12'X8'3" Truckbed

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I have been working on this for quite awhile and would love to hear some feedback from you guys.   I travel cross country alot due to my fun hobby as a rodeo guy. It seems every where I go a rodeo contractor always need pannels, chutes, trailers, welded on and I normally do it. It bed will be very big. It is gonna be 12ft long and I am still deabating on the wideth part. Im haven a hard time deciding between 8ft or 8'3". At 8' the tires are barley cover and at 8'3" it is completly coverd. It will have an oxygen rack right behind the welder. Im gona put hinges on it where if I need to work on the welder it just lay flatdown. and fold back up. I will have 2 bottle of oxygen in the rack with a 20 degree slant. The welder will be lowerd close to the frame as possible like a pipeliner rigs. It gonna have a torough for the gooseneck hitch scince I pull goseneck constently. I dont want ti climb on the truckbed to chande actyl. and propane. There will be a door that will be caged up with expanded metal so it wont effect the cooling system of the weler. The top picture of the white bed as you can see the big door Iam gonna widden the door up to about 4' wide and 3' tall if I measure correctly. It will cover the cable hook up on the machine. I might end up covering the whole font of the machine depending how much space the aluima reels take. I am gonna put the aluma reels in them. the reels Includes remote, electric, and propane as well a set of cables.. As you can see on the forman bed picture the passenger side there wont be a blox like that it will be similer to it but from the bed floor and up it will be caged to prevent idiots tampering with it. the boxes will be built like the white bed. as you can imagine that the bed will be much longer than the actual picture.  Im going to include the floor plans and several pictures of what kind of bed its going to be the back part will be just like the white bed and the tough will be a 45 deg. slant and the tool boxes wont be the same Im gonna alterate it but in not sure yet how I want to alternate it. On the back part on driver side will be a tool box similer to the white front part. Passinger side obove tires will be the electric tools section such as grinders drills etc. Driver side above tires will be a welding rods storage and will instulate and water/air tight it and mite as well make an oven out of it.On the top from oxy rack to tires will be a 1' tall 2'1/2"wide and maybe 5'long tool box both sides??? Im haven a heck of time with how to start with the frame.  .  If you have any advice Please tell me and I am willing to listens.  Did I menton there gonna be a slide out propane grill on it on the back passinger side that will slide out also???? Attached ImagesOf course I don't look busy.....I did it right the first time!
Reply:Nice boxes are going to be the hard part if you are building this yourself. I'd start there. When we fabed up this flat bed years ago we started with a used flatbed we picked up cheap. Then we looked for a set of boxes we could use on the sides that didn't take up all of the 9' bed. These are ones for shortbed pickups and were about 6' IIRC. Not shown are the undermount 30" box that got mounted later uin front of the rear wheels under the 6' boxes. That set the dimensions for the rack posts and the pin racks behind the boxes. The next body would have used 8' boxes on a 11' or 12' bed double stacked on the drivers side with the pin racks behind, and a single 6' box on the passenger side. The truck would have gotten undermount boxes in front of and behind the rear wheels on this one. Sizes would have been figured out when we picked the chassis.We combed thru a lot of manufacturers looking at box size that would fit our needs. Northern had a good selection of both undermount boxes, side door  and filp lid boxes in different sizes. It was cheaper to buy the boxes than try and build water tight boxes ourselves.My current work truck I had Wilcox build from scratch rather than try to do it myself, because of what I wanted for side boxes. I had them make alterations to one of their standard crane bodies to fit what I wanted done. As far as the floor, my Wilcox uses 3" cross channel with no main beams. The 3" channel that supports the 1/8" floor rests directly on the chassis rails. Thats a bit different from many flat bed designs, where they use heavier main rails over the chassis rails and then set the crossmembers either in or on the main rails. I forget what the floor is rated for exactly, but the original body mounts an 4ton crane if IIRC, so the floor should be good for at least that. Floor width is 60" between the boxes. Attached Images.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thank you You have gave me alot of useful infomation.  Yes you are right bout the boxes and i was concerned bout that as well.  There is a amish man that live like n hour from me that makes boxes ans so such.  (it a dang cool shop after seeing all the plate shears and benders he have)  Maybe I would be better off having a company or someone with better knowledge than me to make the boxes as well. I was thinken bout buyin 1/4 inch floor plate and cut out the sextion for the above tire box, in front of the welder box and the actyl. cage as well and take the boxes I had orderd slide them in n weld/bolt them up.   I had also though bout hiring a truck bed company to make the bed as well.  they would get it done faster due to the experince they have. but i want it to work just for me not for other people as well. I almost forgot to mention earlier my machine is a lincoln vantage 300 and im asken for you all expeince cuz i want it done right the 1st time as my witty singature saysLast edited by White Trash; 12-06-2010 at 10:33 PM.Of course I don't look busy.....I did it right the first time!
Reply:Originally Posted by White Trash. . . I'm haven a heck of time with how to start with the frame. . . .
Reply:I think I would have to take the orginal bed off 1st then get all of that figured out and they are great tipsOf course I don't look busy.....I did it right the first time!