Have any of you built your own flatbed?

letitsnow · Jan 11, 2019

I am thinking about building one, but most trucks that I see with steel flatbeds are rusty (and look bad) pretty quickly up here in the rust belt. I don't want a shiny aluminum one, as I am hoping for more of a satin black theme. Build one out of wood and paint it? Has anybody here tried?

I would be making it 7' x 7', and it's main purpose would be to haul a standard 50" Rzr.

TechNova · Jan 11, 2019

letitsnow said:
I am thinking about building one, but most trucks that I see with steel flatbeds are rusty (and look bad) pretty quickly up here in the rust belt. I don't want a shiny aluminum one, as I am hoping for more of a satin black theme. Build one out of wood and paint it? Has anybody here tried?

I would be making it 7' x 7', and it's main purpose would be to haul a standard 50" Rzr.

I have never built one, but have seen many and worked on a few trucks that had them years ago.
most used 2 treated 4x6 along the frame rails and treated 2x6 cross rails.
They were done the same as a flatbed hay wagon.

454cid · Jan 11, 2019

There's a guy on here somewhere with a dually that has a really nice looking one. I think he bought it that way, Though.

The part I dislike about them is that I think the frame showing looks funky. Also, I think they look best with sides on them. I do not like the Australian "Ute" look at all.

I built one a long time ago on the back of my 81 Chevy LUV after an accident... found out the box sides already had a 1/2" of filler in them. I used 2x4s and deck boards. It was pretty good for a kid just out of high school and a piece of crap truck.

BNielsen · Jan 12, 2019

@Jorge6.5 built a deck made out of wood on his 98 ECLB K2500,

I know wood decks can take a beating and hold out against the elements if treated properly, but if money allowed I'd get a decent cheap steel-deck, add some side boxes and then bedline/undercoat/overcoat/rust proof everything.

RDF1 · Jan 12, 2019

We have built several welding beds out if steel. Even did a stainless one for a guy.. But no salt rust problems down here in the south.
I'm actually drawing up a flat bed / welding bed for a 2002 2500hd I got for cheap

Sent from my HiDiNg PlAcE

letitsnow · Jan 12, 2019

454cid said:
The part I dislike about them is that I think the frame showing looks funky. Also, I think they look best with sides on them. I do not like the Australian "Ute" look at all.

I don't really like the way that they look either, especially for a SRW truck. Was thinking about adding tool boxes underneath to hide the frame. I started looking at trucks on the road, and see a lot of them with bungees holding their tool box doors shut. The latches must fail often. This may be more of a pain than I wanted...

letitsnow · Jan 12, 2019

RDF1 said:
But no salt rust problems down here in the south.

Here, if you use your truck in the winter - even the big name flatbeds that have been coated properly rust right away. It seems like you are better off not obsessing over paint/undercoating, and just keep putting some type of oil on the underside.

Tyeee541 · Jan 22, 2023

Cut mine into a flatbed this past winter, I’ll start a build thread soon.

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MikaelT · Mar 7, 2023

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Pro439 · Mar 7, 2023

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Have any of you built your own flatbed?

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