pass through's on box trucks

[darude]

so i'm looking into either buying a strait out box truck or a chassis and putting a box on it. the one thing i have noticed is that they don't have the stand up pass through's from the drivers seat to the inside of the box. any idea's on who might make a box with a stand up pass through :huh: :huh:

 

[Fabber McGee]

To get a stand up opening from the cab to the box, I think you'll have to modify the roof of the truck. I don't know of any truck cabs you can stand up in.

I've been completely happy with my step van in that respect.

 

[BradKW]

It starts getting a little confusing when you realize that very few things out there have a "true" stand-up walkthru, which would be like a step-van where you can literally stand next to your driver seat. Most everything else tends to fudge it, from Sprinters to high-top vans, its a version of stooping, head ducking, etc...even when they have the height, it gets used for something else for the first foot or two.

I mention that because with box trucks, there's another factor that starts making for optical illusions, which when combined with the "relative" nature of walkthru can make it difficult to be sure what you're looking at from pictures. And that factor is how high the box floor is above the cab floor once the box is mounted. It took me awhile to grasp just how widely this varies, depending on the upfitter. And even if the upfitter has installed a passthru, it almost never utilized the full height available, as defined by cab roof height. Point being, you can modify the passthru height but are limited to cab height and it can be tricky to tell from pictures what you're looking at especially when you factor in exterior "skirts" that camouflage where the box floor really is.

One term to watch for that could make mods simpler is "recessed bulkhead". What that generally means is the entire rear wall of cab has been removed, leaving only an anchoring flange of about 1.5" around perimeter. The box then has a "false wall" maybe 12" back...this allows people to recline the seats some for comfort. I believe that false wall would be very simple to modify since it's not integral to cab attachment. I think that if you try to enlarge a normally-attached box to maximum possible dimensions, you will run into issues requiring redoing cab-to-box fasteners, possibly some metal framing of opening.

Mush just depends no how the upfitter did things. There are some boxes set very low which would be handy...there's a name for them but its escaping me atm.

 

[bcbullet]

Look for "cutaway" when you search. Most cab and chassis configurations with a walk through will be van cabs...E450, E350 and the likes. Sadly this still leaves you in light truck territory. And with less of a walk through and more of a crawl through...
You may have some luck searching for a "tool truck" as well, but most have a separate side entrance unless it is a step van.

 

[CraigL]

Just FYI, if you're cutting your own pass-thru, try to gusset it with something flexible  (http://uni-grip.com/?portfolio=accordion-seals ), instead of making a *hard connection between the two. This will allow for FRAME TWIST, which, if ignored, can transmit shearing forces toward the top of the box and can break it up. 
Just my .02

 

[highdesertranger]

yes use an accordion seal and radius corners. highdesertranger