BigToe wrote:

In some states, removing the factory pick up body can change the registration status of the truck, which can lead to higher annual fees, weight declaration requirements, stopping at roadside scales, and other potential vulnerabilities if a highway patrol officer really wants to hassle you.

Specifically, in California, once the factory pickup bed is removed and a flatbed installed instead, the truck now legally is required to stop at scales, as it is no longer a "pick up". This is not practically enforced, but it is legally enforceable.

California actually has set forth a statutory definition of "pick up", and ever since the Commercial Vehicle Registration Act of 2001, trucks that are not "pick ups" have to have declared, in advance, the maximum weight that will be borne and towed by the truck, and pay fees according to that declaration. Should a CHP pull a flat bed truck over for not stopping at the scales, and should the CHP decide to weigh the truck and the weight of the truck, camper, and trailer exceeds the amount that was previously declared, then the fine is the maximum fees that would be levied on an 18 wheeler semi declaring 80,000 lbs.

Pickups, on the other hand, do not have to anticipate what weight they will carry. An owner of a pickup can decide one day to pull a 9,999 lb trailer, while having a 5,000 lb BigFoot 3000 in the bed, and not have to have paid fees for 22K gross combined like a flat bed truck owner would have had to do in order to operate legally in that configuration. Keep in mind, these rules apply irrespective of the door plate rating of the underlying truck chassis, and irrespective of the fact that the chassis could very well be the exact same.

The rules apply to merely the characteristic of the bed. And that is one reason why some California light truck owners keep the pickup bed installed, even when aluminum flat beds with underslung tool boxes offer more common sense convenience and practical utility.

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

Flatbed it!

You don't have to put the bed way up high, if you have a 4wd and heavy duty springs, with stock or near stock diameter tires. The tire won't reach the height of the wheel wells in the pickup box anyways, so you can set your flatbed deck about half way between the normal pickup bed floor height and the wheel well height.

Leave out the outrigger cross member right above the tires and either notch the outboard side rails above the wheels, or make the bed wide enough that the tires' upward travel is within the bed width. The tire won't touch the bottom of the deck and will miss the channel sides.

covered wagon wrote:


Oh yes, the fuel fill is lower down so it's sometimes more difficult to fill with fuel because a lot of them tend to shut the nozzle off frequently. I solved that a couple ways if any are interested I can explain.

tmartin000 wrote:

I live near the ocean, aluminum is the only material I will consider.