does anyone know where i could get some ideas for a wooden flatbed that will replace a wasted factory fleetside bed for my f-350 ? thanks.

 

In highschool my brother built one. He took off the old bed, ran 4x4s from front to rear on top of the fame, (he had to use a couple of 2x4s in spots to level it out) then he placed 2x6s across the 4x4s from the front to the rear of the truck. That was 15-20 years ago, the bed is still there and being abused by farm work and storage every day.

 

Weld together 3/16 x 3" or 4" channel into big Us. Then bolt the Us, using (2) 1/2" Grade 8 bolts per flange, to the truck frame. Then bolt 2"x8" PT lumber to the bottoms and sides. Notch the Us so they sit around the frame and not just on top of it. That way they can not slide sideways with a heavy load or roll over. For the front of the bed you can run cross members L 2 R and attach 12 guage metal to it by bolting or welding.

 

The new ACQ pressure treated lumber will rust out every steel surface it contacts. The new ACQ treated lumber is not suitable for contact with any metal except copper. Make the bed out of steel or aluminum plate. The ACQ stuff eats steel and aluminum for brealfast.

 

thanks for the input. when did the ACQ pressure treated start being used ? the p.t. that i was going to use has been sitting in a barn for about 3 years. it's been protected from the weather and best of all it's free. i was going to use 4x4s underneath with 2x6s on top and angle iron wrapping around the four edges.

 

I think the change was made about two years ago. The old pressure treated lumber has CCA printed on it. The new stuff is tagged ACQ and is about as worthless as you could get. I hope the silly idi<! >ots at the EPA get hit with a bunch of lawsuits from people's decks collapsing. I met a guy in the store the other day that had his deck come apart. Boards just fell off and moved around. You have to use stainless steel or heavy hot galvanized fasteners on it. Regular galvanized or zinc plated hardware just dissolves. Galvanized nails rust thru very quick. It is funny to see display items at the local Home Depot falling apart because the store clerks don't know anything.

 

yeah, theres a couple of guys at my local Home Depot that i would'nt classify as rocket scientist {or carpenters either}. thanks for the info.