More truck bed pics

[HMW]

Got to work on it a little more

BWS29128 The floor is 3/16" diamond plate with the floor joists set 12" apart, seems pretty stable in between the joists. The floor joists are 3" channel and the main channel is 4". Both are close to 1/4" thick [.247" and .258" actually]. The idea came from my wife needing to add a truck to her pool and property maint, business. The bed of the 2008 super duty is to high for her to reach the side boxes, so I thought about making a flat bed to lower the boxes. Checked on prices of some flat beds, and like you, about fell out. And really none I found were exactly like we wanted. So far in aluminum we have$1300.00, [prices for beds were $2500-$4500] Lights were about $80 not including wire, loom , clamps etc. The lights came from NAPA and are "trucklite" brand, shock mount lights. They are excellant lights, They have nice plugs on the back side and are mounted in rubber. You have to buy the light, grommet and pigtail seperate but I only have $55 in all the lights, $30 in the junction box. You can actually submerge these lights and they will still work.

[HMW]

Darmik

They can't wait to use it. The bins came yesterday so we had to set them on to see what they would like. I welded on the fuel filler neck mount that I made. Still need to file the edge of the bracket. My 17 yr old son started the wiring and it looks nice. All in loom and clamped up. All heat shrink connectors and everything runs to a junction box on the frame. From the box there will be a pigtail that plugs into the factory plug. So to remove the body all it will be is 8 bolts and 1 plug.
first 2 pics are the filler neck bracket 3rd pic is some wiring, 4th is my son hooking up the rear lights, and the last pic is with the bins setting on it still on the lift
Good pay up there but I'm not a welder by trade. I'm a mechanic [actually shop foreman now] but have always worked on hydraulic, aerial, and construction equipment, Which means lots of repairs and fabrication[welding]. Alot of road work. I have a small welding business on the side, sorta like a hobby that pays for itself. This is the first big thing I've made out of all aluminum. We only make alum, trailer ramps at work for the equipment trailers, everything else is steel. Mechanics here are at $31.88 + $1.00 shift. So pay is similar looks like.

Thanks everybody for the comments and compliments, I've picked up lots form here.

[fun4now]

WOW!!! that looks great.

[dabar39]

I'm impressed

HMW, Really nice professional looking job you have done. I like the neat clean look to it, makes it look as if it is factory built. I noticed the attention to details, such as the neat wiring and the notch for the jack handle. Awesome job. Dave

[HMW]

Thanks fun4now and Dabar I've seen some pretty cool stuff you guys have made

I'm a freak when when it comes to wiring!!!! I wire up stuff so you never have to touch it again and "if" you do, its workable, Like juction boxes, colored coded wires and weather pac connectors. The greatest thing I like is heat shrink butt connectors, you crimp them like a regular butt connector then use a heat gun to melt the heat shrink thats already on them. They work very well, water proof, will not pull apart and last for years. I've worked on some real junk before, for example. We had some bucket trucks that were made by Asplundh [when they used to build bucket trucks] and all the wire for the aerial device was "RED". Like 25 wires all red. What a stupid way to build something.
The notch is for the factory spare tire crank tube. Although I'm changing the bed, I still wanted it as factory as i could make it. Thats the reason for the original rear bumper and all.
I've got another sheet of diamond plate coming today to use for the mud flap brackets and a few other things. So far everything is aluminum
I'll keep up with pics as we get closer to being done.