Working title: White Stig (wife’s rav4 is the original Stig)
This’ll be my build thread for our new truck.
My current dilemma: convert to an aluminum flatbed, or keep stock bed. I can get a basic aluminum for around $1800, and could probably sell the original bed for around the same.
Thoughts?
Britt is opposed for mainly aesthetic reasons. She feels a flatbed will ruin the look of the truck. I guess I can see her point.
Yes flatbed won’t be pretty but it will give you more usable space…
Go with the flatbed, keep that bed. That way if you want to sell the truck later you can put it back on and it won’t be rusted out.
Just my opinion.
If it’s a business vehicle go with flatbed… looks more professional imo
You will hate working off of a flatbed, at least I do. So much wasted space. Unless you are mechanically inclined pay for the bed to be installed. Lights and fuel filler neck will drive you crazy. You will be happier with the bed I think. Bad thing about setting up a new truck is knowing you are voiding the warranty by putting on the aluminum bed or you will feel a little queasy drilling holes thru it or mounting reels on the sides of the bed.
I’m a little confused about this part. Did you mean to say a standard pickup bed?
If I had the dry storage space, then yeah. I’m ok taking a bit of a loss if I ever need to put a new bed on for resale, and not worrying about it in the mean time.
Much easier to work out of standard bed than flat bed. I’ve done both and have a flat bed now. With a standard bed things are contained. More space to mount stuff and easier to work out of. Side of rails can hold 4 reels, freeing up a lot of floor space.
Send me the bed and I’ll hang it from the rafters for you. Probably first you $200 to ship it.
Interesting. So your take is that vertical space is more valuable than raw floor space square footage. Especially if the floor space is neatly contained.
A mighty generous offer. You’ve got me having second thoughts on the flatbed, though
Yes indeed. Floor space is limited. Going up is pretty much endless. That’s the advantage of box trucks and enclosed trailers. Shelving and wall space. I hate my flatbed. I check craigslist weekly for a service body for it. You should do a service body on the taco. I had one on a ford ranger 20 years ago.
Service bodies are super hard to find for these midsize/compact pickups, at least in my area. Otherwise that’d probably be my first choice.
With the flatbed, I was thinking of installing a couple of under-body boxes, a roof rack, and possibly having fold-down sides fabbed for it. There’s a local fabrication shop that works with aluminum.
I would stack reels two high (I have a supply reel, pressure reel, and wfp reel, and eventually have a softwash reel for a 12v pump)
Window cleaning tools & supplies that needs to stay dry will go on shelving behind the front seats. There’s the perfect amount of space back there for all that stuff.
Whatever setup I go with, I’m trying to leave enough floor space open for my snowblowers & a set of ramps. I’ve got a 28” track drive, and two single stage blowers (toro 20” and 16”)
I’ve never seen a snow blower in person lol.
Me either. When I was stationed in Germany they sent me after the dust pan. I came back with a snow shovel. I thought it was just an oversized dustpan I’d never seen the snow shovel
I’ll be following this closely, my plan for a flatbed is to have a toolbox sitting on the flat bed the whole length of one side, then build a frame around it out of square tube to mount the pressure washer on top of the toolbox. It would end up being similar to a service body on that side. Then on the other side hose reels stacked two high and then another toolbox to hold 12 volt pumps. that leaves pretty much the whole bed eft open except 18" on each side. I don’t know the dimensions of your flat bed, but post them up and a list of what you want to fit on it and I bet we can give you some good ideas.
I have never worked out of a flat bed, but I have had a regular truck, utility trailer and an enclosed, I didn’t like them all for one reason or another. The truck bed I didn’t like because every time something leaked it was buried behind 50 other somethings. I am hoping the openers of a flatbed will help.
Joe
Cool. I’m thinking of going with the 68” x 87” by Aluma
Listen to your wife bro
Congrats on the truck purchase!
No phone number? Would look good over the wheel well.
no licensed and insured?
Also could you move some of that text to the bed? Perhaps if you build a frame over the flatbed
