Has anyone put armor plating or a full cage in their truck's bed to take the abuse when something, which should have been gently placed in it, comes flying in at a million miles an hour? Already hit the front of the bed hard enough so it hit the cab (oops!).

Right now I'm concerned with the front wall of the bed and I'll worry about the rest later if necessary.

I was considering any of the following:
(1) Armor plate (there's a local up-armoring service around here so I can probably get it done easily)
(2) Make a cage/frame out of unistrut, weld and powder coat it
(3) Same as #2 but use square stock and add bungs so eye-bolts can be attached.

 

What kind of stuff do you plan on carrying in your bed?

- NCSU

 

Dirt, rocks, boulders, mulch, drywall, ATV, garden tractor, furniture

 

You need to look at the Dual Liner, it looks awesome and takes a beating. I will work out a special deal with you on a blemished unit if you don't want to shell out the full $399.00. This unit provides a Zero skid floor and therm-o-formed side walls that interlock. My job is to get the word out on this revolutionary product that I think will replace a huge part of the 3 year rated spray on and the plastic tub style the rubs the paint off you truck box and exposes bare metal to the moisture trapped underneath. Our website is www.dualliner.com and you can email me directly at todd@dualliner.com or call 1-800-992-1949

 

random question for dual liner. What kind of rollbar/cage is that in the back of your truck?

 

I have hauled a majority of the items you listed and a few others. Never once has any of them caused damage to the beds interior.
I have the traditional plastic bedliner and a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 pressure treated plywood on the floor, trimmed for length. I also keep a length of 2x4 set into the bedliners notch's behind the wheel wells. This keeps my tool box from sliding on a hard turn or a quick braking and it's always near the tailgate for easy access. Yes smaller items can slide around a bit but there not traveling fast enough or far enough to cause any harm.
If it is a heavy item like a riding mower or a 4 wheeler or refrigerator etc. that could cause damage if it were to roll or shift then I secure it with rachet straps so that it Can't move.
It sounds like your seeking an extreme way to prevent damage that shouldn't happen under normal use and with common sense and due caution
What did you have in the bed or threw into the bad that caused that kind of damage ?
I can only guess that it had to be something that Should have been secured but wasn't or maybe it was and it broke loose.
So spill the beans. What was it ?

 

Back in the '80s I got a drop in under the lip Pro-Tecta liner for it. I decided to fix some rusting at the front of the bed first, then got the great idea to plate the bed.

I purchased a 10 long 5 foot wide piece of 11 ga steel which is nominally 0.1196" (near 1/8") thick. A 8 foot long X 5 foot wide piece did the floor and over onto the sides in front of and behind the wheel wells, bolted with many 5/16" stove bolts.

I took the remainding 24" wide X 5 foot cutoff and had a buddy with a break bend me a 2" wide lip at the bottom, then I used pieces cut out for the wheel wells to extend it and shape it to fit the front bulkhead area. I put it in place and welded the lip to the bottom plate, bolted the top to the bulkhead or front wall of the bed.

I used a hole saw to cut two drain holes through at front and welded a piece of tubing in each to make any water go all the way through.

I poored a gallon or two of paint in it and spread it with a brush.

Then I put my Pro-Tecta liner back in.

20 plus years later I have never given it another thought. The original bed floor is still there, I can see it underneath the truck.

I also added a piece of 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 X 1/8 steel angle across the top of the bed front with tie downs, and at the rear I put a 4" wide X 1/4" thick steel bar across the bed behind the lower tailgate to add a stronger tie from side to side. Off this I added two 1-3/4 X 1-3/4 X 3/16 angles upright in the jamb area of the tailgate and made gussets bracing these 90 degrees to that long 4 X 1/4 piece.

Tailgate down, bedsides have zero movement in them even today.

 

I'm not familiar enough to know what armor plating is, but I just saw a rig the other day that had it's bed floor and the back wall lined with diamond plate. Looked good too! Good luck on your search.

 

It looks like this: http://www.gorhino.com/products.aspx?id=56

 

What's the chance you'd be motivated enough to want to upload a picture of this setup?

 

Garden tractor where the hydraulic drive needs adjustment to go to zero drive when the forward pedal is released. Had to keep the speed up to get off the ramp and didn't reach the brake pedal fast enough. Flex 'n' Bend 'n' slam goes the front of the bed into the cab.

 

Armor plating, like they put on tanks, executive vehicles, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_armour

 

Yup, that would do it. Not alot of room for error given the tight quarters and circumstance's.

 

I'll see what I can do.

 

That's funny!

Reminds of when a friend of mine loaded his Desert bike by riding it up the ramp back in the 70's. He had a torque converter rebuilding business so his bed had a nice coating of atf. Well he had a little too much speed and when he hit the clamps it was like ice skating, The bike stayed in the truck and he went over the bars and just missed the mirror on on the truck his way down! We had to stop laughing before we could properly ridicule him.

I've seen people just fit a piece of aluminum diamond plate to the front of the bed and that reinforces it pretty good.