F250 Flatbed Frame Mounting

[econometrics]

I just bought a good, used 1999 F250 SC 4x4 V10 for a pulling / farm truck. It came with a J&I flatbed on it with a gooseneck plate, etc mounted in it.

I got to looking at the mounting of the flatbed and had some slight concerns with the way it was mounted to the frame of the truck.

First, it's been welded onto the frame. That's a done deal. I've read usually it's better to bolt it on, but I don't have that choice here.

I wanted to get some opinions on the weld job here to see if any of you think I should still in and run some bolts trough the mount too. The welds just look sloppy to me, and the last thing I want is to be towing 13K down the road and have a weld crack.

Here's some pics. Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[FredH]

My brother has a similar situation with a 1 ton with a 14' flatbed on it . We want to convert it to a dump . Our 1st order will be to lose the lift gate on the back , which along with the bed is welded to everything . Between using either a torch , plasma cutter or grinder with cut off disk , We are either taking out the welds or cutting the bracing off at frame level . Obviously We will have to block between frame and bed while discarding the current bracing / mounting and it may be time consuming but to do the project , gotta do what we gotta do .

The welds you are showing are not the greatest , strength wise , Who knows , they may be there forever . Maybe grind them down some and re-weld or leave as is and add some square u bolts to strengthen even more . Brother's 1 ton also has a couple of the square u bolts , which really made us wonder " Why " did they weld , Why not just keep bolting entire bed . Maybe add additional welded bracing for a piece of mind . As mentioned , at least I am not impressed with the welds you showed , but with paint , dirt , although beads don't look great , hard to tell the strength .

Fred H.

 

[duroc]

When I worked for GM Truck Durability, we mounted beds/boxes to the frames in a similar fashion. But, we welded the brackets angled forward and aft. Front bracket-top towards front of truck. Rear bracket-top towards rear of truck. We found this to be the strongest method. We also put 4 Oak blocks of wood between the bed frame and truck frame and "U" bolted them in place. You'd be surprised at how often those U bolts needed retightening.

I don't think I'd be too concerned with your brackets unless you see a bad area. However, I'd add the oak blocks between frame/frame just to be on the safe side.

P.S. You could drill for bolts, but that just adds to "crack" areas in the frame.

 

[diesel lover]

Doesn't look too bad overall. Do you have pictures of the truck itself

 

[econometrics]

Thank you for the replies so far, all!

Doesn't look too bad overall. Do you have pictures of the truck itself

Here you go. This was just after I bought her, so she's looking nice and dirty!

 

[kneedeep]

If the Gooseneck is attached to the frame in some fashion, Roll on!!

 

[econometrics]

If the Gooseneck is attached to the frame in some fashion, Roll on!!

I forgot to mention that. It isn't. It's only a part of the flatbed and isn't at all attached to the frame.

Maybe that's what I need to address more? Not that the flatbed is welded on, but that the gooseneck isn't attached to the frame?

 

[Tomtint]

Being in Texas, rust should not be a issue. Up here, the spot at the top of the piece of metal where it is welded to the frame would be a salt and dirt magnet. And cause rust behind the welded on bracket.

 

[SquirmyPug]

I would grind it out and re-weld with 7018. Looks like whoever welded it doesn't know how to weld vertical. I would prob also add a few more places that attach it to the frame. The gooseneck needs attention if that is all that's holding it in place, it may be fine but you don't want to find out the hard way that you should have done something.

 

[econometrics]

I would grind it out and re-weld with 7018. Looks like whoever welded it doesn't know how to weld vertical. I would prob also add a few more places that attach it to the frame. The gooseneck needs attention if that is all that's holding it in place, it may be fine but you don't want to find out the hard way that you should have done something.

Yeah, exactly. Attaching it to the frame would give me a lot of peace of mind!