Go back a few years and the process of acquiring a tipper, say, or a dropside was, to put it mildly, laborious. The chassis would be ordered, it would arrive at the dealership, and would then be despatched to a local bodybuilder to have the chosen body fitted. An agreement would have to be reached over the body's design, it would be built and mounted on the vehicle, and the bodied chassis would be sent back to the dealership ready for delivery to the customer.

The whole process took ages and if there was a subsequent problem the dealer would blame the bodybuilder and the bodybuilder would blame the dealer. The hapless customer would be stuck in the middle, not knowing who was right and who was wrong.

But times have changed. Today most, though not all, manufacturers, run what are sometimes referred to as one-stop shop or ready-to-go-to-work programmes. Order a tipper from a participating dealer and you'll be offered a chassis with a standardised body constructed by a well-known bodybuilder such as Ingimex. Approved by the chassis maker concerned, the body will be built to high standards using top-notch components and will usually be covered by a warranty that dovetails neatly with the one that protects the chassis.

The vehicle turns up at the dealership ready-bodied and ready to be put to work. If you suffer from a problem, then it's up to the supplying dealer to get it put it right; not deny responsibility and put the blame on a third party.

So what's the catch? One we've already alluded to — the fact that the body is standardised. If you want something a bit longer or a touch wider, then that won't be available through the programme. You'll have to have it built specially.

Rather than face all the hassle and expense that will result from such a move, however, you might want to think about asking yourself whether you genuinely need that extra length or width. Is it because 'we've always done it that way' going back to the days of the horse and cart and for no other logical reason? If so, then it may make more sense to compromise and see if an off-the-shelf body will meet your needs. You might discover that it does.

Volkswagen

Typical of the sort of dropside and tipper bodies that are on offer are those provided by Volkswagen on Crafter chassis under the Engineered to Go banner. Both are sourced from Ingimex.

On offer on medium- and long-wheelbase single cab chassis and on a long-wheelbase double cab chassis, the dropside body features a 15mm thick one-piece birch plywood floor coated with non-slip phenolic resin. The sides and the tailboard are made from double-skinned anodised aluminium panels. A steel bulkhead topped by a removable steel mesh grille is fitted and incorporates a ladder rack plus four 125kg-capacity lashing points. They supplement recessed folding-type deck lashing rings with a capacity of 500kg apiece.

Top payload varies from around 1,100kg to approximately 1,300kg depending on the chassis and the exact specifications. Load bed length varies from 3,482mm to 4,300mm while the width and dropside/tailboard depth are 2,026mm and 408mm respectively in all cases.

Ingimex's Titan tipper body features an all-steel floor. Once again the sides are made from double-skinned anodised aluminium but the tailboard is constructed from polished stainless steel. The bulkhead is steel too. As with the dropside, it's topped off by a steel mesh grille and includes a ladder gantry plus a quartet of 125kg-capacity tie-down rings.

The tipper is marketed as a medium-wheelbase single cab and as a long-wheelbase double cab. As a consequence maximum load length is the same in both cases; 3,125mm. Width is constant too, at 2,026mm, while sidewall and tailboard height are 408mm and 500mm respectively. Payload capacity varies from getting on for 1,000kg to around 1,200kg.

Volkswagen also has accredited converters whom it deems capable of producing specialist conversion that fall outside the dropside/tipper/Luton mainstream under the Engineered for You banner.

Vauxhall

One-stop shop programmes aren't restricted to builder's workhorses, however, as Vauxhall is quick to point out. It's added a Luton-bodied Movano to its line-up. Produced with a 2.5-litre CDTi diesel at 100hp, 120hp or 146hp and using the long-wheelbase chassis cab, it can handle a 1,358kg payload and offers 17.2m³ of cargo space.

Employing anodised aluminium extrusions, and produced by Aluvan of Bruges, Belgium, the body gets an integrated rear frame capable of accepting a tail-lift. It also comes with an alloy roller shutter door, a pine internal kickboard and a row of five horizontal internal lashing rails.

Features on the vehicle include reinforced rear suspension, a driver's airbag, a radio/CD player and remote central locking for the cab. As a core conversion, the entire package is protected by Vauxhall's three year/100,000 mile warranty and a Ratcliff tail-lift can be specified as an option.

Citroën