We bought the 2008 350 powerstroke and love the truck! Only thing is it sits higher than our old '97 powerstroke, and we pull a 4star gooseneck horse trailor. Our first trip with it, we pulled out of the driveway and trailor caught on one of those little tie anchors you put on the rim of the bed and dented the rear fender of the truck. Ouch. my question is if we have a flat bed put on it,will that do anything to extended or reg warranty? Which would you recommend? Steel, aluminum, wood? We only use the truck to pull the horse trailor and camp. Thanks for your help.

I don't see any reason Ford would deny a warranty claim for engine or transmission issues. Maybe for body lighting since you've removed the bed. Check with the dealer to be sure. I like B+W's hauler bed...But there are many other builders.

Changing out the bed won't void the warranty.

thanks for info so far! now more questions:
- Does the ball still attached to your frame of your truck? or do they come some where the ball is attached to flat bed that is then attached to frame? Which is stonger safer?
- How heavy duty flat bed do you need if you are using it primarily to pull horse trailer and to place water tanks on bed?
- what about sizing do they make them the same size as your orriginal truck bed?
- can you get the flat bed to sit lower than the orriginal truck bed?

we were thinking of going to flat bed for several reasons: get rid of sides of truck as it sits up too high that we can not see into the bed for hooking up to trailer and then we have so little clearance between truck sides and gooseneck of trailer if we have to go over any uneven ground afraid we are going to dent side of truck. we just want to make sure that getting the flat bed makes things better not worse, ie dont want flat bed wider than orriginal truck bed. also want to remain safe safe. I wouldnt think it would be too safe to not have ball remain attached to truck frame. also need to know how heavy duty this flat bed needs to be. we priced one here in central MO and cost was starting at 4000.00 for steel heavy duty for dually. but they said they were really heavy duty meant for hauling hay etc.... again we will be only hauling 2 plastic 30-40gallon water tanks, spare tires, 5-10 gallons etc diesal fuel. any help would be appreciated. also if you recommend any dealers in the MO or close to areas would appreciate it. also what do you do with the orriginal truck bed when you have the flat bed attached? plus any estimates on prices would be.
thanks again Sharon
PS F350HD extended cab 4x4 long bed dually 2008 pulling 1997 4 Star alum 3 horse trailer gooseneck with living quarters, 23 foot long, 8 foot wide (heavy trailer)

quote:

Originally posted by Sharon:

- Does the ball still attached to your frame of your truck? or do they come some where the ball is attached to flat bed that is then attached to frame? Which is stonger safer?
- How heavy duty flat bed do you need if you are using it primarily to pull horse trailer and to place water tanks on bed?
- what about sizing do they make them the same size as your orriginal truck bed?
- can you get the flat bed to sit lower than the orriginal truck bed?

what do you do with the orriginal truck bed when you have the flat bed attached?

In the flat beds, I'm familar with, the ball hitch is frame mounted. The flat bed has either a recessed hole or a cover plate over the ball. A hauler bed may have an integrated ball hitch. I don't see any issues either way since the hauler bed is designed for the ball. I would be cautious with a ball merely mounted on the surface of a flat bed. There has to be specific structure to transfer the load to the frame.

Bed sizing and load capacity is something you'll be able to choose based on your desires. Of course, custom features you get, might raise the cost. Even if the flat bed you want is less in size or strength. Consider a custom made pair of plastic flip-flops will cost more than mass produced leather shoes.

Consider the OEM bed is a couple of inches from the top of the truck's frame.
The top of the frame is the lowest point you can get to. Unless you install saddle tanks below the flat bed.

As for the OEM truck bed once you've installed a flat bed ... Sell / trade it ... it'll offset the cost of the flat bed.

i dont know if all flatbed manufactorers do things the same way....i had a custom flatbed built by B & W....the bed of the flatbed was4 inches higher than the factory bed because they use a 4" channel that lays ontop of the truck frame on which to build the bed.....so heightwise you will gain not loose height. what people generally do is raise the trailer with bigger tires or rearranging the trailer axles.