Looking to raise van roof, rear doors

twinpopusa

Seasoned Expediter
I wonder how hard it is to install the hightop yourself, the time invested in doing the install vs. paying a shop to do it. If it isn't too difficult, the 1300 bucks, plus the install kit doesn't seem too expensive. Or, I might try buying a used Pennske truck first, before putting 3 grand into an '04 Ford E-250 with 190K on it..
 

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
buddy of mine used to do van roofs in the 70s. he sid he would ordeet the roof from a shop. when it came in he got the van, cut the hole and took the topless(how scandalous!!) to the shop. place the roof on the van and do a quick 6 screw(!!!!) atachment and go home and finish the job. took 2 folks to get the lid on the van. i have talked to him about a top but he doesn't do doors. might as well get the door done for the extra space and take some work away from a sprinter(i'm gona get it now)

http://www.discountvantruck.com/

on the left is van roof tab.
 
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RedBird

Veteran Expediter
Fleet Owner
While driving around the Chicago area, I have seen a company called Fore-Tec Medical. They run ford vans with raised roof and doors. You might want to contact them and find out where they get their van modifications done at!
 

gotta go

Veteran Expediter
While driving around the Chicago area, I have seen a company called Fore-Tec Medical. They run ford vans with raised roof and doors. You might want to contact them and find out where they get their van modifications done at!

Custom Vans on Oakton, in Skokie.
 

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
thanks jeanie. that is close by.......ok 65 miles but in this biz thats close.


raised roof $2500.00--2 lights no insulation
Full doors 2000.00
4500.00


cut doors into roof.

24" roof 23 opening

5 days after roof arrives.

10-12 days to get top.
 

gotta go

Veteran Expediter
thanks jeanie. that is close by.......ok 65 miles but in this biz thats close.


raised roof $2500.00--2 lights no insulation
Full doors 2000.00
4500.00


cut doors into roof.

24" roof 23 opening

5 days after roof arrives.

10-12 days to get top.

I'm glad that was a help. As I said, I used to deliver their tops, I just had to dig through the cobwebs in my mind. :D
 

idtrans

Expert Expediter
Why not have a welding metal shop cut and make door risers for you ? I just had a metal shop in Laredo cut and shorten the wheel wells in my 10' cube van he charged me $85 per side. And it came out incredible. shop is called Aranda iron works inc laredo tx. He is not afraid to customize and or modify your van to your specs.

He was amazed that y cube had dually wheel wells on single rear wheels he was happy to correct this for me and he did a great job. Next he is building me a full frontal hd deer catcher for my van said he would charge around $750 but it will be heavy duty and wrap around so its well worth the investment since deers like to run into our paths .
 

Dreamer

Administrator Emeritus
Charter Member
Yup, as Ron White says, if you dont get a deer this year.. slow that bullet down to 65 mph, and put headlights on it. Deer will come to you!

Dale

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
 

Brisco

Expert Expediter
Next he is building me a full frontal hd deer catcher for my van said he would charge around $750 but it will be heavy duty and wrap around so its well worth the investment since deers like to run into our paths .

Why have one made for $750??

Good Solid "Ranch Hand Bumpers/Deer Killers" can be bought on the market in $5-$600 range, installed. Or at least down here in Texas they can be.

Also, be leary at how much these things weigh. I used to deliver these things to dealerships back in my 3PL Auto Parts days and some of the good "Deer Killers" can weigh up to 300 lbs easily. Two reasons to be leary when putting them on a Cargo Van. First being, in Expediting, their weight will take away from your carrying capacity. Second being, they are "front tire killers" also. Having that much extra weight directly on your front suspension does effect the wear and tear on your tires.

I've heard of guys in the RV Transporting industry that when they did not have the Deer Killer on their trucks, their tire wear was minimal. 100-120K miles easily on a set of tires. They then got all fancy and put the big black Deer Killer on the front of their truck, and all of sudden their tire rotations went up dramatically and tire life dropped 50% down to 50-60K miles per set.

Just advice, OK.
 

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
those roofs ARE raised but did you fellas notice the doors are not cut into the roof? no reason to spend the money for a raised roof if you can't load taller frt into the truck.

just buy an aerocell or an hcv supreme/spartan or rockport.
 
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ExFedEx

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Owner/Operator
Well ..... duh ........


Uh-huh .... yeah ..... I can see how that might work out real good:

Customer: "Is that truck rolling to the shipper for pick-up ?"

Load Planning/Customer Service/Dispatch: " .... uh .... well .... no ..... not exactly ..... the driver said I should call you back .... and have you call the shipper .... and get the shipper to go measure/weigh/verify/count the cargo ..... and then call us back so the driver can verify that it will actually fit on his vehicle .... he doesn't like to roll before we have completed this verification process ..... so .... could you do that ..... please ?"

Customer: " ...... HUH ? ..... what ..... ? ....... nevermind .... cancel it ...... I'll call someone else ...... GOODBYE ......"


And sometimes it is merely providing the customer what they asked for ......

You have heard the expression "The customer is always right ?" haven't you ?

This actually does often apply - even when they aren't - and are wrong. Perhaps a hard concept to grasp for some ....


David ...... I would think that having been involved with expedite for at least some amount of time .... that you would have at least a clue ...... your statement above is glib at best (meaning you can talk the talk, but can ya really walk the walk ?)

While it is true that it requires little or no effort on the part of CS or LP or Dispatch to ASK FOR the information when they book the load ... actually obtaining that info is not always a simple matter ..... unless you perhaps reside in some magical world where all the T's are crossed, and all the I's are dotted ......

For instance, the shipper may not be the customer who is booking the load ...... the customer who is booking could be a different company, in a different city or state ...... or even in a different country ......

And the person who actually has the info - or can get it - may not be easily accessible ..... or even accessible at all at that particular moment ......

The person who is booking the load may not even know who to contact to verify the dims info .....

(I'm on a 984 mile run right now that had no delivery address when it was dispatched .... I know, I know .... I probably should have told Dispatch: "I'm not rolling ... until you have all the all information ..." ..... yeah ..... that's the ticket ..... not ....)

It's an imperfect world in which we live ....


Again .... WELL, DUH ......


Got news for ya ..... if the carrier is worth their salt, it ain't the Dispatch managers or the carrier that is paying ...... it's the customer - because Dispatch/CS/Load Planning has attempted to find out the info, and if the customer isn't providing it, and are requesting a specific vehicle and it's wrong, then the customer is the one that is paying ..... at least that's the way it ought to work (and usually does)


Yeah ..... DEMAND IT OF THEM ...... sounds like a sure fire recipe to build ongoing customer relationships and keeping them happy ..... kinda like a drill sgt. barking orders ..... I'm sure it will bring 'em in in droves to book loads ...... :cool:

Lemme tell ya about "Carl" (actual true story with a real individual) ..... Carl runs the shipping department of a high-end graphics and signage company ...... somewhere in the midwest. He's a pretty crotchty old man and he don't take no crap from no one - probably very little from his boss even - and certainly not from some dip-wad dispatcher or CS agent.

Ships some very expensive stuff that usually never is "rush" but is "time-critical" (meaning that there usually isn't a big hurry to get it delivered, although often there is a delivery appointment involved) .... he can't afford to ship it LTL due to the potential for damage.

When Carl calls in and requests a truck it will be for a specific type of vehicle - and that's the vehicle you send - 'cause if ya don't, Carl ain't gonna be callin' anymore. And, if you're smart, the most you might do is just repeat the request back to him - just to verify that you got what he said ..... forget about quizzing him about the dims ......

If Carl screws up and orders the wrong size vehicle, well then, that's Carl's error - and he picks up the tab. The likelihood of ever DEMANDING anything from Carl is exactly zero/zilch/nada ..... he'd eat ya for breakfast. And you could kiss his business goodbye.

Nice enough guy ..... but you really don't want to argue with him - he wants what he wants, when it wants it.

'Nuff said.


Old post, still holds true. The person booking the load may be the 21 year old receptionist up at the front desk who maybe has set foot in the warehouse one time. They may no clue about dims, weight, or whatever. Nice comeback RLENT.
 
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