bed swap

[bufmatmuslepants]

i need a new bed BADLY on my truck (the bumper fell off on the road the other day and the bed is sitting about an inch lower because the mounts are GONE) and ive been having problems finding a 73-87 short bed. i have found a few 88-98 short beds, and have seen a few 73-87 trucks over the years with 88-98 beds on them. how hard of a swap is this? does it just bolt right up? what other year beds would fit on my truck, and if i went to a stepside would it be any different? i am just looking to get a solid bed for as cheap as possible. thanks.

[knightlife]

check at any and all local junkyard/salvage yards...they may have one for your truck

[Srubydo1986]

i got nothin i only come across long beds

[xtreme80]

I can't imagine an 88-98 bed looking good at all on your truck. If the overall shape even matched, you could still forget the body lines matching.

[Srubydo1986]

well if his sides are good could he use the floor and mounts for his bed

[bigblock73]

I am not a fan of newer beds on older trucks. With that said, here are some pics for you to look at, decide for yourself.

[Pyrotechnic]

I have seen a 88-98 fleetside bed on a 73-87 truck. It didn't look good at all. The only reason the owner did it was because it was a work truck and it was for functionality and hauling only. Old bed rotted out, newer style bed was cheap and available.

The stepside bed looks OK I guess, but I wouldn't do it to a 73-87.

[xtreme80]

The blue one first pic pulls it off pretty well, the rest look pretty bad IMO

[bufmatmuslepants]

i know there ugly, but its more likely id find a solid bed from a 88-98 than a solid bed from a 73-87. i was hoping i could just use the floor and wheel wells and inside sides but put the 73-87 side skins and tailgate back on. my tailgate is in good shape, but thats the only thing on my bed that hasnt deteriorated beyond reconition (and the drop in bed liner). im still not sure if the newer bed will bolt onto my truck, particularly the fleetside.

[Pyrotechnic]

Originally Posted by xtreme80

The blue one first pic pulls it off pretty well, the rest look pretty bad IMO

The blue one looks so good because the rear steps on the bed are shaved. Shaved rear steps are key to that bed looking good on a 67-72 or 73-87.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by bufmatmuslepants

i was hoping i could just use the floor and wheel wells and inside sides but put the 73-87 side skins and tailgate back on. my tailgate is in good shape, but thats the only thing on my bed that hasnt deteriorated beyond reconition (and the drop in bed liner). im still not sure if the newer bed will bolt onto my truck, particularly the fleetside.

No, it will not "bolt on". It can be made to work as you see in the pics that Jeff posted. You can not use parts from a 73-87 bed combined with an 88-98 bed either.

You need to consider looking out of your area. I see beds on Craigslist.com all the time around here.

[Roper]

Im in the same situation. I have to replace my box. LMC has the cheapest parts. Example bed panels have gone down to $300. Locally two suppliers claim there aftermarket panels are better than the ones that I have heard so much bad suff about. Homestly im wondering if their is any difference between them and LMC. Nobody can give me a Brand Name for their panels so they might all have been made in the same factory in China.
So far I have had no luck finding a good used box to put on my truck.
Hey what about fiberglass? There is an outfit in Florida that makes complete fiberglass beds. Any of you have oppinions on fiberglass?
I use my truck for work and im thinking fiberglass wont be strong enough?

[86swb]

From what I have heard you do not want to buy metal parts from LMC. They are thinner than OE and made who knows where. I believe it was on here that someone bought a tail gate from LMC and when he went to close it he put a big dent in it from just pushing it shut. Now this is hear say. But have not heard anything good about the bed parts from them.

[Roper]

This weekend on trucks TV they were using a new bed from this company http://www.pros-pick.com/pickupbeds.html
I looked them up on the web and their beds for 73 to 87s cost $1600 plus shipping. The quality of their beds are sapposed to be really good.

[bigblock73]

Originally Posted by Roper

This weekend on trucks TV they were using a new bed from this company http://www.pros-pick.com/pickupbeds.html
I looked them up on the web and their beds for 73 to 87s cost $1600 plus shipping. The quality of their beds are sapposed to be really good.

Ouch!! That price doesn't include fenders or tailgate.

[bufmatmuslepants]

im not lookin to spend more than $250 on a bed, when i was calling around the local junkyards around here i was quoted $800 and laughed at him and hung up. i only paid $1200 for my whole truck! i went through the entire phone book with no luck finding a bed within 150 miles of morgantown. i have no problem getting crappy fitting chinese bedsides because my truck is NEVER going to be a show truck, i just need to get it street legal. i think the front panels and hood on my truck are aftermarket because there isnt a hint of rust on them anywhere and they are freshly primed. i just gotta find out where the previos owner got them and hopefully they sell bedsides and floors.

oh yea, thanks for the advice with the swaps with newer beds, i was really close to buying one, but now will keep in the hunt for a 73-87.

[Roper]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

Ouch!! That price doesn't include fenders or tailgate.

I thought it included everything except the tailgate? Well I have found some local beds but none are as in as good of shape as the bed thats on my truck right now. Im thinking patch panels is all I need. The only rust spots are above the wheel wells where the mud sticks because of those inner fenders. Im thinking I might not replace those inner fender pockets because they trap mud and you cant really clean them out.
I like the idea of a brand new bed though. $1600 isnt to bad considering what the labor cost will be to fix up my old bed which has a few small dents here and there plus a couple of the bed floors trusses will have to be repaired.
The way I look at is look at how much a new truck costs.

[babyJay]

Go to www.car-part.com and enter in your criteria. You have to enter it as a 10 series for the search engine to give you the option of ShortBox. Choose to sort by distance and enter your zipcode. There are a dozen or so out there in your price range. Enjoy!