Flat bed vs regular truck bed

We have been giving that a thought as well, Could replace the "Truck Box" with an additional Fuel tank, and place Side mounted tool boxes, that it seems would still give you storage, and keep a low profile and some areas for storage. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

Do you mean you dont have to worry about clearance as far as bed height to the pin? I haven't looked closely at any builds but I would have to guess that by the time you build any type of flat bed it cant be much lower than the factory bed but I may be wrong.

I think the other thing people like about a flat bed is having compartments built in.

Where I live, a flatbed is not a pickup anymore. There are licensing and insurance ramifications. YMMV.

rjxj wrote:
Do you mean you dont have to worry about clearance as far as bed height to the pin? I haven't looked closely at any builds but I would have to guess that by the time you build any type of flat bed it cant be much lower than the factory bed but I may be wrong.

I think the other thing people like about a flat bed is having compartments built in.

Clearance from the top of the bed rails to the bottom of the fiver...

ford truck guy wrote:

rjxj wrote:
Do you mean you dont have to worry about clearance as far as bed height to the pin? I haven't looked closely at any builds but I would have to guess that by the time you build any type of flat bed it cant be much lower than the factory bed but I may be wrong.

I think the other thing people like about a flat bed is having compartments built in.

Clearance from the top of the bed rails to the bottom of the fiver...

Yep, that would on longer be a problem but often people have trouble with the bed height on newer trucks. Getting rid of the rails solves contacting the rails but the FW is still often nose high. They either flip axles, build sub frames or lower the truck. I wondered if a few inches could be gained if a person got the hitch down as close to the frame as possible with a different bed design. I'l have to crawl under mine sometime and look closer.

Flat bed will be much heavier and reduce available pin weight (unless aluminum). They are built to handle heavy loads placed anywhere on the bed, which is overkill for a fifth wheel with it's central load. Also the bed floor is higher, many flat beds use 4 inch long rails and 3 inch cross rails, so 6+ inches higher loading height.

My solution is different, a reduced height utility bed. The floor is about 2 inches higher than a stock pickup bed. Bed depth is 14", much less than a stock pickup bed, but top of the bed is just 50" on a 1 ton so I have about 10 inches clearance for the fiver. Just as important, I can stand flat footed and still operate the hitch. The utility bed only weighs 400 lbs more than the stock bed. Tailgate folds down full 180 degrees vs. 90 degrees for stock so it is never a clearance issue.

The custom utility bed wasn't cheap, it cost more than a simple flat bed but less than a hauler bed. But the bed is now 14 years old, on a second truck and will last longer than I will be towing.

Always had flat beds. Really like them but it's nice to have some kind of rails to keep stuff in!

I prefer a flat bed just for the looks, especially on a dually. My present truck has the factory bed but it is not worth the cost, to me, of replacing it with a flat bed. If I used my truck just for pulling the 5er I would go flat but it is a daily driver and the trip car so it will stay stock :( to keep the groceries, luggage, and trash headed to the dump in place.

I have a flat bed on my dually with tool boxes mounted above and below. It's so much more useful than a regular pick-up bed. I had the boxes made the size I wanted them. They could have been any size or I could have purchased ready made boxes most any size. I can unbolt them and move them around or trade them out if I want. I have 60" between the top boxes so I can haul stuff on pallets if I need too.
My bed is aluminum and likely doesn't weigh much more than a regular bed.

I looked under my one ton srw and the top shock mounts determine the bed level. The puck brackets are mounted at just about the same height.