james1

Can anyone relate his/her experience with installation of a dump kit for the Dodge OEM bed? There are several manufacturers of such kits, for example:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_43574_43574.

I understand that welding the bumper to the kit is required and this may cause interference with a frame-mounted trailer hitch. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

2stroke

i looked into it also. i cut grass and fill my bed daily. i was told over time with heavy use, that the bed would start to fall apart. if u dont use it every day it supposed to be pretty trick.

swampthang

you will be ok using it alot just once you get it installed and lifter up run some stringers across the bottom of the bed that will help alot and also i would recomend dont just drop a huge load of dirt sand gravel etc.. in the bed as it WILL push out the sides of the bed the last one i did i built a small frame that slid up inside the body of the bes sides and went acroos the bottom of the bed to reinforce the bed sides you can not see it unless the bed is lifted up other wise the bed looks stock


JC

james1

I'm told Pierce Wrecker manufactures the unit for Northern Tool and offers it directly for some $90 cheaper:

http://www.piercewrecker.com/Univers...0Available.pdf

Surely there are a few philosophical type First Genners who have opinions on converting an OEM bed into a dumper?

Thanks again to all in this forum -- what an incredible wealth of experience and information!

mytoyz

anyone know of an 03 up kit... I'd much prefer to reinforce my bed than put an ez dump in it.

Mike

chuxtruk

I work for a large municipality and we've had pickups so equipped with dump beds for years. The first ones were weak and wouldn't lift themselves up if you overloaded the bed. It didn't have to look overloaded for it not to be able to lift itself up either. One word described those....WEAK. The ones we have now are made by a different manufacturer but are considerably stronger too when it comes to being able to lift a good sized load. Another thing: You have to disconnect the fuel fill tube so the bed can go UP. When the bed goes UP the tank stays in the same place (of course) then you can access the fuel tank cap once the bed is up and out of the way. They are also electrical-hydraulic in that you don't need the truck to run to raise and lower the bed, you just need the key on. A funny story (now): One evening a friend called me up and asked if I would do him a BIG favor and come over to his place (while I was at work) so he could load up some sod on this dump bed pickup that he cut as he was putting in a new lawn. I work for the road department, so getting rid of dirt, concrete and asphalt is no problem as we have dump sites all over the city. And during the normal course of my duties, I can just about go anywhere so there was no worries about doing any of this for my friend.....it's old hat. So I show up and see what he has and he offers me a barley pop (I asked for an iced tea instead) while I watch him load the sod. It wasn't that much but it was heavy. He got it loaded, I drank my tea and was on the way to the dump site with half a load of sod....we're having fun now. I get downtown and back up to the edit pile and go to raise the bed and all I hear is a funny grunting noise with no lifting action to be seen anywhere except for my blood pressure lifting up realizing that yours truly, who has a cush seniority job with minimal physical exertion required, is going to have to grab the shovel and download this load of heavy edit sod out of the pickup all by myself. I can't hardly put into words how I felt about this pickup with the weak kneed dump bed that was as worthless as **** on a boar hog, as my dad used to say, at the very moment of this profound realization. I can laugh now but I learned my lesson. Did I stop doing favors for friends that needed a quick favor and a dump bed pickup?? Oh NO, I'd never do THAT. Now I just make em go with me!!!!
But since the upgrade to the new manufacturer that makes the stronger beds that hasn't happened.
Looks wise, you'd never know these pickups are any different from any other conventional pickup either. Side by side I doubt you could tell. I'll see who the manufacturer is when I get there later on today but as far as I'm concerned you better see how much that thing will lift before you have a story to tell like I do. Because when it comes to dump beds on pickups:
1. They are NOT all the same
2. Some will lift more than others
3. You get what you pay for. You want cheap be prepared and carry an extra shovel!!!