Spent the last two weekends building a flatbed for my 85' long bed. The base structure that bolts to 6 out of 8 original bed mounts(rear most mounts were cut off when I bobbed the frame) is 2x4x3/16". The uprights and fenders are 2x2x1/8" and 1/8" diamond plate. The floor supports are 1x1x1/8" angle. And the floor is 5/4 pressure treated deck boards. I hope to build a swing out tire carrier for a tailgate in the next few weeks. Any pointers on building the tire carrier would be greatly appreciated as I've never built one of those either.

 

Cool!

 

 

That's awesome. I like the sides

 

Looks great man! Love the wooden bottom.

 

Looks real good.

 

Considering that is your first attempt, I'd say that's pretty awesome! You should build me one!

 

Well done. It looks very clean.

 

Thanks guys. I just ordered hinges for the tire carrier. Hopefully that will turn out well

 

Looks very nice, are you going to fab a bumper for it also?

 

For the rear I'm going to get a piece of 2x3 3/16" or 1/4" box and weld it between the frame rails to tie the frame together. The plan is to put a receiver hitch and shackle mounts in that. Other than that, no rear bumper. For the front I'm just going to buy a tube bumper from somewhere. I do not have any experience or a bender to do round tube unfortunately.

 

Looks awesome. I'm also diggin' the wood.

 

Like the bed bed man, Love the color of the
truck too.

 

Thanks buddy. The color can't make up its mind what it wants to be. At night it's brown. On a cloudy day it's a rust color. And in the sunlight...

 

Bed looks beefy. Nice work. Whats the color called? looks like my 87 runner a bit.

 

Thanks. It's GM Atomic Orange done by Maaco.

 

Nice job on the bed, it really looks good! Look forward to seeing what you come up with for the tailgate/swing out spare tire carrier. How do you like that auto body sealant that you used? I was thinking of using something like that on my trailer project, otherwise I could spend a small fortune on welding wire welding up all the seams, lol.

 

Thanks man. That's exactly why I used the sealant. It would have taken two days and a spool of wire to weld all those seams with my little 110 mig welder! The other reason was to prevent rust from forming on the inside corners where water can collect.

The product itself is easy to work with. It applies exactly like a latex paintable caulk. It does shrink slightly so don't apply it super thin but you don't have to put it on heavy either. It does say to apply to a primed surface, not to bare metal. I applied it and let it dry for about 20 hours. Then primed over the areas I used the sealant. Then spray bombed the whole bed black. As far as durability goes, I can't say. The bed has only been done for about two weeks and I've never used sealant before.

 

that bed is pretty sweet

 

Thanks man. I have all the components for the tire carrier now but I wrecked the truck a few weeks ago so it's at the body shop getting the frame straightened.

Hinges


Car door style slam latches


And I got a tire mount plate from comp4x4 and I'm using a tool box style paddle handle in the face of the tailgate to open it.