Behind the bumper chain lockers...

[Squirt-Truck]

Ryan,
Cut the plates to fit the bumper profile, add an angle along the fender end to step up to the bumper height and provide mounting location wothout damaging the fenders. This makes a great working surface. ( I have plates made like this for Squirt..) If you want to form it into a box, hinge at the front to prevent wind lift, use the recessed latches like regular truck boxes have. (I think McMaster carries them.) My personal preference is to store evertyhing that will fit into ammo cans, they will sit in a 1" angle bracket and ride just fine and will fit below the walk plates in front or under the bed, hang the angle from the bed ribs, label the cans for contents and run with it.

 

[devilman96]

you could make a square box and make an angled mounting plate that would work on both sides. just flip it over for the other side. then the boxes would be the same too.

Yeah but then your making a bracket, and out of heavier material which means more parts, more handling, etc... I know it sounds logical but when you go to build something in sheet metal if you can keep it in one piece and not switch gauges, etc its faster and cheaper because of having to swap tooling, account for thicknesses, etc. You add more set up time and more finishing time when you add more pieces. Once you account for the angles and get them right which is not hard your set up and can produce something, reproducing it is no more work from there forward... and ya get a stronger assembly in the end. Make sense???

I canned the spare tire and hung a second tank... With 395's it wouldn't fit anyways and fuel storage / range were more important to me with hurricanes and the likes. Eventually I will trailer a gen set behind this and have a fuel slave coupler set up in the back so the more tank the merrier.

since I bobbed it I don't have the room for frame boxes but Ken's idea of a pull out in the rear between the bed / frame rails is considerable. Also a 10-15 gallon pressurized water tank between the rails is a consideration... I don't plan on partaking in a lot of red neck off roading sports but I do plan on hunting trips and having a water source for emergency / washing off the gore and guts would be a nice deal...

I like the rack idea above... a simple open sheet metal box out of aluminum (I HATE expanded metal) would be a solid addition to the truck and yes... lessen the likelihood of my in'a hurry clumsy arse from falling off the front of the darn thing (already done this)...

Companies like UHL will custom build truck boxes to any size and I had considered doing a standard box across the head of my bed but I don't know if I am going to keep it or not... I have a itch for building a slant back bed similar to the M998 but hatched for fold up rear access... I wonder why I cant sleep at night hu?

Keep kicking the ideas around... I am not at all into doing production work but I have the ability and the means to do most anything... if something caught my eye and I had to write the program for stamping out one of my own it is easy enough to make more of them...

 

[clinto]

I would like a pair of toolboxes that could bolt under the bed, above the pioneer rack and above the fuel tank.

I have looked through all the civvy manufacturer's of truck tool boxes and no one makes a size that will work, so I guess at some point I will try to fabricate something that looks halfway decent.

 

[steelsoldiers]

The 404 Unimog has some excellent storage lockers. There are 2 small ones behind the rear wheels for tire chains. There is a large one in front of the right rear wheel for chocks, tools, fluids, etc... There is a battery box in front of the left rear wheel that will hold 2 batteries or lots more tools, etc... People hack up Mogs all the time for off-road use. Cruise the Mog classifieds or some off-road forum classifieds for good take off units.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Here are some pics of the boxes mounted on my 404:

 

[spicergear]

Don't forget about easy, stock looking, parts to help fab this that are already for deuces. For instance, the braces that go from the frame out that support the front of front fenders. I have plans for extras of those as prefabbed mounts for wood block storage for making good footings for the outriggers. I've got the space on the passenger side crane base between the outrigger body and bed. Another is the box under the driver's door and it's mandrel bent 'hat shape' metal support. May be possible to shorten them on the mounting side so they're not as deep and you'd hardly get a stronger, or easier, darn near ready made mount for that box up front.

 

[Maverick1701]

one of our fire A2s did something similar. Ill snap some pics tomorrow