[AT] Custom Flatbed

Phil Auten pga2 at BasicISP.net
Sun Aug 14 07:39:11 PDT 2011


Joe,
I believe I would coat the flat surface of the deck with bed liner. 
This would keep anything sitting on the bed
from sliding around, even if it is tied down. Also, it would make the 
bed less slippery when wet, especially
when walking on it.

Phil




>After considerable thought and review, I decide to move forward with 
>a new flatbed on my 1997 F250.  I have been looking for a used one 
>for about a year without too much luck.  I had also told myself that 
>I wanted one on the truck before winter, so I found a local place 
>that does custom welding and met with them today to go over what I wanted.
>
>He has a base price of $2,500, that includes anything I want on the 
>bed, priming, painting, wiring it up, and having it mounted on the 
>truck ready to go.  I will also have him install two mounted 
>toolboxes underneath the front of the bed for extra storage, total 
>cost comes to $3,200 (with tax).  While this is much higher than a 
>mass manufactured bed, I like the idea of having it custom made just 
>for my truck, and the fact that it is a local shop.  Since the price 
>also includes mounting, I don't have to do anything but give up my 
>truck for a couple of weeks for him to put it together.  Since I can 
>have it customized any way I want, I was wondering if you had to do 
>it (or do it over again), what would you want done to it?
>
>Heres what I'm having done so far:  Rear step across the entire back 
>(6" wide) to make it easier to get up onto the bed, integrated 
>gooseneck hitch, stake pockets inside the bed rail (no rub rails for 
>a smooth outside edge), fold down loops for tieing things onto the 
>bed, headach rack, three lights on each side in the back, clearance 
>lights on the side, removable spare tire holder on the headach rack 
>(my spare tire sits in the bed of my truck now), and a reinforced 
>crane mounting pad (for picking up tires, plows, heavy rusty stuff)
>
>The bed will be done in steel diamond plate.  I though about putting 
>lights in the headach rack, but don't know if I would ever use 
>them.  Can you think of anything else I am missing?
>
>Thanks for your imput.




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