Turning Your Work Truck Into A Rolling Toolbox

If you work out of your truck, and you have a full toolbox, it might be time to consider doing something to add more storage and make the truck much more useful. Depending on what you use the truck for, there are many different utility bodies that might work better for you than the original truck bed that came on the truck.

Open Top Utility Bodies

One of the many options available when it comes to truck utility bodies is an open top body that offers tool boxes along the outside of the body but retains a small cargo area or bed. The area is not as large as the original bed, but it will allow you to carry some materials or parts with the truck. While the cargo load may be reduced, it does still offer you some versatility while giving you the bonus of the toolboxes that allow you to secure and organize the tools and equipment you use daily. These aftermarket bodies can be made from many different materials, but often aluminum is chosen to save weight.

Closed Bodies

Like the open top bodies, these utility bodies offer a lot of additional storage but do not have the open air bed in the back. While they do have storage in the rear, you have to open the doors to access it, and in many cases, the rear area is filled with selves to add even more storage. While you can carry things in the back, boxes of things, cans of paint, small items that you might need on the job, and maybe some parts are about all that will fit in them. A lot depends on how the truck is set up inside though, and for someone that works with parts that are fairly small, the shelves can hold a lot of things that might even make the truck more versatile.

Buying A Utility Body

If you are in the market for a utility body, there are a lot of truck dealers that sell and install them. Take the time to talk with the dealer about what style bodies are available and what you need to do with it. They can show you the options and go over the weights, the materials used, ad the capacities as well as if your truck can handle a utility body at all.

Most trucks that these bodies are installed on are ¾ or 1-ton trucks, but some light trucks can use lighter weight bodies. If your truck is a half-ton truck, you may have to add some overload springs to the rear to help carry the additional weight as well. Remember, it is not just the weight of the bed that you are carrying, the tools and equipment in the truck will add up quickly.

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