first time fabber curiousity

[NEK5]

going to be building my flatbed soon, and was looking for an opinion. Will this likey be strong enough? The thick black is 2x2x.120, the thinner black is about 1x1x.120, and the red dots being the mounting locations....

 

[ktmoutfront]

What do you plan to put on it? How much weight? What is the floor going to be? Rectangular would be better no matter what you are doing.

 

[Jason4x4]

What do you plan to put on it? How much weight? What is the floor going to be? Rectangular would be better no matter what you are doing.

I would listen to him...

 

[Big Blzn]

Just a thought, I would taper the rear of the bed. Where the bottom/back right and left corners are on the diagram, I would cut those corner squares into triangles. Shouldn't do really take away much storage capacity, it may look nicer and give less chance of banging and hanging up on rocks and trees, etc. Someone should start a thread on "pics of flatbeds" if there isn't already one.

 

[NEK5]

Just a thought, I would taper the rear of the bed. Where the bottom/back right and left corners are on the diagram, I would cut those corner squares into triangles. Shouldn't do really take away much storage capacity, it may look nicer and give less chance of banging and hanging up on rocks and trees, etc. Someone should start a thread on "pics of flatbeds" if there isn't already one.

going to be a DD rig more than a wheeler, so that added space (even if not all that much) will be better, and will help hide the mudflaps a little better

What do you plan to put on it? How much weight? What is the floor going to be? Rectangular would be better no matter what you are doing.

atv, snowblower, maybe an axle or other parts once in a while.....

 

[NEK5]

Any other thoughts? What kind of rectangle, 2x3? Which way should it go, tall or wide?

 

[ktmoutfront]

2x3 .090 wall standing up should do it. If you keep the loads light. That will cut down on the cost and weight.

 

[NEK5]

no more than an ATV. Any thing else, I can use a trailer and another truck... 1x1 rectangle enough for bracing?

 

[ktmoutfront]

1x1 is square. 1x2 for floor support only. 2x3 should also be used over the frame rails with another 1x2 on the center of the bed front to back. A little bit over kill now means no rebuild later.

 

[NEK5]

1x1 is square. 1x2 for floor support only. 2x3 should also be used over the frame rails with another 1x2 on the center of the bed front to back. A little bit over kill now means no rebuild later.

awesome, thanks for the help guys! Got my welder today, so time to start practicing!

Should the tube go height wise, or length wise? ie, should the bed of the rail be 3 inches tall, or 2?

 

[ktmoutfront]

The key is to build on on a flat surface. Lots of clamps and cross bracing. Check square after tacking and take your time welding it. If there is a gap at a corner, where something is not square and tight, the weld will pull together and no more square.

If you have not done very much welding before, go to the Miller web site and watch the videos.

 

[muddermilitia]

Hey Ben, my flatbed is built with 2X3 rect tubing I think .120 wall. The place i got it from had .083 and .120. The .120 was .50 more a foot so Im pretty sure thats what I went with. Anyway, that outer perimeter is setup tall side up (3" up) and the center crossmember is laid down (2" up) I did that to lower the height of the bed. The center mount utilizes the stock blazer body mount.

The rect tube had a sleeze welded at this location to reduce the chance of the tube wall collapsing when the bolts were tightened. Get yourself some 90 degree angle clamps, those will come in handy.

These are the best pics I have, keep in mind in these pics the mounts are not done

If you need more pics I can take some more this weekend

 

[NEK5]

If you could get some pics, that would be awesome

I have the DIY4X parts for the mounts, just unsure of how I will use them now....