Truck Cargo Box Fold Down Side Storage Access Mod - Finally Begins

[ckent323]

Passenger storage box fold down side panel mounted on hinges

Still need to add stiffener metal, flanges and seals but you get the idea.

 

[ckent323]

Driver's Side Fold Down Access Panel Cut Out

 

[DavidGraves]

Many thanks,

You are lucky to have that fellow able to work with you...treat him well !

I have been very tempted by the Reading Aerotech series of aluminum service bodies.

These were a stylized body I find attractive and had very good weathertite seals and the advantage of aluminum.

I am fairly certain they are out of production but reasonably easy to find..

The challenge , of course, would be to cut out the rear to fit the camper width.

I like your design because we really don't need a lot more space....but want access to the space that is wasted in the stock truck arrangement.

Three cheers !

David Graves

 

[ckent323]

David,

The fellow doing the work is my age and is semi retired. He used to have a big garage with tow trucks, frame alignment rack etc. as well as several employees. He gave all that up and now mostly works alone mostly fixing up cars for a local used car dealer. He also does horse trailer repair and gets a lot of word of mouth customer traffic. He does not get much custom work which he finds fun so he is enjoying this job. He is using the mods to my cargo bed as fill in work.

Lately he has been working on the bed for an hour or so every morning before moving on to the other jobs he has going.

The 1989 - 1993 Dodge Cargo boxes have a lot of unused space between the inner wall and the outer skin -something like 5". Boxing in the wheel well unused area creates a storage box on the order of 11" deep in the widest places. Also I am taking the storage boxes all the way down to the bottom of the side walls of the cargo bed (i.e. below the floor level).

I plan to move my camper house batteries out from under the roll over couch and into the cargo box side storage. Also I will have a place for my roll up bug screen tent. roll up table, tools and leveling blocks. plus room for oil, an electrical extension cord, bungie cords and the like. Getting all that stuff out of the camper will open up a lot of space in the camper.

In addition, instead of carrying my ax and shovel along the side of the camper laying on top of the wheel well, which makes them awkward to retrieve, I will use "Quick Fist" rubber clamps and mount them in the side storage box. Eventually I plan to mount an on-board air compressor for airing up in one of the compartments.

The goal for the appearance is to make the side storage box door blend in with the truck body and be as unnoticeable as possible and as factory appearing as possible. I think typical service body trucks look clunky plus those service body beds are HEAVY!

BTW: The Reading Aerotech service bodies look very similar to the Stahl Grand Challenger service bodies. The doors are convenient but they are too obvious for my liking hence the full length fold down side similar to the Hide-n-Side idea (too bad they got shut down for patent infringement on Chrysler)

 

[DavidGraves]

So your overall depth in the area of wheel wells will be....14.5-15" ? Enormous by FWC standards.

I first considered cutting access passages inside the truck bed and enlarging the floorpak cutouts in order to access this space....hence retaining the stock appearance outside.

I could never really determine how much I could safely open the floorpak side walls without some sort of stiffening.

I have fastened thru the floor in lieu of front trunbuckles and it is holding up well.....fastened to frame...it was very simple on a chevy,

This makes for much more storage in the front side cubbys....no turnbuckle in the way.

Rock on.

David Graves

PS A friend/fabricator here uses 1/4 round stock to reinforce any cutout in metal,,,,,stiffens and reinforces with only a few spot welds followed by automotive caulk.

 

[ckent323]

David,
I have a friend who is just back from Australia (he owns a Troopy camper there and has been going over every year for the past 7 years for 3 - 6 months to explore the country.

Here at his home he has a 1993 Dodge W250 long bed like mine except it is regular cab instead of club cab. He also has a 1988 Keystone camper, which is always kept inside with the top up and which is in pristine condition, that he uses for camping in the States. I am anticipating he will have his cargo bed modified once he seems mine.

The body guy and I are keeping track of the details and taking lots of pictures in case my friend or someone else wants to have this done. Of course this first one is the experiment and there will be things we learn that he would do differently going forward. Such is development work.

 

[ckent323]

David,

Relative to stiffening the sides once they are cut: The sides need the welded boxes otherwise the sides are too flimsy. The box on each side in front of the wheels have inside dimensions of 34 inches long 24 inches high and 13 inches wide at the widest part.

I plan to move the house batteries out from under the roll over sofa and into the storage box on the passenger side. The box is long enough and wide enough that they can sit end to end which will leave me about 12 inches of usable height above them.

The boxes were fabricated in place this week and the detail work of adding metal around the edges to create a tiff edge and a place to attach rummer molding is now in work.

My friend who also has this same make and year of cargo bed on his truck my be interested in doing the same mod so I will create a set of part drawings from the finished boxes so that if someone wants to do the same thing the individual panels can be ordered cut to shape rather than having to stitch weld pieces together. Of course the drawings will only be applicable to 89 - 93 Dodge Ram full size cargo beds. But I suspect it wold be straight forward to modify them for other years and brands of cargo beds.

 

[DavidGraves]

Glad for your progress.

I assume you are planning for heavy components opposite side from your fuel tank and as far forward as able ?

You mis read my stiffening comment.

I have considered cutting a larger access panel in the FLOOR PAK sidewall in order to access from inside camper and then also cutting inner fender of thruck in order that one might access the space from within the camper......even a 12" X 18" floorpak wall port would provide ready access compared to the turnbuckle ports.

ERGO, no bedside outer doors to weatherproof or to fabricate.

My imagined cutout of inner fender would employ rounded corners and welded edge beading to stiffen.

But imagine work allways goes smoothly .

David Graves

 

[ckent323]

An update on the fold down cargo bed fold down side modifications.

The semi-retired body man doing the modification work for me has set the cargo bed aside multiple times in order to work on more lucrative insurance repair jobs. This caused this project to drag out much longer than I ever anticipated. He has made some recent progress and is working on the final details of the door interior panels and shelves.

He is a really nice guy and I have a hard time getting angry with him. I did tell him before Christmas "no more incremental payments. If you want the rest of the money finish the job and I will pay you in full". I said "I want to be able to use this before thee truck wears out and before I die!" He apologized and promised to get back to work on it. Time will tell...

I will post some recent pictures shortly

Craig

 

[ckent323]

Lift out trays have been added to the fore and aft storage areas on both sides of the custom cargo bed. The latches have been adjusted and some patching is underway to close out cuts, etc. Some strengtheing pieces are being added at the fold down side hinge line to the cargo bed. Once completed the interior door skins will be installed and the bed will be painted. Finally grip molding will be applied to the door edges to seal out dust and water when the door sides are closed.

Target completion is June 7.

I have ordered new custom front and rear leaf springs from Deaver to replace the old OEM spring packs. The springs will have a 2" lift to give more clearance and articulation. The OEM front springs hold the axle about 3/4" from the rubber stop on the truck frame and we have bottomed out several times on dirt roads. The rear springs have about 2-1/2' clearance unloaded. Both will have 2" additional clearance after the new springs are installed. Also the springs will be a little softer so the ride is expected to improve.

Passenger side Scheel-Mann seat has been installed and I am waiting for the Driver side seat to be delivered.

Other preps underway for our return to Alaska in August 2021.

 

[DavidGraves]

Great progress !

It will be great to have all that storage ready to hand in otherwise "lost" space.

If you folks wish to get over to the north Oregon coast for a portion of your trip I am glad to host or at least suggest alternate routing north from here that is a very satisfactory change from I5.

David Graves

 

[ri-f]

Other preps underway for our return to Alaska in August 2021.

Nicely done ck. I like that you found a way to maximize your exterior storage on your classic old Ram and slide-in camper. Clever, utilitarian mods, while keeping the lines of your bed in tact. Do you have the old, wildly simply12-valve diesel or is it a gasser? Alaska or bust. Where you heading?

Rich

 

[ckent323]

Rich,

It is a 6 cyl, 12 valve Cummins clubcab.. The truck has 400,000 miles on it and still fires and starts with 3/4 turn of the starter. I bought it used with 125,000 miles on it in 1999. It had an ISSPRO Tacjhometer, banks 4" exhaust kit, Borgeson steering shaft, K&N Filter and an exhaust brake installed. It also came with a matching cargo bed cap. Over the years the rear differential has been rebuilt, the 5-speed manual Getrag transmission has been rebuilt, I replaced the radiator twice, the A/C compressor and lines have been replaced, the A/C condenser has been replaced, the intercooler, has been replaced, the alternator has been replaced twice, the injector pump was rebuilt last about 300,000 miles, I have replaced the water pump twice and teh belt tensioner pulley twice. I recall replacing or rebuilding the starter (I think it was replaced).

This truck has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned.

I already added a four gauge dash pod which has ISSPRO EGT, Fuel Pressure and Boost gauges. Now adding new Deaver custom leaf springs front and rear and I am replacing the factory bucket seats with Scheel-Mann Vario seats (Passenger seat already installed). I will probably add an ISSPRO Oil Pressure gauge and fill the empty fourth pod bay.

These first gen Dodge Rams, especially the 4 wheel drive W250 and W350 models are commanding premium prices these days on the used market. I have seen several low mileage (less than 150,000 miles) 1993 W250's listed for close to the price they went for new and well above what I paid for mine in 1999. They seem to be selling too. Amazing.

Craig

 

[ri-f]

Yes, that's a sweet old 1st gen and before all the electronics. Will run over all our graves. Everything will be rebuilt, eventually, around that old workhorse Cummins. It was just broken in when you got it at 125K. Very cool!