so, i was hauling a ford 302 to the junkyard the other day, and my truck beds cancer got the best of it.

so my thoughts are to make a tube style bed, instead of just replacing the old one.

now, with my truck(pretty much stock fer now) i thought i would make the new bed the same dimensions as the old one, but larger wheel wells for future tire choices, and a roll bar with light mounts.

this is what i would like it to look like(roughly): http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/tube_bed/

now, even though this is a pure wheeler truck thing to do, i want mine to still be street legal. the college kid needs to get to school!

there is a place close to me that does custom commercial truck beds, and i bet they would make me this one, but i dont have a ton of money to fork over for something i can do.

any thoughts/ideas/criticisms/comments would be awesome and much appreciated, even the mean ones lol.

 

What happened to the bed?!?!?!
Pictures?

 

lol ill take the pics tomorrow, but what happened was...

we were lifting this 302 into my bed with an engine hoist, and after we got the engine in, we started to slide in the hoist after it.

as the hoist slid, it broke through the bed right next to the wheel wells, and opened up holes on both sides, and rolled the rest of the way into the bed on my frame.

yup time to go lol.

 

supa-bump, any input at all?

 

that bed is sweet. I wanna do that with my truck, so i say go for it

 

Tube beds aren't that hard to make - go for it. That's how I initially learned how to MIG. JUst give it some though and make it your own project, what might you want to bolt on it in the future? CB antenna? Motorcycle or ATV? Gun mounts? plan accordingly with the roll bars and floor space - you won't need much rise on the wheel wells, maybe match the total height of the front wheel wells.

 

some good info here:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...t=98472&page=1

I say find some steel, a friend that knows how to weld and go for it!! As far as being legal, you can always make the mud flaps removable for off roading.

I would consider making your light bar into a headache rack and maybe making a matching rear rack that is removable so you could haul lumber or boats, etc. I' ve collected lots of pics if you need other ideas.

 

That bed looks sweet, and theres nothing illegal about it, bud. You obviously have to have brake lights, turn signals and reverse lights, but the one overlooked light is the license plate frame light. Like mentioned before make some removable mud flaps just to CYA, but cops usually aren't too picky when it comes to flaps. Unless of course you are runnin 44x15x15 swampers kicking off rubber chunks on the highway.

I saw the words "college student" so I assume money does not flow freely. Otherwise I dig the all-pro kit:
http://www.allprooffroad.com/pickupt...ckupflatbedkit

 

o man i didnt even think about the license plate lights!

thank you all for the input, now one more question: should i integrate my old lights into the new bed, or just get new ones to work with?

 

I build tube flat beds for toys email me and I will send a pic of the latest Onspotfab@gmail.com.

 

This thread is from 08...Im sure hes got it figured out by now.