Looking for feedback on flatbed trays.

[1000arms]

I am reviving this thread. I am in the market for a flatbed for my F250. I love the look of the norweld, with the current state of affairs, they seem pretty hard to come by.

I spoke with Tafco, they make the home depot rental trucks, I am considering one of their beds. I like the drop down sides.

I have a ute bed on a tacoma, I think its the perfect fit. I am alittle skeptical of it on the fullsize.

I will not be putting a camper on the F250 flatbed. It will strictly be for work. I am curious if any one has tried the MITS yet if so what are your thoughts? Of the US providers does anybody have any expierence?

ALot of my relatives has used a few companies but they always getthe steel ones. They are no help ha ha

Duramag is in Maine.

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[hurc85]

Here’s another aluminum option from Canada and they ship to the US.

TradeLite Aluminum

Canada's number one manufacturer of Aluminum heavy duty, light weight pick up truck flat decks and tool box storage solutions. We offer the best looking, most versatile flat deck on the market. We stand behind 20 years of manufacturing experience and trade testing.

tradelitealuminum.ca

I tried buying a flat bed in March, but like like every other piece of equipment. there was a shortage and 18 week wait times. So I found a local fabricator and we designed a bed that fit my needs and then he built it in 4 days. It’s a super simple design which I chose to save weight. The frame is all 2x2 steel and the top sheets are aluminum. It ended up weighing in at 450 lbs, so not much more than my stock bed. The fabricator who built it was Anthony and he owns Dirt Fab Designs in Phoenix. He was awesome to work with and his turn around time is as good as it gets. I highly recommend him if you need any fab work done. So far I have 15k miles on the bed mostly with camper on including a trip up the Alcan to AK and the bed is rock solid so far.

https://m.facebook.com/Dirt-Fab-Designs-100651765491856/?tsid=0.1322376599848677&source=result

 

[hurc85]

Forgot to add the cost for the flat bed was approx $4.1k plus the boxes and paint so probably all in about $4.5k. That’s a bit more than some of the budget beds like cm or aluma, but I got the dimensions and specs I wanted and the quality is far better. The price is also a far cry from the sums that norweld or AT want for their beds. I realize my bed is much simpler than most “overland” beds, but it met my goal of supporting my camper and minimizing weight. I don’t mean to disparage Norweld or AT, they both make great products, but I think sometimes we get caught up with what we think we need instead of what we truly need and I wanted to offer an alternative to the route that most folks go.

 

[jgallo1]

Forgot to add the cost for the flat bed was approx $4.1k plus the boxes and paint so probably all in about $4.5k. That’s a bit more than some of the budget beds like cm or aluma, but I got the dimensions and specs I wanted and the quality is far better. The price is also a far cry from the sums that norweld or AT want for their beds. I realize my bed is much simpler than most “overland” beds, but it met my goal of supporting my camper and minimizing weight. I don’t mean to disparage Norweld or AT, they both make great products, but I think sometimes we get caught up with what we think we need instead of what we truly need and I wanted to offer an alternative to the route that most folks go.

I completely understand what your saying. That's why I wanted to ask if anyone had a good experience with domestic suppliers.
I love the Norweld, XP, Mits stuff, I think it looks great.
Like you, I just want a simple tray with fold down sides that is a step above your typical diamond plate flatbed, but also, does not cost 15-20k and have a 6 month lead time.

 

[hurc85]

The only American tray manufacturer I found that makes a custom aluminum bed for a decent price is Alumaline. I talked with them before I had my bed built and they were pretty easy to work with, but they were swamped and had a 12-14 week lead time. That was back in March so maybe the wait time has come down? They quoted me right around $6.7K plus installation for a fairly simple aluminum bed with boxes. They make beds for a lot of folks picking up bundutec campers and when I reached out to people and asked about the quality, no
one had any complaints.

*** I just read Cbattles thread about Alumaline, wow, sounds like they’ve gone downhill. The customers I talked with had their beds for a year or two so it was old gouge. If you’re considering an Alumaline bed read cbattles thread first. Link is a couple post below.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

The only American tray manufacturer I found that makes a custom aluminum bed for a decent price is Alumaline. I talked with them before I had my bed built and they were pretty easy to work with, but they were swamped and had a 12-14 week lead time. That was back in March so maybe the wait time has come down? They quoted me right around $6.7K plus installation for a fairly simple aluminum bed with boxes. They make beds for a lot of folks picking up bundutec campers and when I reached out to people and asked about the quality, no
one had any complaints.

Did you have Alumline build your bed? Not really clear from your post. I've seen reports everything from good to bad to terrible on them. Seems recently, the actual bed welding is good, customer service is terrible and mounting and post build modifications are terrible. Search this forum for Alumline and sort by recent. People getting beds/boxes with wrong measurements without final approval by the customer. One particularly hacked install job. There's a shell in the for sale section that was built to the wrong specs. Enough to scare me away. I had Scott build me a 12 foot platform tray. It is stout. I sold a big rig to a farmer up in Idaho and all he installs is Scott beds. I'll be modifying and adding boxes on my own based on my needs. I'll load a few pics when I get a minute. I had my upfitter do a spring mount setup.

 

[hurc85]

Did you have Alumline build your bed? Not really clear from your post. I've seen reports everything from good to bad to terrible on them. Seems recently, the actual bed welding is good, customer service is terrible and mounting and post build modifications are terrible. Search this forum for Alumline and sort by recent. People getting beds/boxes with wrong measurements without final approval by the customer. One particularly hacked install job. There's a shell in the for sale section that was built to the wrong specs. Enough to scare me away. I had Scott build me a 12 foot platform tray. It is stout. I sold a big rig to a farmer up in Idaho and all he installs is Scott beds. I'll be modifying and adding boxes on my own based on my needs. I'll load a few pics when I get a minute. I had my upfitter do a spring mount setup.

Yeah I can see how my wording was confusing. No, I did not end up going with alumaline because of the long lead time. If you look a couple posts up you’ll see the bed I had built by a local shop.
I did talk with alumaline a fair amount and I talked with a few people who had beds built by them. The reviews I got from people were good, but stuff can change. Just passing on info for folks as they search through trying figure out which direction to go.

 

[quachau]

take a look at EBY, the webpage is mostly for farm equipment, last year when I spoke with them on the phone they would build a custom bed

https://www.ebyohio.com/

 

[jgallo1]

I reached out to Alumline they are supposedly building me a quote. It's been a week and I have not received it. I will call and remind them this week.

 

[1000arms]

I reached out to Alumline they are supposedly building me a quote. It's been a week and I have not received it. I will call and remind them this week.

You might want to read about @cbattles difficulties with Alumline:

2000 Super Duty CC SB 7.3: Alum-line flatbed and installation

About a year and a half ago, I bought my 2000 F-250 crew cab short bed 7.3 from an owner in Arizona where it had spent the past 19 years, flew into Phoenix and drove it back to Ohio. It was a little tired, so since then I've been chipping away at a list of upgrades, fixes, and maintenance: -...

expeditionportal.com

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Just got "Troy" back with his new shiny pants on. 12 foot Scott/Tafco platform. I like straight basic lines and didn't want a big skirt. Maximum flexibility in whatever final box setup I use, perfect rectangle, no 5th wheel.





After calling every, and I mean every flatbed builder I could find, none of them were anywhere less than 5 months out. I was lucky when I called my upfitter, they mentioned they had a large order of 8 of these platforms on order and could probably piggyback an extra if I wanted it. All I beams are 12" on center, which was a special order thing. Also the headache rack is removable. Long sills are I beams, way stronger than C channel but presented some minor challenges for the spring mount setup. I had the spring perches fabbed, sourced the 1/2" rubber skirt board that lays between the frame and the I beam sills, and sourced the UHMWPE that lines the C channel "side to side limiters". Solid mount in back, double springs in the middle and quad springs in the front.



Yep exhaust is in the cards lol.. Happy as a clam so far. Welds are clean. It's sturdy and perfectly straight. The only advice I really think is important is to really specify how it's mounted. Be engaged and be clear, good practice for all custom fab stuff. Check on the process. Tell them when something isn't what you wanted. Listen to them and see if their way is better. If they refuse to clearly explain how it will be mounted or if they don't want to hear about how you want it mounted, go somewhere else. I was lucky that @Brad_UT recommended Tall Boy Truck Equipment here locally. They were awesome.

Just designing my hitch/bumper now. Then it's off to the Orange Cliffs for a end of summer shakedown run.

 

[givemethewillys]

Just got "Troy" back with his new shiny pants on. 12 foot Scott/Tafco platform. I like straight basic lines and didn't want a big skirt. Maximum flexibility in whatever final box setup I use, perfect rectangle, no 5th wheel.

View attachment 678552

View attachment 678553

After calling every, and I mean every flatbed builder I could find, none of them were anywhere less than 5 months out. I was lucky when I called my upfitter, they mentioned they had a large order of 8 of these platforms on order and could probably piggyback an extra if I wanted it. All I beams are 12" on center, which was a special order thing. Also the headache rack is removable. Long sills are I beams, way stronger than C channel but presented some minor challenges for the spring mount setup. I had the spring perches fabbed, sourced the 1/2" rubber skirt board that lays between the frame and the I beam sills, and sourced the UHMWPE that lines the C channel "side to side limiters". Solid mount in back, double springs in the middle and quad springs in the front.

View attachment 678554

Yep exhaust is in the cards lol.. Happy as a clam so far. Welds are clean. It's sturdy and perfectly straight. The only advice I really think is important is to really specify how it's mounted. Be engaged and be clear, good practice for all custom fab stuff. Check on the process. Tell them when something isn't what you wanted. Listen to them and see if their way is better. If they refuse to clearly explain how it will be mounted or if they don't want to hear about how you want it mounted, go somewhere else. I was lucky that @Brad_UT recommended Tall Boy Truck Equipment here locally. They were awesome.

Just designing my hitch/bumper now. Then it's off to the Orange Cliffs for a end of summer shakedown run.

Hoooooly heck that thing is ************ (super cool neato).... build thread anywhere?

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Hoooooly heck that thing is ************ (super cool neato).... build thread anywhere?

Thanks! I keep saying "soon" and then hijacking threads instead ?. But yeah I'll do a thread soon.

 

[FAW3]

I'll throw this out just as a reference point for folks. This might guide you as you choose a platform and camper as far as weight. Proper weight planning should be the foundation of your build.

This is a 2005 RAM 3500 short bed with Hillsborough aluminum flat bed and aluminum storage boxes, an FWC Hawk slide in unit, steel Buckstop front bumper and winch, two rear steel swingouts - with spare tire/wheel and an aluminum storage box.

Loaded with two people, a dog, clothes, food, 35 qt ice chest, full water tank of 20 gallons plus 10 more in two 5 gallon Scepter cans, half a tank of fuel, tools, recovery gear. In other words crap stuffed in pretty good for real world travel and camping.

The FWC Hawk is well optioned and weighs 1500#

The scaled weight loaded as detailed above: 10700#.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

I'll throw this out just as a reference point for folks. This might guide you as you choose a platform and camper as far as weight. Proper weight planning should be the foundation of your build.

This is a 2005 RAM 3500 short bed with Hillsborough aluminum flat bed and storage boxes with a FWC Hawk slide in unit.
View attachment 679791
Loaded with two people, a dog, clothes, food, ice chest, full water tank of 20 gallons plus 10 more in two 5 gallon Scepter cans, half a tank of fuel, tools, recovery gear. In other words crap stuffed in pretty good for real world travel and camping.

The FWC Hawk is well optioned and weighs 1500#

The scaled weight loaded as detailed above: 10700#.

Great rig! Did Hillsboro build your tapered under-bed boxes or did somebody else?