Hey there FTE,

I brainstorm way too much when it comes to this truck I own, but at least it's keeping me busy. I will do my best to keep this short and simple. A neighbor of mine got in an accident in his dent-side, (like a 75/76 or so), and his bed was completely destroyed / unsalvageable. Instead of purchasing a new bed, he spent a couple weekends making his very own flatbed. It came out unbelievable and since then he has loaded that thing with vehicles, couple tons of bricks, etc. (I will upload some photos of it tomorrow.) He simply drew it out carefully and made sure he had accurate slots for mounting the bed to the frame and even utilized the old rear bumper. Now, the reason I would even consider this is because, when I began prepping my truck for paint, I was going to remove my bed. I got all the bolts undone and realized the previous owner must have enjoyed welding because I am going to have to plasma cut the bed away from the frame / rear bumper due to all the welds. I do not understand why someone would do that, but it wouldn't be the first thing Ive found on my truck that made absolutely no sense. My bed is also very damaged. If you look at some photos you can see some heavy scratches on the passengers side that the PO said he hit a tree. The inside of the bed is very wavy from all of the welds and rusted through in a couple areas. Lots of bondo on the outside of the bed, and the wheel wells looks like someone took a sledge hammer to them. I feel like I would be wasting my money trying to prep that bed for paint. One of the things my neighbor told me, is he had to utilize his vehicle lift to ensure his flatbed would not hit the wheels. This would give me a reason not to un-lift my truck, but at the same time, I would like it not so high in the air. I do and will be using my truck for work, which is nothing crazy. I do flooring, (tile / laminate / hardwood / VCT / etc.) which means I carry tools and sometimes pallets of material. A flat bed would come in very handy in those situations. The money I would save just on paint prep / material / paint would almost be enough to cover the material costs for the bed. I finally own and have used my new welder thanks to some recommendations form you guys, and measure / cutting / etc. is something I have to do on a daily basis at work. The cutting / welding / measuring aspect of it does not scare me as bad as how it will come out looking in the end. I have seen some flatbed 67-72s that looked beautifully done, and some that looked mediocre. Here is the look I would be trying to go for.



That looks like an 8 lug 4x4 which would be a highboy which means that trucks load height (empty) would be 32.8 inches from the ground compared to my F100 4x4 which would be 29.9 inches. That would give that truck a 2.9 inch "lift" as compared to mine assuming that truck is not lifted in any way / shape / form other than how it came from the factory. My truck does have a 4 inch body lift with the block under the leaf springs / larger front coils. That would make my trucks load height roughly 34 inches which I believe may be bit too high compared to the truck in that photo. I do not know if those rims on the truck are 16 inch rims, or what size tire that truck is utilizing, but I think the stance it has is very appealing. (A nice in between). My truck would be utilizing 15 inch rims and slightly smaller tires. (Not too much smaller, don't want it too look odd.) The reason I am bringing this up rite now of all times is because I am in the process of painting / ordering new tires / etc. and this has been lingering in my mind since I have owned the truck, and I figure if I am going to do this any time, it minds as well be now.

I like how the bed has the removable wooden sides which means it can hold something in or become completely flat, and it also has the bar on the outside so it can be used for strapping down. I also like the flat of the bed in wood. Very strong but also gives it a nice look. It appears there is a roughly 2 inch gap between the bed and the frame which Im guessing means there is metal brackets on the bottom of the flat bed that are being used to bolt the bed down. As for lights, I would go with the typical standard brake lights being sideways. Works great and it looks good. There is a post over at TheDieselStop that covers someone making there own flatbed, and it has some great information. You can read it here. I am not going to cheap out on anything material wise here, and if I get stuck welding wise, a good buddy of mine is a full time welder that owes me a couple favors. This is a great video of someone making a flatbed for a 93 Ranger. Different truck, but same idea. Very useful info
I am going to start by pulling the current bed completely off and cleaning up the frame and taking some very careful measurements multiple times. My initial plan is to make the bed 99 inches. That should give a slight standard gap from the cab, and bring the bed all the way back to where the bumper should be. That would give roughly 8 feet of load space long ways taking in regards the couple inches thick of material that is going to be used to go up along the cab. (Can be slightly seen in the photo.) I want the width of the bed to be exactly the same as the width from bump to bump on the cab. It appears as though that is roughly 79.4 inches. Assume it is 80 inches exactly, I will want 2 inches thick on each side to allow space for 2 inch thick wood to make a side railing such as in the photo making the actual wood bed 80 - (2*2) = 76 / 4 = 19. I then need to figure what size would I am going to utilize for the bed. Assuming it was 2x4 solid wood, and I took a mounting approach similar to that in the video I listed above, 76 / 4 = 19 2x4's exactly. That would leave me without having to make odd cuts which works out good. In regards to length, if it was 90 inches as I stated above, and I went with the same principal as 2 inches of metal perimeter all the way around that would leave me with 99-(2*2)=95/12=7.916 which means an 8 foot long board would be slightly more than enough. I would plan on using the same mounting system for the boards as was used in the video as well as recreating that frame / mounting system, except in regards to my size.



This is all looking / sounding good on paper, but I know it is going to be much more in depth once I jump into it.

If you are not following exactly what I meant by my measurements up there, here is a very basic diagram I made of what the top of the bed looking down upon would be with exact line measurements to represent what exactly it should come out to be.

When I am done with this, I am going to have a 67' Styleside bed left over. It is in relatively good shape, but has its problems. Tailgate has a hard time closing, lots of holes were on the upper sides before I started bondoing. Lots of bonds and the inside is pretty beat up. I will not have a use for it. If someone on FTE would like to work something out for it, I would have no problem doing so. Either come pick it up, or pay to ship it. Not asking anything in return, but I could always use an extra hand around, especially on this project.



The 2 inches on the sides will give me enough room to make a bracket to hold a 2x4 sideways as seen in the photo of the truck way above. The 2 inches extra longways is going to give me room to make brackets to hold the wood down as seen in the YouTube video above, as well as making a 2 inch thick metal bracket that will protect the rear window as barely seen in the picture of the flatbed truck above.

No matter what, I need to remove the bed off my truck, so I will start there and upload some photos so we can see what exactly I am working with. I already have the bolts off, just need to break some welds done to the bed and it is free.

Here is a video where I go over a couple things and show the bed:
(Took the video this morning.)


This is going to be a long process, but I plan on keeping this updated.

Anyone know what size tires those are on the red/white truck?
285/75/16?

If you have any questions / suggestions, let me know.

Thanks,

Mister_King

 

To Do List, In Order

1.) Remove Bed
2.) Clean up frame / any wiring
3.) Finish prepping cab
4.) Spray Cab Lunar Green
5.) Put in window glass / rubber
6.) Put interior back together
7.) Order new tires / wheels
8.) Work on flatbed

I am going to keep this updated and try to get through at least 1 step every couple of days. Not stay on one step too long, but take my time as needed. I would like to start spraying the cab by next week.

Making the bed is going to take some time. I will begin working on that as I am completing all these other steps. Any questions or suggestions, let me know.

 

Holy long post batman!

I agree, you think too much. (I do too) but a good flatbed is just plain cool!

I would put some lights in the headache rack, and figure a way to have a removeable rear rack bar to carry long pieces of material.

 

Yeah, I would like to make it semi-custom.

I am thinking of adding a toolbox on each side rite behind the cab in front of the back wheel under the bed since there is tons of space there. Not too big, but enough to have a gas tank there so I can remove the in cab one. Would be a nice upgrade, and I could keep some flooring tools in there. Moving tile / laminate / wood / VCT with a flat bed save so much time unloading and loading, and makes the forklift driver's job much easier.

I am excited for this, but it is definitely gonna take some work.

 

I'm not sure what the big appeal to removing the cab tank is. I love having it in there, it is completely out of harms way. If anything, I would add a second tank to the system. Lord knows 18 gallons doesn't get these trucks very far down the road.

 

It's just an idea. Having some room behind the seat would be nice, but so would having dual tanks. We will have to see.

 

Just an Update:
Worked on removing the bed some more but it is still not off.
Gonna be tough, but hopefully I'll have it done tomorrow.

Talk to someone local who does fabricating / metal work / custom roll bars.
He is a good friend of mines father.
I may be working with him in this, me doing the metal / wood work measurements.
I'll have him do all of the serious welding.
I have a welder but it is a 110 welder, and my welding isn't up to par for something this big.
I do wood work everyday for a living, (custom hardwood flooring installer), so I would like to do something nice and custom wood wise. Nothing that would seem fancy or odd, but maybe something a little different that just the standard plain old 2x4s. Just an idea.

I but some spray rubber coating in a can for metal frames. It is suppose to be a spray where you clean the area very well and let it sit and cure it and makes a sorta rubber bed liner type coating that will look good and prevent rust. Once the bed is off I am gonna spray the frame.

Still deciding on what tires to oder.
I was originally thinking 235 / 75 / 15
I would like something similar to the photo above.
Any suggestions?

I will keep this updated.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

You could run a 30x9.50r15
It's a taller somewhat narrow tire.

 

I would need the tire to be roughly 2-3 inches smaller than what is on there now which is a 35 x 13.5 x 15r.

Max height could be about 32 inches so 30 would be safe.

If I am going to keep the lift I would like something bigger than original.

But I would also like to keep the "skinny" look like you said.

What do you think about 235/75/15?

 

235/75 is good. Lots of guys run them. I just think they look a tad bit too short at 29". Ford made these fender wells huge. They need big tires to fill them out. Personally, I highly recommend 31x10.50. They fit nicely. A 32x11.50 fills them up completely, but start to get a bit tight on a 2wd.

 

What size do you think that highboy in the photo has?
Those are 8 lug 16 inch wheels if I had to guess.

I like the look of those 31x10.50

I would like to get as close to the same look as that highboy as possible.
Highboys stock height is 3 inches higher than mine but my 4 inch lift makes it about the same load height.

 

Those tires on the highboy look like 235/85R16
Which is like a 32x9.50. Which doesn't exist.

You could buy 16" rims for your F-100 and run that size tire. They make all kinds. Highway rib, all terrain, mud terrain, radial or bias.

16" wheels have way more sizing options available.

 

Decisions.

I'd prefer to stick with the 15x5.5's if possible.
I like the skinny look, and when I removed the lift was gonna go with 215/70/15

Now that I'm gonna keep the lift, I am not sure.
Do you think 235/75/15 would be way too small with a 4 in lift?

The flatbed is gonna show the tires / wheels off completely.

 

WAY WAY WAY too small. I think they look small on a stock truck. If you keep the lift you've gotta run a 32 at least. 33x10.50 is an option, but your really gonna need 7 or 8 inch wide wheels.

Like I said though, if you go to a 16" rim, tire size choices open up drastically.
You can buy a set of wheels for $300. I like the old wagon wheels. They still look "correct" for the old trucks. Other styles available too of course.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=331483418503

Then You can run any of these
235/85. (32x9.50)
245/75. (31x9.75)
265/75. (32x10.50)
285/75. (33x11.50)
Even a 315/75 (35x12.50)

Or any other 16" tire you want! There are TONS of options to choose from in 16".

I would go to 16" With 235/85 all terrains.

 

So its a for sure no to the 235/75/15s?

The reason I want to keep the 15x5.5s is because I already paid for them.
No chance of return because 2 were from private party and 2 from a pickapart.

Your saying I should have at least 32 inch.
I know that the bed won't work with anything over 32 inches.

So a 32 inch tire would be the perfect size.
I do not off road, and it rarely rains here, never snows, so I would prefer a highway tire.

Maybe a narrow 32 inch highway tire on a 15 inch rim?

Would that be possible?

Here is another highboy with a flatbed.
I like the stance of this truck as well.
Tires look slightly small, but not in a bad way.