An all-aluminium tipper body for a 3.5-tonne chassis took pride of place on the VFS stand at the NEC in Birmingham.
The Southampton-based converter displayed the product complete with a cage and a tool box constructed using an aluminium frame and 17mm gel-coat panels constructed with a foam core.
“The entire package weighs less than 500kg,” said sales and marketing director Ashley Morris.
All-alloy tipper bodies are proving of particular interest to businesses running 3.5t tippers with seven-seater crew cabs because of the payload advantages they bring, Morris said. If all seven seats are occupied and a steel body fitted, which is then filled with bags of sand, tools and so on, then there is a risk that the vehicle will end up overloaded.
Go the alloy body route, however, and there will be a financial penalty to pay, Morris admitted. “It’ll be 14% more expensive than a steel body,” he said.
Also on display on the VFS stand was a Luton body designed in such a way that the DEL tail-lift fitted to it acts as the rear closure along with a top flap, which is supported by gas struts.
It is an approach that saves the cost and weight of a rear door and door frame, Morris pointed out.