The Impossible Project: Ecomodding a Box Truck

[interestingstuff]

Greetings,

I just bought a box truck. A really REALLY BIG box truck. A honking HUGE box truck.

A box truck built on a 1993 Ford F600 7.0 L .

A 26,000 GVWR truck.

There should be a picture below.

What's possible?

Any ideas?

For anybody who wants to check it out in person, get involved, etc. it's located in the greater Philadelphia area.

Thanks!

[Jez77]

My first though is to remove the box off the back, that would help heaps but it depends on what you intend to use the truck for before we make too many suggestions.

[interestingstuff]

Originally Posted by Jez77

My first though is to remove the box off the back, that would help heaps but it depends on what you intend to use the truck for before we make too many suggestions.

Yeah, that's not an option. I bought the truck specifically to use it for transporting, and temporarily storing items in a secure manner. Basically assume that the use of the box truck is the same use as any other box truck would be.

[oil pan 4]

Eliminate the emissions control garbage, if it has any, a 93 might have a soot trap. May have EGR.
Run a big exhaust, that doesn't hinder aerodynamics.
Big cold air intake with big air filter.
If it's going to be used on the highway mostly put the biggest turbo you can find on there.
The old 7L pickups had a small restrictive turbo for highway towing imo.

Then look at tractor trailers for aero mods.
Side skirt, moon hubs on the back, a boat tail if possible and a roof spoiler or something so that the air going over the cab doesn't ram straight into a flat wall.

[jakobnev]

I'd look into a box cavity for the rear and increasing the radius of the front edges of the box. Then I'd look into side skirts.

[Fat Charlie]

Google "trailer tail."

[Jez77]

Originally Posted by interestingstuff

Yeah, that's not an option. I bought the truck specifically to use it for transporting, and temporarily storing items in a secure manner. Basically assume that the use of the box truck is the same use as any other box truck would be.

Ok but can you afford to maybe loose some height in the rear maybe?
I had the idea of having the rear 1/3 of the box hinged in a couple of spots so it could be lowered if the space isn't needed. Most of the time the box isn't full anyway. I'd even be tempted to taper the rear sides in too if you can afford to loose a little width.

[interestingstuff]

So, currently I'm researching wheels, hub covers and other components. Both Accuride and Alcoa produce aluminum wheels good for this sort of heavy duty truck. Apparently they have some benefits besides just weight, including extending the life of your tires, and reducing maintenance needs vs steel wheels. I've got some issues I need to solve there, so once I can afford it I will consider aluminum wheels. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a solution that will also allow for a moon style disc wheel hubcap. Just some interesting links for reference: https://www.todaystrucking.com/showd...-steel-wheels/ https://www.arconic.com/alcoawheels/...heavy-duty.asp https://www.accuridewheelendsolutions.com/

[JSH]

Originally Posted by interestingstuff

So, currently I'm researching wheels, hub covers and other components. Both Accuride and Alcoa produce aluminum wheels good for this sort of heavy duty truck. Apparently they have some benefits besides just weight, including extending the life of your tires, and reducing maintenance needs vs steel wheels. I've got some issues I need to solve there, so once I can afford it I will consider aluminum wheels. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a solution that will also allow for a moon style disc wheel hubcap. Just some interesting links for reference: https://www.todaystrucking.com/showd...-steel-wheels/ https://www.arconic.com/alcoawheels/...heavy-duty.asp https://www.accuridewheelendsolutions.com/

I worked for Alcoa when they first came out with aluminum wheels paired with Michelin super singles. They tested them on our fleet and if I'm remembering correctly replacing 8 dualies with 8 super singles was good for about a 3 - 4% improvement in fuel economy. You save about 400 lbs per axle and the cost is about the same as dually. (The tires are twice as expensive but you only need half as many)


For aero mods, I second the skirts and tail. Anything you can do on a trailer you can do on a truck. Depending on your usage you can reduce the frontal area and reduce drag by dropping the box. Likely your box has a 6 to 12 inch spacer to raise the box to the level of a standard loading dock. If you aren't going to load from a dock you can remove the spacer. You will need to cut and tub the floor of the box for tire clearance. UHaul does this to lower the loading height and improve fuel economy

[freebeard]

I just noticed the thread.

Box vans are a special case. Attempting to teardrop them compromises load volume. The advantage the box van has is length, or fineness ratio. The long flat sides and top allow opportunity for disruptions caused by the nose mirrors and trailer gap to reattach so you have — I forget what — between laminar and turbulent flow. Attached turbulent? Anyway here's a diagram that maps out areas of opportunity:



I wish I had a picture of the truck I saw downtown today. The aerocap on top the cab
was shaped like a dolphin's forehead and the visor was a free-standing wing. Ultimately though you want your cab to look like this: