Vehicle Upfitting: The Step-by-Step Process

Operations•Photos 12•March 14, 2013

Ever wonder about the process an upfitted vehicle goes through before it becomes a finished product? Work Truck takes readers on a journey through the upfitting process with the help of Auto Truck Group, an upfitter that specializes in the design, manufacture, and installation of work truck equipment.

This article takes you through the upfit process of a Ram 4500 spec'd for a light maintenance company, which took place at Auto Truck Group's facility in Bartlett, Illinois.

The upfit consists of six main components: painting the chassis, mounting the service body, installing the LED lights, welding the hitch, and installing the cab guard and ladder rack.

The 12 photos illustrate each step, from the paint booth to final inspection where it will be deemed ready for delivery to the end user.

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The service body has been brought in from the facility’s 15-acre yard and placed on a lift. The body is now ready to be placed on the chassis.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The upfit is almost complete. The technician is now under the hood of the chassis cab, connecting the lights to the battery.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The technician is tightening bolts as he wraps up the installation of the service body ladder rack.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

Next, a welder comes to the bay to weld the hitch on to the chassis of the truck.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The vehicle has now completed inspection and is ready for final delivery to the end user.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The technician is carefully reading the directions for installing electrical components on the cab guard.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

Now the technician is working on the final wiring for the LED taillights. Many fleet managers have switched to LED lights in their specs because they have a longer life, according to Auto Truck Group.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The technician is working to attach the fuel cap from the chassis to the
service body.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

This upfit begins in the paint booth. The chassis was originally white, but was painted blue per the customer’s spec. Auto Truck Group’s Bartlett, Ill., location recently upgraded its paint facility to a three-color plural component painting system, which reduces the chance of human error or miscalculation in mixing, and reduces the lag time to clean out the paint lines.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The chassis has now made it to an installation bay. The first step in the installation process is fastening the body to the chassis. Since this upfit is for a very specialized customer, it will spend several days in the bay having the equipment installed.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The truck has made it to final inspection. The Quality Control team reviews every detail of the truck to make sure it meets the customer’s expectations — from ensuring the light bars and turn signals work correctly to making certain that every bolt is properly tightened.
Photo: Auto Truck Group

The technician is now working on installing the LED rear marker light.
Photo: Auto Truck Group