Topic: flat deck suggestions

[rsty1]

I have an 88 toyota pickup and yesterday i removed the rusty box and plan to get going on a flat bed. I want to make it out of wood since im on a budget. any suggestions or pictures? im thinking just plank with angle iron to finish off the edges?

[daniresch]

wood? budget? I'd put a straight bed on it and call it a day.

[rsty1 [OP]]

what do you mean by straight bed

[Nimyad]

what do you mean by straight bed

As in a factory bed that had straight bedsides. No dents or rust

[rsty1 [OP]]

would this not cost alot more than the 60 bucks worth of lumber i plan to bolt down onto the back?

[daniresch]

Cost can easily be the same

[H8PVMNT]

Oh man this brings back some old school wheeling memories...

I used to make wood flatbeds with some success.  They can end up heavy, which isn't necessarily bad as it gets you better front/rear bias.  I came up with my design technique studying old wagons and buck boards.

What I did was get decent lumber, doug fir at least. Hardwood like oak would be best but it's even heavier and rather expensive. Paint it all ahead of time with oil based paint, it holds up to road spray alot better.  Bedliner is good to but more expensive and it doesn't really last any better than the right paint.

I used 2x6 for the deck and 2x4s for the sides and end rails, which I built three thick with stake pockets and ran the side on end even with the bottom of the deck boards so they made a slight lip on the sides of the bed it you can visualize that.  This works great for tying down loads with straps on trail rides since it gives you a lip to grab the edge of your cooler or whatever and keeps things from shifting around.  First thing I would assemble the entire bed out of just wood and decent deck screws, with 2x4 as cross peices under the deck and side rails, then I built up the under frame of the bed to meet up with the body mounts securely.  I usually used treated 4x4 and 2x4 depending on how high I wanted it etc.  I then mached it up and drilled the body mount holes through the wood with one of those long 3/8 drill bits and intalled carraige bolts through from the top to the bottom.  Give them a good whack with a hammer so they set well and don't spin out.

Now here's the important part...

You want this thing to be able to take a hit on a rock or a tree without falling apart.  Add angle iron against one side of all your cross peices under the deck and attach every board with two carraige bolts a peice.  Then bolt some 3.5" chanel iron to the outside of the side rails.  Now it can take many hits, flops and remain happy for years to come.

It you want top really finish it off put some sheetmetal over the rear wheel well area of the underside of the deck and put your fuel filler in an ammo can.

With the price of lumber, steel and bolts it will not be especially cheap, at least a few hundred dollars, which you could probably find a decent bed for, but I did this with a chop saw and a drill way before I had a welder and it was cool and worked great for years.  This bed made in 1998 is still in service on a different truck today.  At this point I have all the tools and a welder and I want to make a steel tray back for my '80 longbed with hinge down sides like the aussies do.  I miss having a flatbed yoder.  The utility is great and I always loved the "what the heck is that thing" look you get in traffic.

I had to scan some ancient history photos...  We made a few more beds the same way.  Mine was the red '94 and we also made the one on the blue '85 that I'm parked on in the sideways pic.  We made a couple more over those years that were bobbed off at the shackles and dove tailed.  They looked cool but were less useful as a bed. You really find with a flatbed that you don't need to be bobbed since you can drag the whole back end over everything anyways and it doesn't do any damage.  I added a photo of my buddy's '83 with the flatbed he made of plywood.  That one was pretty cool and also light but it eventually fell apart when he did a wheel stand on the back of it while crawling up some nasty in Tillimook.  Man that's back when 34" TSLs were just HUGE!

[rsty1 [OP]]

thanks alot for the great advice. I'll try my best to model it after yours as i dont have a welder either.

[Snowtoy]

If you go with kiln dried material it will save on the weight, and there will be less chance of warpage after the bed is complete.

[rsty1 [OP]]

will this up the price?

[junya92toy]

WHat about using composite decking?

[H8PVMNT]

I've thought of a steel frame with compsite deck boards too.

Kiln dried should not up the price. Most lumber has been kilned dried by the time it leaves the mill.  I worked at a stud plant for a few years and it was kilned when it was rough cut before it even got to the plainer that cuts the final dimension.  That's a good point though choose nice wood to begin with.  No warpy wete stuff. The angle iron and carraige bolts will keep everything in line over the years as far as moisture over time goes though.

[BHT12]

ill sell you a bed for your truck for 20 bucks. maybe not be very straight but its a bed

[blumagoo]

If your seriously trying to keep the cost under a hundred bucks your going to need to think simple....very simple.
Like bolt 2x4's across the frame at the body mounts then screw your deck planks across those and skip the steel frame entirely. Paint is optional, you can replace planks as necessary.

[rsty1 [OP]]

i could do that and then put 2x4s or 2x6s on the sides to finish it off

[blumagoo]

Done deal.
Don't over complicate it and use it as a learning experience.

[rsty1 [OP]]

sounds good. i dont plan on rolling my truck anytime soon haha. im thinkin bout dovetailing it since its like 7 and 1/4 feet long haha

[H8PVMNT]

A 6 foot length works good on those frames.

[blumagoo]

If you have a skillsaw you can make it any size or shape you want

[rsty1 [OP]]

i do have a skill saw but i dont want excess frame sticking out... and i dont want to bob the frame haha. H8PVMNT, when you say 6ft do you mean end the bed at 6ft or start the dovetail at 6ft.

[Snowtoy]

Starting the dovetail at 6' would give you about a 7-to 8' foot long bed, or  a very short dovetail.  Where you start the dovetail depends on how wide you want end to be and how much angle you want on the sides.  Most dovetails will start at the rear of the tire or close to it, and the slant back to the width of the frame.
With this 6' bed on my '91, the rear is 49" wide, and I started the dovetail about 56" back from the front of the bed.

.

[*** YELLER ***]

If you go with kiln dried material it will save on the weight, and there will be less chance of warpage after the bed is complete.

lumber is Kiln dried to about 12% moisture so it is still gonna continue to dry after its installed you might want to wait until summer to see how much the wood is going to twist and warp after its all cut up and bolted together

[H8PVMNT]

I mean 6 feet overall length on a longbed frame...

On the warpage and moisture: All true, but it will not warp at all if you use the angle iron and carraige bolts under your deck boards.  If you want to cheap out on the angle iron cut up an old queen sized bed frame, the angle iron from those works just fine.

Oh and that's a nice bed Snowtoy!

[rsty1 [OP]]

thats an awesome looking deck

[SloCrawler]

heres mine, needs wheel wells

[rsty1 [OP]]

Thats awesome!  Maybe I should start a thread asking to see ppls decks

[Peterbuilt84]

Like this?

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98472

[rsty1 [OP]]

oh haha yes exactly like that

[Snowtoy]

Oh and that's a nice bed Snowtoy!

Thanks, with the extended wheeling trips I do, I needed something more than just the basic deck to carry all the gear I bring.

There is a storage bin underneath the bed, and since the pic above was taken I have added a safari rack that pivots up to make loading the bed and covering gear a little easier.


Eventually the bed will get tied into an exo-cage after I get around to doing an SAS.

[BadnewsBob]

I used 4x4 and 2x8s for a long time till I could afford steel work great, Functional and cheap.

This is what I have now thou.....

BTW I get 33"s under the tire raising it with a forklift.