well the plan is once i get my motor all in, is to build a new flatbed, i am going to replace the anchor(see PIC) i have strapped to the back of my dd and replace it with a lighter more functional for me flatbed. my plan is to use 1.5" square tubing...the question is, do you guys think that 1/8" thick would do the trick? at first i was thinking 3/16 but because of weight i want to go as thin as possible without having it weigh more than the stock bed...i also want to run 1/8" thick because im going to have permanant sides with a tailgate..

what do you think???

brendonv

 

I am pretty sure that 1/8" would be plenty with 3/16" overkill. You figure what the stock bed is made out of, likely less than 1/8". There will probably be places that might need reinforcement but thats fine.

 

1/8" thick is fine. I've been wheeling my junk with it's flatbed for about three years now. The body gets new dents every time I go, but I haven't dented the bed at all.

Here is a post that I cut and pasted from another thread last year:


Here's some info on mine. I used 1.5" square tubing with 1/8" wall. So far it has held up just fine. It's been about a year since I started mine and all I have is the tube frame. I haven't ever gotten around to getting diamond plate or something to finish it. I cut a piece of plywood to fit for those occasions when I need to throw a cooler or tent back there. I used about 60' of tubing and my (unfinished) bed weighs about 135 lbs.

I built the top hoop first. It's about 5'x5', so it's about 1' shorter than the original bed:



Then I built the bottom of the bed, and connected it to the top hoop with 6" vertical pieces. In this picture you can see my wooden prototype leaning against the left wall of the garage:









One step closer to being finished:

 

I used a combo of 3/16" and 1/8" in the construction of my flatbed/tray it is holding together nicely.

How it started:



Now:

 

I am working on getting a flatbed going in the near future..here is what my design will be based upon.



I think this is the most functional and cleanest looking one I have come across...

 

that flattie is awesome! i need to do something liek that to my truck if i get any $ out of my last accident... if not, my bed will undergoe surgery, losing about half of its sheetmetal but still remaining... kinda flatbed, but kinda not.....

 

Yeah I second that. Nice flatbed on that truck.

 

thanks for the replies, gonna be using 1/8"...do u guys think a lincoln 135 would be enough to weld a flatbed up?

 

A quick look at the specs says it will handle up to 3/16" using MIG. You'll probably end up using 3/16" someplace on the bed. The 20% duty cycle probably won't be limiting you on this since the welds are all pretty short. Main question is if you think you want to use it later on with thicker steel and how much use it will get. If you grind a bunch and do multiple passes you can welder thicker but that is much slower.

 

thanks piett, i think im gonna go with it since this will be the biggest project it will probably see with the rest being small around the shop and on the wim chores...


thanks for all the replys!!! check soon for my 22r install thread and this flatbed thread afterwards

 

I used 16 gauge steel (0.06") and it's coming off as soon as I have time...It's being replaced w/ 0.09" Aluminum sheet.

Why?

Weight...my deck is right about 80LBS in just the 16G plate. Even relatively thin 16G steel is HEAVY - 2.5LBS per square foot. 1/8" is 5LBS a square, 3/16" is 7-1/2LBS a square - that adds up FAST.

When I did all my suspension travel calcs and layout, I had the up and down travel balanced at 6" up and 6" down. After the deck was added, it's closer to 3.5" up travel, and I can't get it to droop more, it's still right at 6" down travel. I'd used my tool box and spare placed on the truck during my original calcs, so the majority of the travel loss came from the decking.

Oh yeah,

I use my Pocket Ref more often than any of my ME books for simple weight calcs, and a lot of other useful info. Check one out:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...14343?v=glance

 

where would someone be able to buy like 1/8" thick aluminum diamond plate? if i get it, it wont be welded on, but will be bolted to some type of frame... not that worried about weight..... do they make aluminum diamond plate thinner than that? or should i go thin flat sheeting? lighter would be better, but not at the sacrifice of durability, i (ab)use my truck, not only in driving style but in loading it down with either roofing or band equipment and just debris..also stuff liek helping people move... have had negative arch on my rear springs several times... up until i added an aal..

 

Your local steel supply company should have AL tread plate available. It's double the cost of 16G steel, but about half the weight.

http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

2301 Industrial Parkway West
Hayward, CA 94545
Phone: (510)259-1005
Fax: (510)259-1958
terry@msccalifornia.com

2999 Spring Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
USA
Phone: 650-299-9856
Fax: 650-299-9859
mscredwoodcity@sbcglobal.net


Steel Store
23529 Connecticut Street
Hayward, CA 35674

Phone: (510) 782-5215
Fax: (510) 782-8189

Manager: Jim Burns

E-Mail: steelstores@bucorp.com

 

crawler - Appromixately how much does your flatbed weigh?

Ive got a longbed bobbed with camper shell and exo cage around entire truck, however I've found it to be slightly top heavy so I think this fall/winter a flatbed will be in the works, I've got some nice pictures of exactly what I want to build.
While at it some 15" bbcs shocks will be mounted through the bed and gas tank relocated.
I am concerned that the flatbed might sag my rear end if its too heavy though. but its fairly heavy as is with the exo/shell and bed.
Ive got around 5.5 rear lift.

 

I think mine is close to 250-300lbs now with all the little addtions to it.
I can say this thing is pretty tough I backed in to a tree with the flatbed on a late night wheeling run and it didn't do anything to it dented the tree.
Try that with a regular bed it would have probably crushed a bed corner and dented the hell out of it.

 

westy-

I, as usual, overbuilt my flatbed...

The aerospace jobshop I work at had a bunch of excess steel left over from building material racks. I bought it CHEAP, but it was much heavier stock than required.

I used two 20' sticks of 1.5" x 2.5" x 0.18 wall tube for the main structure, a stick of 1.25" x 0.12 wall square tube for rails, a 4' piece of 1.5" square tube to join the X bar off the cab to the flatbed, and 10' of 1.25" angle iron for cross pieces and gas tank relocation brackets. The decking used up almost a full 4' x 8' sheet of 16G.

The stock bed weighed about 250Lbs when I took it to the dump in pieces. I've got a feeling my flatbed is well over 450Lbs - probably more.

 

I wonder how much a regular toyota pickup bed + camper shell weighs?

 

I really like this flatbed with side boxes and a camper shell in offroad adventures magazine:



There's a few more pics of it in this article:http://offroadadventuresmagazine.com...-got-baja.html
also here: http://offroadadventuresmagazine.com...-got-baja.html

You get this magazine after ordering stuff from www.4wheelparts.com

 

That would be the best of both worlds....cap, but get tool boxes....and a flat bed! If my bed ever rusts, I think I would like to do something like that. I'm pretty sure 1/8" steel is what we floored the tandem truck at work with. We use it for loading wood (log length). We work alot with large tree removals (usually the pieces we put into the truck weigh 2-3k each, with the butt pieces pushing 5-6k sometimes. 1/8 should be plenty strong for a yot!!

 

hey bruzer, where in CT are you? im also in CT, i live in Seymour.