Building the perfect weight box

[Smoking S]

what would you do different to improve your box? I'll get the list started.
Stainless steel water box. Smaller rollers than 6inch (ground clearance when loading) Thick front plate, have a 1 inch plate now. would probably go 1.5 on the next build. Looking for ideas on flush mount lids with ease of operation in mind.

 

[ikeG]

We run a 2.375" thick plate in front with a stainless box in between the weight box frame work. Holds about 100lbs of ice if there's 5-8 gallons of water in the bottom. We also welded a pipe thru the width of the ice box that we plumb return fuel through.

 

[GOT-Torque]

Solid steel up front, I think mine was 6" thick? (made up of 2" thick plates). Lead would allow it to be smaller, but cost more. Alum or Stainless water box. I used a couple lids similar to these, never spilled any water on the track.

8 Deck Pry Out Plate Marine Access Boat Inspection Hatch Cover Plate ABS-in Electric Heater Parts from Home Improvement on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Mount your batteries and hydraulic pump between the frame rails in the box. Keep as much of the heavy stuff forward as you can. I would have used stainless rollers to keep from rusting and also wish I had a hydraulic ram built into the box to hold it up on the trailer since the powerpack is already on the truck.

 

[Stackman06]

inch thick plate.

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

 

[JerrodGlover]

On my new box I plan on a few things to improve what my current design lacks.
1. Thick plate up front for 2 reasons. The tow hook on the front can mount to it and it will take some abuse. The weight right at 60" from the axle is better then it at 50".
2. Batteries and a charger in the box wired and just requiring a cord to be plugged in. This is much better then fumbling around at 2 am to charge batteries after a long ride home.
3. Water/ice in an insulated box on the front. I see many guys having to wait until the last second to put ice in the water box then see it condensing on the steel of the box. A few inches of insulation keeps the box nice and dry. Make the opening real big. It is a pain to try and get 100 pounds of ice thru a 8" hole.
Don't move the rollers up to high or make them to small. Many of these trucks are now going to run NTPA or PPL events and both have rules as to what size the rollers need to be and how high off the ground they can be. A few pieces of flat stock on the trailer ramps makes it so the rollers can roll up the ramp.

 

[ikeG]

Building a weight box is just like building a house. You'll get it perfect the 2nd or 3rd time around.