Which is best suited for a custom bed. Replace an exsisting 3500 dually crew pickup bed, or start with a chassis frame. One better than the other? Understand the frame's are different. Using it to pull a 36 foot 5'er.:help:

If you get a cab and chassis you dont get the spare tire.

Which is best suited for a custom bed. Replace an exsisting 3500 dually crew pickup bed, or start with a chassis frame. One better than the other? Understand the frame's are different. Using it to pull a 36 foot 5'er.:help:

With a chassis cab you don't have to pull a bed off. A chassis cab dually is 8" narrower and 4" longer (cab to rear axle) than a standard dually pu. Chassis cabs are limited in cab configs, package options, colors and availability.

Custom bed builders should have both kind of beds for about the same price.

FYI, my father runs welding rigs (pipeliner) and used to buy chassis cabs until the mid 90's. He was able to get better prices and options on dually pickups. Plus, he could keep the custom welding bed for the next truck by reinstalling the dually pu bed when he traded/sold the old truck.

Cab & chassis trucks do come with a spare tire. Got one. If you want a flatbed, I'd suggest the C&C.

One problem I have noticed with buying a C&C VS. a truck with a bed is the C&C typically sell, trade-in, and overall value are less. My neighbor hauls FEMA trailers for a living and bought a C&C once, said he wouldnt do that again. He buys new every two years and removes the bed and installs a westrn hauler bed, then turns around and re-installs the original bed before taking it in for trade-in. He has used the same WH bed for three trucks now, and is hoping that it will fit on the 07's.

Best way is to price out both trucks in the option package that you want. Price out the new/used bed for install. Then go to something like Kelley Blue Book and check the trade-in values for two 05's in the same option group that you are considering. That should help to eliminate any doubt in your mind of which way is the best for you personally.

I would agree that buying a C&C and installing a flatbed probably decreases the resale value, but for my purpose, it is ideal. I never get rid of a truck. They just get delegated to lower tasks. On the farm, a flatbed is just a lot easier for hooking up to trailers, hauing big stuff, and no flimsy sheet metal to rip off. My flatbed is made of 3/16 and 1/4" steel, so if you manage to bend or break something, just hammer it back, re-weld it, and rattle can it. Try that with a normal dually bed.

Which is best suited for a custom bed. Replace an exsisting 3500 dually crew pickup bed, or start with a chassis frame.
That really depends on what you're trying to do. Both have their advantages. The Chassis Cab's narrower frame and 4" longer cab-to-axle allows larger toolboxes to be mounted in front of the the rear wheels. This could be an advantage, unless you intend to put something heavy in those boxes (like auxiliary batteries), in which case it might make supporting that weight more difficult. In the area just behind the cab, the chassis cab's frame offsets inward from the normal width under the cab to the narrow width of the back section, meaning that to use all of this space would require beveling the front inside corner of the box. The regular 3500 frame is relatively flat in this area (except for the front bed mount) all the way to the cab.

The standard width chassis cab axle is about 66" (same as 3500SRW), which results in less than 48" clear distance between the inside tires. The chassis cab's narrower rear frame has less torsional rigidity. The back of the chassis cab's rear frame rails are not as strong as the regular 3500 (7" high vs. 8"), and combined with the narrower frame width would provide a less stable towing platform. And of course, hitch recievers designed for the regular pickup won't fit the chassis cab.

The height off the ground of chassis cab's frame rails is about 2" lower than a regular 3500, which would allow the deck of a custom bed to be mounted lower, except that the fuel filler necks normally have to go over the top of the frame rails, negating this advantage (unless you make clearance bulges in the deck). The regular 3500 filler neck passes over the frame where the frame slopes downward toward cab level, allowing a bed to mount directly on top of the frame rails.

The chassis cab is available with a rear 23 gal. fuel tank, which along with the 27 gal. side tank, totals 50 gals. The side tank is completely different (narrower) than a normal pickup tank. Both tanks extend all the way down to the bottom of the frame rail under the cab (unlike the fuel tank in a regular HD pickup, which is more than an inch above the bottom of the frame rail).

Last, but perhaps not least to some people, the chassis cab is available in regular or extended cabs only; crew cab is not available.

You might consider looking through the upfitter's guide to help you decide. http://www.gmupfitter.com/publicat/2007_BB/2007_GMT800_CK.pdf