Photos of DIY Underbody Storage.

[TucsonAZ]

I didn't really care about this when I bought it and saw positives and negatives to doing it myself but as I'm preparing for the job I would love to see what some others have done. I get the basics and have watched some Youtube ideas but I know the majority of these projects go undocumented so I wanted input from all of you.

I've been buying units along the way when I find a deal or sale, I've spent $1,230 on these seven Buyers Units so far. Three aluminum and 4 are steel, I like having more units as it allows me to dedicate them to different things like sewer, spare parts and fluids and so on for a smaller one.

Thoughts, ideas, links, and photos always appreciated.

 

[fo4imtippin]

I bought those same buyers boxes. I had 30 inches to the frame rails so i cut them an inch from the back and bought one sheet of 14g steel for $110 and extended them both by 10inches. All i cared to keep nice was door, but felt silly grinding the powdercoat and scuffing the backs of brand new boxes.



I was ready to pull the trigger on double the cost RKI boxes that were 18height, but 24 in depth, but i ended up saving a bunch this way. Broke even in labor i guess.

I would say i took a hybrid approach..


I have one left to do. Im going to buy a 24x24x72in barndoor one to cut the back off and mount my diesel generator in half. Will have to build an interior frame to hold the motor and genhead mounts. Other half of box will hold fluids, parts and pelican case full of tools.

 

[fo4imtippin]

I see you also starting stocking aluminum walk stools as well.

 

[TucsonAZ]

I bought those same buyers boxes. I had 30 inches to the frame rails so i cut them an inch from the back and bought one sheet of 14g steel for $110 and extended them both by 10inches. All i cared to keep nice was door, but felt silly grinding the powdercoat and scuffing the backs of brand new boxes.

I would say i took a hybrid approach..

I have one left to do. Im going to buy a 24x24x72in barndoor one to cut the back off and mount my diesel generator in half. Will have to build an interior frame to hold the motor and genhead mounts. Other half of box will hold fluids, parts and pelican case full of tools.

Man, that looks amazing!! I honestly didn't even think of that, I did end up with all but one box being 18x18 but one is 18x24 and it's astonishing how much more space that feels like. I think you took a wise approach for sure and are maximizing design and cost. I don't think I have it in me to do that or I would for sure.

I see you also starting stocking aluminum walk stools as well.

Many years ago, this dude responds to a Craigs post I had on Fathers Day, says he has $1,200 in Lowes credit he'll sell me for 50% off. Yeah, I'm skeptical and I'm like "ahhhh yeah man I don't know." So he says, "if you can meet me in an hour it's yours for $500" since I know it's Fathers Day. I'm like "fine but I'm buying what I need and we're checking out and I'll lay you after" which he agreed to.

The guy was actually a super cool dude, older guy and this was before Lowes and HD were having known scam and theft issues. Honestly, he said something about being a contractor and returning supplies that weren't used for projects.

I grabbed a 10% off coupon on eBay and headed out the door. With the stools, they were half off the I think $60 they cost back then, plus my 10% off coupon brought them down to $27, then I was only paying like 40% of that so I paid like $12 each for them. Honestly I wish I'd bought more!

I ended up doing this with the guy a few times and then he likely went to jail or something. I bought a new welder, planer, jointer, compressor, stocked up on screws, saw horses, and on and on. I mean, I couldn't make the dude wait forever so I was basically just grabbing stuff and going. And each time, he would have to show his ID and everything to make sure it matched whatever they checked so I assumed it was all on the up and up. Now I'm thinking maybe not so much but that was long ago.

 

[ewo1]

I bought those same buyers boxes. I had 30 inches to the frame rails so i cut them an inch from the back and bought one sheet of 14g steel for $110 and extended them both by 10inches. All i cared to keep nice was door, but felt silly grinding the powdercoat and scuffing the backs of brand new boxes.



I was ready to pull the trigger on double the cost RKI boxes that were 18height, but 24 in depth, but i ended up saving a bunch this way. Broke even in labor i guess.

I would say i took a hybrid approach..


I have one left to do. Im going to buy a 24x24x72in barndoor one to cut the back off and mount my diesel generator in half. Will have to build an interior frame to hold the motor and genhead mounts. Other half of box will hold fluids, parts and pelican case full of tools.

Real nice job on extending those boxes!
You just lit up a light bulb in my head!

 

[TucsonAZ]

Real nice job on extending those boxes!
You just lit up a light bulb in my head!

He for sure did the same for me, I wasn't even looking at that as an option!

 

[jbeech]

I added a pair of 24x24 underbody boxes to my conversion. Since my body line doesn't extend below the frame, welding up some 2x2 angle iron frames into which set them into was a doodle!


And on the inside, a pair of 8' long 12x12 attach to the E-track. These I polished. These conversions are fun, aren't they?