Building a flat bed

[Ghost Rider 77]

I am converting my 77 to a dually and want to build an 8 foot flat bed. Does anyone have any pics of flat beds and the any measurements.

[old Rusty C10]

you may want to do a search on the 67-72 board of a guy named Dubie.. he did one a while back that came real nice this was about 2003 or 2004

[flatbedchev]

That's me Bob.hahahah

My flatbed was constructed out of 1/8" C-channel. It's 6' - 6" wide and 8' long. If you search for my old user name of dubie, you'll find a few pictures of my MUTT truck. I am removing the flatbed and installing a fleetside bed this summer. So if anyone is looking for a flatbed to bolt right onto a 67-72, I have one for sale

[red caddy]

I've built several, 3 or 4 in. channel X 3/16ths web is plenty strong. I use 2 1/2 X 3/16 channel for the uprights, through bolted to the flat side of the frame, and bolted to the 2 center longitudnial rails of the bed frame with grade 5 1/2-13 bolts. (makes it easy to remove later,'specially if you put plugs on the tail light harness and trailer plug in) You can use 4 or 6 uprights, depending on how much abuse the bed will get. On my '86 1 ton I originally used 4 but added 2 more outboard of the recievers for my king pin/5th wheel hitch, that are welded to the inner bed rail channels. Not really necessary, it's a piece of mind thing. (I have towed some stupid heavy loads, on really bad roads with this rig, so overkill lets me sleep better,LOL)

When setting the bed height, measure the distance from the bump stop to the axel, axel to the top of the tire and do the math. If you place the cross members properly, you can tuck the tire within an inch or so of the bed bottom when/if the axel hits the bump stop, without tearin' up the tires when you overload the truck. (I made that mistake on the first bed I built) The top of the bed surface should line up with the side body crease or moulding, to look right. Lower is OK but higher just looks wrong. I find it a great help to lay out some 2X4's to get a feel for what looks right and properly supports the bed floor. I've used every thing from 1/2 inch plywood to 5/4 X 6 deck planks, to 3/16ths steel diamond deck, depends on the use and the look you're lookin' for.

I like to keep the front edge of the bed back 4 or 5 inches from the cab, makes it easier to clean/paint/wax the cab back. also gives you roon to run exhuast stacks if you're so inclined. If you need more, I'll take a few pics of mine tomorrow. (too dark right now) I'll have it in the shop this weekend, building a headache bar and wing mount... RED

[Dooley]

When I had this bed built for the 79 it was 96"W by 108"L. I kept the bulkhead at just past the cab sides. The posthole pockets were integral with the bedrail. I kept it low as possible. I had the main rails on a 5/16 spacer at the frames highest point which is over the axle. I filled in the front and rear space on top the rails with custom cut treated 4x4. I included a trap door for the gooseneck hitch. The I beam crossmembers were 12" on center except over the rear tires. I boxed the wheel area and ran a support directly over the middle void of the dualls front to back.