2011 Flatbed Build

Only ten hoods to choose from?? Assuming they are personal hoods.

I see mainly blue and one red arc. Blue is nice but gotta pay to have the nice toys.

Bridgeports are always nice, have one at home and a DRO setup as well just need the time to play.

Looks like some nice progress this weekend.

 

The hoods are all class hoods. I stay away from them as who knows how many sweaty heads have been in them.

Here's my hood.



Here's a woodworking trick that I remembered. A string line to keep everything in relation to each other.

 

All of the main framing is tacked in place. Time to weld a few key joints and see what it looks like on the truck.

 

I'm going to have to find some level ground and put the truck on jack stands to get the feet for the bed set. Too many things out of line to try and set it right now. But I think it's looking pretty good.

 

I love it. It's all coming together now.

 

Thanks guys. One step at a time.

Had to throw the tire in there just to see how it'll look.



And yes, 35's will fit just fine.

 

Gap is good!

No rubbing anymore, well at least in the back.

 

Redneck style?

 

Yes red neck style!! There used to be a kid that lived in my neighborhood that had a box style single cab Chevy with 31 street tires on the front and 40 swampers on the back. Kept it like that for a few months. Haha

Bed looks good so far ....

 

So, I'm at the point that I need to start thinking about tiedowns for the bed. The plan is to run two strips of VersaTie Track down the center rails of the bed. That will give me good tie down points for things like my cooler and storage bins for camp.

They also make a flush mount system that I may go with.

My question becomes, what do I do for outside tie downs. I plan on having panels to fill in the gaps between the bed rails. One idea is to leave a gap so I can just run a strap around the top rail. That's the simplest solution. Another idea is to attach another section of the versatie track to the rails. That starts to eat up bed space though.

Thoughts?

 

Boat cleats on the outside of the bed rails.

http://www.marinepartdepot.com/ststopbaclwi.html

 

I don't know what else you use your truck for, or what that track system is rated for but I'd put a set of heavy d-rings around the outside in case I need to tie down something heavy.

 

Good idea, but I'd rather not have anything sticking outside of the rails. They'll just catch stuff on the trails and get ripped off.

The rack systems are designed for car haulers, so they'll handle a decent load. I agree that I need tiedown points around the outside.

 

How bout a rub rail similar to flat bed semis and most flat beds?

 

Instead of D-rings or boat cleats, I would say use the same round bar that you used on the back and make a few (front, center and back) loops, similar to the back bar but shorter, and weld them to the underside of the top rail. You can run straps around those, and the look will fit in with the rest of the bed since you have already done the loop in the back.

 

You could bolt on rock climbing bolt hangers, they are incredibly strong. Might be something to look into

 

Second on this.

http://www.amazon.com/Zinc-Plated-H...5129636&sr=8-5&keywords=rock+climbing+anchors

They will stick out a little but maybe they can go on the bottom of the bed rail.

 

Personally I would run a 1.5 by .120 wall tube on top of the outer edge with 1 inch tall standoffs. Nice lip for keeping stuff on the deck and you can hook tie downs at any point along both edges. That with a d ring at each corner will take care of everything.

 

It's not going to be a true flatbed as it will have rails. I'm still leaning towards running straps around the top rail, similar to what you suggested.

 

Yeah forgot you were adding the top bar already. That will work perfect for tieing everything down. Then just add a d ring at each corner and you will be fine.