Pros and cons of a flatbed

[CWKATTNER]

No place to throw all the empty beer cans with a flatbed.

Argument over!!

[BigTex]

I love my flatbed. I put a CM SK bed on my truck and havent looked back. I will not own another dually without a flatbed. I hated trying to reach in over those fenders to get anything in or out of the bed. For the most part everything stays in place on the back. I have only lost a shovel and high lift jack once. I sure miss that jack. Had it for years! You can see a lot more and not worry about damaging the bed. The first week i had mine on I backed into a oak tree with about 3ft diameter. Didn't even hurt it. And one more thing, it will make you keep a cleaner truck.

[aggie2000tx]

My dad has a flat bed and I doubt he will ever go back to a normal bed. He is constantly pulling trailers and hauling water for cows. He has a 525 gallon tank strapped down to it right now to haul water. To my knowledge he has never lost anything off of it and he always has tools, chains, shovels and straps with him. He has the little side boards that were pictured above.

[Bucksaw]

I have 5 gooseneck trailers at home & use the vented tailgate he described. Very inexpensive solution to your problem!

That wont alleviate the problem because the bed sides are still high enough to get crunched, which almost happened.

Little side boards can be added so stuff won't come off and it is still easier to reach into the bed and grab stuff.

Im thinking if I went with one, Im gonna build it with permanent side boards about 4" tall, since I wont be loading pallets or anything from the side.

I love my flatbed. I put a CM SK bed on my truck and havent looked back. I will not own another dually without a flatbed. I hated trying to reach in over those fenders to get anything in or out of the bed. For the most part everything stays in place on the back. I have only lost a shovel and high lift jack once. I sure miss that jack. Had it for years! You can see a lot more and not worry about damaging the bed. The first week i had mine on I backed into a oak tree with about 3ft diameter. Didn't even hurt it. And one more thing, it will make you keep a cleaner truck.

Mine isn't a dually, but those new Rams sit very high. Im 6'2" and I still find myself having to climb up on the tire to reach something in the bed some times. Im also toying with the idea of adding a few extra inches to the bed length, going from a 6.5" to maybe a 7' or 7.5', but I don't want it to look silly.


This is all still just a daydream, and would be dependent on a lot of different factors, mainly finding the extra money which never seems to happen.

[Bucksaw]

Been thinking a lot about this project. Just cant seem to get it off my mind. I NEED some kind of bedsides to keep all my stuff from rolling off into the highway, but I also think that a flatbed could be a nice addition to the truck, both cosmetically and functionally. I though about adding some permanent side rails to the bed to keep stuff on the bed, but Im afraid it might look funny. Don't want the removable ones because I wont be putting the chain rail or stake pockets on it. Couldn't figure out a solution until I went to county steer show validation yesterday and saw a guy pull up with on of those farm utility beds on his truck. BINGO! That's what I want. It has plenty of lockable storage, bedsides created by the toolboxes, a tailgate, and since I will be building it myself I can make the interior of the bed big enough to still carry a 4x8 sheet of plywood or a 4 wheeler. Plus, with the flatbed, I can leave my gooseneck ball permanently installed and still have a flat load floor.

Thinking I want something like this, just with fewer lights and more tread plate.



Gonna take me a while to get the funds together to get it done, but I know its definitely gonna be cheaper to build than the $4K price tag that was on the one pictured.

[Draco]

That is one fine bed Bucksaw.

[rlwenzel]

I have a flat bed on my truck now. I will never go back to a regular bed. too easy to get to things I need and also to hook up trailers

[outdoorsmen54]

I had a flatbed on my one ton. We built sides for it that slipped down in the stake pockets for when I was carrying oilfield drillbits. A flatbed built right will carry anything and everything a regular bed will but with the added convenience of having a flatbed for goosnecks and hauling feed.

[bloodtrailer28]

I really want to try a flatbed, but I constantly have random junk laying in the bed of my truck.

THen again, maybe that would keep me from having so much random crap laying in the bed of my truck...

In the same boat as well. Really been wanting to get one the past few years.

[Clark]

I messed up my long bed and considered a flat bed to replace.
The thought of my Ranger strapped on the flat bed vs pulling a trailer is appealing.

[Slick8]

My cousin put one on his 98 Taco after a rollover wreck.

Best lease truck ever made!

[Bucksaw]

Well, its official I guess. Have the lighting and some other goodies at the shop, and have steel on order to be delivered on Wednesday. Looks like its a go. However, the bed I posted last year seems to be a bit overkill, and a little more of a project than I would like to tackle, so I have scaled down my vision considerably. Gonna go with something similar to this, with the raised side boards, but with the addition of the trailer style fender and a lower rub rail. Going to incorporate the stakepocket idea to allow for increased side height when needed.

Just have to decide if I want it totally flat with a hidden gooseneck ball, or just go the gooseneck channel route. What do you guys say about the gooseneck channel?