New truck, had to build a flatbed.

I purchased a new truck but could not get a cab and chassis. Ram has a limited selection of colors, I couldn't get the interior I wanted, and they de-tune the engine. So I had to get a truck with a bed to get what I wanted, with full intentions of putting a flatbed on it. I've been wanting a flatbed ever since Nov. 2013 when I took ownership of the land, and built the range. I was fed up with a chest box, and climbing over the side of the bed to get into it. There are plenty of bed manufacturers that make pretty nice beds, but none suited me. Their boxes are very small, and the beds don't fit the truck perfectly. So I went to J and I Mfg. for a trailer load of steel, and to Earl Owens for boxes. I wanted T-handle twist latches, not paddle latches that come with RKI boxes. Cattleman brand was the answer. After much measuring and note taking I learned that I could fit 18"T X 18"D X 24"L front driver, rear driver, rear passenger, and 18"T X 18"D X 30"L front passenger. I could not put a 30" box front driver to leave room for the fuel neck. I wanted a pierce frame to get the bed 3" closer to the ground, and I wanted to cut weight where I could. I got 2" x 4" x 3/16" rectangle tubing for the main frame rails, and 2" x 3" x 11 gauge for the cross members, and end caps. My frame weighs less than the bed makers that use 4" channel iron, and 3" channel iron, but my steel cost a bit more.

The truck the day I got it.



Only a few days later I sent my wife the pic of me disassembling a brand new truck.



Bed frame started.



Frame and headache rack perimeter to make sure everything matches, and it did perfectly!





I only test fit that one time. I took a ton of notes for the rest of the bed I was building, then put the factory bed back on so I could still use the truck. Pretty brave, but it did work out.

More parts to cut and weld.

We built the goose neck hitch to house a B & W turn-over ball.



As Max Stalling says "there's comfort in the curves"

Finally put the deck on, and welded everything up solid.







Several friends convinced me to paint the bed to match the truck. Once I was built, body filler added where needed, and primed I agreed. They said it was too fancy to make it black.

In primer, finally!

Went to English Color in McKinney and decided on the highest quality automotive paint they had. He took paint chips out to the truck, and matched the silver exactly. I also got Herculiner DIY bedliner on sale from O'Reilly's and covered the entire deck, the inside of the sides, the front sheet against the cab, and the rear step.







The Montezuma box on top, the big under bed boxes on the sides, and the fact that the deck is 7' 6" x 9" long sure does make it nice to work off of.

Thanks for looking!

Excellent work!! Are you going with any type of under coating to prevent rust on underside? Or is it even needed?

It'll rust, but I don't care, can't see it. And nothing is less than 11 gauge, so I'll die before it rusts through.

Forgot to mention THF member Big A. I've taught him on my range, and he shoots there regularly. He works for a plastics company in Dallas, and he hooked me up with to type of poly black sheet to make inner fenders. I didn't want mud caking up around the rear wheels, it worked out great!

Dang man, you did a very good job!

That is awesome!!!!

X2

impressive

Very nice.

That looks really nice.

very nice!

Very nice fabrication work!
And to be honest, I kinda envy your workshop!!!

Looks great Jason!

Now where are those mid flaps

Is there any kind of support on the bottom of the boxes? Something to prevent crushing them from the bottom?

And did you leave your frame mounted fuel filter in the same location or relocate it? It's a booger to change for somebody with long arms laying on their back, it would be near impossible with that bed.

She kind of resembles the Beached Whale

Love the color!

Mighty fine work JG

Still haven't got mud flaps. Just waiting on a Trooper to pull me over, see the FD sticker and go "WTF?"

The boxes are totally 11 gauge. I'm not worried about anything hurting them on the bottom. If I need to do any work in the mud, I've got a tractor, skidsteer, and Polaris Ranger. Duallys aren't any good in black mud.

I don't trust Troopers

I was more concerned about at the lease or other places without tractors.
I drag my front bumper and rear hitch at the lease

Looks great I think matching the paint makes it even better.

Wow, looks great!

If I had my way every truck I owned would be a flat bed. I like the look and function.

Yes sir, you did a fine job. The rig looks real sharp.

MAN that looks good!

Good job, you did.

Fantastic work. I think the matched color is better than black.

Crazy skilz man.........Excellent work!!!

Nice job. I think it turned out great.

Is that a paint stain on the floor? Maybe it will cover up the tire tread marks......



















....all joking aside...you did an outstanding job making exactly what you want.....which is why you built that shop in the first place....looks like it is working out nicely for you....

Thanks everyone!

Yes, the shop is fantastic to work in. Spent 20 years working in cramped, no natural light, no air flow shops. Mine corrected all of that.

I like how you went 1st class all the way then got DIY Herculiner. SMH!

JG, we are taking possession of a 4000sq ft shop within the next month. It has electrical everywhere, 2 bathrooms, 2 HVAC untis, and 8 foot long lights everywhere.

But like you, I like having natural light. Our roll up bay doors face the NE, so almost useless for light. Is there anything that can be done besides adding Windows?

I get the majority of my light from the six, 10' long skylight panels. They're the exact same shape as the R-panels. You could go up, remove the steel sheet, and install the skylight. When the steel is longer than the skylight, cut the steel laterally, just uphill from a purlin. Now days they're polycarbonate, so they don't UV degrade like the old fiberglass ones did. The steel is on top on one side, and under the next sheet on the other. The skylights go on top on both sides. And you put down the rubber tacky tape between steel and skylight.

Great work, JG. How was the cost diff between store bought and homebuilt?

That's what I was wondering. Once we get the hoist installed, vehicle lift, and other necessities, I will try and tackle the natural lighting.

Out of pocket I saved $2K. But I have more hours in it than I care to try and estimate. The first time someone asks me to build one, they're going to get sticker shock.

Ours is 40x40 and we have 6 or 8 skylight panels. They work very well

The herculiner kept it real

$80

$800

Same stuff...

u r good

Same stuff , one looks much better

Right, the one I did does.

Not even close. I'm drunk and don't feel like going into the differences.

I want something similar for my polaris ranger

Y'all do as you like with your truck beds. If I have to reapply every year, I don't care. It's working great, thus far.

Excellent fabrication!

Great looking lines you got there for $80.

Excellent job!

Looks great
Have you hooked up any of the Aux switches yet ?.

They're fixed. I install the bed finally by 8:30 pm, had the next day to get the truck ready to go on family vacation. Took those pics that day.



Actually I didn't get a truck with those switches. That's the only thing I didn't get that I wanted.

I like my switches but if you add lights just put toggle switches below the dash and they work as good.I still need to get up your way one of these days ...

Already found a handy little panel above the e-brake release. Bout a 4" X 5" panel that comes off the dash with the pop of a flathead. Already added a clean little toggle switch for the reverse lights that I'm going to run a hot wire to so that I can turn them on when needed.

I've seen JG's truck and the workmanship is outstanding. This design is very well thought out.

JG, I ran similar backup lights on my Ford, and had a switch in the cab for when I just needed lights or else they would come on automatically when truck was in reverse. I don't know what happened, but when the truck was in park and I hit the switch for the lights, my backup sensors would come on

Thank you, Tim.

BP, you were back feeding the lights, so it made some switch, somewhere close.

Great work JG

You are back feeding your reverse circuit. You need a diode on your reverse wire just before you tie your other circuit in.

Truck reverse wire -------- diode ---->| ---> Truck trailer socket
Your new switched wire --------------->|


A diode allows electricity to only flow one way. Think of it as a backflow preventor.

How much weigh did you add to that truck? Did you use up half of your capacity in that flatbed?

x's BUNCH

Bed weighs about 2K. I believe the payload for that truck is 6300. Four E range tires, in the back, I'm not worried about it.

It can haul much more than what it's rated for. I've put 5000lbs in the bed of my 2500, it a squatted maybe 4 inches and rode like a Cadillac.

What did material set you back?

How many man hours you got in that dude?

$2500

I have no idea the amount of hours. A guess is 250.

You should hustle more

awesome project

Shut up rookie.