Flatbed

I had wanted to bob the bed of my truck for some time, but was not sure if I would like it permanently.  I had the chance to trade some parts for a flatbed built to my specs, so I went for it.

Below is the basic frame & floor for the flatbed sitting on the frame.

After a long wait, I was finally able to find time to finish mounting the flatbed on my truck.  The bed mounts to the frame using the 6 stock bed mounting points.  For these mounts, I used some generic Jeep CJ polyurethane body mount bushings I purchased from J.C. Whitney.  In addition to these mounting points, I used some 1/2" plate through the rear of the bed into the frame rails.  These offer a solid attachment for some shackles, as well as strengthening the bed for the future addition of a rear winch.

For tail lights, I used some standard round stop/tail lights and blinkers.  The fit nicely and Add a nice look to the back of this flatbed.

To work with the fuel filler neck, I cut a hole in the bed just in front of the passenger side fender as a temporary fix.  Later I plan to dress this area up and add a tool box.  For now - it works :)

Here are a few pictures from the first day after the bed was mounted.  I will try to get some other pictures up later showing some of the details such as the tail lights, mounts, and fuel filler mount.

I am still in the process of "tweaking" the bed to my liking, but I am slowly getting there.  Here are a few more pictures of the bed.  The tool box is mounted to the floor, and I also added a mount for the Hi-Lift jack.  I am presently working on a spare tire mount to secure the tire to the bed.

And here are a few pics of how the bed is mounted.   I used some generic polyurethane body mounts meant for an old Jeep at the 6 factory bed mount positions.  Also, the rear D-ring mounts go through the rear of the bed/bumper and bold into the frame for a solid pulling point.

Here are the most recent pics I have of the flatbed with the spare tire mount completed.  I have plans to refine the bed a little later on, but I am pretty much done.  I does need a fresh coat of paint pretty bad though :-)

I got the design for this bed from Joe Chacon.  Unfortunately his page is no longer active, but I have re-created some of his original page here to help you out in building your own flatbed.  

Here is also a image he sent me with some specifications on the bed he built.  Unfortunately - this is the only technical specifications I have on the flatbed I built using these plans, and I have sold the flatbed and no longer have any way to measure or verify specifications: