TJ's No-Climb, Rugged, Mechanical Service Pickup
RIG DETAILS
| USED FOR | Mechanical |
| TYPICAL JOBS | natural gas engines and compressors |
| MODEL | 2005 Ford F350 |
| BODY | Full-Size Pickup, Extended Cab (Pickups), Long |
| DRIVETRAIN | V10 6.8 Gas |
ORGANIZATION
TJ's uses a 2005 Ford F350 pickup for his business, Blackfoot Mechanical. He carries a heavy load of tools and inventory, mostly for natural gas engine and compressor service.
Lots of plumber and HVAC techs can get by on many jobs with minimal tools, but TJ needs a ton of ratchets, wrenches, sockets, measuring tools, hammers, and other gear that make his tool load very weighty!
With so many items, you don't want to be climbing into the bed of your truck to get at tools and supplies, so TJ built his organization so that everything is accessible from outside the truck.
Check out his full Packout loadout here.
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Needs of a Natural Gas Tech
TJ needs to work in more remote areas where access is on bumpy dirt roads, so he needed a truck that could handle rough conditions.
Tools and inventory can bounce around on these types of roads, so he took extra care to secure and contain any tools and inventory. He doesn't use any tie-downs for this, instead using tool cubbies, Packout system base plates, and drawers.
The Pickup Truck
TJ has put some effort into getting the mechanicals of the pickup working for him. It came with a 6" lift kit, which is too much for a truck you need to work out of!
He removed the lift, and swapped in some suspension components to improve the handling. The truck has a gas engine, four wheel drive, and a limited slip differential in the rear that can help in slippery situations in the dirt.
Storage Foundations
A Knapheide KnapKap bed cap gives him open access to the tools in the bed with the tilt-up side panels and the barn door rear access. Since the cap is steel and is pretty strong, he was able to mount other parts and pieces to inside it without worrying about something falling off, bending, or bowing.
The bed has two cabinets, one for power tools and one for miscellaneous items and a battery charging station.
In the bed, he uses a Decked two-drawer system. This creates a raised platform with two bed-length drawers. This kind of bed-drawer system is great for no climb access and has been used by others in electrician's trucks and handyman trucks.
On top of the Decked platform, TJ mounted a CargoGlide CG1500. The CargoGlide is a bed slide that brings all the contents to the outside of the truck's bed. Again, this is great for no climb access.
Packouts for Mechanical
Milwaukee Packouts dominate the storage system. It looks like TJ uses at least one of every shape!
One stacked row is accessible from the driver side hatch of the cap. Another row of Packouts houses mostly tools, and is accessed by sliding the CargoGlide out of the bed. Packouts are stacked two to three high and secured to the CargoGlide with base plates.
He has a tool caddy setup for hand tools, and a tote for his precision measuring tools.
Strapped on Tools
TJ uses a number of large open/box end wrenches, up to 2 1/2", so he keeps these strapped to a rear door. Flat, vertical storage spaces like this are great for long, awkward items and the visibility is especially good to easily ensure you have all your wrenches at the end of the day.
Smaller wrenches are stored in vertical ABS tool tubes on the other door.
He keeps 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive torque wrenches in ABS tool tubes strapped to the passenger side tool cabinet.
Serious On-Board Air
Because he needs a compressor, TJ mounted a 30 gallon gas-powered air compressor in the front of the bed. The compressor is oriented so that the pull-start cord can be pulled through the driver side access panel.
To manage air hose, he ran a hard line to a hose reel mounted to the roof of the cap. The reel holds 30' of air hose.
To keep fumes from collecting inside the cap, TJ made an exhaust port in the cap. The exhaust pipe from the compressor secures to the cap and keeps the air in the cap clear of direct exhaust.
120v Electricity
TJ uses a 2000W inverter connected to an isolator to provide electricity. This is a particularly good idea if you're planning to work in somewhat remote areas.
A non-isolated system can drain your starting battery, and this is actually a common problem for some tradespeople that find their battery is dead after leaving their inverter on overnight. This can even happen with no load on the inverter.
An isolator will use another battery that is automatically or manually switched to charge.
The power inverter provides 120V to power his battery chargers and also connects to a hose reel with 50' of extension cord.
While both the air hose and extension cord are relatively short, since they're mounted on hose reels they are extremely fast to deploy and reel up at the end of a job.
Battery Charging Station
TJ charges all his tool batteries off the 2000 W inverter in the passenger side cabinet. To keep batteries organized and prevent them from bouncing, he bought some 3D-printed holders that allowed him to mount the batteries to any flat surface.
Milwaukee Tool Cabinet
TJ uses mostly Milwaukee M18 and M12 battery-powered tools. He keeps most of his tools in a suspended cabinet that he built from steel sheet and plywood. Each tool has it's own cubby, so it's easy to see when one is missing.
Conclusion
This is a great mechanical tool set build for a pickup truck. You can buy most of the components that TJ uses, so his system is easily replicable if you want similar no-climb access to the contents of your pickup bed.
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