Chopped Van Turned Into Dump Truck

Chopped Van Turned Into Dump Truck TRUCKS Miscellaneous 32-3-20 Turning an old van into a dump truck with club cab was a good investment for Joseph Mundil. The lawn care operator needed a way to haul away lawn clippings and tree branches. "I bought a 1992 Aerostar minivan with 169,000 miles for only $400," says Mundil. "It has 4-WD, which is good in the winter, and I still have the second seat so it'll seat five adults comfortably." Mundil chopped the van where the two side windows met just behind the second seat, but only as far as the door/fender panel. This allowed him to retain full use of the sliding door. He filled in the opening with the back side and window from a 1984 Ford Ranger pickup cab. He also cleaned out the interior to make room for the dump box. A local metal shop bent heavy tin for the box. Mundil attached used angle iron to the corners and a strip of channel iron at the tailgate. The channel iron let him hinge the box to the rear of the van. "I bought a hydraulic cylinder and built a rack beneath the dump box," says Mundil. "It uses a 12-volt pump that I installed in the rear. I put a hole in the side of the fender and made a lid to cover it. It lets me reach the toggle switch and valves I mounted inside the fender." Mundil mounted a manual 2-way tailgate on the dump box. He can tilt it down or flip it up and over the top of the box. The only other change he made to the van was replacing rusty quarter panels. "The conversion only cost me about $200," he says. "It's just like a four-seat pickup, but it cost a lot less." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joseph Mundil, 505 Bressler Ave., Winside, Neb. 68790 (ph 402 286-4848).

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