Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Thinking about flat bed 4X4 instead of a new Jeep, comments ?

I know a few hard core 4X4 hunters that use flat bed pickups for their hunting vehicles. Noticed this both out in the deserts and in Montana this last year. Apparently the angle of attack more closely matches the angle of departure, it's easy to get more weight on the back end, and your loading options are wider. Thoughts anyone ? E

prolly noticed them in Montana cause someone was using their work/farm truck out hunting.....have yet to see one on a truck that wasnt used as some sort of work truck the rest of the year...lots of ranchers have them cause they are easier to haul hay bales on....

Stick on the side racks and they make pretty good horse/cow haulers, too. They're work trucks.
There are some variations of them. Some have wheel wells that have to be worked around. That's no different than a regular bed. Others are high enough so no wheel well is needed. That's the plus, but they're quite a bit higher and more top heavy.

if you have a need to haul stuff , they are handy as all hell...


plus , I don't see why one wouldn't work good to haul a camper.....should be easy to strap it down .

Yes, at least some of them were work trucks. But I do know a really hard core desert nut or two that bought them strickly as off road/hunting/camping vehicles. At least one of them, bought a replacement when he wore out his first.
I've owned a couple of 3/4 ton, 4X4's. In snow and ice, they seem to work better than the lighter Jeeps simply because they are heavier. Helps them bite through the ice, etc.
Never met a 3/4 ton truck that could fit into really tight places like a Jeep or ride nearly as nicely as the Jeep Wranglers do off road. Driver fatigue can be a factor I've learned. E

If you 're talking about something like the vehicle in the net pic below, drop no_one a PM about them as they are hugely popular configuation for 4x4 hunting vehicles in Australia...IIRC they refer to they as "tray backs"



Not sure why they are so popular, but I'm guessing in part it may be that they are reasonably easy to customise or re configure to the individuals needs...

If you search on the 4x4 sections of the various Australian Hunting Forums, you will see some very good looking trucks indeed with al manner of bespoke custom builds on the back.

You mention serious off-roading...in the UK the various small Suzuki's are often used for this and chopped into flat backs.



While they are brilliant off-road, its not a very practical configuration for a hunting truck, but thats just my humble opinion..

could be different down your way, was just referring to Montana or atleast my corner of it.....that style bed is almost always on a ranch or work truck, course round here if you have a dedicated hunting rig there is a good chance its 20 years old......most just use whatever truck they drive the rest of the year.....

havent used a 3/4 ton for hunting, just 1/2 tons, have used my FIL's CJ7 and my Cherokee.....will say the short wheel base is handy at times.....in all honesty for chasing big game i prefer the truck just for the storage space, ive got a CJ5 for warm weather varmint shooting and as i said my FIL's CJ7 but i think we have only took the 7 out for one or two weekends in the last 8 years...in certain circumstances the short wheel base is great but more often than not the trucks benefits win out....

I've thought about one to haul my llamas elk hunting. I could get at least 1 & maybe 2 more in the back than is possible with a slide-in stock rack. Then I could take both the llamas and a camp trailer.

E, get one these. Use the arms to load/unload elk!

Those Suzukis are pretty darn good off road that is for sure

Its only a pity the SJ and the Jimny don't come with a diesel engine from the factory; for off-roading, that really would be the icing on the cake!

Sam, that takes the cakes. Love it !
Around here, we have the world famous Rubicon Trail, so lots of 4X4's get modified extensively. I've got a buddy with a very modified Suzuki Samuri.
Anyway, still thinking and looking. A shorter, 6-7 ft. bed and the spare mounted in the bed for starters.
Thinking about buying or renting a trailer with surge brakes for towing it, and some off road tires, etc.
Thanks for your comments guys. E

I love the Rubicon trail.



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SamO-is that a DewEze? Can't tell from the pic. If so, they're built not far from where I live, everybody that runs beef cows around here has them on their trucks.

They work really well for loading 4-wheelers as well. A chain from one arm goes to the rear rack, the other arm gets chained to the front rack, and then you just lift it onto the bed. No ramps needed.

For hunting though, I'd rather have a conventional bed. We just haul coolers/totes/propane tanks, so a flat bed would have to be configured with side rails to hold it all in for the long trips.

If I were farming though you couldn't get me to not have a flat bed. My old boss had his set-up right. Quick release toolbox that locked to the bed from the inside of the box. Additional storage in front of and behind the wheels. Large vice mounted on the back corner. Racks for cutting tanks/torches to be secured when needed. Worked good for cowboying in the pastures as well as fixing row-crop equipment out in the field..

Forget the surge brakes. Spend the money for an electric controller. Surge brakes are murder in the mountains. Coming down, the trailer is riding the brakes all the time. Maintenance on them is considerably more difficult, too, because of the hydraulics.
They're used extensively on boat trailers because of the water problems, but non-corrosive electric brakes are become more available.
DOT regulations say that the driver must be able to set the trailer brakes independently of the brake pedal so technically, they're illegal. However, the law is generally ignored as you can see from the millions of Uhaul and boat trailers on the road.

Cheesy, that's a Hydrabed, my dad used to have a F250 with a DewEze and it was okay but the Hydra is alot stouter and works great.

And like you say they work really well for loading 4 wheelers.

I also gotta agree that I'd much rather have a regular box on a pickup for bombing around the hills. Easy to loose chit on a flatbed if it ain't tied down.

Just for fun last Friday I priced out a new diesel F350. $46k for a regular cab dually, chassis only. Figure another $9k for a Hydra...way too rich for my blood!

If you're really into hunting get a flatbed complete with an automatic feeder.

I hear they're real popular down in Texas....(grin)

They are handy for gooseneck trailers and hay bales. Those are about the only reasons I'd have one.