Flat bed fabing 404 - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

deelux 247 · 07-02-2009, 09:11 AM

.... I am finishing up the bed on my 404.115 and I went a different route than most. I wanted to maintain as much clearance as possible with as good of a departure angle without looking like a "rockmog". I wanted the mog to look "stockish" from the side, with the capability of all the "rockmogs". I was actually able to source some 1x3 tubing from work for a good price (free) and fabbed up a bed that almost as wide as the cab. I also angled the corners in the back for the tight trails up here in the northwest. Anyways take a look at the pictures I have attached and maybe it will inspire or maybe it will turn you in a different direction. I will post up some more current pictures tonight when I get home.
Charlie

MODERATOR NOTE- This thread was split away from HERE so not to highjack that fellows thread on a different topic

techMOGogy · 07-02-2009, 10:59 AM

I would like to see more pic too, looks interesting - thanks Charlie!

**coachgeo** · 07-02-2009, 11:43 AM

are you hard mounting that bed? That may not work out to good. Mog frames flex to much.

Beds and Boxes on 404's usually have some sort of hinge or pivot type attachments so the frame can flex independent of the bed.

bigmellon · 07-02-2009, 01:12 PM

Something similar to this??

I would highly recomend using the stock mounts and pivots fromt eh 404.1 in the base of your flatbed...

Dog Taxi · 07-02-2009, 06:37 PM

Charlie,

If you take that off road you’re going to be breaking welds constantly as the frame tries to move to keep the wheels on the ground. One of the biggest things that separate Unimogs from all others is frame flex. You need to get a sub frame or fab up your own with the pivot up front then mount your bed frame to it. It’s not that big a job. It looks like you’ve done a nice job with the bed frame, a few more hours work and you’ll have a bed that will be trouble free.
Good luck,
Jeff

deelux 247 · 07-02-2009, 07:19 PM

I have read up on a few posts about the frame flex and bed mounting and I wasn't 100% sure about how the best way to mount it would be. Right now I just had the bed tacked in place to get the overall placement of the mounts and get the main design of the bed squared away. Right now the bed is sitting in my garage as I am finishing up the bed rails, finish welding, and painting it before I put it back on. My plan is to use the existing mounts and use a bolted connection in lieu of a welded connection. Do I need to have some kind of bushing in this area or a slip joint? Let me know what you guys think as I am by no means an expert in this area.
Thanks,

deelux 247 · 07-02-2009, 07:37 PM

Here are a couple pictures of how the bed looks right now. I haven't decided on decking yet or whether or not I want to infill the sides. Other than that all I have left is to build the mount for the fuel tank, batteries and get the mounting plates welded up. I hope to have the bed done and mounted by the end of the weekend. The last picture shows how I moved the rear most mount forward to use as an attachment point for the bed. So far I haven't spent any money on the bed other than grinding and cutoff wheels

. Let me know if you have any other questions.

yarr · 07-02-2009, 08:49 PM

Deelux, that's a really fine fabricating work.

63TLF8 · 07-03-2009, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deelux 247

I have read up on a few posts about the frame flex and bed mounting and I wasn't 100% sure about how the best way to mount it would be. My plan is to use the existing mounts and use a bolted connection in lieu of a welded connection. Do I need to have some kind of bushing in this area or a slip joint? Let me know what you guys think as I am by no means an expert in this area.
Thanks,

Hi deelux 247,

I agree with all the preceeding comments about frame flex. Your tray is so substantial that any solid mounts will really get a hiding even driving over a kerb.

When you got your 404.115 MOG, was it a TLF? If so at some stage it would have had a torsion free sub-frame fitted to the body. In my case I used the full MB torsion free subframe and longtitudinals and constructed my frame on the original longtitudinals.

I've added two pictures of my tray under construction and decked. There are bound to be other solutions but I can at least say mine works just like the factory one, even better as the Pritsche mounts still rely on some tray flex whereas the four point mount completely isolates the tray from the chassis twist.

Hope that helps

Tony

deelux 247 · 07-03-2009, 07:40 AM

Thanks for the kind words guys. When I got my 404.115 it didn't have the bed on it but it was sitting nearby. I looked at it and it was just a fabbed bed made by the previous owner which was hard mounted to the factory mounts. I will look at making some kind of flexible joint for the frame to still be able to flex under the bed. I hope to be working on the mounts tomorrow so I will look into some options before then.
Thanks again,
deelux