# Putting shelving in a 2012 Ford E350



## Foley409 (Oct 21, 2012)

Hi all, first post and its a question for you guys. We just bought a 2012 Ford E350 Cargoport to replace our 94 E250 econoline thats dying. 










Obviously, this isn't the work model as we aren't fans of doors on the side of the truck. It has a wood floor inside, with 3/8 fiberglass reinforced wood walls. We are trying to wrap out heads around the best way to put shelving up. I've been through the vechicles thread and have gone a dozen pages deep in to the search engine on here, and nothing really sticking out. Is the best way to do this to just drill the walls and put some heavy duty bolts through some thick plywood, then build the shelving up on that? Or is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks for any help.


----------



## bruces (Aug 19, 2012)

does your box not have anything on the interior walls for securing cargo at all ?many boxes like yours ,have a rail about waist height made of hardwood ,or they have a e track rail in about the same position .If you have these rails ,I would try to use them or their mounting points .If it were my new truck ,I would not drill any holes through the box ,as any moisture getting in to your new hole will soak the plywood in the wall causing issues with delamination of the frp wall ,and will probably void the warranty on the box .You might like to contact the manufacturer of the box ,they might have better ideas for you .


----------



## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Nice truck! I have only installed shelves in cargo vans, but would love a crack at box truck.


----------



## Foley409 (Oct 21, 2012)

:thumbup1:


bruces said:


> does your box not have anything on the interior walls for securing cargo at all ?many boxes like yours ,have a rail about waist height made of hardwood ,or they have a e track rail in about the same position .If you have these rails ,I would try to use them or their mounting points .If it were my new truck ,I would not drill any holes through the box ,as any moisture getting in to your new hole will soak the plywood in the wall causing issues with delamination of the frp wall ,and will probably void the warranty on the box .You might like to contact the manufacturer of the box ,they might have better ideas for you .


The walls are bare, just what you get. No mounting rail or hardwood going across it. If we are going to drill the box itself, I was thinking about using some heavy duty silicone washers on the outside to prevent leaks.




TNTSERVICES said:


> Nice truck! I have only installed shelves in cargo vans, but would love a crack at box truck.


If you were anywhere near me, I would give you a chance :thumbup1:


----------



## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

Using hardwood you could 45 the top and 45 the bottom of one so it hooks onto that rail and bolt it right on

Put some 3/4 furring down the sides like a framed wall

Build a wall inside a foot away from the outside wall for sheet good storage etc ladders


----------



## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

steel C channel on the back wall, attached at bottom and top then aluminum angle run horizontal to build the shelves off of. I tapped the vertical steel and screwed everything together-solid as a tank. My setup was on a Sprinter. I made the mistake of drilling through on my old chevy boxvan-poor decision on part.


----------



## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

I think the unbanned whipple just did this same thing. I wonder if he has pictures.


----------



## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> I think the unbanned whipple just did this same thing. I wonder if he has pictures.


Whipple is back? I wondered where he went....


----------



## davitk (Oct 3, 2008)

I used 3/4" plywood, ripped 3" wide strips, drilled and bolted through the sides of the box with ss carriage bolts, then fastened sheets of plywood to the strips and built shelves on top of that. 3 1/2 years later, have no regrets about drilling the box, and no signs of damage. Only real drawback is the extra weight, I have drw so space was not an issue.

In the picture, the larger bolts were factory (supreme), smaller installed by me.


----------



## CarrPainting (Jun 29, 2010)




----------



## Foley409 (Oct 21, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice guys. After talking about it, some arguing, this and that, we are finally under way.


IMG_20121102_124349 by FlatTopFoley, on Flickr

Here it is, bare with just one test piece. We cut 7/8 plywood in to 4 inch strips for the ribs.


IMG_20121102_143019 by FlatTopFoley, on Flickr

Using a spacer piece, drilled a small hole in the support bracket for the roller thats bolted to the body and the upper part of the truck. Put 1/2 L brackets on the floor with wood screws, and used some self taping screws on top of the wheel wells and gas tank fill.


IMG_20121102_142644 by FlatTopFoley, on Flickr

Thats how she sits now, as its starting to rain a bit and looks like a storm is rolling in. We did hit the backs of each board with some glue and put a space heater in for a few hours to help set it up better. Next step is some OSB board on the rips, then build out the shelving. 

On the right side we are putting our gang box between the wheel well and front wall and bolting it to the floor. Will be nice to have a place to lock up out higher end tools (snakes, electric soldering iron, so on). Also going to put some rubber mats on the floor after the shelving goes up to cover up the wood.

After all that, just needs to go to the shop for some lettering and should be all done!


----------



## angus242 (Oct 20, 2007)

overanalyze said:


> Whipple is back? I wondered where he went....


He's talking about JASON Whipple.


----------



## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

angus242 said:


> He's talking about JASON Whipple.


Oh...


----------

