OT- 'Hot Shot' truck bed - what's the point?

GregSY · Feb 23, 2015

Here is a fairly common sight... a dually that has had its perfectly good bed junked in favor of a 'fabricated' bed. These are usually seen on 'hot shot' trucks, at least in these parts.

So....why would a presumably college educated professional truck driver (?) spend a lot of money to do this? The stock truck bed seems a lot more useful in that you could at least haul various items in it, no trailer needed. The fabbed bed, on the other hand, is nearly useless. Much of the space is wasted or forsaken, and with its slick metal diamond plate surface you'd better really tie down whatever you're hauling or it will slide out. And this bed has absolutely no provisions for tie downs. Admittedly it offers a tad bit more visibility when backing up, I suppose.

My guess is this modification is largely ego-based and has no practical benefit. Am I missing something?

emcmike · Feb 23, 2015

Some cargo enclosed trailers don't have high goosenecks , so they call them paydirt , when your the only guy in town.

Sunnymead13 · Feb 23, 2015

All hat, no cattle........

jdleach · Feb 23, 2015

Doesn't need a bed anymore, its all going go onto the trailer.

Aflatoxin · Feb 23, 2015

If you tow a gooseneck or a big 5th wheel often, the stock sheetmetal bed will be toast in a couple of months. The pringle-shaped tailgate and the wasted bed are lost soon enough, may as well not buy them with the truck, or at least sell them as soon as it leaves the lot and buy something that will last until the rig is paid for.

One of our guys got stuck out in the desert trying to turn around with a 30 foot 5th wheel, and tore an entire bedside off a truck with only 20 k miles on it (F350 Dually crew cab 4x4) With a bed like shown in the picture, he could have jacked it up and just driven out from under it.

Whats more, the welders need the work, and they usually do very nice work

rbjscott · Feb 23, 2015

Those beds have a lot of functions . Tying heavy loads down for one. The built in headache rack is a life savior.

paulz · Feb 23, 2015

Chassis cab truck, no bed included. And you can get cab to rear axle dimensions that the trucks with boxes don't come with.
IIRC the cab and chassis rear ends had a narrower rear track width than a dually pickup had.

Every new F-350 we've ever bought for a wrecker was ordered as a chassis cab and then shipped off to the wrecker dealership to get the wrecker backend put on.

Tom Doudna · Feb 23, 2015

Aflatoxin said:
If you tow a gooseneck or a big 5th wheel often, the stock sheetmetal bed will be toast in a couple of months...................................

That is exactly right. The stock beds get destroyed in pretty short order. I know a guy who runs some trucks in that service and has beds similar to that. He removes the stock bed when the truck is new and installs that style bed on them. When he takes the trucks out of service, he moves the slick bed to the next new truck and puts the original stock bed back on the one he is retiring. It makes the resale quite a bit better when they have a nice bed on them even though they are high mileage.

Mud · Feb 23, 2015

Those beds are not installed on pickups. They are mounted on bare cab/chassis which have different framerails than pickups do, and often higher GCWs. The hauler can buy a flatbed, or one of these with built in toolboxes, or just do without and hang a pair of mudflaps on he frame.

TGTool · Feb 23, 2015

Can you buy the truck without a bed? Obviously the motorhome folks buy chassis for subsequent mods but I don't know if you can go into any dealer and get them to get what you want. If obtained that way is should shave a few bucks off that can go to the weldor.

Years ago in one place I worked they told stories of a previous manager who was a notorious cheapskate. He'd bargain hard on every car. And to get down a little more he'd get them to order one without the back seat. He'd make a stink at restaurants about something that wasn't right and demand money off the bill. He was a regular embarrassment to his business associates and sounds like a real piece of work.

<edit - slow typist>

swatkins · Feb 23, 2015

One of the main reasons is clearance.. On a regular one ton dully you are constantly in danger of "rubbing off the rails".. There is minimal clearance between the trailer and the tops of the bed rails. You drive over a steep train crossing or into a tight gas station driveway, on an incline, and you destroy the bed and bend up the trailer...

Mud these beds are installed on pickups all the time... Nothing special about them....

true temper · Feb 23, 2015

A lot of the real hot shot don't have a bed at all, saves weight. Andy's truck with a sleeper mounted

Oldwrench · Feb 23, 2015

TGTool said:
...Years ago in one place I worked they told stories of a previous manager who was a notorious cheapskate. He'd bargain hard on every car. And to get down a little more he'd get them to order one without the back seat. He'd make a stink at restaurants about something that wasn't right and demand money off the bill. He was a regular embarrassment to his business associates and sounds like a real piece of work.

I know that guy, I worked for him. And his brother.

Big B · Feb 23, 2015

I haul a 34" Montana 5th wheel with a GMC 2500HD Duramax. You need to be pretty careful of what you are doing to not screw something up but it is possible. The flatbed like the one in the OP would make it a non issue. After about 9 years of hauling it the box is still like new but the tailgate is a slight bit bent. Oops.

Big B

gbent · Feb 23, 2015

The cost of the collision part of my insurance would be about 1/2 if my trucks had flatbeds.

bsg · Feb 24, 2015

TGTool said:
Can you buy the truck without a bed? Obviously the motorhome folks buy chassis for subsequent mods but I don't know if you can go into any dealer and get them to get what you want. If obtained that way is should shave a few bucks off that can go to the weldor.

Years ago in one place I worked they told stories of a previous manager who was a notorious cheapskate. He'd bargain hard on every car. And to get down a little more he'd get them to order one without the back seat. He'd make a stink at restaurants about something that wasn't right and demand money off the bill. He was a regular embarrassment to his business associates and sounds like a real piece of work.

<edit - slow typist>

Yes you can buy a cab and chassis truck.
The installer of the bed becomes the manufacturer of the truck and then get's the title.
I have done this on a 2000 Chevy cab and chassis.

I learned the hard way what to do to get the title, wasn't easy getting the info, had to find a good SOS office to help me out.

The chassis width is different than a pickup and the frame rails are straight and not tapered like a pickup, sourcing a hitch at the time was impossible, ended up making my own.

Kevin

lazz · Feb 24, 2015

I build something like that once.
My reasoning was I got a super deal on the truck... the bed was damaged. The replacement cost for a tailgate and taillights was greater than what I paid for the complete truck. A couple sheets of 1/8 diamond plate from my hoard and a flat bed Ford Ranger was born. I drove it for 200k miles then sold it for double what I paid 12 years before.

GregSY · Feb 24, 2015

Thanks guys.

I'm aware of cab/chassis truck but you see many regular dually's converted as well. It's pretty common to drive down a major road and see a brand new, or slightly used, OEM truck bed for sale.

As for the one comment that the aftermarket bed can haul a lot more...as I said there is NO way to tie anything down to that example I showed. I sat in traffic for several minutes looking at it and there are no provision for tie downs and no way to hook a strap on any of the edges. At least for that version, the bed area of the truck is largely useless.

rbdjr59 · Feb 24, 2015

For my crew trucks I buy cab and chassis that the dealer sends over to a truck body shop and they install the bed. I run F-450 crew cabs with an 11-ft. bed. It's way easier to work out of, load palletized material on, haul goosenecks, and other materials. The one you showed is a special design for hauling goosenecks. You don't have to deal with the tailgate and the ball is recessed so it doesn't interfere with loads. Most beds have rails on the sides for tie down. If all you do is haul a trailer you don't need tie downs, so a lot of the design is for looks. Welders like to build custom beds for their equipment and to show off their skills. My first flatbed that I bought I had a custom bed built for it,$7,500.00. It is now on it's third truck. Flatbeds are for work.

WILLEO6709 · Feb 24, 2015

in the pic you can put another 4' x 4' x 4' container on the truck bed in addition to the trailer and still pick it on and off with a forklift Plus its easier to tie down, has better lights to hook/ unhook with, and a whole lot tougher.... but it comes down to personal preferance

OT- 'Hot Shot' truck bed - what's the point?

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