How much are the beds you are looking costing??? How much do they get for installing?? Need one for my 2008 srw dodge for sure, the tailgate is too heavy and its too tall to see in the bed for me, do any of these beds offer optional sideboards where one could haul a jumping mule with it?? How about rust protection, how much more for bedlinner etc?? I know about year ago I priced a cm single rear wheel at Sequin at DD farm and ranch center, it was $3500 for plain vanilla installed, for sure it needs those updates led lights and bedlinner, I have never understood the trough deal either, seems like one could take it or leave it, what bothers me about most of the beds is the angle and bracing down at the rear of the bed if you get into mud in 4x4 so it does not build up and get you stuck due to no clearance?? if i had the money i would buy an aliumin one and add bed pockets for sideboards so everything would not go sliding off of the bed and add a spare tire carrier so one could load a 4x8 dog box on the bed and be able to get to the tire/jack easy instead of carrying it under the bed in mud or rusty bolt carrier set up, seems like it is very hard to go anywhere down here and see more than one type of bed, who has the most stock inventory of beds in texas anyways now days?? I see a few places in Livestock weekly in the hill country but most of the beds down here are those cheap j and l's with no boxes and look weak where the rear receiver goes to me, think they are like $1400 installed cheapie i saw, looked like a mexico special welder did it too and painted it with spay can with no primer?? I have thought about adding a lift gate as well to help load stuff but have never seen a cm type 4 box bed with a liftgate so far?? Has anybody every seen a liftgate on flatbed single rear wheel long wheel base truck in 1 ton??
I actually have a JI flatbed and haven't had a problem with it and mine is 4 years old and the paint is still good. I have put just about anything you can imagine on it and it never appeared weak to me. I know one guy that has a basic JI bale bed and he bought it new in madill in 2003 and has fed cattle with it every year and never had a problem with it. JI makes good quality beds i can speak from experience.
