Flatbeds... Wood or Steel deck? Regrets? Concerns?

[chasespeed]

I am ACTIVELY trying to locate a flatbed for the truck... things being as they are right now, I cant modify anything to work, and cant justify the cost of paying someone.

Biggest issue, I PREFER a steel deck. But, they are just REAL HARD to find up here.... and, prime example, someone wants 650 for one that needs structural work(bowed). I dont know why they are so expensive up here... but.. hey...

Anyway, any tradeoffs with steel vs wood deck?

Who prefers what, and WHY?

I WILL be mounting boxes underneath, in FRONT of the wheels. AND, I will be building a headache rack, as well at some point.

Not a big fan of flat beds, and I am not sure if I need a DOT inspection here if I do have one(which will shut me down in a heartbeat)... BUT, I need the functionality of the flat deck more than I care about looks.....

Thanks,
Chase

 

[bfdiesel]

For work trucks wood decks get tore up quicker, but can be a bit lighter.

 

[chasespeed]

Its for work around here. I need to tear my garage down, get the trees out of it, and HOPEFULLY rebuild in the spring, need to finish the house, yadda yadda.... I need to make this WORK...

I want to be able to mount the spare(s) in such a fashion, that they dont inhibit anything etc....

MY PREFENCE for a steel deck, is more do to welding, and being able to modify it to my needs, as I need... BUT, having never owned, or dealt with one.... I just dont know...

SO... lighter... surprising, but, okay...

Keep'em coming...

Chase

 

[truck mechanic]

You wont need dot inspection just because of the flat bed. You would need to have a com. plate, and have a gvw over 10 k .
Paul.

 

[chasespeed]

Thanks Paul. The laws here are a PITA... I know my Ram is 9900lbs gvw. I have pas plates. Wasnt sure on the bed thing... so... one thing off the list....

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[corax]

FWIW - I built a steel frame flatbed with an aluminum diamond plate deck on my last truck and after about a year realized I should have gone with wood instead. You can build the steel frame a bit lighter and use the strength of the wood. Plus it's not terrible difficult to replace the deck if it starts to get worn. Either can be slippery when wet, but wood should give a bit more grip to anything you have lashed down when dry.

 

[truck mechanic]

Thanks Paul. The laws here are a PITA... I know my Ram is 9900lbs gvw. I have pas plates. Wasnt sure on the bed thing... so... one thing off the list....

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Ya the laws are a pita, they seem to change almost daily. I work on com. trucks all day, and I can tell you storys of big fines for dumb stuff. Keep the sigles on the rear, and you dont have to reg. com. Once you have drw, ma says its com. even if its just for pulling your 5th wheel. I am really considering moving out of this state. Time will tell.
Paul

 

[chasespeed]

I have CDL w/ hazmat.... you dont have to tell me stupid stops and all.... I am considering moving back to texas myself .......

they told me anything over 10,000 , was commercial ......

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[Box Rocket]

I vote for a steel deck. Flatbeds are a really fun welding project if you want a project. I used steel diamond plate on a flatbed I built for my Toyota. I wanted the weight of the steel to help balance the truck better, and there was never a concern with strength. The diamondplate will have good traction, but you could always have bedliner sprayed on the deck for added traction and it would provide some protection as well.

I know my Toyota flatbed isn't on the same scale as what you have in mind for your Dodge, but you get the idea.

 

[chasespeed]

Actually, that is sorta like what I have in mind. Removeable rear hoop and stabilizing bars. And a way to attach a spare or 2. I am also concerned about making the rear TOO light... I have no shortage of power, and plenty of traction issues. I dont want to be any lighter than I am now.

Plenty of people want to BUY my bed.... but, no real steal flatbeds...

Thanks...

Chase

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[proper4wd]

I would only ever use wood. Easy to replace, durable, WONT RUST, cheaper, and quieter. Ever heard someone drag a chain across a diamond plate steel deck in a campground at 1 in the morning?

 

[chasespeed]

Well, no, I have never heard it in a campground... but, I was active duty for 10 years.... so, I have heard chain and cable drug across just about every surface imaginable...

I dont exactly get along well with wood... its for building houses and burning IMHO. BUT..... I understand the ease of replacement, I think..

As far as rust, I drive a Dodge... which means... it will rot away before any bed.......

I WANT to find a diesel 'burb to swap my engine/trans into, that is overall the long term goal...

I like the metal, because, I ADD too it as I need....BUT, I cant find one here.

The wood deck are all over the place, but, people want an insane amount of money...for either... on that note, not having ever seeing the underside of one, how much would be involved in changing the mounting points on either for a different truck?

I dont even know if I will be able to clear my tires with a standard flat bed.... that is something I will have to ask 1speed....

Thanks all...

As usual, more input from the varying opinions for the pros and cons, is welcome...

Again, thank you...

Chase

 

[Scrapdaddy]

Well, I vote for Alum. I've had two Alum. dump beds for 16 years combined. No rust, lighter than steel and you can repair it yourself fairly easy. I haul firewood, rock and everything else on a farm, with no problems. The key is using an extruded (spelling?) floor instead of just diamond plate over the braces. No warping, bending. It's a very strong bed and always looks good. Pricey at first, but only one time. I have removable sides on it and a swing down tailgate. The toyota with the flatbed looks great!

 

[Box Rocket]

Couple more of my Toyota just to give some ideas. The rear section of the rollcage and rack is removeable leaving only the "headache bar" so I could have a completely open flat deck if I needed to haul large or tall items. As for spare tires, I modified the frame crossmember so that I could still fit a 35" spare under the deck using the factory spare tire winch. There are also stake side pockets in the deck frame for some wooden stake sides in order to keep items where they belong if necessary.

How the cage attached to the headache bar.

modified rear cross member and you can see the chain for the spare tire winch. Minimal bracing under the deck. I used 3/16" steel diamond plate so it was very strong and pretty heavy. This was built about 10 years ago and has no warping or deformation at all. Granted this is a much smaller deck than one that would fit on a fullsize dodge so additional framing under the deck would be beneficial on the dodge.

Stake sides

If I were building it again I would add some recessed track system into the deck to help with securing things to the deck. I had a bunch of this track system that I used on a bedrack project for my Tacoma. It is from an AirForce C130 and the tiedowns are total overkill but are really cool.

This is how I recessed the track into my bedrack.

There are lots of options for track systems on the market but you can't have too many tie down options in my opinion especially with a flatbed when you need to keep items contained.

 

[chasespeed]

Yep, pretty much what I had in mind, sans the basket... though, that DOES give me an idea/option....

As far as the spare(s)... There isnt any room under my truck for a spare, and the sewer pipe that is my exhaust... Of course, once(if I ever find one) put a flat bed on, I will finally be able to do something else with the exhaust... my tailpipe/tip is the lowest part on the truck..... anyway, I was looking at tubes coming down off the headache hoop, and mount the spares there....

Thanks for all the input guys. I am waiting to hear back from Jim about the tire clearance issue(if any) with the bed on these trucks when twisted up... I cant seem to find any rams around here with flat beds to see how they are mounted, and tire clearance....

If I am going to end up BUILDING this... oh jeez... it'll never happen...... hahaha... WAY too much to do, and not enough time to do it...

Chase