I was wondering if anyone out there has a good set of plans for a flatbed. by box has just about pulled through all the bolts and i have been wanting a flatbed for quite some time now. I would prefer to build it myself rather than just buy one but i can't seem to find a good set of plans anywhere.

 

Metal or wood? I don't have any plans but I'm sure there's someone on here that does. Most likely you'll have to look at pictures, get some measurements and ideas, and build from there...

 

were gettin ready to build one, im planning a C channel frame with an oak deck. its pretty straight forward to build.

 

the flatbed itself should be easy to build. The hardest part will be figuring out how your going to mount it. You can take something like a 2x6 or 4x6 (bigger if need be) and contour one side to reflect the top of the frame rail. OR block it up high enough so it sits level with the hump in the frame.

 

I built mine with 4x4s and 2x6s. Built it right on the truck and for less than $200.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-write-up.html

It's held up great, it gets abused daily. There's hardly a day there isn't something strapped to the bed.













I would go the wood route unless you want a dump bed, this bed is 11' long by 77" wide and it cost me $250...including all the lumber, a few boxes of screws, and some angle iron to bolt to the truck frame.
To address the hump over the rear axle, I just ripped the crossmembers on the table saw. No need for lumber runners on the frame rail so everything is square.
I wouldn't bother building a steel flatbed unless it had some good stake pockets for removable sides, and most importantly...it dumped.

 

I have 4x6's notched that my wood bed is sitting on. I also trimmed the edge with 2" angle iron fro strength in the weak spots and covered it with diamond plate aluminum that I puuled out of the scrap yard here.
It was great until I ran out of time and money to fix the tranny but hopefully the ole girl will be back running before spring...

 

here's mine to look at for some possible ideas:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-dump-bed.html

 

those all look great. I do need stake pockets and a headache rack though. I like the price of the wooden ones for seem reason they just don't seem like they would last but after looking at some of the loads you guys have i them i think i am wrong. Maybe i can find some sort of metal for just the edges and bolt it to the 4x4s that have stake pockets in it. my other thought is get some pieces of 4 inch by 1/4 in strap and make some large washers and get longer bolts to hold my bed on better

 

You can add stake pockets to a wood bed. I'm trying to remember how it is on the truck we have at my summer camp. Its a 1954 Dodge Powerwagon that the ranger built a flat bed on. The frame, floor boards and front (headache rack) are all pressure treated. There is a piece of steel channel that I think is just bolted or screwed along the edge. There are slots in the channel for the sides to slip into place like a regular stake bed.

I don't know if I have any good pictures of the bed, but if I come across one I'll try and post it. It gets beat on pretty bad on the trails up there, and we load it up pretty good with tents and bunks, and its held up awesome.

 

With both of my past flatbeds I used 2x6's for the side boards, Didn't like the way the wood looked so I rolled on some truck bed liner on the wood,

It looked great and held up better than expedted even with wheelbarrols and shovels constenly bashing into it.

Best part it it did get gouged, just add a little more and move on.

These two posts about wooden flatbeds have me thinking more and more about building one with wood instead of metal, maily for the weight advantage and the ease of use. Suppose I should get a motor in my truck first

 

I absolutely love flatbeds. The pictures just don't do justice for the beating it gets daily.
A lot of people under estimate wood, but if softwood isn't strong enough then go for hardwood.
As for stake pockets, I plan to build some at some point.
I'll use some 1/4" plate to make the pockets and weld some flanges on each side to bolt through to the bed. If you want some tall sides with a lot of weight leaning on them, then hardwood might be a better alternative.

 

i went with softwood to keep it light.i stack wood up and hit the dump,and let the wood crash right down when she dumps.no problems.it may not last like oak would,but so what with todays fuel prices,its cheaper to replace a board once in a while,rather than carting around heavy hardwood decking i figured lol.
the increasing fuel prices change how we need to do things now.not to mention weight takes hp too.

light weight poplar:


it doesn't take much with heavy duty cross members under her already.
mines all steel besides the decking though of course.

 

In a couple years when I build my dump truck I'd love to build my bed just like yours F250, I love it!
I agree on your softwood choice, especially when you're making money with the truck, you gotta shave weight and save on fuel somewhere for the biggest number you can get on the bottom line.

 

I'll try to take some pics of my bed tomorrow too, though it's all steel. (Actually I need to plan on replacing the steel for the floor next year, seems that enough rust and material dumping off it takes it's toll.

I'm seriously thinking about a design for a 'mini' roll off type bed for the next one, no intentions of making an actual roll off, but have it such that I can have flat bed, swap out to an enclosed box, tank for water, sander/salter, whatever in a couple minutes.

I'll likely build a wood bed for the one plow truck this next summer, I think it is going to be a dedicated plow/salt truck anyway, and will have a v-box spreader mounted on it. I may even make it narrower (width of the frame only) with fenders to cut down on weight and also less places for salt to accumulate when they spill it.