Flatbed Information Thread

I think it’s a very personal thing. It can also be a practical thing. Depends on the look you want and how you want it to perform. Personally I like a flatbed to have the same tire clearance as the front from both a visual stand point and to allow full stuff of the tire when she’s flexed. That said you have to find a sweet spot so you don’t cause your load to be too top heavy. I went with @overlandunderbudget’s advice and put mine to match the front fender. I’m not sure if he’s on here but you can look him up on Instagram to see his truck (although it is a first Gen, but still kicks butt). He also has a full homebuilt camper that he runs. (You can also go to YouTube and Google Tacoma flatbed and his will have like a million views)
If you don’t plan to off road and/or plan to use the bed for a lot of hauling loads, you may consider leaning toward a little lower so it’s more work user friendly.
I have the same truck as you and I think My mounts are about 5” tall. My truck also has a 2.5” lift so that comes into play as well.
Again it’s a very personal choice.
Hope this helps

 

Man I’d do the Bison on a tray in a heart beat! I say that but I do wonder what it weighs?
I have a 2018 dcsb trd off road with a 6’4” flatbed. Has 6 sod and I think 430 gears. Anyhow, I was super nervous about how it might look with a longer bed, but finally did it. So glad I did. I don’t think it looks out of proportion at all. My plan is to eventually build my own slide on camper or buy a slide in pop up camper. For the time being I’m running a rack that’s mounted to storage boxes with a roof top tent on top. Before this set up we had a 2012 taco and pulled a 1k# lol guy off road tear drop. We absolutely loved the camper but I absolutely hated pulling it around. Such a pain in traffic if you have to drive through city traffic, finding places to park etc, etc. Sold the taco and went with a new 1/2 t gmc. That lasted maybe 3 months. My wife hated driving it because it was so huge. I guess eventually we would have gotten used to it but I really missed the size of a Tacoma. So here we are.

 

https://youtu.be/0a7GVCT0K7k

 

Sweet, thanks for all this information. It helps to think about how to attach this. I do plan on taking it off road also so I do want the clearance but I also do not want to sit the flat bed to high. I did have a question about your mounts. Did you do all of them 5"? I have my bed pulled off and looking at the truck frame, it seemed liked all the pre drilled holes were not all even with each other. If you did do all of your mounts 5", how does your flat bed sit on the truck? Did you do cross beams ( parallel or perpendicular to the car frame) Do you have a picture of your bed during your build?

 

Some pics from the build if interested. I used 2x3 3/16 wall for the inner beams and sides. Above that is 2x2 3/16 wall for the cross members and rear. I used regular square tubing for cross members, but chose architectural tubing for sides and rear for a softer edge.
After installing the flatbed, I checked tire clearance and needed to but 1" spacers to lift it, as well as shim the bomb stops 3/4" to stop rubbing. I have 295/70/17 on 4runner wheels. I will be removing it in the summer to extend the mounts and possibly reducing the hight of the rear. I like the flatbed at this hight, it's the best for offroad or traveling with the family.

 

I know we mostly see 2nd & 3rd generation Tacoma's in this thread, but check out what we offer for the First Gen Trucks!

Summit Expedition Trucks is proud to manufacture a high quality flatbed option for the smaller First Generation models. Looking forward to doing a double cab short box later this year!

This one is equipped with the following options;

• 84" Tray (66" wide)
• 66" Wide Headboard
• Side Gate Kit
• Ladder Rack
• Front & Rear Underbody Tool Boxes
• 48" Rear Pull-Out Drawer
• 33" Clearance Fenders

Additionally, we included a full plug and play wiring harness so the customer can always go back to his factory box without any rewiring! This is a standard feature with all of our products!

 

That's a killer bed, and Basil does some good work!

 

And it only costs 3x what a 1st Gen truck should.

Cool for someone I suppose

 

Honestly, a tray or flatbed makes the truck so much more useful and it is cheaper than buying a new truck. I have a tray and canopy on the back of my 1st gen Tundra that is probably worth 2.5 times the truck. I love the truck though, and don't plan on ever selling it so why not invest in it? Obviously it's not for everyone, but there are some good reason to do it.

 

I agree, I’m looking at getting a flat bed in future, it just won’t need all the trays, slides and compartments.

I understand why they cost so much, they aren’t simple to build, I just wish there were more options for 1st gens. The one above and aluma are really the only ones I know about.

 

All those boxes and slides are pretty nice for the secured storage

 

More storage=more clutter and more weight haha

Its just not for me is all

 

That's the beautiful aspect on our trays. Don't want the boxes or drawer? No problem! Can they be added later on if the need arises? Absolutely!

As far as I know, there's us (Summit Expedition Trucks Ltd.), Ute Ltd., and I guess Aluma that make compatible trays for the 1st Gen's.

I'm sure we'll see more Gen 1's come through due to what we have to offer! Certainly excited to show everyone the Canopy going on this truck in the coming weeks!

 

We just installed a MITS Alloy EVO2 tray on a 2016 Tacoma Saturday. He will add a 3' canopy when it arrives in June. In the meantime, heaps of space for hauling all the goods!

 

looks like a reproduction of our truck!

 

Anyone looking to join the gang, this C6 bed just popped up in MA. Less than half the price of a new one once everything is factored in, and no lead time.

https://westernmass.craigslist.org/pts/d/ashfield-ute-flatbed-for-tacoma-u/7488480086.html

 

Fuck, that’s a hell of a deal.

 

First post here, hopefully I am doing it right

Never thought I'd own a truck, and definitely would never imagine converting the bed so soon after getting it.


Not sure how we managed to move the bed with just a few wimpy people.

Looks better but still not quite right. I should check the instruction manual.

Test fitting the plywood deck. I've it made to accept 1" decking as I would like to use some marine grade aluminum decking in the future. Still need to figure out the fuel filler neck and install proper taillights.

 

I ended up using a filler neck from mill supply and some other associated pieces:
https://www.millsupply.com/unleaded-fuel-filler-neck-black-cap-reduces-81937.php?p=324374

You'll have to check into how the plumbing is plumbed though, there may be some gotchas with the newer trucks.

 

For the bumper and taillights, you might consider just removing the old bumper and fabbing up something to replace it all. DEfinitely check your local laws though, I know here we have a maximum height for the bottom that I had to be careful of.

I originally used some cheap 'waterproof' connectors that lasted about a year to connect my taillights to my trucks electrical. They weren't that waterproof, and now i'm using some 4-flat trailer connectors loaded with dielectric grease.

Not sure how the wiring is on the newer trucks, but I found htis to be useful for combining turn and brake signals for the taillights. Its nice and waterproof and lets the turns override the tail if you've got the blinker blinking.
https://hopkinstowingsolutions.com/products/vehicle-side/non-powered-taillight-converters/48895.html