A Super Neat Utility-Bodied HVAC Service Truck

The Setup

Many HVAC techs favor utility body trucks for service work, and this truck is a well-organized example of why you'd want to do it.

The F350 is set up for no-climb access but still has lots of space in the bed for hauling large units, if necessary. Since almost everything is stored in the utility body compartments, no bending, crouching, or kneeling is required to get at almost anything on the truck.

Veto Tool Bags

This HVAC tech tries to keep his tool bags small. He says:

The bigger things are, the more you put in them, and then they become too heavy.

He carries three primary tool bags:

A Veto Pro Pac MC bag is his primary service bag.

A Veto Pro Pac MB-2 bag is used for AC service with Fieldpiece probes. He wanted to use it for his primary service bag but found it to be too small. The hook on the back allows him to clip it onto his primary service bag when necessary. He does not like the fact that the bag does not stand up by itself.

Lastly, he carries a Veto Pro Pac open-style install bag that carries a lot more tools than his standard service bag.

Utility Body Tools and Part

Many HVAC techs set up their utility cap or utility body so that tools are on the driver side and parts are on the passenger side, and this truck is no exception. This makes it easy to grab a few tools when arriving on site so that a problem can be diagnosed.

To expand the F350's storage and organization, aluminum utility boxes were bolted to the top of the utility body sides. Like the utility body, the driver side holds tools and the passenger side holds parts.

Inside the passenger side add-on tool box, custom aluminum boxes were fitted to hold small parts like igniters, capacitors, boiler parts, and pressure switches. The boxes slide in and out but are contained so that they won't move or tip over during driving.

PVC pipe caps, pipe, and electrical conduit straps neatly hold things to the tool compartment doors.

The Covered Bed

The bed portion of the truck has a unique feature: the custom vinyl bed cover. It simply spans the two upper tool boxes with some support ribs. Unistrut bolted to the top of the tool boxes allows for space to attach a 6-foot step ladder.

A 2-foot step ladder and hoses are hung from the driver sides of the bed.

There is an 8 foot long wood drawer that slides in and out of the rear of the bed. The drawer uses wheels at about 2/3 of its length to allow it to slide in and out easily with a little manual lifting at the rear end. It has latches to lock it in place for driving.

The drawer carries a water pump, a vacumm pump, refrigerant tanks, and some other small tools.