88 Xtra Cab: My Ass Is Useless

[ScooterFJ40]

Well this is officially my first post about my 1988 Xtra Cab pickup; I recently bought the truck and I'm still deciding what I want to do with it.

The rear has been four linked, the little thing has some remarkable clearance and will flex hard; front is a full shackle reverse - so not too fancy.

Otherwise it has some other things here and there: a front locker, Marlin Crawler gears, solid axle swaps, etc.

But the issue that bugs me the most is the rear end; it has a somewhat tastefully designed flatbed that allows for enough clearance and houses the fuel tank, but other than that the thing is totally useless.

It has no cargo room, it's also partially completely, and it's just not something I'd like to keep on.

So being the unimaginative person I am, I'd figure I would ask you guess: what should I do with it?

My three main thoughts were either redesign the flatbed, find a bed for it and dovetail it, or my personal favorite, do an expedition style container/ aperatus.

I'm just not sure how to approach this.

 

[ScooterFJ40]

Here are some other shots of the rear.

 

[TCinVA]

I think a nicely designed flatbed with built in storage for tools and trail spares would be cool. You could incorporate a cooler rack. Some flatbeds look really nice on minis.

 

[jynx]

Dngspot is just finishing up his flat-bed build. If you like what you have at all you could just rework the floor to incorporate some of your needs/ wants. The lines look decent, not sure what it is made of or how well it is engineered as far as triangulation and such for strength. Looks like a floor and a little extra bracing would go along way to make it more functional for you.

Course if you want to go expo, then I wouldn't throw alot into it for the interim. Just a cheap floor to get you by while you are building your expo frame. Heck some nice 2x4s and some poly would do you for now as long as the cross bracing in the floor is solid.