Has anyone changed a body on a rigid truck from a box to curtain
Or converted one
Was it a easy process ?
sheep1:
Has anyone changed a body on a rigid truck from a box to curtain
Or converted one
Was it a easy process ?
Unbolt body, lift body with fork lift and straps and drive vehicle out, lift next body with firk lift and straps and drive vehicle under, lower it and position it and either use existing bolt holes or drill new ones, torque up new bolts preferably.
Did this when I worked for a 1 man band years ago, we also cut a box van down to turn it into a flat bed.
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How long is a piece of string ,it’s rare 2 body’s are the same .as well as getting the sub chassis to fit you need to bear in mind all the regulations / criteria for everything else that may need repositioning.
Punchy Dan:
How long is a piece of string ,it’s rare 2 body’s are the same .as well as getting the sub chassis to fit you need to bear in mind all the regulations / criteria for everything else that may need repositioning.
^ This and any re calculation of anchorage points and fastenings.
It’s a professional job which is why we have truck body builders.
Ironically an old school tilt type can do everything and more that a curtain can do for side loaded jobs.With the advantage that it can also easily be turned into a flat if required.Extra points if it’s an 8 wheeler and made ISO twist lock compatible as part of the job.It can then be used as anything from a flat to a fridge. 
Pretty much as simcor wrote to be honest. Done this several times but only on 7.5t / 10t chassis. If your replacement body is from a similar vehicle, we only ever dabbled in MAN’s and DAF’s, they had the same chassis rail separation. The DAF’s though had different brackets on the chassis but it just means buying the special hooked bolts to go with them. I would try and avoid drilling the actual truck chassis, it’s hard and there is always something in the way. Better to move whatever is on the body sub rails (or whatever they are called), if they are aluminium then happy days. If the donor and receiver are the same wheelbase you will get away with less work on your side bars and might even be able to transfer them and and the marker lights with the body. If you are changing lengths just remember that your rear overhang must be no more that 60% of wheelbase. Like I said we have done this several times and I even sold a dropwell furniture truck body to a guy who arrived with his fitter mate in a chassis cab, we dropped the body on and they bolted it up there and then and drove off to somewhere at the other end of the country 
Sorry to contradict you punchy dan but if he is only replacing a similar body size then as long as he checks the sideguards, marker lights and overhang, which may all be the same, it is not complicated at all. You do not even have to put anything on the logbook if the curtain colour is the same as the box was
As for converting a box to a curtain, it’s a lot more complicated because you have got to stiffen everything up to replace all the strength that you take out with the side panel. We did an artic trailer and even though that was a strongly framed box we still had to put in a new steel frame to hold the curtains as the existing roof rail was nowhere near strong enough. (We did it because we fancied a rear steer trailer and got a cheap box .)
Hardly a contradiction you’ve just written what I meant .
You don’t even need straps or a forklift, I’ve done it in the past with 45 gallon oil barrels, bottle jacks and bites of wood. Whether everything lines up is a different matter. Measure the width of the two sets of chassis rails.
Punchy Dan:
Hardly a contradiction you’ve just written what I meant .
Fair enough. I had a bit of time on my hands this afternoon
I built them from the chassis up but wouldn’t have a clue these days, our van or box bodies would last 20 years and could be transferred from one truck to the next. I wouldn’t even contemplate welding a prop shaft together now [emoji23]
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