Truck Upfitting & Fuel/DEF Truck Setup

Truck Upfitting & Fuel/DEF Truck Setup

A truck off the lot is a blank chassis. What turns it into a working unit — a fuel delivery rig, a DEF truck, a lube truck, a dump tractor — is the gear that gets mounted, plumbed, and wired on top of it. That is truck upfitting, and it is some of the most satisfying work we do at Ames Hydraulics in Ames, Iowa. We take a cab and chassis or an existing truck and build it into exactly the unit your operation needs, with the tanks, pumps, hydraulics, and bodywork done under one roof.

Most shops that do truck upfitting either farm out the hydraulics or farm out the welding. We do both in-house. That means when we set a fuel tank, run a product pump, and tie in the hydraulics off a PTO, the same crew is responsible for the whole job — no finger-pointing between the body shop and the hydraulic shop when something needs adjusting. For operators across Central Iowa, that is the difference between a build that works the first day and one that keeps coming back.

Fuel and DEF Delivery Truck Setup

A big share of our truck upfitting work is fuel and DEF delivery trucks. A fuel delivery truck setup is more than dropping a tank on a frame. The tank has to be mounted and secured right, the product pump has to be sized for the flow you want, the metering and hose-reel plumbing has to be clean, and on a diesel-and-DEF combination unit the DEF side has to stay completely separate so there is no chance of cross-contamination. We handle the whole package:

• Tank mounting for diesel, gas, and DEF, sized and secured to the chassis.
• Product pumps and metering matched to the delivery rate you run.
• Hose reels and dispensing laid out so the operator can actually work.
• DEF truck setup kept isolated from the fuel side, with the right tank and pump for DEF handling.
• Hydraulics and PTO drive where the pump runs off the truck instead of a standalone engine.

Whether it is a single-product fuel delivery truck setup or a multi-compartment custom fuel truck build with diesel, gas, and DEF on the same chassis, we build it to do the job and pass inspection.

Wet Kits, Lube Trailers, and Hydraulic Upfits

The other half of truck upfitting is hydraulics. If your tractor needs to power a dump, walking-floor, or live-floor trailer, that means a wet kit — a PTO, pump, reservoir, valve, and lines — and we install those as a routine part of our upfit work. See our wet kit installation service for the detail on 2-line and 3-line systems. We also build and outfit lube trucks and lube trailers, mounting the oil pumping systems, reels, and tanks that a mobile lube operation runs on. If you are speccing a new mobile lube unit, our lube trailers are a good place to start before we customize.

Custom Builds and One-Offs

Plenty of truck upfitting jobs do not come out of a catalog. An operator needs a bed built a certain way, a bracket fabricated to hang a piece of equipment, a headache rack, a crane mount, or a one-off plate to make two parts that were never meant to go together work together. Because we are a full welding and fabrication shop as well as a hydraulic shop, we can fabricate what the build needs instead of telling you it cannot be done. If you can describe the unit you want, there is a good chance we can build it.

Why Operators Trust Us as Their Truck Upfitter in Iowa

A truck upfitter in Iowa worth using is one who understands that the truck has to earn its keep the day it leaves. We give you a price up front, we keep you posted while the build is underway, and we test the systems before the truck goes back to work — the hydraulics under pressure, the pumps under flow. We have worked on this equipment for years, and we treat downtime the way you do: as money walking out the door.

Everything happens here in our Ames shop, where we have the tools, the steel, and the room to do it right. If you are within 60 miles, we offer free pickup and delivery, so the chassis getting to us is not your problem to solve. If you have been looking for truck upfitting that covers the tanks, the pumps, the hydraulics, and the fabrication all in one place, this is it. Call or text Ames Hydraulics at 515-292-2599, or come by 210 Freel Dr, Ames, IA 50010, Monday through Friday, 7AM–5PM. Tell us what the truck needs to do, and we will build it.