C20 Flatbed

[Willpower]

Does any body have any pictures or advice on building a flat bed for my 1970 C20? I am going for the ranch truck look, since I live on a ranch. I just wanted to see what anyone else had going in this direction.

[slomotion]

Hi Will, welcome to the board!
I don't know if you're wanting the look, or if you intend to use the truck as a flatbed. Regardless of which way you go, you need to set up some sills. These are simply timbers that fasten to the truck frame that give you a platform for the cross members. These sills are held to the frame with four (two each side) clamps. The clamps are a couple pieces of 1/4" flat stock with holes in the ends long enough to go across the top of the sill, and across the bottom of the frame with two long rods (5/8") threaded on the ends.
Your sills don't have to be oak, but they should be hardwood (southern yellow pine?) They could be painted or finished bright.
The two critical points on these pieces are: they have to be identical, and the angle in relation to the frame should give you a straight visual line from the front of the truck. If the sills are too low in the front you'll have an illusion of the truck being "broken" in the middle. Too high in front and the appearance will be a "Bent up" look.
There's much more to the deck, but this is where you need to start.
Good luck!

[flashed]

Slomotion ,I love your truck .Where did you get the bed and what a size is it ?

[slomotion]

Thank you.
The ribbed surround is factory, but I had to rebuild all of the rest of it. I'll measure it tomorrow (you'd think I'd remember....)

[OSM 70 C20]

Nice!!!

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by flashed

Where did you get the bed and what a size is it ?

As I mentioned, the bed surround is a factory item. When I got the truck most of the wood was soft, and the deck was buckled, so the deeper I got, the more convinced I was to just rebuild the whole thing. Overall, the deck measures 8'6"X 6'8".

Thank you, OSM.

[flashed]

This is one of my very favorite trucks on this site ,thanks for the bed info .My 1 ton 72 is pretty nice except for the homebuilt steel flatbed ,its too wide and just ugly .If I find a bed like yours one day mine will be scrapped .

[tlcrz1972]

Here is my tonner that I build in on in my spare time.

I made the bed extra low for ease of loading stuff by hand, and I am making it a tilt bed to have a small dump truck for moving dirt and rocks

[Willpower]

Thank you slomotion. That's very helpful, just the right direction.. However my dad and his friend decided to go hot rodding in my build and didn't turn the electric fans on so they definantly broke something. Anyway I haven't done damage control yet but my original 350 might be blown and I'm back at square one..
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[slomotion]

Flashed, thank you for the kind words! I don't know what your intentions are for your truck, but you could build a really cool flat bed using either two different species of wood, or even the same species with some staining of the outer surround pieces. I have thought of building another deck with an oak surface, and eight quarter (2" thick) X4" mahogany surround. Taking these decks off is as simple as taking off the clamps, and un-plugging the wiring harness. The hardest part (for me) is jacking up the deck and driving the truck out from underneath it. If I built the second deck it would probably take a couple-three hours to change them out. One for work, the other for show/cruises. Not something I'd want to do every weekend, but very do-able, and each deck would bring it's own personality to the truck, very much like a set of wheels can totally change the look of a ride. The frame boxes are bolted to the sills, so they would stay with the current deck. This would allow some pretty creative sills and deck work on the "show" deck.

Willpower, you're welcome! Sorry to hear of your setback. Have you determined anything yet?

[Willpower]

Slomotion, Yes 350s are hardy motors thank God, and she will live. Also good thing I just replaced the radiator with a heavier than stock duty one, new water pump, thermostat and hoses or else I might have really been stuck. But all is well. I am going to change my fluids and move on. If he had blown it up though I was thinking about a 12 valve Cummins with nv4500 tranny but I'm glad I don't have to go that route this time. I will update when I get started on my bed. Thanks

[In The Ten Ring]

This post makes me want a C30!

[flashed]

I love my C30 ,cant wait to get it to daily driver status .

[oklalawnboy]

Originally Posted by in the ten ring

this post makes me want a c30!

x2