A 8ft bed sucks...

B.Warning · Aug 12, 2014

I want 10'+

I'm tired of this short a$$ bed and have decided I'm going to add a few feet to the frame this winter. There's all kinds of talk about building shorty trucks but not about adding length to one.

It's pretty cut and dry, but 1 concern I have is weather or not a extra cross member is needed to aid in a little rigidity.

Thoughts?

Jeff@Spartan · Aug 12, 2014

Didn't Morgan do this to his pulling truck? If so, he'll chime in I'm sure.

BWCbuilt · Aug 12, 2014

I will donate the extra framerail, brake line, drive shaft and fuel line length from when I shortened mine. :thumbsup: Haha.

B.Warning · Aug 12, 2014

SPARTAN said:
Didn't Morgan do this to his pulling truck? If so, he'll chime in I'm sure.

No, his truck was/is a cab chassis truck with that wheel base. He's a genius so I'm sure he'll still offer advise.

BWCbuilt said:
I will donate the extra framerail, brake line, drive shaft and fuel line length from when I shortened mine. :thumbsup: Haha.

Didn't you cut 18" out to make the short bed? Those parts still won't be long enough.

SDS97_7.3 · Aug 12, 2014

But right now you've got an 8ft bed that doesn't have to be made. So why complain

BWCbuilt · Aug 12, 2014

B.Warning said:
Didn't you cut 18" out to make the short bed? Those parts still won't be long enough.

16"... but if you find TWO guys that made shortbeds, you would have it made in the shade.

14ccd · Aug 12, 2014

I would love to have a 10' bed. I could put in more tools and supplies. I think I will go the utility bed route, stay with something that is already proven many times over.

PSDJohn · Aug 12, 2014

Was thinking the same thing yesterday when i had lumber sticking way out the back.

B.Warning · Aug 12, 2014

SDS97_7.3 said:
But right now you've got an 8ft bed that doesn't have to be made. So why complain

I have a flatbed on it now. So making it longer will be easy. I want to be able to carry my welder and compressor and still be able to tow my gooseneck. A 8ft bed is definitely not long enough for my line of work.

B.Warning · Aug 12, 2014

Here's the truck.

BWCbuilt · Aug 12, 2014

B.Warning said:
I have a flatbed on it now. So making it longer will be easy. I want to be able to carry my welder and compressor and still be able to tow my gooseneck. A 8ft bed is definitely not long enough for my line of work.

Just a suggestion, but why don't you make a detatchable flatbed extension for it? That way you can have the extra length when you want it, without having the turning radius of a school bus. Dad often hauls 16' boards with his 8' bed, so I made him a bed extender that slides into the receiver hitch and has a deck that sits flush with the tailgate.

B.Warning · Aug 12, 2014

BWCbuilt said:
Just a suggestion, but why don't you make a detatchable flatbed extension for it? That way you can have the extra length when you want it, without having the turning radius of a school bus. Dad often hauls 16' boards with his 8' bed, so I made him a bed extender that slides into the receiver hitch and has a deck that sits flush with the tailgate.

Because I need the extra space in front of the hitch. That way my welder and compressor will sit ahead of the gooseneck and still leaves me plenty of room to pull my trailers and have room for a pallet/pro box of seed, ATV, whatever.

DTL · Aug 12, 2014

I have the same issues. 8' bed just isn't enough a lot of the time. With a toolbox and fuel rig, there's only about 5'6" left for cargo. Not sure I'd want to deal with a 2' longer truck every day though!

BWCbuilt · Aug 12, 2014

B.Warning said:
Because I need the extra space in front of the hitch. That way my welder and compressor will sit ahead of the gooseneck and still leaves me plenty of room to pull my trailers and have room for a pallet/pro box of seed, ATV, whatever.

That makes sense. Stretching 2' really should not be a problem. I had a service truck that I stretched 2' so that I could fit a crane and a compressor on it. It is a pretty straight-forward deal, cut the frame, add a piece, lengthen the brake line, fuel lines, wiring, and have one of the driveshafts lengthened. I did not add a crossmember per-say, but the crane mount did add some rigidity to the frame. I had over 100k on that frame when dad rolled it. I never had any problems. I loved how much I could haul over the road with the truck. However, the truck was an absolute pain to maneuver on the jobsite.

JoeDaddy · Aug 12, 2014

Gawd that's ugly.....want me to chop it for you Brian?

Buck1 · Aug 12, 2014

I like those wheels. Need to look at a F450 or 5 with crew cab as I think factory wise you could get 10 bed. On big trucks we run a max of 54" between c members. But bigger rails. Your flatbed will give it some strength as well.

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Buck1 · Aug 12, 2014

By the way, it looks good without the red tint!

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Jesse_01 · Aug 13, 2014

If you was close I would buy that deck off of you so you could get a longer one. Lol. I tend to destroy factory boxes. Between people running into me and fork like incidents.

jdc753 · Aug 13, 2014

Not sure if he still gets on here much but Justin Hawker (on facebook) and Hawker (on here) stretched his 7.3 welding rig, his Freightliner and now i stretching his T-600 might be a good brain to pick.

Also, why stop at 10'... a 12 or even 16 might good sweet on there...

but really, the truck will look and work awesome with a 10' or 12' body on there.

k7lvo · Aug 13, 2014

jdc753 said:
Not sure if he still gets on here much but Justin Hawker (on facebook) and Hawker (on here) stretched his 7.3 welding rig, his Freightliner and now i stretching his T-600 might be a good brain to pick.

Also, why stop at 10'... a 12 or even 16 might good sweet on there...

but really, the truck will look and work awesome with a 10' or 12' body on there.

What's the video screen in the left side of the picture? It looks a bit like a reverse camera in a KR, but it's almost too tall, and it does look fisheye...