on a Cab & Chassis because the frame rails are narrower on a C&C than on a regular pick-up. I think that is not at all true but I wanted to see what you thought. If all we have to do is add some bracing, that's the least of my worries.


Anyone interested in the utility bed/box? Needs some TLC but its all there.

 

[89xj]

Cab an chassis frames are narrower then regular truck frame. The box can go on, the easiest way to mount it is to blow some new bolt holes in the floor of the box to line up with the frame. Or you can make "brackets" the go from the original bolt holes in the box to the frame. Kinda angle iron sort of thing.

 

[OldschoolPSD]

C&C trucks are 60" cab to axle with 34" frame rail spacing, pickups are 57" cab to axle with 37" frame rail spacing. Just FWI.

 

[getstroked27]

look up sauber manufacturing, im a fabricator there, see what we can do to help buddy.

 

[TheReelMuhcoy]

look up sauber manufacturing, im a fabricator there, see what we can do to help buddy.

I know a place I can buy a premade kit for $325, think you guys would be able to one off something for that price?

 

[getstroked27]

LOL I doubt it bro. To be honest were ungodly pricey. But we typically do big contract jobs. For 325 bucks I'd say do it man!


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[Jeremy]

To bad you are so far away. I found this bed forsale and its on a cc frame. These royal sport beds are $$, since they aren't made anymore. Might not be what your looking for though.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=678&ad=28785362

 

[TheReelMuhcoy]

:drool: those are the nicest boxes, too bad it's too far away. My business partner has seemed to have had a change of heart for the existing utility body, thinks we may put some good use to it. We will see how it works out. We are still interested to see how a Chassis & Cab with bed and extenders looks. Could fit a decent fuel cell between there.