Flatbed suggestions for F350

kip78 · Jul 8, 2017

Bought this truck about a month ago. Box
was rotted. Thinking about stake sides so I
can remove them if I need to. As far as the
bed goes, should I use sheet steel or use
treated boards? There will be more
reinforcement in the bed put in regardless.
Lookin' for some input.

504 · Jul 8, 2017

The problem with a steel floor is they bend(drop something on it)the problem with wood it it will rot. At work we start with a wooden floor and add steel over it.(welding cylinder delivery)The wood keeps the steel from bending. Wood is generally cheaper, and lighter that steel.

Steve@Advance · Jul 8, 2017

Depends on what you will be hauling, concentrated load areas, dropped loads, etc.

I would probably go with 1/8-3/16 diamond tread steel. If you go with wood, it needs to be designed with replacement in mind, as it will eventually rot.

Something else to keep in mind, getting enough drop on the fuel fill neck. Our F350 came with a flat bed, the filler is in the side of the bed frame, as high as possible, and still has to have fuel put in very slowly.

kip78 · Jul 9, 2017

Thanks for the heads up on the fuel neck. I have a 84 F-150 that I bought with a flatbed and it takes me 20 minutes to fill it up. Not much fun when it's -20 outside.

jsborn · Jul 9, 2017

(quoted from post at 22:06:55 07/08/17) The problem with a steel floor is they bend(drop something on it)the problem with wood it it will rot. At work we start with a wooden floor and add steel over it.(welding cylinder delivery)The wood keeps the steel from bending. Wood is generally cheaper, and lighter that steel.

A 2"X8"X8' PT Pine will weigh approx 35lbs if you figure 8 boards wide you are up to 280 lbs.
A 5ft X 8ft X 1/8 inch diamond steel plate is 250lbs.
This is a lot stronger than a Pickup bed floor is.

Just a thought

grayrider · Jul 9, 2017

My neighbor built me a steel flatbed and installed it on my F250 about 2 weeks ago, love it, looks like it was factory built rather than homemade...
I had a blow out on the right rear and did almost $2500 damage to the regular 8' pickup bed so I decided to get another flatbed since I had sold my other f250 with one on it 2 years ago.
I like a steel bed better than wood, if you have it braced properly underneath you don't have to worry about bed floor bending.

fixerupper · Jul 9, 2017

Here is the way I rigged up the fuel fills in my flatbed. I made a 2" hole in the side rail and stuck the filler end of the fill pipe through the side rail. I pop riveted the face plate on the end of the filler tube to the inside of the side rail. I did have to cut, re-angle and lengthen the filler tubes.this in on a 79 Dodge. I still have to hold the nozzle up when filling but it will take the flow at full speed of a no lead gas nozzle. If I let the nozzle hang it will kick out, mainly because I removed the baffle for a no lead nozzle years ago.

kip78 · Jul 9, 2017

Good idea fixer upper

fixerupper · Jul 9, 2017

If you decide to do the filler this way you might want to look at your cross member layout so you don't end up with a cross member in the way of the ideal location for the fill hole. I put my fill holes in later and had to get inventive with the rear pipe because a cross member was in the way. The front one worked out OK. I joke to people this pickup needs the two tanks, one tank gets me to the gas sation and the other ten gets me home!!!

chevytaHOE5674 · Jul 9, 2017

I prefer a wood deck only because of the many times I've hauled equipment and stuff on mine and I love behind able to use my little cordless impact and screw things down to the deck to hold stuff in place. Also when it gets wet or snowy it isn't slippery like steel.

JBDyer · Jul 10, 2017

My homemade steel bed don't bend or dent, I used 1/4" treadplate, it's heavy, but tough, no way I would put wood on a flatbed truck. I am always loading something heavy with a forklift and have had no trouble in 10 years of service

Flatbed suggestions for F350

kip78

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504

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Steve@Advance

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kip78

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jsborn

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grayrider

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fixerupper

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kip78

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fixerupper

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chevytaHOE5674

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JBDyer

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