This is a pcture thread explaining my wood bed build. It's an excellent, cheap alternative for those who are sick of a useless pickup bed, but don't have the funds available for a steel flatbed, or aluminum for that matter. Steel beds are heavier than wood, but have the ability to handle dumping tasks and can take more weight per square inch. Aluminum, well i don't know much about it except it's pricey, lightweight, shiny, and I haven't noticed many with a dump setup...
On the other hand, wood beds are excellent for the do-it-yourselfer who just simply doesn't have the capability or time to construct a fabulous steel bed with a torch and welder. My wood bed took a circular saw, speed square, pencil, tape measure, drill with small drill bit, drill with drive bit, a couple boxes of deck screws, some angle iron for mounting brackets, and some hardware to mount the brackets to the frame using existing frame holes.
Wood is surprisingly strong, stronger than most people think. My last bed didn't even have a crossmember over the rear axle, so there was a span of 6' without a crossmember and I carried about 5k pounds of peastone and the bed sunk and stretched, but never broke. heavy loads can be handled easily also if you throw a piece of plywood down on the bed to help distribute the weight. I've carried 12' lengths of green logs piled up to the cab, approximately 2 cords of firewood, and the bed never flinched, the engine bogged! haha. My point is that wood can support more than people think.

We began by measuring our desired width to make a good compromise between tire coverage and stick-out beyong the cab. My rear tires are 235/85R16. I'd like to eventually move up to 265/75R16's so we did some measuring and came up with a 77" ish overall width. cut the crossmembers at 74" and factor in the 1.5" width for the 2x12's and you get to 77". Length was simple, 113.5" gave us a small gap between the cab and bed, and ended perfectly on the end of the frame. Cut the crossmembers and lay them out so they're fairly well spaced and will provide maximum support. But, now is the time to also line them up with holes in the frame so you can use bracketry to mount them. I used simple angle iron with holes drilled for bolts. Get your frame built, then add deck boards. I used 2.5" deck screws and am thrilled with the results. The deck framing is 2x10's to give height for suspension sinking (unlikely on a 1-ton!) and height for the fuel filler neck. The deck boards are 2x8's. The gap inbetween the deck boards is 9/16". Since no board is straight, begin by screwing the deck board in at the rear of the truck. Use a 9/16" spacer (or whatever size yours is) to keep the spacing along the entire run. I didn't have any 9/16" bolts, but I had 3/8" nuts and bolts which are a 9/16" head. I put a washer and nut on the end of the bolt and put vice grips on the bolt head, using the washer so it didn't drop through he bed, and using the nut as the actualy spacer. Get the boad square on that end and pre-drill a small hole to prevent splitting the wood. Screw it. Move forward to the next crossmember to drill and screw again. Put your spacer in nice and tight, this may require pushing the board away or pulling it toward you. Drill and screw. Do this along the entire length on each board and the deck will be as uniform as possible. As a side note, there were times we had to use a ratchet strap to get the board nice and tight with the spacer because the board was bowed so much.








This truck has plans to become a custom-built box truck, so we'll end up framing off this deck for the walls. A perfect box truck, Single rear wheels and a narrower size for maximum efficency and not a huge parachute going down the road. The box will also have an angle front, like a 45 degree roof like a Kenworth sleeper cab, that should help on air flow.

 

That looks very good !

 

Like someone mentioned in the other thread, this looks like a rolling stage for a band, lol. Looks great tho, only I'd have done it a bit differently - using 4x4 beams right on top of the frame rails, with more 4x4 cross beams from side to side, and lots of 6" long lag bolts holding it all together - heavy, sure, but stupid strong at the same time And pickup beds ain't quite as useless as you may think, i like the ability to just toss stuff in there and not have to worry about strapping it down. I mainly use my truck for hauling a gooseneck and also as a trash truck for my buddy's house project, a pickup bed with its steel floor and sides comes real handy especially for the second application - toss the junk in it, then when it's time to unload just pick up speed in reverse and hit the brakes, bed pretty much empties itself and then all I got left is to get up there with a push-broom and swipe whatever is caught on the cargo hoops, lol

 

You people with your fancy cab and chassis....

Looks good, but i like mine better!

 

Bed looks Good! Is that treated wood? When you gonna fix that headlight??

 

i would have used 4x4's on the frame as well (pressure treated,but standard wood everywhere else to keep cost down.)

i like this bed.looking forward to seeing her boxed in.

 

The problem with 4x4's is the bed isn't high enough to allow a good angle for the fuel filler neck, and not enough room for suspension sag with a load. As it is currently using 2x10's for the base framing, I have 7" from the top of my 235/85R16 tire to the bottom of the deck. It's also worthy to note that the cab and chassis frame has 5.25" from the top of the axle tube to the bump stop on the frame. It turns out that I could have gotten away with 2x8's from a suspension point of view. However, the fuel filler neck is still an issue. With the old bed I didn't have a single time the truck didn't fill up without spitting out a puddle of diesel 2' x 2', Every other day! I can finally fill up with just a little spit up, it's a awesome to actually fill up without having to spread kitty litter on the ground!
For my purposes, the bed will hold up fine. I'm not scared to toss 6k pounds on the bed. I'll do it in a heartbeat, worrying about stopping before busting the bed. Eventually there will be a box truck body built off this bed to house my landscape equipment and be a "Garage on Wheels". At that point, I might have 1k pounds on the bed. Piece o' cake.
Also at that point, my material hauling will be moved to a dump trailer. This bed and box truck will have no overhang, so I can easily tow a large tandem axle dump trailer behind me. I'm thinking one of those low-profile types that a skid-steer can actually fit into. That's where the tall framing and lots of suspension room come into play.
I do appreciate the ideas, but I've thought of them already and this is what I came up with. If there's anything I would do different, I would laminate the crossmembers double thick with bolts and nuts so I have two 2x10's on each crossmember. But after talking it over with my Dad who's a jack of all trades and Uncle who is a carpenter/home builder, they said it'll be overkill for my uses.
As far as pickup beds go, I have no use for them on a work truck. I understand they are nice with tall sides, but I would end up busting it all up. Like tonight, my Dad and I hauled home a hot tub on my flatbed. It wouldn't fit in the pickup and we don't have a utility traler wide enough, so it got tossed onto the flatbed. For me, it's nice having a wide open deck to work with. My original bed had 8" tall fold-down sides and I really miss them. But I also can't a 60" mower in a pickup either, I can fit it on my flatbed though.
I'm not trying to make arguement, just pointing out my thoughts and why I went this way.
Hauling a gooseneck and trash runs, yeah a pickup bed is nice for that! No need to strap down trash cans just to go to the dump! Like I do...
Otahyoni, show us some pictures of your bed!

 

When you gonna fix that headlight? Looks like its got a blackeye..........

 

My dad just pointed that out this week! It still works, just a little dark compared to the drivers side which I replaced with one off the parts truck. I'll get that this weekend. Funny how a $100 parts truck has nicer headlights and has an entire radiator core support, both fenders, and a nice grille setup waiting to get painted and go on this truck. Oh and the previous owners smashed the bumper on the passenger side, so the bumper gets replaced too. Yep, that $100 parts truck has provided a radiator, bench seat, rear axle (next week's swap project), entire drivetrain, dash with tachometer!, and a nice front clip.
F250, did you ever get my PM?

 

Who said you're trying to make an argument? We're all calm folks here, calmly discussing different points of view on the same subject - it's all good as far as I'm concerned! (yah, I know, goes real well with my siggy, lol)

 

How much wood is left where you cut out for the wheels? 2"?

 

yeah i got the pm and replied.

one thing i forgot to mention there answering your question as to why i went duals
(hope you enjoyed that long list lol.)
when you asked about stability,and i noted that was actually not one of my reasons,keep in mind i tow a little 2k lb wood chipper.
your likely going to miss the stability you had with duals when you hook up the trailer and skid steer.



caution:
did you happen to find a load rating on them rims yet?

 

BlueOvalBud, here's a link to pics of my truck.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post9268111

 

Something I've always done is used a plank one size wider around the perimeter, this gives a nice clean look hiding the crossmembers better.

Yup, I would of used green wood for the crossmembers as well...

Make sure you seal it up good with Thompsons or the like, especially where it sets on the truck.

Looks good though!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Way back in my farming days we had a couple F 700 trucks with wood beds, 2x oak floor boards.

Once a year, clean it up, let it dry out and a good soaking with used motor oil.

Hauled cattle, all different sorts of tractors and farm machinery, even dozers.
No damage to the bed after years sitting out in the weather year round.

Course I know the EPA would like to see that today, but if all of the oil soaked into the wood before it rained there was no oil sheen to the water when it ran off the bed.