Often, adding a new truck body or upgrading one comes as a part of a full truck-upfitting project. Upfitting your truck comes with a great deal of consideration. This is true whether you make a permanent or temporary change for a fleet vehicle or your own truck.
1. Involve Others in the Process of Creating
Upfitting
Specs
If you're a fleet manager or owner-operator who also lets others use your vehicle, you should consult before making any changes. It can help to speak with others who made similar upfits before deciding.
Making changes to your truck can introduce new challenges and new ways of doing things. All upfitting should add practicality, not introduce impracticalities. In many cases, you may not know what the real-world result of certain types of changes to your truck.
For example, you may want to add an area for holding certain types of equipment. The addition can make accessing that equipment easier and more efficient, but it can also make it harder to access other parts of the truck. Speak with people and see what kinds of challenges their upfitting activities created for them.
2. Choose Standard
Upfitting
Packages Whenever Possible
Non-standard specs can cause the upfit to take longer and cost more. In addition, choosing non-standard specifications can limit the truck's ability to do other things.
For example, you may want a feature that makes gaining access to a tool easier. A standard upfitting package for that purpose likely already exists. If you insist on non-standard specifications, then work with your upfitter closely and listen to what they say.
If your custom specs veer too far from standard industry specs, you can run afoul of government regulations or make it harder for others to use your truck efficiently. If you need fully custom upgrades, you can still try to stick as close to standard specs as possible.
3. Avoid Trying to Do It Yourself When
Upfitting
If you improperly install even a small feature, you can ruin the overall integrity of your truck. This can become incredibly problematic if you're a single truck business. Any downtime your truck suffers because of improper installation will directly affect every aspect of your business.
An improper upfit can also damage your tools, inventory, and other things you need to carry out your operations. These possibilities also point back to why you should discuss changes and avoid non-standard specs when possible.
You need professional help. You may think you can save some money by doing it yourself, but you might find you cost yourself far more than you ever expected.
You can find guides and procedures that document how to make upfits to your truck, and reading these can help you figure out what you need. Nevertheless, you shouldn't attempt these procedures on your own.
4. Research and Understand What Your
Upfit
Entail
s
Start the process early by writing out exactly what you would like to gain from upfitting your truck. From there, you can start to look at what features or changes can facilitate your needs. Some things to consider can include:
- Will you add weight or lessen the weight of your truck?
- Will the changes mean more strain on your truck?
- Does a change cause an increase in the amount of gas the truck needs?
- Will repair and maintenance costs rise?
Very few upgrades and changes have a one-size-fits-all aspect. You will need to do your research. Once you make a change, you'll have a very hard time reversing it if it's not the right move.
If you plan on upfitting your truck, contact professionals first and let them know what you want to do. Diamond Truck Body MFG is a custom truck body builder
ready to help you bring your upfitting plan to life. For all your truck body and upfitting needs, contact us today.
