My dually flatbed project

[rfuerst911sc]

Hey guys , so a few years ago my dually drivers side fender was damaged via the John Deere dealership . GM stopped making bedsides for my 2001 so I patched it up to make it look better than the gaping hole . JD gave me a nice check

I found a steel flatbed for a price that couldn't be passed up . Built by county workers it's a 5/16 thick steel bed top plate . Nicely welded angle iron on both sides and front . The cross beams are 4 " tall aluminum . I have been cleaning it up and decided to paint it white . Added the toolbox/50 gallon fuel tank . Welded up a front open storage so some stuff can go between it and the toolbox/tank combo . New LED lights at the back still have to come up with a way to mount the side lights .

It's not dually width but when I bought it I already had visions of a quasi hot shot style . So fenders will be installed to cover the tires . Stainless steel eyelets ( 8 ) have been added for tieing stuff down . The bed area is 6x6 . Fuel tank is simple gravity feed with a shutoff valve . I just installed it a little over a week ago . I still have to cut in the gooseneck hitch . So what do you guys think of her ?

[Bugsinrugs]

Looks great!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Looks great and super functional! Do you have to cover the tires, or could you just hang a mudflap like a semi truck?

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Looks great!

Hey thank you . Not bad for 25 years old.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Looks great and super functional! Do you have to cover the tires, or could you just hang a mudflap like a semi truck?

Thank you . Georgia doesn't have a law saying the tires have to be covered so yes I could just do semi mud flaps. But to me that wouldn't look right . Plus I pull our 5th wheel with this truck so I don't want to have issues in other states . This is the type of the fenders I will install .

https://share.google/48Rco9yiGWkmt9bF2

[Scott Douglas]

That's cool.
Reminds me of my brother's truck. He bought a landscaper's truck with a GMC van cab frontend. It had a dovetail w/loading ramp gate that he cut off. He's been slowly getting it up and running with new sides and tail lights. He doesn't share pictures with me very often and I can't seem to find the last one he sent or I'd show you. He put his polished Alcoa's on it and fabbed some aluminum diamond plate panels for the tail lights to mount in on the back.
His next step is to get the rear springs replaced as the 1-1/2 ton springs are too stiff for being practical around town. With all the weight he cut off it, it only needs 3/4 ton springs.

[look 171]

Thqt's a 7' bed, total?

Nice not having to climb over the bed side jsut to reach for a couple items.

[rfuerst911sc]

The bed overall is 8 ' 6 " long but from the fuel tank to end of bed is 6 ' .

[billybek]

Maybe some under bed tool boxes?
Does look good as it is.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by billybek

Maybe some under bed tool boxes?
Does look good as it is.

Thanks . I think the toolbox on the auxiliary tank is enough storage capacity for my needs . And I kind of like the raw open look of the exposed frame . It's a open canvas that I am slowly getting it to my vision of what I want .

[onewhippedpuppy]

So does your aux fuel tank just gravity feed to your main fuel tank?

[A930Rocket]

I like it and the fenders you picked out. Are you going with poly, aluminum, steel fenders? I suppose poly might be best and easily replaced.

Does the gooseneck hitch mount to the top of the frame?

For me, I’d probably ditch the auxiliary fuel tank with tool box and mount under bed boxes for storage. This would give a nice open area for the bed.

[JackDidley]

Looks good. Useful, for sure. There has been several times that I could have used a flat bed instead of a standard pickup bed.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

So does your aux fuel tank just gravity feed to your main fuel tank?

To be clear I haven't used it yet . But yes it gravity feeds into the factory tank . The auxiliary tank has a simple ball valve on the drivers side . From that valve is a rubber 3/8 hose that goes thru the steel bed top and down to the main tank filler neck . I purchased a " kit " made specifically for this . The main piece of the kit is a tee that goes into the main tank filler neck . At the top of the tee is a welded nut .

A special fitting screws into that nut , it has a rollover safety ball inside of it to stop flow if the truck rolls over , it also supposedly will float up if the filler neck gets full to stop overflow . It also has an elbow at the top of the fitting that the rubber hose slips over . So in theory when the driver decides fuel is needed you open the valve . The vented auxiliary tank gravity feeds into the main tanks filler neck and into the main tank .

Unknowns: I don't know the feed flow rate vs the trucks consumption . Obviously a 50 gallon tank feeding into a 32 gallon tank has a potential for overflow . So I will have to experiment a little bit to understand when to open the valve and when to close it . Example- when towing our 5th wheel camper I get 12 - 13 mpg . So do I open the valve when main tank is at half ? Or do I wait until it's a quarter ? That kind of thing .

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

I like it and the fenders you picked out. Are you going with poly, aluminum, steel fenders? I suppose poly might be best and easily replaced.

Does the gooseneck hitch mount to the top of the frame?

For me, I’d probably ditch the auxiliary fuel tank with tool box and mount under bed boxes for storage. This would give a nice open area for the bed.

I haven't made up my mind on what material for the fenders . The rollover gooseneck hitch bolts to steel framework that is welded to the truck frame . So I have to cut a square hole in the steel top to lower the top plate of the hitch onto the framework . I may also have to shim that plate to have good trailer level when towing . This bed is heavier than the original so there is more suspension squat when the trailer is connected . Cutting the hole is next on my list to do .

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

To be clear I haven't used it yet . But yes it gravity feeds into the factory tank . The auxiliary tank has a simple ball valve on the drivers side . From that valve is a rubber 3/8 hose that goes thru the steel bed top and down to the main tank filler neck . I purchased a " kit " made specifically for this . The main piece of the kit is a tee that goes into the main tank filler neck . At the top of the tee is a welded nut .

A special fitting screws into that nut , it has a rollover safety ball inside of it to stop flow if the truck rolls over , it also supposedly will float up if the filler neck gets full to stop overflow . It also has an elbow at the top of the fitting that the rubber hose slips over . So in theory when the driver decides fuel is needed you open the valve . The vented auxiliary tank gravity feeds into the main tanks filler neck and into the main tank .

Unknowns: I don't know the feed flow rate vs the trucks consumption . Obviously a 50 gallon tank feeding into a 32 gallon tank has a potential for overflow . So I will have to experiment a little bit to understand when to open the valve and when to close it . Example- when towing our 5th wheel camper I get 12 - 13 mpg . So do I open the valve when main tank is at half ? Or do I wait until it's a quarter ? That kind of thing .

That’s pretty cool, I like the idea. Lots of farm trucks around here have big aux tanks but they normally have a hand pump so they can refuel farm equipment.

[rfuerst911sc]

Per Mr Google a 3/8 ID hose can flow 1-3 gallons a minute . Hose length and height of gravity tank will affect that rate . So when the auxiliary tank is full it will probably flow 2-3 gallons a minute . As it empties closer to 1 gallon per minute . We shall see 👀

[onewhippedpuppy]

With the check valve I can see where it would stop the flow when the standard tank is full, the concept makes total sense. I guess you’ll know if it starts pissing fuel from the filler cap.

[greglepore]

Nice. My bed is slowly going (its an 04) and when it does I'll likely do something similar as it makes trailering so much easier. As I get older climbing in and out over the bed sides to deal with the gooseneck latch and chains is less appealing. I know that self latching hitches exist but still gotta do the safeties.
Only downside is that I haul roundbales, so I'd have to set up removable stakesides for that.

[Zeke]

I have to be the only one here that thinks that doesn't look as good as a regular bed. Maybe it's the lack of a cowboy headache rack. I mean if you're gonna go full on Texas Truck, you gotta have a cool headache rack. Stake sides make good sense too. Not hard to cut in stake pockets.

PS. with a detachable rear hoop (again, stake pockets), they make a great lumber rack for carrying long stock. I see idiots with ladders or lumber tied down to the roof edge every day, but then again, this is SoCal, just one step ahead of FL for stupidity. With only 6 feet of useable cargo space that would seem like a necessity. What do I know? I think you have a trailer for that?