I am building a first class flatbed for my 93 w250. I am really in love with the way the stock p/u bed looks but I cant haul my two large 4x4 ATVs on it. I dont have the money for a nice quad trailer right now. So heres my theory.....Remove stock bed w/o disturbing any factory wiring or gas filler so I can put it back on if I want, then I can build a trailer fram for my 6.5'x8' bed. Sounds good right....BUT....What if I like the flatbed on the p/u? What do I do with my OEM bed? Its really straight... too good to throw away. I need some really good ideas for a cabguard on my flatbed body gimme some ideas pleeeze!!

 

why not do something like this, it only costs about $300 to build

 

man... rjordan, i was gonna suggest doing that, you sure one uped that idea with pictures and all... your truck looks great.

 

That looks down right manly!

 

sweet set-up man, definitly like that one


You can buy a used 2 place sled trailer around here for under 5 bills all day long. I have a 6x12 landscape trailer w/gate that i bought new for under a grand.

If you take it off, keep the bed as nice as possible and be careful with the bolts hoding the bed on. i got impatient and torched 6 of 8

 

ah man, i might be bolting an axle on my flatbed bed before too long I already miss my classic 1st gen. look... i had planned on building one of those but the load height concerned me. How long are your ramps?

 

I would go with the set up rjordan has. I've got a flat bed on my truck and its great, I have wooden sides on it and I will be biulding a 2 foot extention on the back so I can drive my cj3a onto it. They work good for work, putting stuff on, and getting the job done. But they look like crap. I've got a few pictures of it in my gallery so take a look.

Cooper

 

flatbeds look great!

 

I'd say leave your truck as is, and hitch up a trailor. This way you can haul your atv's and enjoy the sweet look of a 1st gen dodge, unbastardized. As the fellow before said, a standard skidoo trailor will meet your needs.

Although... rjordan's setup is a sweet sight for about 3 bills. If you have a welder, or rent one, it'll be even less. Let's be honest, it looks cool too.

 

or you could build this $300 BUCKS


IT fits my dodge now!

 

Those over-head racks show some good ingenuity, making good use of wasted space with costing little.

Myself, I love a flat-bed.

I have no remorse in doing away with a thin, dent-magnet in favor of a no-nonsense, thick steel, hard-working flat-bed.

I haven't measured; but, I am guessing inside dimension of a pick-up bed is about five foot wide with two space-robbing wheel-wells inside.

My flat measures a full eight foot across.

A scratch on a pick-up bed is an eye-sore; whereas, a shot of Dollar General Store gloss-black will make any damage to a steel flat good as new.

A well thought out flat-bed looks way more impressive and individualized, in my opinion.

 

I have a flatbed and I will have to say that it is the best thing I could do for the truck. Mine is 8 feet by 8 feet, I can haul almost anything I want to haul. On my farm, we do alot of trenching and laying in water gas and electric lines. They come in spools of 500 feet, which wont fit in a pickup bed. So mine is a flatbed to haul these around. I paid $750 for mine and it is all steel deckplate. You can do so many things with a flatbed or to a flatbed and make them look awesome.
Also, if you ever back into something or get hit, you can take it home, get out the torches and make it look like nothing ever happend to it. I would advise you not to get an aluminum bed becuase after a few years, you rub against it and you get black hands, shirts ETC. like I said, get one and you will love it. Hope I could help!!

Wheelo

 

That is a good point on the black rubbing off.

Another complaint I often hear from aluminum owners is that they are feather-light, and therefore, make the truck bounce around when not loaded.

 

If you acid wash the Aluminum once in a while, will it still cause the black to rub off?

I also had not thought about the weight issue.

I was contemplating putting a flat bed on my gasser while the Ins Co was debating whether to fix it after my 16yr old mowed off an 18" power pole just behind the cab. It turned out that it bent the frame, and they totaled it.

That is how I became the owner of my present rig, below.

I am still toying with a flatbed. We had an old 56 Chevy flatbed when I was a kid, and it was the nuts for hauling 50-60 bales of hay. Trying to load hay into a regular bed is PIA for me. I cannot think of anything that you can do with a regular bed that you cannot do with a flatbed. Another thought is the draft and wind in a regular bed will sometimes suck light items out of it. This is not a problem with a flat bed. A lot of my neighbors run them, and will not have another regular bed truck.

Keep Thinking!

 

A good steel flatbed cant be beat... avoid aluminum, they just dont hold up and arent as sturdy... they warp and teh welds tend to be softer, breaking more often.....
A good steel bed will cost about $100 per foot if you dont hav ethe tools to make your own.......

Mine, I love it..........