Making a flat bed

[batman]

i want to make a flat bed to go on my 78, dont have alot of money, any ideas?

 

[Carneyman]

My dad made his out of diamond plate sheet metal and other odds and ends he had. It weighs quite a bit, but wasn't too hard to do.

The side tool boxes were originally over the bed side boxes. He cut off the bottom part that hung in the bed.

 

[batman]

i dont have that laying around, i was thinking wood

 

[rynodog]

i dont have that laying around, i was thinking wood

i've seen it done with old bridge planks but they are pretty heavy.

measure once, cut three times thats my woodworking motto!

 

[batman]

hahahaha

 

[CT99XJ]

a lot of the local 'Yota guys have made wooden beds, mostly because the stock bed rotted away. You might want to take a look at tube steel, make a frame out of that, then fill it in with either wood or thin plate.

 

[Bernie]

Dare to be different... Concrete slab.

 

[bubbatrucklover]

Find the Ford equivalent of LMC and get the wood bed kit. (it might be enough of a generic thing that the one for Chevy will work) then wrap the exposed edges(where the sides would normally be) with channel or angle iron/metal.

You might look into composite decking(made of recycled plastic) instead of PT.

 

[bubbatrucklover]

Or since I'm a dumbass and didn't realize LMC had Ford too you could try them.

http://www.lmctruck.com/ford_truck_cat_page.htm

 

[S-Ten]

I would say use a couple of treated 4x4 posts tied down over the width of the truck and then bolt some treated 2x6's lengthwise. This is probably the cheapest/easiest route to go, although not the strongest.