Considering a flatbed

[troy_johnsen]

I have a 2015 Ram 3500 DRW. I love the truck and it tows great. I'm considering replacing the box with a gooseneck flatbed. I'm looking at the Knapheide PGNB $2300 or PGNC $4500. Does any have any opinions about that particular manufacturer? Has anyone gone from a box to a flatbed regretted their decision?

I struggle loading things in the truck from the side. My small tractor doesn't have enough lift to get over the bedsides. I have to jump in the truck to manipulate my hitch due to the reach over the side hips. Those are most of my reasons but any strong negatives from you guys way sway my decision.

Thanks!

[troy_johnsen]

Ok thanks. I'll check them out

[carringb]

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to some pics.

I think you'll be happy... They do great work. They came through for me on an industrial fabrication project last winter. Nobody else could quite do what we needed, and couldn't come close to them on fast turnaround.

While you're there, might want to wander across the street to Buckstop. They could setup you up just as well on the other end of your truck;)

[troy_johnsen]

Oh and im going to run the Andersen Ultimate hitch model #3221 as it's designed for use on a flatbed with a recessed gooseneck hitch. I'm excited about the combination.

[troy_johnsen]

Hey everyone I've decided to go with the proline fab deck that Bryan suggested. It's going to be 8'x8.5' with a wood deck. I like the wood deck for a lot of reasons over steel. Aluminum is not in the budget and I'm not sure I'd prefer it over wood anyway. I've had wood decked trailers for years and I like to be able to screw anchors to the deck as needed.

Anyway, they are about two weeks out on my install. I'll post photos when it's all done.

[troy_johnsen]

You guys have given me some great ideas. I have a hand full of new people to call this morning about options. I'll let everyone know what direction I go and definitely post photos.

[ksss]

I have run several different brands and had one custom made for my GMC 5500. I would go aluminum if it fits your budget and the things you haul wont jack it up.

I really used mine hard and if you do as well pay attention to the thickness of the deck material and the spacing of the crossmemebers, obviously thicker and closer together makes a much stronger but heavier bed. If you go steel I would consider spending the money and getting it sprayed with the bedlineer of your choice before you mount it.

[blt2ski]

Also look at where the width cross beam are on the bed vs the top of the tire. The builder that made the bed for my navistar, put a cross beam at the high point of the tire, so when at or near max gvw, the tire would rub on the cross beam. BLEW tires up left and right. At my last wood bed redo, I removed the cross beams where the tires are, No issues since.

Also some builder will only use say a 8" c channel for on top of the truck frame. Check your spring drop limit, and you can sometimes go with a 7 or 6" channel, that will lower the bed height. Granted only and inch or two. that inch if you load things by hand, can be a measureable amount. Same with cross beams. . I have also seen some beds recently made with plastic wood. About half an inch thick. So another way of lowering the bed height vs using 2x wood material as I have. Lowers the overall weight of the bed vs steel, heavier than wood. If you load pallets, the plastic could be better than wood or metal, as things may slide in and out easier. Have not heard anything from people I know that have them as to being super slick from things moving while breaking or taking off.
If I was doing for a pickup tomorrow, I'd look into the folding side boards that at least locally for me, the rental Home Depot trucks have. Iss ue with this, if you use a fork lift, when the sides are down, you could hit with the lift, and bend it. You do have more room than a stake side side board, as these are only an inch thick vs 2-4" depending upon the thickness and what your side board is made of.
Another option to look at, depending upon what your haul, is going with an 8.5' bed. This could give you a full 8' between the side boards. or if you need a bit wider bed for hauling an implement, you have it.

Marty

[Bedlam]

About $6k for the deck, two 3' under deck boxes, 30K lb Curt gooseneck, 30K lb SuperHitch receiver, installation and tax back in late 2014. I bought the upper 4' boxes mid 2017 for about $300/ea with shipping and installed them myself.

My truck is a Ram 5500 with a 19k lb GVWR, so weight was less of a concern than it will be for you. My budget did not allow for custom builds, aluminum or a utility bed. I also needed a deck that could handle my 6000 lb camper without tearing itself up, so I have heavy steel deck with structural stake pockets working as my camper tie down points.

I would suggest a configuration like this for you with some changes:
1. Shop OR or ID to save on sales tax over WA.
2. Go aluminum instead of steel for your setup to keep sufficient payload.
3. My chassis cab uses a 9' deck while your pickup will use an 8' version.
4. Cab to axle is shorter in your pickup. You can fit 24x18x18 boxes fore and aft of the rear axle for under deck storage.
5. My above deck boxes are 18" tall. I will need to remove my rear boxes to tow some gooseneck trailers. You will need to assume the deck height with be at the current height of your wheel wells and decide if you can can use lower profile boxes along the sides or just big cross-deck boxes forward of the gooseneck.

When I had a SRW, I could not make the numbers work for me to convert to a deck with boxes. Even if I could configure a deck and boxes that weighed the same as the pickup bed, I didn't have enough payload left to carry anything in the newly created space. Utility beds and storage boxes are heavy - Be careful to not use all your payload for the container and have nothing left over for what you want to carry.

[troy_johnsen]

Looks good Bedlam. I assume you're happy with the bed? Do you mind me asking what it cost?;

[Bedlam]

Titan out of Spokane did my truck upfit. This is a Palfinger Badger deck with 36x18x18 DeeZee boxes underneath.



I added 48x18x8 DeeZee boxes above deck.



I have a 30K lb Curt Double-Lock gooseneck in the deck but use the truck to carry my camper.



My deck height is 3.5' off the ground. I don't have the weight of the deck, but each of these boxes is roughly 100 lbs.

[troy_johnsen]

Thanks Bryan. I'll check them out. They're not a horrible drive from me and I could avoid sales tax!

[Dayle1]

Had the same issue and looked at the options. Flatbeds have a higher load floor due to having both long and cross supports, typically more than 4 " higher. They also are pretty heavy ( unless aluminum, but then even more $$$) since they are built to handle heavy loads placed anywhere on the load deck. So kind of overkill if the main purpose is towing a fiver or GN trailer. Then the extra weight impacts available pin weight. Finally, there are only a few hitches designed for flatbeds.

I opted for a custom utility bed with an engineering cost adder of $200 above the stock price. Weight increase was just 350 lbs. Still have a shallow bed depth of 13 ", a tailgate that opens 180 degrees so it can't be hit and 4 storage compartments. Bed rail height is 50 " so the fiver tows level with 10 " of clearance and standing flat footed I can operate the hitch. Purchased the bed in 2003 and it is now on the second truck and will outlast my needs.

[carringb]

Check out Proline as well. They make really good stuff, and its powedercoated instead of painted.

http://prolinefab.com/flatbeds/

[FishOnOne]

Mr. Truck recently changed his truck to a flat bed.

Link

The only problem I see is there's no sides to keep stuff on the bed and the only people I see really doing this stuff are welders and ranchers who still use square bails and this make loading and unloading easier.