E-350 box options

[YinzerMoto]

Hi, first time poster here.

I am looking for box suggestions for an E-350 that are more conducive for building into a camper.

Rockport seems to have some nice options, like doors with RV style handles, low floor height, nice step well for the side door, and an option for interior insulation.

I am looking for a 12’ box with rear barn doors. It would be nice to find one that has no bulkhead behind the front seats. A true RV side door, with a screen door (I might just have to install my own RV side doo). All the locks wired into the vehicle power door locks.

What is out there that is not a full box build with composite panels?

 

[CaptainBuilt]

My box is a 12ft Supreme Box.

 

[YinzerMoto]

My box is a 12ft Supreme Box.

View attachment 890179

My last box truck was a supreme. It was good until the crossmembers rusted out the box started falling off the back of the truck. I think they are owned by Wabash now, I am not seeing many RV type features on their site.

 

[nelstomlinson]

Could you find an ambulance box from the junkyard? They don't have the RV features, but do have rear barn doors, and are all aluminum, and stout.

 

[YinzerMoto]

Could you find an ambulance box from the junkyard? They don't have the RV features, but do have rear barn doors, and are all aluminum, and stout.

They are nice boxes but I am looking for something new. I was looking at bus companies and shuttle bust companies but they only feature vehicles with the passenger door removed. I can’t find one with the passenger compartment still intact.

I did a school bus conversion a while ago and all of the school bus wiring is a nightmare. I never did get it all traced out but it tied into the ignition system of the base vehicle and if I disconnected the wrong thing, it would kill the vehicle.

On one fun drive across the city, the red flashing lights and stop sign deployed for no good reason. I pulled over to try and sort it out. Of course, all the drivers on the road were trying to be good people and all traffic stopped too. It was chaos. I just jumped back in and drove it home. I found some wires had rubbed raw and shorted together.

Long story short, I am looking for all new, with no systems that I do not need.

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Look on Comvoy.com.

I am in the planning stages, but I am planning on building a fiberglass box. I have the 138 SRW. I am gonna buy a 156 DRW and convert it to single rear wheel.

 

[YinzerMoto]

Look on Comvoy.com.

I am in the planning stages, but I am planning on building a fiberglass box. I have the 138 SRW. I am gonna buy a 156 DRW and convert it to single rear wheel.

That is a great site, I spent a bunch of time on there. No real inspiration on box options. Rockport has a lot of great options if you are ordering new. They even do awnings and roof racks as an option.

Are you going to buy composite panels and build your own box? I am close to doing that but don’t really want to take on that much of a project. It will be enough building out the interior and installing an Ujoint 4x4 kit.

 

[zip]

Reach out to Justin at UJOR. Brand new exciting stuff going on as we speak.

 

[jmp81]

I'm currently converting a Rockport Cargoport box on a E450 chassis. The box is 14 x 8 and 6.5 feet interior height. I found mine in Austin Texas with the rear barn doors and side door installed. Build quality is solid. The walls are 3/8 FRP and the roof is very thin fiberglass. It came with the over cab wind deflector that is open to the box so I can make a cabinet over the cab. It also came with the roof of the van cut to allow easy access to the back.

I like the Cargoport vans because the floor of the box is even with the van floor so swivel chairs can be installed easily. The lower floor does mean that there are wheel wells in the interior.

On the west coast Morgan has a good reputation. Unicell is also interesting, theirs are all fiberglass.

I went to two commercial Ford dealers in socal to talk to them about the ordering process and lead times and they never even got back to me, so I decided to just buy one that was finished and found mine online.

 

[nelstomlinson]

"all of the school bus wiring is a nightmare."
I get it. I'm not looking forward to stripping out the ambulance wiring from my machine.

 

[YinzerMoto]

I'm currently converting a Rockport Cargoport box on a E450 chassis. The box is 14 x 8 and 6.5 feet interior height. I found mine in Austin Texas with the rear barn doors and side door installed. Build quality is solid. The walls are 3/8 FRP and the roof is very thin fiberglass. It came with the over cab wind deflector that is open to the box so I can make a cabinet over the cab. It also came with the roof of the van cut to allow easy access to the back.

I like the Cargoport vans because the floor of the box is even with the van floor so swivel chairs can be installed easily. The lower floor does mean that there are wheel wells in the interior.

On the west coast Morgan has a good reputation. Unicell is also interesting, theirs are all fiberglass.

I went to two commercial Ford dealers in socal to talk to them about the ordering process and lead times and they never even got back to me, so I decided to just buy one that was finished and found mine online.

Did you have to cut the wall out behind the front seats? I was hoping to order the box with that removed already but have not found any that are supplied that way. I can cut it out myself if needed.

 

[jmp81]

No need to cut. This style of box truck is called a "Cut Away" chassis. It comes from Ford without the back wall. It did have a partition with a sliding door that I removed.

 

[YinzerMoto]

No need to cut. This style of box truck is called a "Cut Away" chassis. It comes from Ford without the back wall. It did have a partition with a sliding door that I removed.

Yeah, that partition is what I am asking about. My previous box truck had a full wall there and I had to cut it out. The OEM sheet metal was already cut, the box manufacturer just patched over that when they installed their box. I see the new designs have a set back partition that usually has a small door in it. What was it like to remove that? Were there holes to the outside that you had to seal back up? I am trying to get Rockport to leave that component out of the build but someone mumbled something about not being sure of liability in having the box open to the cab.

 

[jmp81]

It was bolted to a frame that was relatively easy to remove. Two man job to carry it out, its pretty heavy. The partition is FRP so it could also be cut out in sections to make it easier to remove. I see lots of people want a partition between the box and the cab for security and insulation. I did not so I took it out.

 

[YinzerMoto]

Reach out to Justin at UJOR. Brand new exciting stuff going on as we speak.
View attachment 890322

I stopped by in person this morning. Good stuff.

For anyone considering it, building your own box for a brand new truck has some vehicle title hurdles. The title comes from Ford as an incomplete vehicle. Once the box is done, you will have to have your state certify it as road worthy and change the title to a normal title. Ujoint Colorado is working with a few custom box manufacturers to build boxes for these trucks, but that is a little ways off in the future.

That puts me pretty firmly in the Rockport box camp. Rockport will certify the vehicle as complete. Ujoint said they have many people out in the wild with Rockport boxes and they work just fine.