I wanna see your flatbed tacos!

Those Norwelds are imported. I wish an American fabricator would do something similar. I keep trying to justify the price of it in my head. Like, aftermarket bumper with tire swing out, aluminum canopy, bed drawers, water container. The price is still off by a couple thousand. I guess it would out last the life of the vehicle and hopefully you could swap it in the future.

 

@1 Bored Clerk glad I found you on here. Was messaging you on insta the other night. Lots of good info for the Ute beds.

Just trying to figure out shipping right now.

 

Nice! I lucked out with shipping being so close to the US distributor. Road trip time!!

 

$436 to ship it to buffalo. American dollar of course. Better than driving across country. An hour drive beats a week drive.

What’s your opinion of the caps they offer for there racks? Also can you secure a tie down system to the floor?

 

I really like those Ute trays.

Working on a building a flatbed for my truck now, so subbing to this thread.

 

Sorry for the crazy late response! What caps for racks? Are your referring to the aluminum shells that you can bolt to the flatbed? If so, I’m sure they are okay. They are Gemtops or something like that custom made for the UTE. I’m sure they’d be fine for most people. Not sure how they’d hold up for tough off roaring or tons of washboard.

And, yeah, you could bolt down hooks, loops or L Track to the bed to tie stuff down. You can also hook ratchet straps around the perimeter edge of the bed for heavier stuff or use the holes in the aluminum strip that runs the length of the bed about 1” in from each edge for lighter things. Tons of options.

 

haha no worries. I have it installed now and everything you have said is totally true.
I will be going with the utetop offered from UTELTD.


not the cheapest option but I do think it will be the most economical with readily available parts since it is made by A.R.E. Im hoping with the boxing of the rear frame it will help reduce the flexing of the bed which led to the demise of my old bed and cap....

 

Have been working on this since August 17

It has a cabnite in the back that holds my D handle shovel, axe, and 48 inch Hi-lift, with space for several Maxtrax that have yet to be purchased (the space is currently occupied by a snow toboggan). Towards the front of the bed, between the rails is a 12 gallon water tank, RV water pump, air compressor, and an auxiliary battery, and under the cabnite in the back, above the hitch, is a 5 gallon air tank. The back wall, includes covered outlets for the water, and air, a trailer connection, as well as a remote power outlet, connected with 2 gauge wire for the ability to run an 8000 lb winch on a removable hitch tray, or jumper cables.
It is still a work in progress, I am building removable drop sides, and tailgate next.

As for the height, the bottom of the bed rails are at the same height as the original top of the fender opening.

 

Really like it!

 

I thought about doing this to Red, had the bed pulled to POR-15 the frame and everything. Just didn’t pull the trigger. Looks like fun though.

 

Here are two that we have built custom. I have posted build threads on the tan one on other forums, I will do my best to post up progress pics on a separate thread. Flatbeds on Tacoma’s have become pretty popular for West Texas ranchers.

 

Little more work has been done on my setup

 

That's pretty awesome !

 

Thanks! going to be adding this aluminum drawer I picked up for $50. Still need to clean it up and bolt it down.

 

Just starting my own flatbed build. Little confused with the fuel filler. What are the two extra hoses attached to the filler? Overflow and some sort of sensor? Is there anywhere I can buy a short filler? Anyone else have any good systems? I’d really rather not just put it between my cab and bed. Thanks!

Any more pics of flatbeds out there would be greatly appreciated!

 

I think one is a breather, and one is a overflow. What I have scene done is you can cut the filler neck and just add rubber hose to either extend it or shorten it. Haven’t found anything aftermarket.

 

Ok thanks, I’ll give it a try and post pics when I do.

 

This thing is pretty sick....well done.

 

How much did that end up weighing?

Damn that looks sick. Like something you'd see in Australia