Service body and flat beds??

Cab/chassis frame rail spacing width is industry standard 34 inches. Most pickups have other spacing width, usually around 37", but can vary widely over various years and makes/models. The straight frame rails of the cab/chassis trucks make mounting upfitter/aftermarket beds much simpler, versus mounting on a curved in all directions pickup frame.

drsteve wrote:

One can change out tire/rim sizing, spring pack etc to legally increase gvwr.

Stouter springs might keep your bumper off the pavement, but they won't increase the carrying capacity of your axles.

Not sure that this is an issue for "most" 25/35 series truck. Adel tube etc is usually 9000-11,000 lbs. A SW 25 series has tires springs etc good to 6500-7000 lbs. This is not an issue generally speaking.
Also, if an aftermarket bed installer goes over the manufactures axle rating, the warranty will fall into the bed manufacture lap. They will usually check to verify warrant will still be usable. At least on trucks I've had it has worked this way.

Marty

Easy to tell the difference between a pickup and cab/chassis, the c/c will have a straight, flat frame while the pickup frame will have a contour, IIRC it will drop behind the cab and then go up over the axle. Concerning the F450 in particular, the F450 C/C is much different than the F450 pickup. The C/C has a heavier rear axle, frame and springs as well as a higher GVWR.

GA1dad, don't know if you are pulling a fiver, but be sure to check flatbed or utility body height will work with a fiver. Also mowing man had an excellent post. Can't tell you about Bulldog Territory, but when I bought our dually in Texas I was considering a flat bed or utility box. The salesman told me to check with the insurance company just for that reason. He was correct, it would have been higher. And it didn't have a thing to do with what he had to sell. The Texas dealers usually stock all sorts of beds, cabs and chassis, etc.

One can change out tire/rim sizing, spring pack etc to legally increase gvwr.

Stouter springs might keep your bumper off the pavement, but they won't increase the carrying capacity of your axles.

Its also easier to modify the cab and chassis model vs a pickup bed rig which was sold complete. My Navistar flatbed dump does NOT have one of the gvwr badges in the drivers door that folks like to claim is the max a rig can go down the road at. It is up to the final bed manufacture to certify the gvwr etc of the rig. Hence, why many class C rv's have tag axels, all after market to increase gvwr. Same with drop axels on dump trucks etc. A legal modification to increase GVWR! One can change out tire/rim sizing, spring pack etc to legally increase gvwr.

In some circumstances, yes it can be a better option than a pickup with a bed on it from the chassis manufacture.

BUT as you note, most will be vinyl or cloth seats, vinyl floor mats, a basic ac system and radio if at all! If you want a really nice interior, you need to look at rigs with RV beds, then most of those were purchased with the leather pkg from the came from the chassis manufacture many times. OR it could have been aftermarket added and changed out.

Then again, some of us prefer vinyl floors even if we have leather seats per say, as you can get in with 3" of snow or mud on ones boots and not destroy the carpet. Or no leather like myself, prefer cloth over both leather or vinyl. BOTH of these are too warm on a sunny day, and really cold in winter months. Cloth is much nicer....My .02 thank you very much!

Marty

Check the registration laws of your particular state, and ask your insurance agent about the insurance.

My F350 cab/chassis required a $1M commercial policy, which cost about double what my F350 pickup cost to insure with $300K limit. This was for a '97 F350 4x4 diesel dually cab/chassis 11,000 GVWR, versus a '92 F350 4x4 gas single wheel pickup 9200 GVWR, both with the same insurance company, same driver, same location, same full coverage comprehensive, etc, except the commercial policy did not offer roadside assistance, which the pickup policy did.

Once you do get a commercial truck policy though, the price doesn't change much from one commercial truck to another. My International cab/chassis doesn't cost much more to insure than my F350 cab/chassis did, while the International is newer and worth twice as much as the F350 was and the GVWR is 3 times higher than the F350's (11,000 vs 33,000).

Insurance cost is another thing to look into. I can get regular auto.truck insurance on a 1 ton truck if it has a pickup bed on it. If it has a flatbed, utility bed, dump bed, etc, my insurance carrier requires I get a commercial policy for it. That costs me a lot more.

That's kinda what I was concerned about. One of the trucks I looked at had the rubber floor and standard vinyl seats, it really appeared to be commercial.

One thing to consider is the hours of engine use. Many commercial service trucks have low mileage, but have high hours, because they run the engine all day on the job, powering winches, booms, compressors and other job-related equipment. There is usually a procedure to check the hours of newer diesel trucks. You would have to consult the owner's manual, or ask on a brand-specific forum, to find out how to check the hours on a truck you're interested in.

Some trucks with flatbeds or service beds started out life originally as pickups and had the beds replaced. Others, started out as incomplete cab/chassis trucks, which were then sent to an aftermarket upfitter and finished as a complete vehicle, with the bed and other equipment.

Depending on your state's laws, the cab/chassis truck may be considered a commercial truck, requiring commercial truck registration and insurance, or it may not. In AZ and CA, cab/chassis trucks over 10,000 GVWR are automatically commercial trucks, for registration and insurance purposes, regardless of how they are used.

I had two F350's, otherwise nearly identical, except one was a pickup and one was a cab/chassis truck. The cab/chassis truck was roughly double the cost on registration and insurance, versus the pickup, both in AZ and CA.