changing to a flatbed?

[itn]

My old 92 f250 bed is needing a replacement. I'm looking to switch it out for a flatbed. Steel or Aluminum? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[wdchuck]

Depending on your budget for the project, consider making the flat bed a dumper as well, very handy.
Mine is steel bed and headache rack, with braces to hold 2x8's as side boards, 2x4's in the stake pockets, and so far has held up to some log hauling abuse pretty well. The stakes are going to be replaced by steel though, for log hauling.

The bottom is a diamond plate texture, better than smooth surface in my mind.

It dumps too, a pto off the tranny, factory setup, and quite handy. You could always go with an electric-over-hydraulic if you have an automatic.

 

[thejdman04]

An aluminum bed will give you more payload. I agree if you can find a decent dump body you would be much better off.

 

[michigander]

Are you handy with a welder? It would be feasable to make one out of steel with a cheap welder. For a good aluminum one, would need a more expensive mig or tig welder. I would build one out of steel and make it dump like others have recommended. Good Luck!

 

[FIRESMOKE]

Aluminum will be less weight and also will look better, but will dent alot easier when throwing firewood in or dropping logs into it. Also if you want to keep it looking nice it will take alot of time polishing.I'd go with steel.

 

[bore_pig]

Steel. A forklift loading your truck at the coop could really screw up an aluminum bed.

 

[chainsawaddict]

The best flatbed i ever had was a steel fram with 2x12s slid in to the back. so the top of the flatbed was wood. Stuff didnt slide around, it looked good, and every couple years you could buy a few more, undo the latch, slide the new ones in and be good as new