Hydraulic bed lifts???

[Redbull]

Any recomendations? I am now considering (for financial reasons) getting just a lift under the bed on my truck and fabricating a nice box instead of the insert. I know all of the negative aspects of doing it this way as far as capacity, I just need some recommendations on manufacturers. Thanks guys.

 

[Redbull]

The few dollars I would save buying a second hand set up probably wouldn't give me the piece of mind of "knowing what I'm getting", if you know what I mean. I've looked at new setups on the net and found the prices to be reasonable. I'm just not sure which one would hold up the best.

 

[Pacific]

What type of truck are you planning on putting a dumping flat on ?

If its a regular P/U truck then it will have to be custom made because the chassis widths are different from a cab and chassis truck. I think I would rather have a dumping flatdeck with sides than a insert because the dumping flatdeck will be stronger.

I have debated myself weather to use a scissor hoist or a telescoping post hoist. People say they have had good success with scissor hoists the ones I have seen they are slow plus they add extra weight to your truck. We had a dump box on a 5 ton truck with a scissor hoist it was a struggle everytime the box tried to dump. When you buy a scissor hoist you have to get one that will lift more than you intend because it takes so much more power to lift the deck.

I have decided I will stick with a simple but strong telescoping post hoist you do have to deal with a doghouse in the headache rack but something a person can live with. The post hoist gives you the most lifting power because you have the most leverage. I had a post hoist on another F-Superduty the truck used to beable to dump 8000lbs of gravel in the box like nothing and it was quick. I think the hoist would bend the frame behind the cab before it powered out.

I have been searching for awhile now for a complete used dumping flatdeck to put on a older F-Superduty (450) but they are hard to find. If you need a truck right away you will probably want to build one I don't know how much of a budget you have.

 

[bottlefed89]

I think someone told me once that on a ford, which is what I assume you're putting it on, you have to have a scissor hoist because of the way your fuel tanks sit. I'm not sure if this is true, but I'd heard it mentioned. I'd look up Bybee enterprises in the yellow pages, look under hydraulics, or snow plow repair or something like that. they worked on some of my plow pumps before I could figure them out, and I had talked to them some about a dump setup, they were the only ones in town that would talk to me. Knapheide were dicks about it to me, so I don't go there any more. hope that helps.
greg

 

[Pacific]

With a scissor hoist you have to deal with the fuel tanks in the way with a post hoist the mounting is on top of the frame behind the cab. With my 88 F-450 I had no problems with the fuel tank with the post hoist. As for dumping on hills if the truck isn't flat and even the box shouldn't go up it doesn't matter if you have a scissor or post hoist the truck will still roll over.

I work part time in the excavation bussiness the one rule of thumb with dump trucks is if the ground isn't hard and level don't dump the box because you are going to roll the truck.

A scissor hoist maybe good for a short body like 8' but start getting into a 11-12 you need some lifting power. I use this analogy of think about lifting a dinning room table a long rectangle one on how easy it is to lift one end then you crawl under the table and try lift it from roughly the middle of of the table.

Go here www.delequipment.com

 

[bottlefed89]

Was your 450 a 12' bed??

 

[Pacific]

It had a 11'6" bed it was actually a contractor dump bed it used to have fold down sides at one time but they were replaced with wood slip in sides but the back still had the tail gate. It worked pretty good had up to 8900lbs of gravel on it

I had to sell the truck she burned gallons of fuel that old 460 even on EFI was thirsty if I had steady work I would have kept the truck.

On my next dump I will make it 11' long a 12' is too much overhang especially when you get some weight over the back half it will make the deck float and bounce.

Having the 12' is nice when I'am hauling lumber for one of the local guys with a woodmizer because the long thin stuff like 10" bevel cedar siding sits nice.

My current truck I have a fixed deck I was too busy this summer with another job I didn't have time or enough change to put a dump deck together.

 

[bottlefed89]

I've got a 9' fixed flatbed on my one of my current trucks, so I'll be interested in finding a dump setup for it.

 

[Redbull]

I want to just add the hoist under the factory bed on a 2001 F350. 8' bed.

 

[Davidsinatree]

I had a new scissor hoist on a 1 ton chevy flat 8' bed back in the late 80's and had no problems lifting loads of gravel to dump. I would not be skeerd to have another. OHH how I wish I had that truck now. 75 chevy 1 ton dually 292ci inline 6cyl 4sp. Work horse of a truck.

 

[Redbull]

Hey David, you ready to get busy after this storm clears? Let me know if you need any help. I'm in the Northland. 816-217-5962.
Brandon

 

[Koa Man]

The Venco scissors lift on my 1 ton Dodge dumped 13,800 lbs of roofing material. It went up real slow at first, but it kept rising and the higher it got, the faster it went. I normally carry 4-5000 lbs of tree debris when full. It is a 9 ft. bed. Looking to get a med. duty truck real soon.

 

[Pacific]

A P/U box isn't designed to dump so you will have to either build a dumping flatdeck or heavily modify a 8 foot mason dump so it willl fit a wider chassis if your current chassis is 34"s wide then its fine.

I think the easiest thing todo is build a dumping flatdeck that will fit your truck a 8'x7'6" deck will fit good on a regular P/u truck chassis.

Koa Man if you had 13,000lbs on a 1 ton truck you would have springs bent in the opposite direction hell we never put that much weight on the F-550 the most we put on it was 11,000lbs. A 1 ton rear axle is only rated for 8600lbs a F-450s axle is 11,000lbs and the 550 is 13,000lbs.

A 1 ton truck should have a max payload of 5000lbs I used to put 6000lbs on my F-350 and that was heavy now that I have a 450 6000lbs is a cake walk.

The problem with regular 1 ton trucks is there is no braking power they can stop worth **** with the old disk drum brakes.

 

[Stumper]

Pacific, They make dump kits specifically for pick-up beds (Rated for about 4000lbs so they aren't all that "heavy duty"-but neither is a pickup bed). As for what a 1 ton can actually haul-it is downright scary. I know a guy who routinely throws 12000 pounds on a 1 ton dump. More upon occassion!

 

[Pacific]

I know when I bought my first F-450 and went and hauled a 8000lb load of gravel I was very surprised I didn't beleive it untill I seen the scale ticket. You can beef a regular 1 ton truck up to carry but the ???? thing can't stop which is one of the things I don't like about regular 1 ton trucks. The first version of the F-450 88-97 stop pretty good with 4wheeldisk but the newer F-450s 99 to current stop better because they have 19.5" wheels which allows for bigger brakes.

If the truck is a factory dually it would look good with a mason style box on it it will be alot tougher than the weak fiberglass fenders and thin sheet metal.

 

[Redbull]

Could you describe or show me a pic of this mason style box. I'm not quite sure what you are refering to. Thanks.
Brandon

 

[Pacific]

Here is a mason style dump body www.royaltruckequip.com/trucks/2870.jpg

They work good if you have a 8' box you can put some sides on it for a chipper box or you can haul topsoil etc. I think that would be the best thing to put on your truck it would make it handier than h*ll. You can find used boxes around the one in the link I posted is a bit expensive because it is stainless steel construction and fold down sides.

 

[Koa Man]

Koa Man if you had 13,000lbs on a 1 ton truck you would have springs bent in the opposite direction hell we never put that much weight on the F-550 the most we put on it was 11,000lbs. A 1 ton rear axle is only rated for 8600lbs a F-450s axle is 11,000lbs and the 550 is 13,000lbs.

A 1 ton truck should have a max payload of 5000lbs I used to put 6000lbs on my F-350 and that was heavy now that I have a 450 6000lbs is a cake walk.

The problem with regular 1 ton trucks is there is no braking power they can stop worth **** with the old disk drum brakes.

The net weight was actually 13,800 lbs. I have the weight slip to prove it. One of the first things I did when I got my truck was to take it to a spring shop and add a couple leafs to boost spring capacity by 3000 lbs and re arc the springs so the truck rear would sit about 2 inches higher. If I had known the roofing material was going to be so heavy I would have stopped loading about 1/2 way. The truck was sitting level when I had it fully loaded. It felt a little heavy when driving, but it was stopping OK. I am going back to a med. duty truck very soon. Looking at a min. of a F550. I need it to be a 4X4.

 

[Pacific]

The F-550s are nice trucks they do pack a good load they ride abit rough the one I drove for awhile is a 2002 model it was good I put some heavy loads on it

I would like to have a 4x4 truck too but can't afford a newer 450 4x4 so gotta stick with a 2wd F-Superduty (first version 450) and maybe get a limited slip or locker. I talked to a few guys with F-450 and F-550 4x4s and how much they use the 4wheeldrive they said its there for peace of mind but most of the time the truck sinks before the 4wheeldrive moves the truck.

For me I only need 4wheeldrive for when the truck is lightly or unloaded and I'am down a 8% grade dirt driveway. Some places I have togo on forestry roads is like 4wheeling especially where the people with summer cabins and rotten goat trail driveways

 

[Davidsinatree]

Pacific,
My exp with ford limited slip rear ends have not been good. I have owned 3 and they have NEVER performed when I needed 2 wheels pulling. I now have a 2000 F350 2wd limited slip that the dealer replaced under warrenty and it still does not grab, fords limited slip is worthless. Spend the extra money and get a locker. Im a ford man but this is where chevy rules, they have great factory locker rear ends.