Survey Truck Boxes

Get the sanded pine plywood from Home Depot, real nice stuff, about 35 per sheet.?ÿ It needs to stay dry though.?ÿ If it might get wet (leaky shell) then AC-Ex would be better but not as smooth.

Thanks, yeah our caps stay pretty dry. Strong rain sometimes blows in the back but that's about it.?ÿPerhaps I should have also asked what blunders to avoid? I've seen a few real?ÿcruddy ones and?ÿrush jobs so I?ÿknow for sure what I'm not gonna do.

Don't make drawers too large...they can get very heavy.?ÿ Use smaller drawers or we put ours on wheels; it's 2 feet wide and 7' long but rolls good on castor wheels.

Forget the wood crap.

Get "Weather Guard" units to suit your needs.?ÿ They're not cheap, but will last forever.?ÿ Lowe's will beat Home Depot's prices.

I have the 30" wide, 12" high, 48" deep single-drawer (with dividers) and a 12" wide, 24" high, 48" deep, 4-drawer in my GMC Canyon.

I also have a Fiberglas locking cover over the bed.

Two 8" PVC pipes atop the 12" high unit hold the tripods and leave room for the traffic cones to lay horizontal.

If you do the wood, don't store the tripods in pigeon holes on the bottom with all the weight on top!

It is possible to build a very good plywood box.?ÿ The key is to use quality materials such as cabinet grade or near cabinet grade plywood and employ some of the cabinet makers art.?ÿ Sure if you just pound together some random scraps from your garage or cheap CDX plywood you'll get a bad result.?ÿ The box we built out of 6 sheets of HD's sanded 3/4 pine plywood has held up extremely well because we built it well.?ÿ It took more than a quick weekend, though.?ÿ I realize Land Surveying has more than its fair share of cheapskates, cheap materials and cheap in the amount of time spent.?ÿ If you are going to put a box in your new truck and use it for ten years then invest time and money into it or pay a professional shop.

The other advice I have is don't build it into the truck so you can't get it out as a unit.?ÿ At a former employer the previous incumbent in my job had built a very beautiful box into the van, there was no way to get it out without destroying it.?ÿ We needed to modify it because it was made for an earlier era of technology and our newer technology had no place in it.?ÿ It would've been nice to be able to get it out and modify it then put it back in.?ÿ The other problem is if you get a new vehicle you can't get the box out and transfer it.?ÿ Anyway we had to destroy the box, it was a work of art, that Surveyor knew how to do nice cabinet work.?ÿ The current box I'm using is 4 feet wide, it will slide in and slide out.?ÿ It is held down by an easily accessible bolt so it can't move while it's in the current truck.

While you can build a really nice / strong box out of wood, it comes at the price of weight.?ÿ Secondly, a well built wooden box is not much cheaper than steal or aluminium version when you account for labor.

Measure your bed then put that in cad. Figure out the best way you can arrange your equipment and supplies. Draw that out with dimensions and check with local sheet metal guys and fabricators. We have done 3 trucks now I think we were at between 500 and 700 bucks. They are way lighter than wood and hold up better and look nicer.

Use finish grade plywood and 1x2 strips.?ÿ Build a false floor using 2x4 supports to store your long stuff under the box; make those storage areas extend to the front of the bed.?ÿ Take your time and build it well.?ÿ Use lots of glue. Mine has lasted 10 years and been in four different F-250.

Can you post a pic of this arrangement when possible? Thanks

There can't be one box that could cover every situation and factors. I think the closest you could achieve would be the Highway Products - Surveyor Pack

You could walk the arguments back and forth for some time. On the balance though, this system has too many pluses.

There can't be one box that could cover every situation...

We have the highway peoducts box in a 3/4 ton Ram. The only problem is the rear of the side boxes. Don't put anything heavy in them or its a fight getting it out...

I am not saying you CANƒ??T build a box ?ÿover the weekend, but I am a fan of proper design and organization. If you actually factor in a poor box taking an extra 5-10 seconds to get something out multiple times a day, over the course of the boxƒ??s life span you are looking at hundreds of hours lost.

My box(s) took 2 days to design, a month for the aluminum fab work to be delivered, and 4 days for installation and construction of the side boxes.

I am a big fan of having a good 4ƒ?? Wide box that will outlast the truck. I went with aluminum to save weight and space, but high quality plywood (pine, birch or paper faced ply) with multiple coats of polyurethane will also do the trick.?ÿ

Side boxes are nice, but will have to be custom made to fit your truck. As it is quite possible they wonƒ??t fit the next truck, I would go cheaper on these?ÿ

Shoot me a message if you want photos if they donƒ??t show up below.