Remove box for flat bed...Why not?
I was thinking, I realize that I wouldn't improve carrying capacity, but why not remove my truck bed....and add an aluminum flat bed and have a better more useable surface for camper and boxes for sto...
Forum Discussion
SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Flatbed it! :D
You don't have to put the bed way up high, if you have a 4wd and heavy duty springs, with stock or near stock diameter tires. The tire won't reach the height of the wheel wells in the pickup box anyways, so you can set your flatbed deck about half way between the normal pickup bed floor height and the wheel well height.
Leave out the outrigger cross member right above the tires and either notch the outboard side rails above the wheels, or make the bed wide enough that the tires' upward travel is within the bed width. The tire won't touch the bottom of the deck and will miss the channel sides.
Stronger framed aluminum flatbed beds have cross framing that sit on top of the chassi and is higher due to the higher/ taller bed framing required for strength. Steel flatbeds may have lower heights due to it's inherent strength. I don't know about steel flatbeds. Where as an oem bed has a much lower profile frame sitting on top. My pro Tech flatbed is about 4 inches higher from oem.
Best thing about aluminum flatbeds is the finish can be renewed by using steel wool and elbow grease. They are nice and the price of aluminum will maintain at least a base value after many years of use.
Oh yes, the fuel fill is lower down so it's sometimes more difficult to fill with fuel because a lot of them tend to shut the nozzle off frequently. I solved that a couple ways if any are interested I can explain.
