56 Ford Truck Bed Trailer

98OzarksRunner

Adventurer
About 3 years ago I bought a rough 56 Ford truck bed trailer and 're-purposed it' (I feel so green :)). It had a little rust (mostly surface rust) but the wood bed was rotted away. I paid $100 for it, and sold the fenders for $50. It was a step-side bed, 6'8" long. I cut the sides down to 18" tall (the bed was bent at the top) and shortened it to 5'8" long (I also shortened the frame). The inside of the bed is 49" X 68". I didn't take any pictures of it when I got it, but here it is as I am cutting down the frame. (No I don't collect oil cans; I just hadn't taken it to the recycling center in a while. And who doesn't need a fire hazard in the garage?)

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I added a long tongue and strengthened the frame with 2 1/2" X 2 1/2" X 3/16" steel.

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I ended up using the sides of the bed, and replaced the rest of the steel. The floor, front, and tailgate are 12 ga tread plate. It's heavy but a friend with a metal business gave it to me (and cut if for me - who can argue with free?).

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Frame painted.

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The bed bolts to the frame since I may want to put a tear drop body on it later.

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The tailgate is removable (but heavy!).

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I bought a Dexter axle and removed the pickup overload springs and some of the leaves.

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I made a removable top for it. The top slides 4" into the stake channels and is held with bolts. The top is 16 ga steel, and I got it hot and warped it (as I expected I would), but it's a trailer to drag through the woods, not to a car show.

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My friend with the metal business made me some fenders - 12 1/2" wide, 16 ga.

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The trailer is a little wider than I would like, but it's no wider than an LC 80 so it should be okay.

I wanted the top removable so I could use it for hauling firewood, lumber, junk, etc.

The rack will hold a RTT, kayaks, ladders, whatever.

I've had it out several times, both off-road and to the state park campgrounds. It pulls great on the highway, and I've had it down some Forest Service roads as well.

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All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. If I were doing it again, I'd have just built it from scratch. It would have been just as cheap, and a lot less work, and I could have made it a few inches narrower. I'm guessing it weighs about 500 lb without the tent. It pulls very well. I made a 3-axis hitch for it as well, and added a rear receiver for a bike rack. I use a bar with a rubber bumper that goes into the rear receiver to hold the tailgate level when opened.
 
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