bobbed the bed on my '89 pickup (1 Viewer)

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Mike C

Mike C

Joined
May 16, 2006
Threads
13
Messages
362
Location
Minnesota
Website
www.rc-offroad.com
Well I bobbed the bed this weekend.... Last weekend I swapped beds, found one in good shape for a good price. I also started on a new rear bumper, its almost finished.

The lower half of the rear bumper is a removable drop bumper, 4 bolts and its ready to hit the trails. I'll post up some pics of it pulled off after I finish the main bumper, and paint everything.

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Thanks :)

Took out 12 inches, after making several measurements. I took a few pics the night I did all the cutting, they didn't turn out the best though.

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Cool :)

Bend up some side hoops last night, and welded them up. Now I just need to trim the ends to size, and weld the end caps on.

Few pics I snapped this morning.

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Well as soon as I got home last night, I backed the truck into the garage for a full night of body work. Started out by patching the one small rust hole in the bed, cutting out a section of the removed 12 inches and welding it in. Then I blended in the lower drivers side corner on the outside. After everything was smooth, I ruffed up the metal for the body filler. And I spent most of the night laying body filler and sanding it down... I wasn't finished with the body filler until midnight. There were still a few small voids, but I didn't want to spend another hour on the body filler. So I cleaned the body up and sprayed two coats of primer, followed by two spray bomb coats of paint. I think I got to bed around 2am....


This morning I went back out to the garage, and masked the body off for the black paint. Sprayed one coat of black, then bolted the bumpers and tail lights back on while it dried. Pulled off the tape and headed off to work. I stopped at a park to take a few pics on my way in to work.

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The cab paint job was a roller paint job :)

But since it is rustoleum, I can get the same color in a rattle can.
 
SizzleChest said:
how did you get a tonneau cover to fit your bobbed bed?
Click to expand...

Sawzall for the rails

Scissors for the cover.... The cover has a loop sewn into the ends, with a 1/4" rod inside the loop. This slides through the front and rear cap extrusions. Right now the loop is only folded over the rod, but it holds well enough at 50-60mph. However, when I was on the freeway the other day, at 70mph it did start to slip. I am going to have one of my sisters who has done some furniture repair, sew the loop for me tonight.

Basically I was determined to make it fit again. Its nice to have, as it keeps rain off my stuff and hides what I have in the bed.
 
Well I had a chance to take my truck out on some local trails yesterday. These trails are built around jeeps, not long wheel base trucks.... So the trails are tight, the bobbed bed was doing great all day. Well that is until the very last trail, it was up a hill with a sharp turn to the left, tree on the top inside corner, and as I was swinging the turn wide my front bumper hit a tree on the right side of the trail. I tried several times to avoid this inside tree, but it took out the drivers side of my new bed. I should be able to pop most of the dents out, I've had body damage before. And the paint is just rustoleum, making touch up a breeze.

Sorry, I didn't snap any pics of my truck on the trail, waiting for others to post up the pics they took.

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Used the rear bumper a few times, kept me off a few trees. I also had to use one of the rear shackles to get pulled back after getting high centered.

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Doh! :whoops:

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Front bumper was also used, to guide me around a tree, trails were not long wheel base friendly.

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You can see the small dent above the tail light in this picture :doh:

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If the weather holds out, I will be doing some more body work this weekend :beer:
 
Nice Bob-Job

Do you have any tips for the prep, cut , weld or finish? I have never done anything this ambitious.
 
I've never done anything this big either, I just went for it :) I've learned a lot about welding over the past year, and finally feel comfortable welding sheet metal. And I read over this thread a few times, and kept looking at the pictures for about a week before I did this. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394399

Just follow the basics and you will be fine. Measure your tape lines before you cut a few times. Take your time with the cuts. Tac weld the panels back together and make sure everything lines up before you do any serious welding. I had to grind my tac weld a few times on the passenger side until it lined up properly. I also had to use bondo to smooth out the bob, as the metal sucked in from the heat. But I took my time with it, and it held up on the trail so far.
 
what size tires are those ?
 
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