I have been pondering for a while about getting a F700 - IH 7+yd dump. I started looking around and found some other cool toys as well... it got me to thinking.

how realistic is it to have a swapable body on these larger trucks. Ideally I would be able to drop the out riggers unscrew some bolts etc and be able to pop off one body and go to the next needed... I have great interest in a 50' lift though a 20-30' material loader w auger is tempting to... a dump body and possibly a short box w reefer.

getting 3 different trucks would eat me alive with repairs and such.

 

The easiest way that comes to mind is to use the roll-off set up:

Google Image Result for http://www.skycoequipment.com/knuckle/13070/13070d.jpg

You would have some serious fab work to do to make your lift and loader work, but the dump body is a no-brainer, and the box/reefer is pretty basic as well.

 

OMG you just gave me evil idea rolloff refer.... oh you dont have room for your produce well ill just dump it here.

The dump and refer I didnt see as being a big problem. the crane/lift etc i knew would be a tad of a challenge. Hydraulic hookups wouldent be to bad to deal with just comlex. If its any thing like my tractor it would be a matter of either qa with the dump lines or make it so that dump lines and lift etc lines are selectable seprate ports...

I havent spent any time around a larger truck like that to know how the util bodys attach. I was thinking of putting a series of 1-2" bolts or pins on the verticle section of the frame so that it would be a side pull to remove them as well as the shearing force would be sideways not trying to pull the threads out.. though maybe both will be needed. the roll off idea is also quite good not sure what the hold down strength of that is though. the outriggers and twisting from the boom may make that problematic though setting the bolts to that part of the lift may also work.

there would be verticle as well as lateral movement that has to be restrained. the boom equipment would also be likely to try and twist aginst the bolts either way. may need a combination. heh im all for welding plate and bolts to the frame and bed may even test some of this on my 350 to see how it works out...

for the roll off I could see the front of the body having a series of plates seperated by an inch that would mesh with several welded between the frame. put a small moter driven set of pins that would go through both sets of interlocking plates to keep the downforce from being an issue. it would be sweet to have all the pins moterised press a button and wala the bed is locked in

 

For the crane/lift, I would (yea, like I'm a truck fabricator--more on this later):

--disable the dump via a simple mechanical lockout on the controls.

--as you say, use a plate or two on each side that would bolt the whole thing to the truck frame for stability. Since you have outriggers, they need to bolt to the frame as well. This would require some study of OEM set ups and reverse-engineering them to fit. I don't see this being a quick on and off other than the basic set up rolling on. Maybe there is a way, but you have some figureing, measureing, drawing, mock up to do. For example, the plates can't interfer with the roll-on function. Thus, the plates on the crane have to extend down or be added after it's on the truck.

My dad did some fabricating with farm equipment and trucks. I stood by and "absorbed" and ever once in a while, had an idea that worked. (like the double-roller chain to connect the hydraulic pump to the front of the crank on the Allis-Chalmers--an idea taken by me straight from the pages of "Hot Rod" magazine's article on the "Freight Train" twin-engined gas dragster)

It's all easy to talk about...

Motor-driven pins? Maybe not.

 

the pins were a thought on how to deal with securing in a hard to reach place.

guess I will have to find a large truck sales office in the area and start pestering them about various parts and truck styles...
def going to have to see how various styles of frames look and such...

heh easy off for me would mean under an hr with a large socket on a air wrench