box mounting

[Hoosierdaddy59h]

Hey I want tosay thanks first for all the wonderful threads. I do have a couple of questions. I just purchased a 4700 and one thing I would liketo do is lower the box. The current box has a piece of wood mounted between the box and the frame. Is this wood necessary or can I lower the box and mount it directly to the frame? Also the box currently sits back from the cab more then I like. How close can I put the box to the cab without havng interference issues. I plan on using an accordian type material between the cab and chassis

 

[volvoman]

i don't know of any reason wood has to be in there. just keep u bolts tight. may want to weld some plates on to box rail and bolt to frame rail. need to figure out what you are using for cab boot or seal. if cab is mounted on rubber pads not air ride you can go 1 1/2" to 2" space.

 

[geofkaye]

...wood allows for frame slippage during torque flexing heat expansion and vibrationetc.....could be 1/4" thick or 4" thick....what would be the difference...... hello if i know but there are plenty of vehicles that have no isolation and they are still on the road..........Rivercity girlz and geofkaye

 

[rjdhomes]

Most of the conversions that I have seen had white oak strips, Renegade recently went to a plastic strip between the chassis and conversion frame. I guesss that I would worry about noise (squeaking) along with what geofkaye mentioned.

Bob

 

[RMS]

Be careful if you reduce the thickness of the wood.

You need to check the clearance on the rear tires during full compression of the suspension. This is especially true with twising of the suspension and or frame if drop a tire in a hole or off a curb when you are loaded.

 

[Doc Weaver]

RMS is right on the money. My truck came with 22.5/10s and they are very expensive (compared to 11s. So even though 11s are barely taller, they would not fit under the truck. I ended up with 11/lo-pros, which are still cheaper than 10s. the moral of the story is clearance is tighter than it looks.

Doc Weaver