F150 SuperCrew SledDeck

[94fordguy]

Can it be done?
Oh yes, I see people do it all the time with airbags...

Is it the safest setup?
Probably not the best idea to have a couple 11 foot long sleds sitting 3 ft above a 5-1/2ft bed... you technically have as much sled behind the taillights as you do in front of them.

Is it Legal?
That's pushing it... depending on the weight of your deck, sleds, gear and passengers, it's pretty likely that you may be over the LEGAL limit by a couple hundred pounds.

I've got a 1-ton specifically for the fact that I not only have plenty of legal weight rating to spare, but I also have more command over whatever I'm hauling or towing... When the roads turn to glare ice and all you can do is walk the road at 25mph (or less), that's when it's really nice to have a heavy, stable truck in control of your load. I had a friend follow me up a forest road a couple years ago trying to get to a place to unload and turn around, he was in a half ton silverado and was sliding all over the place in 4wd trying to follow me at 15 mph... I never spun a tire and was in 2wd... I've witnessed it with other friends in half tons too, and it kind of makes me chuckle a little bit how easy a 1-ton makes it look...

So my advice would be to do whatever you can to make it through this year, and look at upgrading to a bigger truck as soon as circumstances allow.

 

[Goinboardin]

I run a flatbed on a supercab 6.5' box half ton. Good tires, stout springs, and maintained chassis parts are a must. I tried a sled deck years back. Didn't like that much. The flatbed is slick. It's stable, no funky sway, and I don't use 4x4 unless we're on unplowed FS roads early season. I built the bed to weigh the same as the factory box/bumper/tailgate, so I'm at least very near legal instead of 500lbs over. Ramp stores underneath. My deck is 90" wide by 90" long. No need for 96" or 102" width. By going 90" I was able to make fixed sides (saves weight), without the thing being any wider than the mirrors. With a half ton, it's important to save weight wherever you can and not over build like most guys will do with a tonner. I was told my design would fold in half by those types--so I did the calculations to assure myself and have hauled sleds thousands of miles, plus much more weight in firewood and dirt. That said, I'm not sure a 5.5' bed is much of a truck to start with for a flatbed sled hauler?