The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Grain box/flat bed Bed position question

I got my replacement Omaha Standard flat bed/stake bed sitting on the frame and hoist frame on back of my 58 Viking 60. The truck came to me with only the hoist and a rusted out bed . The pivot / pin hinge attachments are going to have to be welded to the new bed. MY QUESTION .. Before engineering where mounts go...and welding the pivot point on back of bed... How much space should I leave between the back of cab and front of flatbed in the down position that will allow the hoist to raise bed without front of bed hitting cab. The frame of the bed is 6". May seem to be a silly question but. Having never put a hoist flatbed on a truck I sure don't want any surprise after welding Thanks again to all you fellas advice. You be helped me so much already. Gaining convidence as I go. Pete

On my '46, it is surprisingly close. I would consider how far above the bottom of the body the hinge point is. If it's flush to the bottom, everything will move away from the cab as the body goes up, so it can be quite close. If, for some reason, the hinge point is higher, the bottom edge will move forward a TEENSY bit at first and you might want an extra inch or so. In general, I would say to allow as much room as you normally would between the cab and body, maybe err on the side of caution, but you don't need a lot extra.

Mine is only a few inches back from the cab-not more than 4" I don't think, if even that.

On my '50 COE the bed is within 3 1/2 inches of the middle of the back of the cab, and my pivot is even with the frame. Above, Ed is correct in that the answer ultimately depends on the geometry of your hinge in relation to the frame. You are asking the question at the right time, NOT when the bed hits the back of the cab the first time you raise it!

Thanks guys. Yes my hinge pivot point is to be welded beneath with the frame rail of the bed. The center of the large steel pivot/hinge pin is two inches below the bottom plane of frame rail. So I should be fine backing up bed 4 inches from back of bed? Right?

my pivot is 10 1/2" below the deck of my bed, and about 2" above the frame rail. I have barely a finger width gap between the front of my bed and back of cab. Your 4" should be way more than enough.

Now is the time to consider a headache rack, whether attached to the bed or the truck frame. Also a winch can be attched to the bed or frame or headache rack.

Ed

After I posted the above, my curiosity got the best of me and I went out and measured mine. It's actually closer than I thought. At it's closest point (which is at the center of the cab) there is about 1 1/2" between the leading edge of the bed and the cab.
I didn't measure the pivot point, but you can kind of see it in that second pic.

I just went out and measured between my bed and cab of my '63 GMC 4000. There's 3 inches between the cab and bed. I had my bed installed by a company that installs feed mixer beds for cattle feedlots. With the pivot point located at the end of the frame rails, the only concern they had was how much overhang I had BEYOND the frame rails. I have 4 ft overhanging the frame rails. With the hoist fully extended, the tail end of the bed just barely drags the ground. So if I'm spreading a load of dirt or sand, I don't raise the hoist fully, unless I'm stopped . The shop foreman warned me about loading my bed too heavily toward the front of the bed, saying that weight near the rear of the bed will "help" the hoist dump the load. Also keep in mind where you would locate a trailer hitch (if planning one). You might have to hang one from the frame rails of the bed, due to the overhang. I know this discussion is all about cab/bed measurements, just keep in mind the other end of the bed too. JP

Thanks Jon !Yup I’m considered my all that now as to not to have to any thing twice.