Starting the Next Mod: New Tongue Box

The_Rigger

Placed an order today at the Big Orange Box store for a 60"-wide Delta Champion aluminum truck tool box #350000, which will replace the T@G factory tongue box... 12cu.ft. of lockable storage, plenty of room for multiple batteries 'n' stuff. This should be interesting, making a pattern to cut holes in the back of the new box that match the clearance holes in the OEM box for the battery switch & propane regulator and transplanting the propane tank bracket over to the new Delta box (hello, Mr. TIG welder!).

To be continued...

ras

Don't forget a vent for propane.

The_Rigger

Of course. Every hole in the OEM box will be duplicated in the replacement. I'm actually toying with the idea of louvering the bottom of the new box, in between the frame rails.

ras

I cut a couple of rectangular holes the size of the floor registers in my house in the rear of the box and installed metal register covers over them with pop rivets.

The_Rigger

I thought about doing that, too. I'll have to see where the other cut-outs end up; if I do that I'd want to put the registers as low as possible, since propane is heavier than air - that's why I was thinking of louvering the bottom of the box, rather than a side panel.

Curious how there's really no venting for propane in the factory T@G tongue box, isn't it...

Zombiecat

I’m less handy and infinitely more lazy, so I purchased a set of custom fabricated storage boxes from Sea Biscuit Metal Designs, Johnson City, TN. Both my center box and truck will now be less cluttered, as I’ll store the wheel chocks, leveler, power cord, water hose, etc. in these bins. Sea Biscuit did a nice job in making them match the existing aesthetic of the trailer.

They’re easy to install, but a few hints if you go this route:

1) Position them far enough forward on the platform that you can fully open the lid without the hinged edge scratching your trailer surface. I lined up the front of the new boxes with the existing tongue box and it worked fine, plus looks uniform.

2) I chose to mount the carriage bolts from the bottom up so that the lock nut protrudes inside the box. This makes it difficult for a thief to simply unscrew them from the bottom and walk away with the entire box. I will be adding an exterior lock to each box.

3) I replaced the provided carriage bolts with a shorter version (¾ “ long) . As the bolt/nut protrudes from the bottom of the box, I made a wooden “platform” for the bottom of the box. I drilled holes to accommodate the protruding bolts and finished it with marine polyurethane (and a bit of thin carpet).

4) You’ll notice the rear washer isn’t the ones supplied by Sea Biscuit, which are cut from the same diamond plate metal as the box. Due to the location of the holes on the T@g platform, I had to position the holes closer to the rear wall of the box, so these were a bit too large in diameter. I substituted with a couple of 2” fender washers.

I’d caution against moving either the propane, battery or any fuel to these boxes, as there’s no ventilation.

I’m happy with the results. Looking forward to testing them next month!

The_Rigger

I thought briefly about getting the Seabiscuit boxes, but my camper doesn't have the tongue platform to support them, and adding the platform along with a pair of side boxes would've been three times the cost of the Delta box, if not more (I paid just under $600 at Home Depot). Plus my preference is for one bloody-great box that I can stash two or three milk crates inside for sorting things into, along with the propane tank and a battery or two.

I will definitely say the Seabiscuit stuff looks very nice, though.