Fifth Wheel Hauler Bodies

I know they are quite expensive and was looking at them at the agricultural show - and they had a short bed SRW one there... ;) But yes harder to find the short bed versions but both builders I talked to can custom make me one...

The aluminum ones are close to the weight of your OEM pickup bed but are pretty pricey. The steel ones (like mine) are about half the price, but twice the weight. I'm not sure how many options you will find for your short bed.

Any idea How much these aluminum beds typically weigh compared to the factory box?

Cost of the bed and cost of the truck cab and chassis is the downside.
Most people don't realize there are two F450 Ford trucks. One is a 8' dually bed crewcab 4x4 heavy duty F350. The other F450 is more related to a F550--a much heavier duty truck available only with cab and chassis. It's either a diesel but can still be bought with the old V-10 engine. That's the truck that belongs under the bed of a towing body.

I drove past a used car lot south of Nashville yesterday, and he had steel and aluminum hauler bodies stacked up.

I went with a flat bed, underside boxes and a gooseneck. You can drop a FW hitch saddle into the gooseneck or have a clean bed to haul other things (like my truck camper in the foreground).

< This is the third hauler bed I've built on my trucks. I will NEVER have a P/U bed again. It's 43" at the axle. I can still haul gravel, dirt etc., I can reach over the sides and I built it for lots of 5er clearance. I also built it to take a gooseneck ball which I am using now for the g-neck car hauler I bought. Craig

Thank you for the information, looks good!

Heap64 wrote:
Larry, I would be interest in hearing more about your bed.

It is a standard RKI utility bed with bed depth reduced to 13 inches instead of standard 19 inches. There was a $200 engineering fee to make this change, otherwise standard RKI pricing. On my 3500, the top of the bed is 51 inches at the rear axle so I don't need a step ladder to operate the hitch. Fiver clearance is around 10 inches. The reduced height required elimination of the horizontal compartments over the wheel wells, but there are small shelfs with a 4 inch lip inside the wheel wells for misc storage for items like tow chains, oil cans, etc. The compartments in front and behind the wheels provide sufficient storage for my needs, The tailgate is just 12 inches high and folds down above the step bumper so I tow with it down unless there is also cargo in the bed.

Here is a picture before I added the running boards in front of the wheels
and it had been on my previous truck for 11 years.

Heap64 wrote:
Larry, I would be interest in hearing more about your bed.

I would as well. Please......

Larry, I would be interest in hearing more about your bed.