The Service Body Before the Service Body

When I first got into the auto business in 1972, this photo was a common product. It is a stepside pickup where the outside fender has been removed and a set of boxes mounted in its place. I worked at a Chevy dealership then and we could order this same job straight from the factory. You could also order certain plain flatbeds back then. Bailment Pool body companies as they are today, did not exist then except a very few nationwide. I just happened to have my camera out and was able to catch this view back to the past. It has been a lot of years since I have seen one.

Medium Duty Rollback from Ledwell & Son Enterprises

Medium Duty Rollback from Ledwell & Son Enterprises, Inc. of Texarkana, Texas and Fayetteville, North Carolina. These great rollbacks are available in 20', 22' and 24' lengths and have steel construction with 20,000 lb. capacity. They are available in 96" and 102" widths and come with full headache rack with chain rack, work lights and turn signals. A powerful hydraulic winch is included. Bed area is diamond plate steel over wood deck or hardwood deck with heavy duty side rails with stake pockets or key hole slots. The unit has a sharp tapered tail for easy loading.

See this and other rollback models along with a complete line of other products at their website: www.ledwell.com. You can call them at 888-533-9355.

Custom Drawers In Custom Cabinet by Brutus Bodies

This is a great cabinet and it is loaded with a great set of drawers. What is really nice about this group of drawers is the various sizes, especially the largest drawer. It is perfect to have the flexibility to carry different size things securely in drawers. Brutus Bodies makes some great custom cabinets and drawers to satisfy any market and they can ship them directly to your location. See all the great options on their website at www.brutusbodies.com.

Great Red Low Pro Service Body

I ran across this shot and just had to add it to the blog. I think it is a 2000 Ford 56" CA box delete chassis with a Harbor 9' Low Pro Service Body. This unit has a 2-pc cargo bed enclosure, master lock system, tapered material rack (used to be 1"x2" tubing like this, but now most are 2"x2" or 2"x3"), aluminum treadbrite lid covers, stainless steel vise bracket, and more. The chassis is an XLT uplevel trim with nice Alcoa aluminum wheels from the factory.

It is so rare to see low pro service bodies in dealer inventory and especially a dually low pro, but I gotta say that this truck is awesome! I think it works extremely well. It is also very nice to be something other than white. Here's to more low pro bodies!

An Extreme Dump Truck Value: Valew

Valew Dump Trucks are built with keeping in mind quality, innovation, and service. We offer not only both Elliptical (Tub) and Box Dump Bodies in three different sizes: 10' 5 Yard, 12' 7 Yard, and 15' 10 Yard, but we also offer a variety of Brand New and Pre-Owned two and three axle chassis to choose from that these bodies can be mounted on such as Ford, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbilt, and Sterling. In addition to multiple Dump Bodies, chassis and engines (ranging from 190 hp to 430 hp) to choose from, Valew Dump Trucks can also be custom painted the color our customers want and built with a variety of options to suit our customer's needs.

Valew Dump Bodies

• Valew Dump Bodies are offered in two styles, Box Dump or Elliptical (Tub) Dump.
• Bodies have been specifically designed for extreme use.
• All steel gauges have been increased for greater durability.
• Box Bodies are constructed with our Double Wall Design, so any beating on the inside won't appear on the outside.
• Board Slots are Standard and we offer optional Steel Boards.
• All necessary Warning and Maintenance Stickers placed where appropriate

See all the great bodies that Valew builds at www.valew.com. You can call them at 760-246-4878, or send an email to sales@valew.com.

Hillsboro G II Steel Truck Bed

Experience the next generation in Hillsboro Steel Truck Beds with their rugged construction, innovative features and superior quality. The new G II Hillsboro Steel Truck Beds offer the ultimate in quality features and options. Stake pockets and tie rails let you secure loads quickly and easily. The PPG epoxy primer and polyurethane paint finish provide enhanced aesthetics and service life.

Optional, weather-resistant toolboxes add protected storage for tools and other equipment. Constructed from 14-gauge steel with a 10-gauge steel door, the box features a locking, stainless steel t-latch and recessed door with weather seal and greaseable hinges.

Standard Features

• Two-year warranty
• Epoxy primer
• Black polyurethane paint
• Louvered headache rack w/ sealed beam lights
• 1/8-inch steel treadplate deck
• Mounting plate with 26K ball & flush mount lid
• 5" structural long sills
• 2 1/2" crossmembers
• Sealed beam lights (6) stop, turn & tail and (4) back-up
• Sealed beam I.D. lights in rear of bed
• Dual tag lights
• Inboard stake pockets
• 6" fold-down sides w/ multiple tie locations
• Sides have greasable hinges, slam latch & rubber bump stop
• Rear tailboard with receiver hitch
• Board holders across front and back of bed
• Hillsboro mudflaps
• Enclosed wiring harness
• 7 wire trailer socket
  

Please visit Hillsboro's website to see all the truck beds and trailers they manufacture. Their website is www.hillsboroindustries.com. You can also contact them at 800-835-0209.

Nice Rugby Dump with Tommy Lift-N-Dump

Larry Zech with Harbor Truck Bodies sent me these shots of a Rugby 2-3 yard dump with fold-down sides and a Tommy Lift-N-Dump dumping liftgate. These shots really show off the usefulness of the liftgate and it doubles as a dumping tailgate when needed. This unit also has a tarp mounted in the cab guard and a hitch. Joel Cryer, the Fleet/BusinessLink Manager is the recipient of this great truck. Joel is the manager at Carson Dodge in Carson City, Nevada. You can reach him at 888-883-2028. Visit their website at www.carson-jeep.com.

Now, That's A Road Hazard!

I've seen a few things go through tires and I'm certain that Fairfield Tire Service has seen hundreds more. In visiting their store recently, I found a unique road hazard that took out a low profile tire: An adjustable wrench! I ask myself, "how in the world did that happen?" There must be a way, for there it is!

When You're Carrying Heavy Things. . .

When you're carrying heavy things like this load of rebar, you need a heavy duty chassis, and in this case, a heavy duty rack! Look at all those crossbars! In addition, it is made out of 2"x3" material. In this case this rack is sitting on a GM4500 crew cab with a contractor body. Considering that there is probably about 3,000 lbs. on the rack, it looks like the right choice for this job.

SRW Cutaway Van Body with Aluminum Wheels

I saw this truck the other day and just had to take some shots of it. I have seen a great number of cutaway van bodies, but so very few with nice aluminum wheels on it. And, what a difference they make in the way the truck looks. In this case, the wheels are pretty dirty, especially the front with brake dust, but they still make the truck look better than it would be without them.

This is also such a great unit because it is a single rear wheel van body made with FRP panels, and it has a Tommy Liftgate as well. Even though this unit is low to the ground, when you have heavy things to load, a liftgate is the way. This unit is owned by O'Connell Jetting Systems of Benicia, CA. They specialize in pressure washing systems. You can call them at 800-320-4848 and please check out their website at www.oconnelljettingsystems.com.

A Better Solution For The Typical Service Body?

Why should we let the First Response, Fire & Rescue have all the really cool and useful bodies? I think that this particular body is a perfect service body to be well used by almost any service industry from mechanics to electricians to emergency road service.

I look at these pictures and I ignore the emergency red lights, yet I delight in the rest of it. Recently I wrote of the aluminum shutter doors on van bodies and other units and how valuable they are compared to typical, more common doors. On these First Response vehicles, the shutter door is very common and demonstrates its usefulness very nicely.

The top photo shows so nicely the fully open compartments with great, easily moveable shelving. I love the finish on the inside, the smart lighting, and especially the larger than normal compartments for maximum size storage of the important cargo each carries in service bodies. Notice also how the shutter doors roll up inside at the top of the compartment, giving up-close access. No more doors in the way to reach around or over. Notice them also closed and secure and they may be painted body color or left as aluminum finish.

Notice at the rear, the very nice and deep bumper and the great rear compartment that is fully accessed with a bedslider to make it extremely functional for even taller items. Another thing I love about this body is that it is approximately cab height, so causes no wind resistance, and looks great on the chassis. It is available for single rear and dual rear units as desired.

The unit shown was manufactured by Warner Bodies of Noblesville, Indiana. Warner Bodies was founded in 1939. You can see more examples of this kind of body at www.warnerbodies.com. You may call them at 317-773-2100.

Cab Chassis Frame vs Box Off Pickup Frame

In these photos it is easy to see the difference in frames comparing the pickup with the bed removed and a true cab chassis. The pickup box delete truck is exactly that: a pickup built without the pickup bed so a different body can be installed. The major manufacturers certify these as "box off" trucks and for all intents and purposes call them chassis cabs.

The true cab chassis has a straight rail frame of the same height and a standardized width of 34" because it is designed specifically to have aftermarket bodies of every different kind installed. This makes mounting bodies more uniform and it makes it easy to swap one from a Ford to a Chevy to a Dodge to an Isuzu to a Hino to a International and they are all so similar in dimensions and basic design for the body application.

The pickup frame is somewhat wider generally and is not usually flat. This makes it more challenging in various body applications and especially in swapping them from one manufacturer to the next. They are generally also limited to 56" CA and so typically take only an 8' bed or body whereas the chassis cab comes in various cab-to-axle dimensions to accommodate a wide variety of bodies.

This is too basic for many of you, but when I ran across these photos, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to show these two frame styles.

When I Hear Someone Say "Sale-Proof," I Get Excited!!

This is a rare combination--at least on dealer's lots. It is a "low pro" service body with a cargo bed enclosure. In this case it is a 3-piece cargo bed enclosure, which when opened, opens up two thirds of the bed area. It is a "low pro" because the top of the lids is approximately at the bottom of the rear window compared to the standard height body where the lids are at about the middle of the rear window. It is rare to find the low pro and the cargo bed enclosure. Matter of fact, I would probably hit 200 truck dealers and not find one.

I sold two of these once, or at least this is how they ended up. So the manager called me and told me they were "sale-proof" and he was unhappy about receiving them. I said I would find a way to take care of it, but before I could do that, someone came in and bought both of them. So, when people tell me sale-proof, I get excited because time and time again, when I have heard that, it was a very short time before they were sold. Everything is saleable.

And. . . I think this low pro and cargo bed enclosure is a great unit! I think it is more than saleable, and an excellent choice for stock. Of course, that would only be for the bold. . .

A Twist On A Combo Body From Harbor Truck

This is a little twist on a combo body from Harbor Truck Bodies in Brea, CA. Harbor calls this the ComboMaster Body and the twists are these:

This unit has a horizontal series on the curbside and vertical series on the streetside. It is very unusual to see a horizontal series on a combo body--matter of fact, this is the first I have seen in all the years I have been around bodies. Horizontal series means that the horizontal compartment extends beyond the normal place just over the wheel well and usually it extends to the end of the body to the rear and then instead of having a vertical door, there is a small square door and compartment.

In the case of the combo body, there is no rear vertical compartment, so in this case the horizontal compartment is extended through the second vertical compartment to the front and the smaller square compartment below. Very interesting mix on compartments. This style allows for longer tools and other objects to be stored in the much longer horizontal compartment.

The other twist which has become more common as time moves forward is the fold-down gates and then the spray-on liner has become very popular too. This particular body also has the Master Lock System, Stainless Steel Open Top Lids and a Forklift Loadable Rack which is bolted, not welded on and has no posts at the rear allowing full use of the work area which makes the combo such a popular unit.

Check out all the offerings at www.htbi.net or call Harbor at 800-433-9452. Tell them the blog sent you!

The Littlest Service Body from Warner Bodies

This is the Warner Bodies' Junior Select Series, and it is built to store and lock tools in its compartment while retaining the versatility of the smaller chassis it sits on. It could very well be the littlest service body.

Features:

• Warner Bodies' exclusive 5-year warranty guarantees life of unit

• Aluminum treadplate compartment tops give long lasting, abrasion resistant work area

• Stainless Steel lockable latches provide superior security and long life

• Lift and lock tailgate allows one-handed operation

• A60 Galvanneal steel has 50% more rust resistance than industry standards

• Stronger doors from double panel construction

• Clip on automotive door seals provide watertight compartments

Popular Options:

• Aluminum front rock guards eliminate paint chips from flying debris

• Sliding drawer unit in horizontal compartment allows for organized storage

• Top opening compartment for additional storage

• Master locking system provides improved ease-of-use and increased security

• Full FMVSS light system increases safety on the road and trail

See all the great bodies available from Warner Bodies, at www.warnerbodies.com. You can also call them at 317-773-2100.