Flat bed supplier questions

[coalsmok]

Thinking about/looking for a flat bed to put on my f250. Would like to find a steel bed I could put a wood floor in but haven't run across one yet.
Short of building my own does anyone no of a builder who does this?

[thecfarm]

If you have one made,make it longer enough so when you shovel something out of the back of the truck,it won't hit the bumper.

[hopm]

On the subject of flatbeds.....I took off a utility bed today and have a flat to go back. My problem is the rails on the bed are wider than the truck rails. Do I have an option other than relocate bed rail?

No intention to hijack your thread....It fits and with the expertise of the folks on this board I want answers from as many as I can get

Thanks in advance for any response!!

[coalsmok]

I'd say you would have  to relocate the rails.

I have heard that some of the makers are powder coating the beds. I would honestly rather have paint. Last thing I had on a truck that was powder coated was a brush guard. They when down hill fast. May have been a bad batch but every truck that got one looked Ike crap I a few years. 

[Gearbox]

Seems like the price of new is a lot of money . Grab 3 or 4 sticks of 3 in channel and go for it . Last I bought it was about $ 60 a 20 ft stick

[dgdrls]

Try Martin Truck Bodies  Martinsburg PA.

Martinswelding.com

D

[TKehl]

Haven't seen any new ones made that way in a long while.  However, there ought to be some old ones on old trucks sitting in fencerows that could be had pretty cheap. 

I'm assuming you planned to use your own wood and don't mind redoing the deck...  In any case, it can be simpler than starting from scratch.

Hopm, sounds like you have a cab and chasis frame at (38ish inches) (makes sense with utility body) and a flatbed made for a standard width truck frame (42 ish inches).  At some point in I think the 60's, most makers widened the frame on light duty trucks (1/2-1ton) to improve the ride.  Cab and chassis models kept the old standard width so commercial truck bodies that would be added could continue being interchanged.

[hopm]

Yes sir
Flatbed came off a f350. I'm going on a 450....
Any suggestion? I thought I would be able to move the wood 4x4 on each rail. I don't think that is an option.

[barbender]

I've not been impressed with any powder coat paint that I've seen. I have a dump trailer that's powder coated, the paint gets a chip and soon a large patch of paint just falls off. It's not adhered very well.

[sprucebunny]

I found this manufacturer in ND
https://www.rugbymfg.com/platform-bodies
It looks you'd need to build your own headache rack .

I have a bed like you'r talking about on an '79 f250 w/ homemade rack.

[Carson-saws]

The Felling FT 14 is an outstanding trailer.  They make a number of different lengths and many options.  They can be pintal hitch or ball, tool box, fold down ramps and reasonably priced.

[moodnacreek]

Wow ! , other people that don't like powder coat, thought I was the only one.

[moodnacreek]

I didn't post above post like that and I'm not from the u.p.

[thecfarm]

Nothing a matter with being from the U.P.  ;D  Them people that eat grits talk funny too.  ;D

[Kbeitz]

Lots of good ones at the junkyards....

[maple flats]

2 yrs ago I put a 7x7' aluminum flat bed on my old 2001 F250. Great improvement, but I have a gooseneck hitch under a trap door in the bed. It's aluminum, which I thought would last me forever, but after I bought my current truck, a 2011 F350 I found it could not be mounted on the 2011 without a lot of welding and adapting. The truck or just the bed are listed in the FF classifieds, check if interested. If so, contact me thru a PM. The flat bed has outer rails flat with the bed and stake pockets. It has an aluminum floor. I bought it for $4500 in Jan 2016, used it until June 2017. The truck runs (or did when parked in June, has been started and batteries are out and charged). It's a 7.3 diesel, but the cab is rough.

[snowstorm]

You may find the 350 and 450 frame is different

[hopm]

The 350 and 450 are different....I'm finding out the hard way. I bought my bed before I pulled the service bed. Found a good deal....was told by several knowledgeable folks the 350 bed was interchangable....as it stands now I am going to either reposition the rails currently on the bed or weld new channel to fit the width of the truck rails. The truck rails are 9" longer than the bed. I can cut 5" off truck rails before I get into moving the gas tank. This leaves me with a 4" gap between headache rack and cab. Not quite sure what I can do. Any suggestion would be MUCH appreciated. I don't really want to buy another bed and then try to sale the one I have and I certainly don't want to wait to sale this one before I buy another. Ideally I would like to find a way to use this one and get rolling.

[Crusarius]

if you need to make a headache rack then just make it that 4" further forward. Or does this one come with a rack on it already?

I don't know how the mounts are but I would be more inclined to just make new mounts to sit on the current frame.

[hopm]

Rack is on top of the bed now. It is 4" tubing. I was considering cutting it from the bed and then mount to the front of bed rather than on top.

[coalsmok]

Well after lots of looking, calling and more than a few wasted miles to look at beds I decided a wood floor wasn't that important.
There is a Aluma bed dealer abut 90min from here that sells an aluminum flatbed for a reasonable price. Going with a 8'10" bed that will probably be close to the same weight as the factory bed when I get the side and tail boards made.
Yes I could make a bed for less but being honest with myself I just don't need another project, especially one involving my truck during the spring/summer.

[sprucebunny]

Probably a good decision. Wish I'd gotten aluminum.
You could always screw wood/plywood/stall mat to it if you really needed the wood floor.

[coalsmok]

Spruce bunny I hadn't thought of using a stall mat but you can bet I will be looking at it now. I really like a nonskid surface since I don't exactly live in flat country, wasn't sure how rolling bed liner would work.  Had the current bed on my truck rhino lined when new and loved how stuff mostly just stayed where you set it in the bed.

[coalsmok]

Just wanted to let everyone see what I ended up with. 
 Took the wife and kids last weekend and hauled the new bed back on my trailer. Dad and I worked most of the Dad getting the beds changed out. I missed a couple bolts in the middle of the bed under some dirt when I cut them off. Things went much smoother after we finally figured that out.