Has anyone turned a older pu into a dumper? Is it a big job? Any cons to such a project? It would be nice to be able to dump manure etc.

 

I had thought about it, really not worth doing unless you have a F-350 because anything you can get into the bed that you would want to dump, such as wood or dirt, will be 2x more than the payload capacity of the truck.

A load of dirt in a 72x48x16 inch bed would weigh at least 1800+ pounds.

$800-$1000 they charge for a conversion kit would go a long way towards a nice used dual axle dump trailer rated at 5,000+ pounds.

It is not that big of a job if you know how to weld. I might still turn my new bed box bed I am building into a dump.

 

yes I have, and it came out great. I'm short on time right now, but if you're interested in details, let me know & I'll post

sarj

 

I installed a dump bed on my '76 F-250 highboy last year and it works great. Takes about a day if you're prepared with all of the tools, the most time consuming part was removing the bed (had to drill out all of the bolts) but the kit mounted without welding. I did have to lower the receiver hitch a half inch to clear the rollpan when the bed is up. The instructions with the kit were complete and good. It will dump a full load of firewood in about 20 seconds,and I have hauled stone, about a ton, but it needs to be toward the rear to minimize the twist in the box.......thought about bracing the box to eliminate this problem but haven't done that yet
As far as apperance, the kit is invisible with the bed down and everything lines-up just like it did originally!
kit came from Texas company for about $900 and putting what you have to dump without having to manuever a trailer to the spot is really nice

 

brownfoot or sarj,

where did you get your kits ? I was thinking of trying this with my truck. Thanks in advance

 

my kit came from Pierce sales in Texas
it was shipped in 3 boxes ups and has very good instructions
their web site is : piercewrecker.com ( they have a lot of other stuff too)
looks like they will install now, if you want

 

thanks for the info. that's just what i'm looking for.

 

I could send some pics, if you like?

 

Hey that would be great. A picture is worth a 1000 words. I've been reading through the instructions they have posted on their site. It doesn't look like that difficult a job. Did it take you long? Did you run into any snags along the way? My truck is an 86 F150 Flareside, I'm hoping that body style won't present any problems with the install. I want to make sure it will work before ordering it. Thanks again.

 

I had a dump unit like the one you guys are talking about on an old Dawg(dge) back in the 90's. It was a "pickup' dump originally. The guy I got the truck from took the bed off, and put on a mini-truck flatbed. That was how I got it & used it. Well...old Dawg's(dge) die, and this one did too. It was an 82 3/4 ton, and in CA we have to deal with smog, so I just took him out to the desert and buried him.

I picked up a 72 F250 Camper Special from my grandfather (orig owner), and after a year or two, decided to convert it to a dump. My old Dawg(dge) had a few problems relating to the dump, so I fixed 'em on this one. The unit I put on was a 2 1/2 ton Rugby and when I'm dumping, it lets it intentions be known. The old one was straining and it really did depend on where the load was in the bed when I dumped it. Sometimes I had to give it the one-arm help. Here's the part some may or may not like. I pulled off the bed and put a used 9 foot flatbed on, repainted it and replaced all the wood. This might not be what some people would approve of, but here's the reasons. I use the truck not as an official work truck, but for work around the house. The flatbed gives me a portable workbench for anything from wood, tile, brick, or drywall. It's 460 pulls my trailer fine so it see's duty in the desert and mexico camping and is great throwing bikes, quads, chairs, firewood and boards in the back. And when I use it as a dump, I put on the 40 inch sides and everything slides in and out real nice like. I'm a woodworker and made some 10-14 inch sides out of hardwood, and these are the sides I keep on it day in and day out. They look real nice.

As far as how it went on, this isn't a bolt on kit, it is a custom fabrication and it you aren't dialed in on welding, I wouldn't advise it. I'm certified on half inch structural steel and have a nice DC inverter in my garage, and I paid the $600 to have a shop put it on for me... which included the install, wiring, new lights and painting of the bed. Well worth it for me. Might not be for others. When it was done, I still had room for the original aux gas tank, so that went back on. Right now I'm having the suspension work done to raise it 3 inches because I want BFG 12's on there instead of 10's I have right now. The 12's have the load range E. This includes reworking the rears leafs and adding a leaf, and new coils on the front with the I beams modified. I need to thank this bulletin board here for helping me find the guy who does the I beam mod right.
This is probably overkill for most people, and it it's not for the budget-minded. Hoist, bed, tires & wheels, and suspension work, I'm into it for about 4700...but the truck was free and already had the 460 in it. It's just that I had the experience with a lighter duty dump that was a little mickey-moused, and if you have the intention of keeping your truck, it's worth it to it right. Besides...it's a 72 so I don't have to deal with smog now, so the headers are cool. I had a 70 F250 with a 390 and a manual 4 speed whan I was a kid. Until now, that was the best truck I ever had. This one will stay with me till the day I die.

 

Sarj, please tell me you really didn't bury a truck in the desert! I offroad a lot and it's these kinds of things that get access to trails and such closed.
Back on topic. I saw a pnuematic dumper on the tv show Trucks! and it worked pretty good. Looked great as it didn't raise the bed any when it was in the down position.

 

Was kidding about the desert.

The engine took some kind of major hit, the tranny was bad, the rear-end howled and the frontend needed serious A-frme work,and like I said, even the dump unit was more show than go.... and IF.....I fixed it all (keeping it smog legal )...it still was a dodge. No-Brainer...I went for the IRS charity deduction.

As far as the finished product on Pinky ( the F250 ), the only way you could tell it was a dumper was if you really knew what you were looking at. Thats true if you convert one and keep the original bed too, but from all that I've seen, it's not all that strong structurally and what someone said about watching for twists in the bed is true...plus the dump unit is econo-weight.

 

I have pics, do you want me to e-mail the to you?

 

the pics are in galleries......brownfoot

 

very nice truck brownfoot. I like how the hydro unit is inside the frame. very clean.