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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Welding Bed Coming Along...
- - By Caleb C. (**) Date 02-26-2011 18:49
Thought I'd post a few pics of the bed I've been working on. I'm pretty happy so far but still have a lot to do but at least it is drivable now. I need to recess the rear lights when I get the appropriate sized pipe, and also the license plate. I also need to fab up a few boxes for the rear. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to cut lead wells or use spools or what. I'm going to mount my new machine this next week so I'll just have to see how much room I have to work with. I was thinking if I don't use wells I might try to integrate some kind of slide out drawers up front. Anybody know of a source for anything like that or just heavy-duty drawer slides that I could make some shallow drawers with? I still have a few welds and a lot of grinding to do but this gives you a idea of what the basic bed is. And feel free to critique it if you see anything additional it needs to be more user friendly. Just remember it's not finished yet!

Caleb







Parent - By Iron Head 49 (***) Date 02-26-2011 18:56
I really like what you've done for O/A bottle storage!
Have you given any thought to Line X instead of painting, or powder coat?
Parent - By texwelder (***) Date 02-26-2011 19:26
Lookin good fella, keep up the good work are you gonna sink the machine down or does it sit flat on that deck the last one i built it sit flat on the deck, so i could put either machine of mine on it, and because of my vantage and the battery access panel
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 02-27-2011 13:36
Looking good Caleb! Glad you posted pics, like checking out the styles of the beds that are being out there to get ideas for mine. As far as line-x or powder up here line-x is stupid high compared to powder coating. Must depend on the area. Don't think neither will take heat real well, especially if your torching around them. With the line-x and the powder getting a true to match color of your truck the materials(powder/line-x tint) is going to be expensive. The line-x joint near me said they have to clean the lines of whatever color is in it before using your color, shoot it, then clean the lines of your color before going back to whatever is their regular color. All of this I was told was paid for by me and the prices were nutty as squirrel poop.

On my future bed I've thought about (a) automotive paint, same color as truck or (b) an industrial enamel tinted to match the truck. There is a place in Nashville called Warren paint, they sell this stuff called an alkyd enamel, stuff dries super fast and is very durable. A friend of mine put me onto this stuff for painting a steel plate on a sidewalk in downtown Nashville. That was last summer and stuff is still as good as the day we put it on there. Lots of foot traffic. This paint just uses Naptha to thin it out and is priced well, around $25/gallon. Something like this is what I'm gonna use as it will fit my budget, be easy to touch up or even repaint if need be. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more pics as you move forward.

Shawn
Parent - - By texwelder (***) Date 02-28-2011 20:27
Hey man I did want to ask you where you got the idea for the rear corners on your bed, it looks alot like my old welding bed.
Attachment: IMG_2718.JPG (753k)
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-01-2011 01:54
Texwelder, I don't really know. I've seen quite a few beds with the corners chopped like that so I thought I'd go for it. I don't like 90's for corners and I'm personally not crazy about the rounded ones either...so Voila! Thats what I ended up with! Thats a slick looking setup you have there for sure.
Parent - By texwelder (***) Date 03-01-2011 15:04
Well that set up got sold, still got the tools and machine starting my new bed now on an 2006 chevy reg cab 4x4, just don,t have alot of time right now.
Parent - - By texwelder (***) Date 03-08-2011 15:47
I sdeen you said you painted your bed, if so post some pics I'd like to see what she looks like from your pictures I can tell you take pride in what you do
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-08-2011 19:46
Thanks Texwelder I appreciate it. I'm going to have to repaint it as I still have a lot of things to do to the bed. But I wanted to at least get a little paint on it before it started to rust. I figured it would make the finish easier to keep up down the road if the rust didn't get established.

Caleb







Parent - By bigrod (**) Date 03-09-2011 01:59
:cool: looking good sir!
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 03-11-2011 16:51 Edited 03-11-2011 16:54
Looking good Caleb! You get those bags on yet? I like the pic of the truck at night with all the chicken lights! When I get my truck bed done it's probably gonna look like a rolling advertisement for Las Vegas!! LoL!!
- - By Caleb C. (**) Date 02-26-2011 19:44 Edited 02-26-2011 21:01
Yessir the machine will sit flat on the deck itself. I built the front of the bed 4 1/2" lower because I didn't want to recess just the machine for access reasons, and if I ever change machines as you mentioned you don't have to worry about it fitting a sump made for a particular machine. As for the finish, I'm not a big fan of Bedliner material for welding work as I would just melt it off the rear. And I'm not real particular about how nice the finish is seeing as it's going to get scratched all to hell anyways. I'm thinking I'll just shoot it myself with some basic white paint that matches the truck and go on. Thanks for the compliments gentlemen.

Caleb
Parent - - By Iron Head 49 (***) Date 02-26-2011 20:06
Oh I forgot about you pipe hands using that trough for welding pipe. Yeah I don't think bed liner will take much heat. LOL!
Parent - By Pickupman (***) Date 02-26-2011 20:43
Well I hate to bust yur bubble Caleb, but it looks pretty good.:-) Let us see it when you finish. It must feel pretty good to have that to point to as an example of your workmanship. By the way I like your taste in power units. Go Mopar!!
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 02-26-2011 21:49 Edited 02-26-2011 21:53
I don't even pipeline Iron Head, but it's amazing how useful that angle iron trough is when you get used to having it. It sucks using a rig without one IMO. I guess it makes me look like a pipeline "poser" lol, but it doesn't bother me because it works for what I need! And I wish I could use line-x or a similar product, but it just won't hold up. But even then, when you paint it you usually chip it up pretty fast. Never thought about powdercoating the bed as you mentioned. How would that hold up compared to paint?
Parent - By Smooth Operator (***) Date 02-26-2011 22:46
Caleb, Powdercoat is the coating of the future, wears 10x better than paint, only problem is size (because of oven size ) and touchup. Costs are about same as paint. About your leads I think w/cost of cable you need wells which you can LOCK!!!!! I have spools and have had cable jacked twice, always have to watch when on the road overnite.
Parent - - By Iron Head 49 (***) Date 02-26-2011 23:31
My only experience with powder coating is what came on my two PJ trailers. Not impressed at all!

I was quoted over $2,000.00 to powder cost this gooseneck adapter. I got it Line Xed for $1,100.00.







Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 02-26-2011 23:55
That line-x looks nice on there. I'm thinking i'll go with a good ol' fashioned paint job, it's cheap if I do it myself and I won't cry when it gets scraped up...
Parent - - By Iron Head 49 (***) Date 02-27-2011 00:03
I have a brother n law who is a retired body an fender man, when I built this flatbed for my F-550 he painted it. He used DP-40 primer. That stuff is tough as nails. Just a suggestion.



Parent - By rick harnish (***) Date 02-27-2011 00:46
Very nice bed!!
Parent - - By jrw159 (*****) Date 02-27-2011 01:25
Sharp corners and edges are not conducive to the longevity of a powder coat finish. For the best result, all sharp edges MUST be at a radius of at least a MINIMUM of 1/16" (1/8" is preferable).  You did well going with Line-X for this application.

Powder coat has its place and for certain applications can not be beat (IF done CORRECTLY).

jrw159

EDIT: I love the look of Line-X/Rhino line! I am thinking of having my next Cadillac covered in it. LOL
Parent - By DaveBoyer (*****) Date 02-27-2011 02:24
Do You remember spray on vinil tops? From 50' away at 50 MPH You could hardly tell the difference.
Parent - By hillbilly delux (***) Date 02-27-2011 14:25
I know a guy who had his truck completly rhino lined. Thing looks sharp when its clean. But eventually dust gets in the pores and has to be vigioursly scrubed to get clean again.
Parent - By JTMcC (***) Date 02-27-2011 16:32
Quote: And I wish I could use line-x or a similar product, but it just won't hold up.

Bed liner holds up better than anything else available on welding beds.
I've had it on the last several beds I've had and so have a lot of other guys.
If you apply it yourself, and buy the good boat deck material, it's as good as anything available right now regardless of the weather or location. Plus you can touch it up or recoat it whenever needed. Thicker is better.
No paint or powdercoat will survive as well when heavy stuff gets slammed on the back of the bed and it's always good to put some type of rubber mat on the bed where the heavy junk gets thrown.

JTMcC

I should add I only have the bed liner/boat deck material on the flat load bearing surface, I put real paint on the sides because I like shiny things.
- - By jp2welder (**) Date 02-28-2011 15:02
Nice looking bed, Caleb.

I built and painted a welding trailer a few years back.

After spraying the whole thing with primer, I used a black rubberized undercoat on the bottom. All of the wiring for my lights were already in place, and the rubberized undercoating helped to seal them in place and prevent them from getting scratched by sticks or whatever whenever I went through tall brush. (It might be hell to replace a broken wire later on, but that hasn't happened yet)

For the top, I painted it with this paint that they use on U.S. Naval ships. I got a gallon of it, and used a roller to put a nice, thick coat on it. I'm not sure if the Naval paint was super durable or if using a roller to apply it did the trick. It is a tough paint job, though!

http://joeswelding.biz/photos/P1000561.JPG
http://joeswelding.biz/photos/P1000563.JPG
http://joeswelding.biz/photos/P1000582.JPG

Off topic: I noticed your license plate. How close are you to East Texas (Longview)?
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 02-28-2011 17:02
Thanks Joe I appreciate it. I thought about rolling the paint on as well, could dang sure make it thick but I thought it might be hard to keep a nice uniform finish. Who knows I'm not much of a painter! Yours looks good though.

And I'm just south of Lubbock, preeeeetty far from East TX!
Parent - By 52lincoln (***) Date 02-28-2011 22:50
lol not to far.only about 9hrs or so
- - By pocket change (**) Date 03-01-2011 02:27
mine are rhino lined. ones been on for six years and no problem yet. I power wash mine then rub down with amor-all shines like a diamond. I dont fab up on my bed, but do alot of roll out on it though. The only recomendation I would give would be to remove the farm plates. buddy of mine ran them on his welding rig and paid a 1,000 dollar fine thanks to longview,tx. I was told by dps that legally you can only travel 75 miles from the address where it was registered. 150 miles on trailers. just a suggestion if you get away with it then roll on.
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-01-2011 03:04
Ouch. I've been worried about the farm tags now that this truck isn't exactly going to look like a "farm truck", thanks for the reminder.

Caleb
Parent - - By hollywood1176 (*) Date 03-11-2011 14:19
May be a dumb question but what is the bucket for that is in the top pick of the truck?
Parent - - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 03-11-2011 16:51
If your talking about the little galvanized bucket in the pic of the white Dodge with that wood stuff behind it, that would be a stub bucket. A place to throw all of your welding rod stubs, they don't much appreciate dropping the stubs in the ditch next to that brand new pipe. Besides that it's great for any job, makes clean up a breeze if all your trash is piled in a little bucket you can roll up with at the end of the day.
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-11-2011 17:11
Shawn, I put the bags on Wednesday evening. And you were right, they were a breeze to install! My install was a little different than yours, as it didn't require any drilling. Took me about a hour or so. It's amazing to me those little fittings the air line goes into will hold air without using ferrules or anything. But I am loving the bags so far, it's really nice to not be driving around on the overloads all the time! I also installed new shocks at the same time as the bags and between the 2 it really improved the "body roll" I was having.

Caleb
Parent - - By texwelder (***) Date 03-23-2011 23:31
Just wondering how your bed is coming along man, have you had time to any more to it
Parent - - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-24-2011 16:46
I actually haven't had a chance to do anymore. I did build a set of "bullhorn" lead hangers last week but since then all I have added to the bed is a few scratches! I'm hoping I'll have a little time this weekend where I can start building my tool boxes. Also still need to recess the rear lights, but now that the bed is operational i'm not quite as motivated as I was to get working on it!
Parent - - By texwelder (***) Date 03-24-2011 22:52
True, are you runnning it or do you have another rig truck
Parent - By Caleb C. (**) Date 03-25-2011 15:16
No it's the only welding truck I have, and welding isn't my primary business so I'm not even working it right at the moment. I'm using it for transportation now as my 2011 Duramax is in the shop getting a new engine at 14k :mad: They just don't make 'em like they used too!
Parent - By texwelder (***) Date 03-11-2011 23:48
That is actually a ford, sorry didnt mean any harm by saying that, but that is a 99 F-450, that is a truck i built about 4 yrs ago. But anyways the bucket theory, your right man they are the thing to have
Parent - By texwelder (***) Date 03-11-2011 23:45
Not a dumb question at all, that is actually my truck if your talking about the ford, and actually i have two small u-bolts inside the bucket to keep different rods and files and stuff seperate and standing up. The wood in the pic was a sorority house that actually had a-lot of structral steel in it. That was a gavy job, especially since that was when the oilfield had dropped of to nothing
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Welding Bed Coming Along...

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