# Upfitting a work truck?



## Admin (Dec 10, 2003)

> "Work truck customization and upfitting is big business, with some body shops basing the biggest part of their commercial work around upfits. Taking your truck or van to one of these shops is a great way to ensure quality work, but in many cases, they’re doing work that you have the tools and experience to do in your own shop without having to pay a labor premium for it. A number of contractors already do their own upfits, and more might if they were sure where to start." *Upfitting Your Work Truck Made Easy*



Have you done any upfitting to your truck or van?

Did you do your own upfits or have it done by a professional?


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## Lunicy (Dec 24, 2004)

My ford had Adrian steel

My chevy I built myself. I used oak and oak plywood.
It was definitely a labor of love

Although upfitting your own van is indeed possible, If you figure in your time, it may not be a deal.

If I figured in my labor cost, my build out on my van would have cost about $5000. But I did it in my free time, etc.. so it wasn't so bad.


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## Mike-B (Feb 11, 2015)

New one is coming tomorrow. 2016 chevy 3500 HD with duramax 6.6

Crew cab, 4WD, dually with aluminum utility body made by reading. Will have a system one ladder rack. Heavy duty IT'S contractor rig with 4 work winches.

13200 GVWR. Dealer says 31000 GCWR but I thought it would be 30500. We will see.

I have the dealer do the upfit. The ladder rack installed costs only a couple hundred more than I can buy it for.

The bed cost is around 12K on the dually.

We will be ordering another truck similar to this but with gas engine instead. Same GVW but GCWR will be 26000.



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## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

When my last truck was eaten by a squirrel, literally...I outfitted my new Superduty.


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

I bought the accessories through a local company and had them install them.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

I used the dealer's recommended upfitter for my shelving, partition, and window screens because I wanted more of a "factory" look for my setup.

Not that anyone is really going to see the inside of my truck on a regular basis but if I ever had to send someone out to my truck to get something, I can tell them exactly where it is.


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## Lunicy (Dec 24, 2004)

superseal said:


> When my last truck was eaten by a squirrel, literally...I outfitted my new Superduty.


OK, I'll bite. Care to explain.


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## CraigV (Mar 4, 2013)

Lunicy said:


> OK, I'll bite. Care to explain.


I'm pretty certain that Pennsylvania squirrels are tougher than New York City rats. Had one that chewed a new hole around a temporary repair faster than I could get to the closest supplier to pick up steel trim for the repair.


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## CraigV (Mar 4, 2013)

I did the work on my latest vehicle, a 2014 E250. It bought used with low miles from my Ford dealer, was a former U-Haul so it had an Adrian partition, galvanized running boards, and interior slat guards. 

My trade-in was an F-150, and it had a System One ITS rack. The dealer didn't want it at all, so I removed it and bought the components to fit it to the van. Total cost there was $385....far less than the $900 to buy a new rack, plus the remaining bed rails and arches make what System One sells as a "utility rack" with the addition of some top brackets. I can sell this or keep it for some future truck I may buy.

For the interior, I removed the slats and their steel supports, installed 3/4" ply flooring, and built shelving from the same ply...found a decent deal on 6-ply pine with what looks like AB finishing at HD for $30 per sheet. I think it took 6 sheets, and I did the work during a slow week so it didn't dig into productivity too much, though unloading and reloading the van several times was pretty tedious.

The pics show it nearly completed. The left side got some 'custom' shelving in the space in front of the door, but this is essentially what I'm using now.

Pros: It was nice to be able to build to suit what I need rather than accommodate standard shelf sizes. The shelf bases are notched so sheet goods can be stacked up to 10" high. The wood flooring and boxes over the wheel wells really quieted road noise.

Cons: It's a lot of work, and planning to accommodate everything does take time too. But as I don't have a "spare" vehicle, the downtime would have also been lost either way.


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## Sergiy (Nov 26, 2016)

*http://americanautoracks.com*


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## Eyeway! (Oct 24, 2016)

CraigV said:


> I did the work on my latest vehicle, a 2014 E250. It bought used with low miles from my Ford dealer, was a former U-Haul so it had an Adrian partition, galvanized running boards, and interior slat guards.
> 
> My trade-in was an F-150, and it had a System One ITS rack. The dealer didn't want it at all, so I removed it and bought the components to fit it to the van. Total cost there was $385....far less than the $900 to buy a new rack, plus the remaining bed rails and arches make what System One sells as a "utility rack" with the addition of some top brackets. I can sell this or keep it for some future truck I may buy.
> 
> ...


Nice job. Does all that wood weigh you down? 

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## Sergiy (Nov 26, 2016)

*http://americanautoracks.com*


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## sunkist (Apr 27, 2012)

E350 gas
Steel partition with door (never used) , wire screen rear doors and tinted windows (no windows on side), steel shelving with closed backs and rubber linners, in the cab, cab saver desk between the seats and above that a file holder. 
Ladder rack 3 cross bars aluminum (keep 3 ladders up there) store a 4 foot on the inside of front side door. 
I like the metal shelving, if needed the shelves can be adjusted and the weight saving over wood helps both on gas and brakes etc. 
Some upfitters now offer some form of plastic shelving, looks good new, but doe's not wear well (imo) also aluminum shelving.
If i was going to do it again i would install some kind of hard flooring over the rubber cargo mat, maybe tiles that are made for garage floors, as the mat aged corners of plywood etc have torn/ripped it, i have replaced it once but had to pull out all the shelving.
I have bought a lot from American Van out of Lakewood NJ www.americanvan.com they still mail out catalogs.

For you wood guys your work looks great.


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## Sergiy (Nov 26, 2016)

Most Economical Contractor Package - set of 2 or 3 Shelves. Safety Partition, 2 or 2 Bar Ladder Rack - *http://AmericanAutoRacks.com




































*


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## CraigV (Mar 4, 2013)

Eyeway! said:


> Nice job. Does all that wood weigh you down?


Thanks. 
Weight is no problem at all. The 6 sheets of pine plywood weigh 360lbs, the E250 has about 3,900lb of load room, and the van rides far better when it's carrying a big load of lumber. Even with all my tools, 15 sheets of LP Smartside and 70 studs, the rear still wasn't squatting at all, the ride was stable and smooth.


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