No bed floor discussion

[SmokeShow]

I know trent is doing this and maybe others as well. There's a decent thread on CompD about it that I thought you all might want to read. After thinking about it, there may be some concern with running NO floor at all. I found it interesting to read. Maybe you will too?


No bed floor weight reduction

 

[TrentNell]

I know trent is doing this and maybe others as well. There's a decent thread on CompD about it that I thought you all might want to read. After thinking about it, there may be some concern with running NO floor at all. I found it interesting to read. Maybe you will too?


No bed floor weight reduction

cant speek for others Mitch , but mine will be open , might not even have a tail gate on it so for me the whole rear end lift thing i dont think will be an issue but untill i run the truck that is pure speculation ? it is a good place to shave weight though , 200-250 lbs ( min ) reduction for zero dollars is tough to beat IMOP .

 

[J Spruill]

cant speek for others Mitch , but mine will be open , might not even have a tail gate on it so for me the whole rear end lift thing i dont think will be an issue but untill i run the truck that is pure speculation ? it is a good place to shave weight though , 200-250 lbs ( min ) reduction for zero dollars is tough to beat IMOP .

im gonna be honest with you guys i dont think the open floor will cause any problem as that is what is in the duraflight. as far as your weight savings i think you are very optimistic.even with a full glass bed by the time supports were added a net savings of about 150 lbs was left...

 

[TrentNell]

im gonna be honest with you guys i dont think the open floor will cause any problem as that is what is in the duraflight. as far as your weight savings i think you are very optimistic.even with a full glass bed by the time supports were added a net savings of about 150 lbs was left...

the center section of bed, inner skins ,and front peice (basically the whole bed minus the very outer side skins)
weighed in at 250 lbs on my truck , which some extra weight was probable the spray in bed liner , so if i can mount both bed sides with 50 lbs of material ( square tubing ) my savings was 200 lbs , any less than 50 the weight savings goes up , cant say for all trucks but i have weighed every peice i have pulled off my truck and know the #'s are right in my case . And i am sure just outer skins weigh alot less then a full fiberglass bed .

 

[KEVINL]

Damn Trent I guess you plan on skipping 10's altogether:spit:

 

[TrentNell]

Damn Trent I guess you plan on skipping 10's altogether:spit:

Doubt it , but you never know hoping for low 10's but it is not an easy task , better man then me have tried and failed so ?

 

[LWATSON]

Trent, you should consider using aluminum square tubing for your mounting frame work, it ways 1/3 the weight of steel comparing like matirials.

 

[TrentNell]

Trent, you should consider using aluminum square tubing for your mounting frame work, it ways 1/3 the weight of steel comparing like matirials.

I really though about it , but i dont have the a welder to weld aluminum , and would have to "rivit" or bolt all the mounts to the sheet metal . I will do steel for now , 3/4" or 1" thin walled square tube is what i bought , it isnt too bad for weight and is fairly strong , creativity will be key, so the design has to be simple and strong . hoping to have a start on mounting them this weekend , i will post up some pics . I can always re-do it later to aluminum if it is too heavy

 

[Drholliday]

i might have to get a second bed and do this to mine for races and have the untouched bed for pulls.

 

[SmokeShow]

what's the general layout of the bracing going to need to be? Pretty much six rectangles - one for each side = left, right, top, bottom, front and back? or no? I think if you maybe those six frames and simple used cables pulled tight across the diagonals of each, they'll be plenty light and rigid. Could even pull cables from front top right corner to the back lower left corner and visa versa and have a nice web too. That should be light and plenty rigid.


Now, if you have to incorporate some sheetmetal support in there. Like around the wheel wells and bottoms of the fenders then what I've said won't work as well.


Just wanted you to see the CompD stuff incase you hadn't thought of some of that. Looks like you are on top of it.


Good luck

 

[TrentNell]

I'll have some pics up of mine , at least 1 side this weekend probably , i have some idea's in my head but untill i just do it I dont have it all figured out , most of my best ideas come from the "seat of the pants " projects so most stuff I just "wing" it , and no longer use pre-thought out designs other than the basic jist so i know what material to get .

 

[sweetdiesel]

Mitch ur awsome!

Im kinda with Trent as I would not worry...But Areodynamics is actually bigger than most consider, If you actually look into it on a tech level it DOES matter are we at that point? Well that depends how serious you are! After you read about it...you will start to actually consider it in the things you change.

Hope it works Trent

 

[sweetdiesel]

the center section of bed, inner skins ,and front peice (basically the whole bed minus the very outer side skins)
weighed in at 250 lbs on my truck , which some extra weight was probable the spray in bed liner , so if i can mount both bed sides with 50 lbs of material ( square tubing ) my savings was 200 lbs , any less than 50 the weight savings goes up , cant say for all trucks but i have weighed every peice i have pulled off my truck and know the #'s are right in my case . And i am sure just outer skins weigh alot less then a full fiberglass bed .

I would be happy with 10 lbs.....it all makes a difference to me

 

[TrentNell]

Mitch ur awsome!

Im kinda with Trent as I would not worry...But Areodynamics is actually bigger than most consider, If you actually look into it on a tech level it DOES matter are we at that point? Well that depends how serious you are! After you read about it...you will start to actually consider it in the things you change.

Hope it works Trent

After all this talk , i think it has made me decide to just run the outer fenders , and roll pan and skip on the tail gate , I do believe it could drag a fair bit of air with the bed floor gone, but roll pan only shouldn't be too bad . Aluminum would be pretty easy to make a Aro type only floor , really thin just to enough to direct air flow and not have any other purpose , if it was a problem .

 

[TheBac]

Its too bad those Pro-tec plastic beds only saved 50lbs or so over the steel beds. Would have made an interesting option if they were a lot lighter.

 

[TrentNell]

few pics , much more to do , but posted up to show an idea of what it takes to do it , this is just to locate the bedside to start fabing design will be quite a bit different then what you see but the bed sides have to be 100 % located to start building , this is no small project at least the way i am doing it . I will post up some more after what i get done tonight . Horrible pics but took a quick shot with the cell , my lighting sucks in my shop in the winter time , 15 deg temps dont agree with florescents

 

[TheBac]

I just dont know....even though I have absolutely no experience in this area, it just seems to me that no matter how you brace that panel, its still going to flap like a sail at 125-130+mph. Also, IMO, having no bed floor is going to cause all sorts of weird aerodynamics when the air flows thru the open frame and merges back with the air flowing under the truck, plus all the choppiness you'll get from the air hitting the different crossmembers and rear axle at that angle (from over the top of the cab).

What has been Buck and Jess's take on this Trent? I know they did something very similar on their truck. Did having no floor change much for them?

Like I said, I dont know shit about this...but something just doesnt seem right to me.

 

[TrentNell]

I just dont know....even though I have absolutely no experience in this area, it just seems to me that no matter how you brace that panel, its still going to flap like a sail at 125-130+mph. Also, IMO, having no bed floor is going to cause all sorts of weird aerodynamics when the air flows thru the open frame and merges back with the air flowing under the truck, plus all the choppiness you'll get from the air hitting the different crossmembers and rear axle at that angle (from over the top of the cab).

What has been Buck and Jess's take on this Trent? I know they did something very similar on their truck. Did having no floor change much for them?

Like I said, I dont know shit about this...but something just doesnt seem right to me.

Buck's bed i s a complete fiberglass bed , - the floor , apples to oranges Tom , and from what they posted on CompD , they haven't had any issues . I don't for see any issue's Tom , the only panel on the rear to catch wind will be the roll pan , and I plan to drill some 4"holes in it so it doesn't catch as much air and add drag , this pic show's a bit better idea of what the rear will look like , obviously alot more tubing still needs to go in for bracing, and cosmetic's to kill the huge void were the tailgate would normally reside , but I ran out

 

[TheBac]

True, it is a fiberglass bed now. But I seem to remember they only ran bedsides for a while. Could be wrong, but itd be worth it to at least ask.

Like I said, I dont know much about doing something like this...these were just my uninformed ideas. The way you roughed that in, it sort of makes Mitch's ideas about 6 rectangles make sense to me.

Its not like you'd ever do anything to risk your safety...from our conversations you've got too much on the ball to do something risky..you double and triple check everything.

 

[TrentNell]

True, it is a fiberglass bed now. But I seem to remember they only ran bedsides for a while. Could be wrong, but itd be worth it to at least ask.

Like I said, I dont know much about doing something like this...these were just my uninformed ideas. The way you roughed that in, it sort of makes Mitch's ideas about 6 rectangles make sense to me.

Its not like you'd ever do anything to risk your safety...from our conversations you've got too much on the ball to do something risky..you double and triple check everything.

The rectangle designs makes some since ,and is easy to build , the kicker is if your building it to be as light as possible , then the very least possibly needed to support everything is the goal , even if it doesn't look as "cool" as some would build it . rectangles mean alot of bars running the entire length and width of the bed , the way i am doing it will maybe not look the way i would design from a cosmetic stand point but should be strong , and as light as it can be .