not looking for legality issues, I just wanna know how many of you run your trucks with no bed. what kind of issues do you have with less weight over the rear wheels? and how many of you like the look of a bedless truck? I plan on using a blazer tank mounted at the rear of the frame with a spare tire mounted over the top of that and some kind of tool box right behind the cab. I dont ever use my bed to haul stuff in and I think they look cool without a bed.
CK5
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running without a bed
- Thread starter big dan
- Start date
prerunner1982
1/2 ton status
Even a small flat bed would help, not only to mount trail equipment too, but provide some structural support to the frame.. I have driven without a bed around town, and though the truck felt considerable faster it was way to easy to loose traction.. of course the blazer tank and spare behind the rear axle will aid that to some extent.
I really want to build some type of tube bed and through searches I have found some pretty cool ideas but dont really have the money or resources to build one like I want right now. I was thinking about cutting the floor of my existing bed just inside the inner fenders to have a small flat bed but I cant make up my mind and I dont want to start cutting till Im sure of what I want to do.
I have a bed that I plan on bobbing and tapering. I like when they still resemble a truck. flatbeds have their place. Working.
I wheel with a few guys that have taken the bed off and just mounted a box and spare. they complain about not having enough weight.
I wheel with a few guys that have taken the bed off and just mounted a box and spare. they complain about not having enough weight.
bowtiepower00
1/2 ton status
Though running w/o a bed looks like @ss, IMO, it does make for some great burnouts and donuts.
lack of traction might get ya killed!..
I drove a 74 C10 I had with a 454 without a bed for a few weeks,while I was fixing up a better bed to toss on it..it sucked,it would spin the tires so easy,you'd get killed trying to pull out in traffic,especially if it was raining or wet out!...sure,doing 300 foot burnouts WAS fun,but when I almost got killed in it because I couldnt STOP the dam truck well due to lack of weight in the rear,I decided to use another vehicle for my daily driver until I got the bed back on..
Oh,I know you said "not worried about legality",but I'll tell you--I never got pulled over more times in my life than I did while my trucks bed was off!..the cops were going to write me up for having no fenders or mudflaps!!
--I had rigged up temporary tailights too,thinking I was all set!..
I ended up putting my Fisher plow blade on the frame rails over the tires,clamped it down with "C" clamps and a ratchet strap,so it acted like fenders,and kept rocks and mud from being tossed at other vehicles-- and rigged up a 2x4 with mud flaps so I could go to work without being hassled every morning by the same cop!..then when I almost had the rear end pass me during a panic stop,I decided not to drive it until I put the bed back on it...
--it might be OK for an off road only trailerd rig,but I would not run a "bedless" truck on the street...not here at least!..
I drove a 74 C10 I had with a 454 without a bed for a few weeks,while I was fixing up a better bed to toss on it..it sucked,it would spin the tires so easy,you'd get killed trying to pull out in traffic,especially if it was raining or wet out!...sure,doing 300 foot burnouts WAS fun,but when I almost got killed in it because I couldnt STOP the dam truck well due to lack of weight in the rear,I decided to use another vehicle for my daily driver until I got the bed back on..
Oh,I know you said "not worried about legality",but I'll tell you--I never got pulled over more times in my life than I did while my trucks bed was off!..the cops were going to write me up for having no fenders or mudflaps!!
--I had rigged up temporary tailights too,thinking I was all set!..I ended up putting my Fisher plow blade on the frame rails over the tires,clamped it down with "C" clamps and a ratchet strap,so it acted like fenders,and kept rocks and mud from being tossed at other vehicles-- and rigged up a 2x4 with mud flaps so I could go to work without being hassled every morning by the same cop!..then when I almost had the rear end pass me during a panic stop,I decided not to drive it until I put the bed back on it...
--it might be OK for an off road only trailerd rig,but I would not run a "bedless" truck on the street...not here at least!..
stallion85
1/2 ton status
I am in the same boat. I want to just totally remove my bed. I thought about dovetail and bobbing it, but for a rock crawler it's like polishing up a turd. I have thought about making a flat bed with actual wood instead of just metal. I will have a fuel cell, tool box, and a spare 42" swamper on the flat bed......
well i have no "BED" in my truck brother.sorta pre runner fenders.the weight diff sucked today as i pushed another truck in reverse.smoky smoky.big dan said:
but forward no trouble.and i throw alot of crap off the tires on other cars. BUTin mud lighter is better!
i always win against the NORMAL trucks.
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I drove my GMC like this for almost 6 months back in 04, even during the winter for a while!
You definitely needed to leave yourself more room to stop, and couldn't accelerate very fast without busting the rear end loose, and bringing it around up front. I actually took the truck mud bogging a day or two after this pic was taken,
I found mud from that day years later when I re-built my cab 
Never once got stopped by any police officers, totally legal to run without a bed so long as you've got mud flaps, a proper bumper and lights. Got a heck of a lot of funny looks though
You definitely needed to leave yourself more room to stop, and couldn't accelerate very fast without busting the rear end loose, and bringing it around up front. I actually took the truck mud bogging a day or two after this pic was taken,
I found mud from that day years later when I re-built my cab Never once got stopped by any police officers, totally legal to run without a bed so long as you've got mud flaps, a proper bumper and lights. Got a heck of a lot of funny looks though
i love those tail lights.i do have sheet metal in the bed now.that sheet weighs aboot 100lbs.now for the spare tire carrier.SierraClassic said:I drove my GMC like this for almost 6 months back in 04, even during the winter for a while!
You definitely needed to leave yourself more room to stop, and couldn't accelerate very fast without busting the rear end loose, and bringing it around up front. I actually took the truck mud bogging a day or two after this pic was taken,
Never once got stopped by any police officers, totally legal to run without a bed so long as you've got mud flaps, a proper bumper and lights. Got a heck of a lot of funny looks though
and eveything un bolts.HA HA HA
blazin_blazer
1/2 ton status
why cut
everything will bolt off and leave just the floor!
big dan said:
everything will bolt off and leave just the floor!
This is my temporary setup while my flatbed is being built...
B_to_C said:This is my temporary setup while my flatbed is being built...
i like that
yeah that was a similar idea to what I was gonna do but Ive resovled my problem. wanted to get rid of my bed cause it was trashed but the whole truck is pretty much trashed so I bought another one with a good body and frame that Im gonna get this weekend. but thanks for all the opinions.
