...And I'm working on getting it "equipped". In my 3500 (crew cab) I carry I pretty significant collection of tools and spares behind the back seat. On the new F350 (crew cab), there is only the most meager of spaces behind the rear seat, as well as no space at all under the front or rear seats. Does anyone with one of these have any tips for storing the usual fire extinguisher, socket set, box of spare lamps, oil, ATF, etc. in the cab?
You won't be needing that kind of stuff with your new F350. Just leave it in your trade-in.
Lugnut
I don't trade in. I also don't do 3,400 mile round trips without proper supplies no matter what the vehicle is or how new it is.
I think I'd rather have a box in the bed to keep that stuff in, something like one of those diamond-plate tool boxes but instead of over the rails perhaps in the space behind the wheel well, along the side.
I've actually been looking for something like that, or a full sized box that just sits on the floor, for my F-150 but I haven't seen anything yet. (I have a camper shell on the truck, so the over-the- rail box that was on it when I bought it is sitting on my back porch making for a sturdy and expensive bench.)
nate
3,400 mi?? Mebbe you need a Cessna. Proly save a boatload of gas, as well.
A C130 would be more like it, in order to move the same cargo I'll be moving.
Even with a c130, you'd proly save some gas. :) And, wouldn't have to stop so often. :) :)
In the Ram Boxes... Oh wait, Ford's don't have those... :-p
Actually the Ram Box is only currently available on the 2009 Ram 1500, the 2500 and 3500 haven't been migrated to the new chassis yet. But its a DARN clever idea.
I agree those boxes are a good idea...especially since the beds are so damn high a 6 footer can't reach inside the bed far enough to access a regular toolbox without a step or ladder. I saw the '09 F150 at the Atlanta show with the exterior side boxes in the bed. It also had a Titan-style cargo retention system. I don't happen to be real big on those since it seems they are never quite right for the job at hand. They are probably a step in the right direction. I have also seen the side boxes for you to install at a couple of accessory and camper shops.
Lugnut
Whatever happened to those boxes installed in the front of the quarter panels, about where the step would be on a stepside bed? I always thought those would be handy, but haven't seen them since the 70's.
Actually I wouldn't mind having some on my own truck...
nate
I haven't seen those in a long time. There are a couple of custom service body builders that make boxes for that. You have to cut the openings and use the cutout to fit into a provided trim frame as the door. If you have good metal working skills, they look pretty decent. The ones I saw on the new F150 looked like a large fuel door with a lock. they are supposedly seal and water tight.
Lugnut
knaphide (sp?) service body or something? Most people use pickups as cars, so it quit paying for the factories to have variants like that. People who really need a rolling toolbox just buy a chassis-cab or cutaway van chassis, and get an aftermarket bed or box. Most big cities have one dealer that specializes in commercial/fleet sales, and has a premade selection, or you can get them custom-made to order. Around here, ex-power company or ex-Ma Bell trucks are very popular with tradesmen on a budget.
no, not a service body, just a regular fleetside (there's a term I haven't heard in years either, since the stepside is apparently no longer sold for Real Trucks) bed, but with a box cut into each side of the quarter panel, below the bed floor and in front of the rear wheel, utilizing the space between the quarter and the frame for lockable storage. I dunno if they were factory options on some trucks or aftermarket add-ons, but I do remember seeing them, and then... not so much. Usually seen on 70's Fords, most likely because you couldn't put them on Chevies because of the sidesaddle gas tanks.
I'd DAGS but I'm not sure what search terms would come up with a pic of what I'm remembering...
nate
One of my snail mail Popular Mechanics magazines from about two or three months ago has a full page ad about the new Ford pickup trucks.The ad says Ford pickup trucks are bolted together tigher than before for a stronger Ford pickup truck. One of Ford's ''Brighter Ideas'' cuhulin
It used to be you could buy pickup trucks with eight feet long beds.Big enough to haul eight feet by four feet plywood flat on the bed floor.I can do that with my 1978 Dodge van with room to spare.I can haul a board(s) fourteen feet long and close the rear doors in my 1978 Dodge van and my 1983 Dodge van. Damn the mileage,,, Full Speed ahead! cuhulin
Yeah, I remember what you are talking about- Ford sold those when I was a kid, primarily to people who bought the 'camper special' packages, seeing as how a walk-in camper took up the whole bed and then some. I remember thinking, at even a pre-driving age, that those things wouldn't hold up to salt rust and minor dents worth a damn, before they were no longer weather-tight.
What I meant was, if you want something like that TODAY, you have to go aftermarket, other than the dodge thing.
I thought of this thread yesterday evening when I pulled up at a stoplight next to a very nice pickup truck that had exactly this feature. Of course it *was* a circa-1975 Ford F250 Camper Special :-)
A few years ago I nearly bought a '77 Dodge D250 Club Cab Trailering Special that also had rocker-panel storage boxes (and a stout 440 under the hood), but passed because of a little too much rust around those boxes. That was the only rust on the truck, so I wonder if that might be a common problem with rocker-panel storage boxes?
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