New Dog Training Truck
A few months ago I sold my Polaris Ranger and have been looking around for a new dog training/hunting outfit. My neighbor helped me find this little Ford Ranger V6 4X4 at auction that had rear-end body damage. We got a good deal on it (2004 with 74,000 miles) and popped the bed off. After a bit of searching we found and ordered this aluminum flatbed from a company called Aluma in Iowa. It was hard to find a flatbed for a small truck, but I wanted to be able to have access to all sides for loading and unloading dogs and gear. I am waiting on a custom dog box from Diamond Deluxe to finish the truck. I enjoyed the Polaris but was disappointed with the gas mileage and buying new front tires all the time from driving on paved roads. I thought a light truck with a flat bed would be just right. So far, I love it. Thanks to my neighbor from JRS Auto Repair for helping me find the truck at auction and mounting the flatbed for me.
Great pick up. I really like the fact that you have a dog box. I see so many people who just tie the dog up to the back and you see the dog struggling to keep his footing as the car drives around.
Those Diamond Deluxe boxes look great, should match the tray nicely.
nice truck I have been looking for one too..they are very hard to find…happy hunting!
I’ve never seen a Ford Ranger outfitted with a flatbed. I think it looks great. Rangers are fairly affordable trucks too. Aluma doesn’t seem to have any prices listed. Around how much did you pay for the flatbed?
Was wondering what size bed you went with. Was it the 66 x 77? I’m looking at the larger 68 x 88.. Hoping it would fit without to much over lap. Has it held up well?
I ended up getting the 66″ x 87″ bed. Mostly because it was all they had in stock. The bed is great. The only problem I ran into is that it was a little long for my receiver hitch. The hitch barely sticks out past the bed, just enough to get a trailer hitched on. Some trailers with the vertical riser, I just can’t pull. I imagine I can get a longer hitch post, but the standard ones are a little too short. The width would not be a big deal either, and the extra couple inches would be nice. Another slight problem I had was a good way to mount the gas lid. It is a little low (nearly level) and I sometimes have to place a block under the rear wheel to get some elevation at the gas pump. Also, I had to place covers over the bed rail slots. Had a dog stick a leg through and jump off the bed break the leg. A $10 fix with some scrap lumber and I could of avoided a bad break and $500 in vet bills. I used some of that synthetic lumber to fill the slots. Hope this helps.