Flat bed build 2014 turning a 2014 DCSB into a usable truck

sounds good to me I know the market for these trucks are crazy right now so hopefully a fair amount lol

 

Ended up using trex for the decking I had some laying around my house and only needed to buy 3 12' pieces. I figure its gonna take a lot of abuse and this stuff is pretty durable and won't rot. I also started the rear bumper/ tail light area yesterday

 

I was also wondering about how I should protect the steel? My buddy said I should get the whole thing powder coated I haven't looked into that yet but would imagine it would cost a lot of $$$. Or would y'all recommend POR15? or spray paint?

The problem with powder coating is that once its done I wouldn't be able to modify the bed without fucking up the coating, where as spray paint its no big deal I could just spray over it.

 

I think that if you expect to use the bed a lot to haul, etc, I would just spray paint it so you can rattle can it when it gets scratched up

 

that's a good point thanks for the input I definitely like the idea of not worrying about it and just spraying it when it inevitably gets scuffed.

 

Who's truck is this one that you posted pictures of? I'm curious about the rear spring shackles.

Thank you.

 

If you go with a bedliner type material I'd avoid Herculiner. It's been on a few places of my truck for 3 years and the Herculoner is failing/falling off. Raptor Liner is bar far the best bedliner type material.

There's a product called Steel-It Stainless Steel In A Can, it comes in spray cans. It's incredibly durable. Some baja racers spray their frames and suspension systems with it. They drive 100+ mph through sand and rocks and the stuff doesn't come off. On the positive side it can also be welded which is another reason why the racers in Baja like it some much. If there's a failure they wipe it off with a clean rag and weld right on it with no other prep work. On the negative side it's expensive however there is a much less expensive version with a different brand name (I don't remember the name).

Hammered paint is pretty durable stuff, also out of a spray can.

I'm curious what welder are you using? Gloves great so far. Good luck.

 

Random internet image, but... apparently, it’s a bad way to emulate a slider box.

 

Thanks for the input Im just using a Hobart 140 with flux core wire

 

Thank you! That's exactly what I needed to read!

Hah! What are the chances of that? I'm using a Hobart 140 as well but with gas. It's by far the best 110v only machine I've ever used and I've used a lot of different 110v only machines.

 

I think this is the preferred spring/shackle configuration…

 

Thats good to hear my Roomate just got a miller 215 or something and now we are just waiting on 220 at our place !

 

Off topic, but what bumper is that? Thanks.

 

looks like an AllPro or fake DV8 bumper

 

Its that eBay all pro knockoff bumper works and looks great IMO the previous owner put it on and I threw the winch in and have no complaints

 

I second the Steel-it recommendation. Its stupid expensive but everything I have read says it holds up very well, resists rust, is weldable, etc etc. I just used it to touch up my sliders, looks real nice.

Regardless what you do, surface prep is key. Thats why I suck at painting so much, I never get the surface done right and it eventually flakes off. Steel-it lists the required surface finish (sand blasting) right on the can.

 

Always enjoy seeing more flatbeds! Hope the project is going well! Here's the ones we build..

 

For paint I like using spray on rustoleum bedliner. Cheap and easy to patch and decently durable.

 

I’ve used a POR15 style surface prep style paint called chassis saver before. The only thing is that it is recommended to scuff and paint over it as it is not UV resistant. But, it works very well and is durable stuff (use a respirator with carbon filters, as it is wicked toxic to breathe).

 

Double this! Steel it FTW! Btw, supper subbed dude!