bed conversions

[sonseeker]

Has someone wrote a "how to" on converting a swb fleetside to 88-98 sportside?

[stueber68]

To my knowledge they bolt reght up. Look kind of funny with an extra fuel inlet though. I'm not a huge fan of them because the wheel arches don't match. There is somebody here who added the rounded arches to one somewhere.

[westofb]

I helped a buddy mount on on a 69 chevy, to get it to line up best with the back of the cab and the lower body seem, we fabbed up some mounting brackets from square tubing. The front was 1 1/2" tubing and the rear of the bed was 2" tubing. The beds don't look that bad on these trucks, the wheel openings look kind of goofy, but it looks a lot better than a rusted out original bed and you cand find the newer beds rust free on craigslist for $250-400 almost every day.

And no they do not just bolt up, will require some minor fab work!

[westofb]

I helped a buddy mount on on a 69 chevy, to get it to line up best with the back of the cab and the lower body seem, we fabbed up some mounting brackets from square tubing. The front was 1 1/2" tubing and the rear of the bed was 2" tubing. The beds don't look that bad on these trucks, the wheel openings look kind of goofy, but it looks a lot better than a rusted out original bed and you cand find the newer beds rust free on craigslist for $250-400 almost every day.

And no they do not just bolt up, will require some minor fab work!

[woodman13]

They are fairly easy to install. I have done it two times and one time I cut a long bed into a short bed and I just used the mounts off the new stepside and welded them on the old frame. The second time I used some square stock and fabbed the mounts up from that. It was not hard to install. (sorry I can't be more help my memory is not that good these days...lol... I guess I am getting to old)

I have looked at wheel openings on the bed swaps and did some looking and most of the cars I like from the 50-60's did not have wheel openings that were the same on the front and the rear...and you never heard anyone talking about those cars. I would rather have a clean rust free bed than a rusted dented original bed anyday. I have a 1971 sportside swb BBC right now and it is very cool looking with the new bed on it IMO.

[sonseeker]

Thanks for the info. So it's 1 1/2" in the front and 2" in the rear. Does the frame have to be cut shotened? How many places does the box need to be attached to the frame? What did you use for a rear bumper and where to get them,rollpan or? Do the tailichts plug right in or?

[westofb]

Originally Posted by sonseeker

Thanks for the info. So it's 1 1/2" in the front and 2" in the rear. Does the frame have to be cut shotened? How many places does the box need to be attached to the frame? What did you use for a rear bumper and where to get them,rollpan or? Do the tailichts plug right in or?

That is the sizes we used on his truck. We just bolted down at the 4 corners, used a roll pan, and used both sides of the original taillight plug from the 69. The plugs are not even close but the wire colors are the same so it is easy to splice together.

[westofb]

Frame not shortened!

[Tx Firefighter]

I did it once on one of my trucks. Like the guys said, it sits into place and you need to fab up some spacers to go between the bed and frame. It's dead simple once you get it set into place.

I don't agree with just putting a spacer on all 4 corners though. I originally did that on my truck but noticed when I walked in the bed you could feel it flexing in the center. You need to add another pair of spacers between the front and rear set to support the bed along it's full length. Once the bed is mounted on the corners just take a tape measure and check what the gap is between the frame and bed over the axle and stick something that thickness in there.

[sonseeker]

Thanks again for the info you were right on 1 1/2" in the front and 2" in the rear. But i got up in the middle with the and jumped up and down and was as solid as a rock! Now to figure out the wiring and where to get a roll pan LMC or?

[westofb]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I don't agree with just putting a spacer on all 4 corners though. I originally did that on my truck but noticed when I walked in the bed you could feel it flexing in the center. You need to add another pair of spacers between the front and rear set to support the bed along it's full length. Once the bed is mounted on the corners just take a tape measure and check what the gap is between the frame and bed over the axle and stick something that thickness in there.

I never noticed the bed flexing in his truck, but it was never meant to be used as a truck, just to look pretty. It is probably a good idea add more attachment points if you intend to use it as a truck.