Convert Your Truck Into a Carpenter's Workshop

As a skilled carpenter or handyman, you are often hired to do unique jobs in unusual locations. These jobs can include the design, construction, and framing of new buildings and the remodeling of existing buildings, as well as finish carpentry.

To accomplish these tasks efficiently, one of your most important tools is your truck. You can have a custom truck body installed on your truck to haul all of your tools, equipment, and building materials and keep them safe and in good working order. This custom truck body can become a carpenter's workshop on wheels.

Here are a few designs and functions that you can include in a custom truck body to create your workshop on wheels.

As a carpenter, you may need to haul standard-size lumber to and from a work site. To accomplish this, you will need a lumber rack installed over the truck bed and truck cab.

A lumber rack can be permanent or removable. It can extend the entire width of the truck or be confined to the outside edges. With the proper tie-downs and design, this rack can also be used as a ladder rack.

Under the lumber rack, individual tool compartments with adjustable shelves and vertical dividers can be built. Install these compartments on both sides of your truck to store portable electrical tools, power cords, hand tools, and other supplies and equipment.

To properly protect and care for the tools in your truck, these tool compartments should be weatherproof to prevent rust and corrosion. They should also be lockable to keep your tools safe when your truck is parked at a job site or at home.

Carpenters use power tools such as a portable table saw, a compound miter saw, and a circular saw to make precision cuts in lumber. These saws can be mounted on platforms that slide away from your truck body when in use and slide back into a tool compartment in the truck for storage.

To run your power saws, use an onsite power supply when available. On remote locations without power, carry a suitcase-size AC power inverter, an auxiliary battery, and an isolator in a tool compartment behind the truck cab.
To work properly, the inverter, auxiliary battery, and isolator must be connected to the alternator in the truck engine to recharge the auxiliary battery. For maximum safety, this connection should be installed by your truck body designer and manufacturer.

You can also use a small generator to run these power saws. However, generators run on gasoline and motor oil, are louder than an inverter system, and cannot produce as much power.

To connect your inverter, auxiliary battery, and isolator to the alternator in your truck engine, encase the power cables in flexible plastic conduit. Install this conduit in the undercarriage of your truck away from the engine block, steering mechanism, and exhaust system.

Drill holes in your truck bed to access these power cables. Use electrical nipples and bushings to secure them to the bed of the truck.

Carpenters' tools such as steel vices, air compressors, and other heavy tools can be stored in custom truck body compartments on swing-out tool platforms. These hinged platforms can be accessed through compartment doors that face into the truck bed and then swing toward the rear of the truck.

For a custom truck body manufacturer that can convert your truck into a carpenter's workshop on wheels, contact Diamond Truck Body Manufacturing Inc. We are experts in creating custom truck bodies and will be happy to design and make one specifically for you.