I'm asking what would be some of the advantages of having a flat bed vs a regular pickup box, and visa-versa. And what do you guys think I should do with my 1974 F250, flat bed or pickup box.

 

I like my flatbed because its a dump,other than that probably would prefer a standard truck bed It truly comes down to what you would like,color ,wheels,lift,,about every other day I see a fellow riding and old beat up dent,going the oposite way to work then me,I always say hey buddy I like that dent even though its like road warrior

 

I have had a regular bed for years. Most of the time that is great and I prefer the way my truck looks; complete, but. I recently acquired a true (steel) flatbed. Strapping loads down is easy and oversize loads can be carried with ease.... Mine has a door in the floor for a 5th wheel ball. Loading with a forklift can be from three sides which is handy; but....

When I swap every thing over , rotten cab, later this year I will be keeping my regular bed. Just can't give up the stylish look of our dent side's...

But Flatbeds are great for certain jobs....

Shed Move.MOV - YouTube

 

My 2 cents, if your bed is nice or restorable then I would keep it but if it is beat to all heck. Then a flat bed is not a bad idea especially if you plan to use the truck for hauling stuff or "real work" as opposed cruising around. If I did a bunch of work on a bed to make it nice then I would not want to throw stuff in it that would undo my hard work. Once again just my 2 cents. Good luck with your truck.

 

I've had both. I like flat beds and think they are great for a work/farm truck. Lots of capacity and easy to load. The drawback is almost everything needs to be strapped down. My Dent had a repairable OE bed. I like that also. Original and I can carry lots of stuff without strapping.

 

thanks for the feed back guys, but I'm probably going to go with a regular pickup bed mostly for looks. If anyone know good places to look for a pickup bed that would be mouch appreciated.

PS I live in montana and the pickup bed needs to be able to fit on a 74 with two gas tank holes.

 

I hear the bone yards in MT are pretty good where they dont crush the dents until well used up. Start your search there and you can always get rid of one tank or cut a hole and weld in a second filler panel. Tons of options. Good luck!

 

I built a 4'x8' flatbed from 2 4x6's, 2 4x4's, and a bunch of 8' 2x6's. It was crazy simple - assuming you have a circular saw!

One thing a lot of people don't know is that you can use a circular saw in more than one way - for example, in the middle two flatbed crossmembers, they need to be trimmed down to fit over the stock frame/crossmembers. If you measure/mark carefully, you can use a circular saw and "sweep" it back and forth and gently dig out the correct contours to have the boards fit perfectly over the frame.

I don't know if I have any pictures of the undersides or the bits I cut, but I'll try to take some in the next week or so

I've since swapped back to a full bed - the wife said it looked too "beverly hillbillies" for her, so I got a regular bed on it

-Brad

 

A flat bed should make your vehicle insurance cheaper! If you use your truck for a work rig it great if you are a farmer/rancher/fencer/laborer/construction line, you have a larger work space more than a tailgate.

You can haul a round bale or 2, alot more square bales/fire wood, you do not have to worry about hurting you bed sides or bed floor, 3/16 or 1/8 tread plate is pretty tough.

With removable stock rack style side boards and a butt board you are set to haul about what ever and in a snap have a larger flat surface to work/haul off of.

You can get a flat bed with boxes underneath for tools and other equip you want to lock up. Most come with a headache rack to protect the back window and some even a built in aux fuel tank.

But things to tend to be "lifted" off there easier by lazy stealing scumbags in parking lots and blow off going down the road. I have had to tie gas cans, feed buckets and mineral tubs where as in a reg truck bed close the tailgate and hit the road.

You can load your 4 wheeler from either side or the back, and you have more tie down points. You do not have to worry about hitting the back of your flat bed on the feed store loading dock.