Anyone done a lorry chassis/box swap?

[kilster1]

Has anyone swapped their horsebox onto a newer lorry chassis cab? My lorry has died but the box part is OK so I'm thinking of having it remounted onto a replacement chassis cab. Any advice, opinions and likely cost? good or bad experiences? Any recommendations for someone able to do this in Beds area? All advice gratefully received!

 

[carthorse]

We did our own with a fork lift truck .It was just unbolted and lifted slightly ,the old lorry driven out and new lorry reversed in. It did not have a cut through so was very straightforward

 

[ecrozier]

No but very interested to hear reports as will eventually want to do this with mine when the old bedford finally gives up! My horsebox's body has def been on a different chassis at some point as it has a flap for the tilt cab at the front, and obviously Bedfords don't have tilt cabs.

 

[kilster1]

So one quote for £1300 to do this is a bit steep then!! My box has no cut through either, or skirts so must be the simplest to do. Thanks, Carthorse for that info. Still got the forklift??!

 

[custard]

Ha ha it sounds easy but not always so due to differing height of the cab itself.

Had my Ifor Williams container transferred from my old Transit to a Merc Sprinter and it caused abit of a headache due to the Sprinter being taller. They had to take some out of the luton but they still did it for about £500

 

[digger2]

I swaped a TK for a ford cargo,

Bought the chassis from a dealer, told him i had a TK, he knocked a good bit of the price for the TK and did the swap for me.

Didn't have a luton tho so easy in that respect.

TK cab's quite a lot lower that modern ones so with a luton it could cause prob.

 

[ecrozier]

That doesn't sound so bad to me - if it is a 7.5t? Have you already got the new chassis? Do you mind me asking what chassis you are going to/from? I was offered an N-reg 10t chassis, a Daf, by the lorry ,echanics who do my servicing etc for about £1000. It looked a bit cruddy outside but the people who owned it (think it was a garden waste company or something) had been using my mechanics for a while and it had a well looked after engine etc, so not a bad price. I'd really like a 10t MAN though, to put the box from my 7.5t bedford on, to give me the extra weight capacity. (I've got my hgv before anyone shouts!)

 

[Sparklet]

Just in the process of doing this for a second time....box being put on tomorrow....costs this time

P reg Renault £1600
transfer of box £250

Helps because we dont have a luton or skirts so it is just a rectangular box to move over.....tipping caps and finding a lorry to fit wheel holes in the skirts is where the expense come in.

 

[kilster1]

Emma C: No, I've not got the new chassis yet. The price I was quoted wasn't for the chassis - just the swap over precedure. The existing chassis is Merc 814. I do have a luton but there's lots of clearance above the existing Merc cab so I think that issue should be OK. My main problem is probably finding a chassis with a 10 to 12ft wheel base - very short!

Sparklet: Your costs sound pretty good. Any recommendations?

 

[Sparklet]

The hardest thing is finding a lorry.....dont find many lorry showrooms and we ended up getting ours via word of mouth rather than checking auto trader which is much pricier.

My other bit of advice is to avoid horsebox converters and go for a commercial garage to do the switch over....horsebox people will charge several times over what you should have to pay.

 

[ExRacers]

Yes we swapped our box from our Ford Cargo when it 'died' onto a newer MAN 8163 chassis.

Local garage did it one afternoon for £100! No cut through or skirts involved though - just a simple case of lifting off one & onto the other.

 

[kilster1]

Wow, that's useful to know, thanks. I thought it would have to be horsebox people. Never occured to me that a local garage would do it. Thanks guys