Well, I found a local co. that makes custom steel flatbeds for trucks, and their prices are competitive. Getting one made for me very soon, (after I put on my duals!) wanted to know what some of the favorite "extras" are that you all have discovered. I'm gonna be using mine mainly for grading/landscaping, hauling the occasional skidsteer attachment, pallet of material, trees & shrubs, etc. Figured I'd get some removable or flip down sides, maybe a couple feet high. Undecided about underbody storage, where to mount topside toolboxes, a fuel tank/pump, the head board or headache rack style, lights, etc. Need a way to carry shovels, rakes, etc. out of the way. Also, my pintle hitch is welded to my frame, or the other way around. It ain't coming off. Hope there's a way to incorporate that into the design. Finally, haven't decided if I should leave the body black, as it comes, or paint it either blue or gray to match my truck. Truck is the same medium blue, with the gray or silver two tone, that Big Blue has. I'm excited, any ideas or pics are greatly appreciated.

I did find some cool Cummins mudflaps. I've got two side mount bedrail boxes on my truck now, that I might be able to bolt on there, and an el cheapo crossbox.

I'm gathering components to beef up the suspension as well, I called Timbren and have pretty much decided on their 6000 lb overload setup. Need some new shocks, front and rear. With the timbens, I wouldn't need new, bigger overload spring stacks would I? Found a couple old posts where guys had 4 or 5 leaf systems added. I'd probably need a leveling kit then, too.

Also adding onboard air compressor, my grovers, and my long awaited exhaust brake. Can't wait to get it all put together, I've got a small pile of components starting in the corner of the shed.

 

have the side rails fold down to give you 8.5ft outside--legal limit--also a dump hoist is always handy on a flatbed

 

Saw a flat bed the other day with boxes facing backward behind the duals. He didn't have the big flat back that most have so the boxes were tucked up where they should be.
If you have room, put a cross bed tool box over the cab. Just behind the cab, a vertical rack for rakes, shovels, etc. I would also have some 10 gallon tanks fabed for red diesel, and gasoline since your landscaping.

 

Thte tool boxes being on the bed take up a lot of space, kind amake having a flatbed pointless.
Put them under the bed or over the cab. The only hting Ihvae ever wanted diferent about mine ws havinga dump-bed... 'specially for landscaping, it will make life much simpler.

 

If you need a dump bed that bad, Sterling makes some very nice options.

 

The gas tank idea is a good one. I'll see what I can do, I already have jerry cans and brackets though. Cross box over the cab is good too. Thanks!

Hey Chrisreyn, think I've seen you on lawncafe, are you on there? Thanks for the ideas, keep em coming!

 

One idea I have been tossing around on a trailer is adding a fuel tank between the rails, over the axles. Using an intake fuel pump to despense fuel. From what I have found. as long as your under 50 gallons, you dont need hazmat plaqards.
The cross bed box over the cab isn't my original idea, there is a plumbers truck around here that has his box on the ladder rack over the cab and a second across the back.
Personally, I like to keep my bed organized and as empty as possible.

 

Nope.... whats lawncafe????

Keep teh deck of the flatbed clean, its worth it for the ease of loading/unloading and keeping it clean. You willprobably be hauling dirt, manure, grass clippings, ect, and the boxes trap stuff that hold water and rusts.Put storage under teh edges of the bed or on a deck that extends over the cab.
A dump bed is realy nice for unloading loose material of any type from gravel and rock to manure/dirt mulch and what not.
removable side boards are great, the hinged ones just get bent at the hinges and you'll wind up taking them off anyways.
a "half-circle" sheild above the tail lights and such on teh rear of the bed is a good idea so as not to be reppaceing ligths everytime you bump the truck loading it with a tractor or skid loader.
Look at some of the bed manufactorers websites and take what I deas you like and incorperate them into your bed.

 

Just the type of info I was looking for, thanks again yall. I'll see what they can do to help me get the storage space out of the way. The gas tank idea is interesting, that would be a cool feature. And the light covers would be a good thing too.

Lawncafe is a landscaping site, I've found it a couple times searching for info on machinery and stuff. Someone on there must have a handle like yours, looks familiar. Oh well.

I'm going by the truck bed place today, see what models they have and available options. This is great, I can hardly wait.

 

Welllllll, I talked at length with the truck bed builder today. The decisions involved are mind boggling. What I didn't really realize before is the extra weight of the bed compared to factory, and the truck's rating, which is what the DOT looks at. A basic model flatbed, 8'x8' with headboard and (2) 30" underbody boxes is around 15-1600 lbs. That's like riding around with my neighbor's wife... That's like riding around with an extra 1000 lbs in the bed. I'm gonna be close to my max GVWR all the time, just riding around, much less with the trailer hooked up. I'm gonna have them space the cross members on 18" centers to save a little weight, and maybe go with a 1/8" deck instead of 3/16". Might make provisions for a removable ladder rack. Gotta keep it fairly simple though, for the weight issues.

By converting my 2500 to duals and adding timbren overload things on there, will the weight rating of my truck go up, or will I still be considered a 2500 with a rating of 8800 lbs? I was hoping to bump it up to 10K. I could have an additional 3 springs added to each pack on the rear, but don't want to waste the $$ if it won't help. Need some DOT input here. ()

 

Nothing you do to your truck will change what that door sticker says.

See it all the time over on the RV site. Thing is, you are not hauling cross country hundreds of miles a day for a living. If it were me, I would beef it up (NOT do the DRW conversion) and call it a day. It's going to get to the point where you might as well strip the truck, sell it and buy a use one ton.

Some people sweat DOT, I guess technically you should too, but it's up to the individual I guess.

 

Is this an aluminum body? Any way to beef it DOWN? Lose one of the under-body boxes, something to get it down below 800 or so?

 

He told me that aluminum was half the weight, twice the price. I'd be at 400 lbs over stock, out of my price range though. Looks like I need a new door sticker.

Stripping it and selling it might not be too bad, but I'd have to take my tranny, and it would cost me 1500 or so to put new exhaust and gauges etc. I'd have alot tied up in the tranny swap and all. Daggone it. I need a dodge 450 equivalent. Curse a door sticker man, this sucks. You can stick a dump truck undercarriage under there, and it will still be a 3/4 ton to the DOT.

 

yes, flatbeds are very very heavy. with my mods, you should be able to smoke the duals in 4th and 5th. but to much weight!

 

What about a USED bed? Wonder if those ever make to scrap/junk yards? Not trying rig your truck up on you or anything, if you got one for under $600.00, put another 6 into it in fab/boxes, you would still be ahead of the game.