Ok, since I am not at home (deployed to Iraq right now) so I have time to plan everything out on paper. The issue at hand is that my old truck (Ford E350) has a frame width of 42in. the new truck (International 4700) is about 6 inches less in width. The Box has frame rails on it that bolt through rubber mounts to the truck's frame. Since the box's rails are 42" wide and the trucks are less I was planning on cross members (rectangular steel stock)that would bolt to the box with bolts and rubber mount to the frame. Is there a better idea I should know of? Thanks,

Dodger

.....1"x4" STEEL BARS[flats] MOUNTED ON THE FRAME RAILS OF THE MDT WITH 1"x4" LEGS FASTENED [use 3/4' HARDENED BOLTS -CLASS 8 -WITH LOCK WASHERS] TO THE FRAME AND WELDED TO THE TOP PIECE ON BOTH SIDES....THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE ROOM TO MOVE THE BOX AROUND ON THE POLY MOUNTS[RUBBER] AND SQUARE IT UP BEFORE DRILLING THROUGH THE 1x4 BAR.....TWO WILL HOLD IT AND 4 WILL BE OVERKILL BIG TIME....the reason i use this fastening method is that the box and frame are not always square in used equipment...quicker method would be like a 2.5 ton army truck with the bar mounted on the bed and not the frame.....but welding overhead has it's problems.......geofkaye and the Rivercity Girlz

....by the way: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.....geofkaye and the Rivercity Girlz

So it is ok to bolt the cross members on top of the MDT frame? I thought the frame had to have some flex in it. That is why I was going to rubber mount them to the frame. There is 10 rubber mounts on the box now, I was going to use the same amount if not two more. Thanks for the help Geofkaye.

how are you mounting back end to cab? using old boot? how much spacing do you need? i think i would put crossmembers where mounts go and just reuse them. dont weld to top or bottom of frame flanges. only weld to sides of frame.

Currently it is hard mounted to the van cab, so I wonder if a boot would be such a good idea considering how it has worked for the last 19 years. Could I hard mount it if I used the same body mounts for the cab as I do for the box? Given this is a very short rig. The box is only 12.5 feet long and the cab is a 4700 day cab which is not any longer than the E350 cab. Thanks for any help!

Dodger