Bison Overland Flat Bed Build

[VerMonsterRV]

Hi all, a few years back we built a Total Composites habitat for our Mercedes 1120AF. We moved off a sailboat directly in the truck, which is our 1 and only home. Well, our home has left North America for several years (we're currently in Chile), so we're thinking we need another summer home in the USA. For the same reasons we built our Total Composites habitat we're seriously considering building out a Bison Overland Flat Bed. I'll be honest, we traveled extensively with the sailboat and I was pretty comfortable with that mode of travel. Then we transitioned to the 1120, and it was my first 4x4... Why not jump right into the deep end? So, I wouldn't call myself an expert with American 4x4's.

So, with the Bison we're planning on the base truck being a bit smaller, something like a domestic late model (used around a 2017ish) 1 ton 4x4. Thinking a F350 since Ford seems to be the most plentiful in the used truck market (the only pickup I've owned was a 2wd S10 with a 4 cylinder). We would then swap out the bed to an aluminum 8' flat bed (if possible a very basic less expensive one). So here are my questions (and if I'm missing anything please jump in).

1. Any budget brands of flat beds to avoid (Alumi, CM, Martin)? I'm looking for very basic with the option on adding on under storage boxes down the road. I'm also considering a very basic hard mount (maybe some rubber isolators) subframe instead of a flat bed. Doubt we would remove this camper very often.
2. I'm looking for a very basic truck (hey, out MB has intermittent wipers!), probably an XL. Any options I should really be looking for? I'm hoping for a super cab and an 8' bed.

 

[Skinhyfish]

Alumline is the worst customer experience I have ever had. I ate $5000 from them. Salesman Mike can eat a big one

 

[sn_85]

Alumline is the worst customer experience I have ever had. I ate $5000 from them. Salesman Mike can eat a big one

I'll echo this. My buddy went with a flatbed from Alumline and there were multiple problems with his flatbed and storage boxes. He had to pay extra to have the issues fixed. Alumline is definitely cheaper but there are reasons for that.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Thanks for the advice, we ended up putting a deposit on the Bison. Now we need to get busy finding a truck. Maybe we could find a decent F350 with a steel bed already installed.

 

[Darwin]

Look for a cab and chassis truck.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Go to any farm or ranch town, and get a flatbed there. They have been using them way before the " Overland market discovered" them. Itll save you a few bucks. Most places that sell stock trailers, will also have flatbeds. I have had my CM for a few hunded thousand miles.

 

[andy_b]

Hi all, a few years back we built a Total Composites habitat for our Mercedes 1120AF. We moved off a sailboat directly in the truck, which is our 1 and only home. Well, our home has left North America for several years (we're currently in Chile), so we're thinking we need another summer home in the USA. For the same reasons we built our Total Composites habitat we're seriously considering building out a Bison Overland Flat Bed. I'll be honest, we traveled extensively with the sailboat and I was pretty comfortable with that mode of travel. Then we transitioned to the 1120, and it was my first 4x4... Why not jump right into the deep end? So, I wouldn't call myself an expert with American 4x4's.

So, with the Bison we're planning on the base truck being a bit smaller, something like a domestic late model (used around a 2017ish) 1 ton 4x4. Thinking a F350 since Ford seems to be the most plentiful in the used truck market (the only pickup I've owned was a 2wd S10 with a 4 cylinder). We would then swap out the bed to an aluminum 8' flat bed (if possible a very basic less expensive one). So here are my questions (and if I'm missing anything please jump in).

1. Any budget brands of flat beds to avoid (Alumi, CM, Martin)? I'm looking for very basic with the option on adding on under storage boxes down the road. I'm also considering a very basic hard mount (maybe some rubber isolators) subframe instead of a flat bed. Doubt we would remove this camper very often.
2. I'm looking for a very basic truck (hey, out MB has intermittent wipers!), probably an XL. Any options I should really be looking for? I'm hoping for a super cab and an 8' bed.

For budget brand, we have an Alumna flatbed on ours for the past 30k miles. I've documented in my thread its mediocre build quality but it has worked great thus far and was ~$5k installed. I'd buy it again but it pales in comparison to the nicer flatbeds out there.

 

[tmacc]

Hey PNy and andy_b thanks for you input on these threads. I have question.....how high was the the flatbed over the stock PU bed height? I heard CM is about 4-5" higher than stock.
We have a hard side TC and height is critical to get it in our garage door.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Its higher for sure, all depends ( how they built it, design) on the MFGR. Just have to measure, and compare.

 

[andy_b]

Hey PNy and andy_b thanks for you input on these threads. I have question.....how high was the the flatbed over the stock PU bed height? I heard CM is about 4-5" higher than stock.
We have a hard side TC and height is critical to get it in our garage door.

Good question - I don't know. I did not measure the difference in height pre- and post-flatbed install. The flatbed deck height shouldn't be much higher than the floor of the bed itself (this will vary on how the flatbed vs factory bed is mounted).

TBH, it isn't a good idea to compare to other trucks since there are so many variables that will affect the final ride height. I would figure out how much wiggle room you have in your current setup and then make sure that the installer is able to accommodate that in the install of the flatbed so that your final height is good to go.

 

[kmacafee]

I'll echo this. My buddy went with a flatbed from Alumline and there were multiple problems with his flatbed and storage boxes. He had to pay extra to have the issues fixed. Alumline is definitely cheaper but there are reasons for that.

I've had an Alumline Flatbed for almost 8 years. I 100% agree that their customer service sucks but the build was spot on and 125k miles later, everything still works. I know some folks that have had them build several trailers over the years with no complaints. That said, if they weren't so close to where I live, the lack of customer service would send me elsewhere.