looks heavy
Not that heavy at all. The base you see there in the pic is only about 114lbs. I used .095 wall tube for the frame, .065 for the 45* supports underneath, had I used all .120 walled 2"x2" it would have weighed over 236lbs. To increase the strength of the leading edges, I sheeted the outside edge w/2"x1/8" strips of steel, and used 1/16" diamond plate(13"wide by length of bed) along the outer edges for impact strength, and 42"x12.5"x1/8" steel plate for the rear edge.
The entire bed you see here weighs about 498lbs(estimate includes all of the steel, safari rack, and about 15lbs of welding wire consumed). This weight doesn't include the side storage boxes or the storage bin underneath. I would estimate those to be another 150lbs total. I am going to have to get the truck weighed to see what its total weight is compared to the oem weight
