how to lift my bed to match bodylines???

[madmopar]

Hey guys, I have a 70 c/10 on a 78ish?? chassis. The rear of the frame was hacked off the make the frame lenghts (70 to 78) match. I moved the rear axle forward 4 inches to get correct tire/fenderwell locations. The PO had the bed installed with flimsy little 2 inch spacers on each corner, and the truck looked bent in the middle. am putting it back on, and need about 2.5 inches of lift in the front and about 3 in the back - Give or take 1/4 inch at each end. I'm thinking about laying a piece of 2.5 square tubing straight across the front, and a piece of 3 inch across the back. Then I'd connect the corners with 2 or 2.5 inch tubing. I'd like to do an "X" connecting them, but might just go parallel with the frame. My questions are Does anyone have any better ideas on how to do this, and do you think this would support much weight? Like say a load of wood stacked to the top of the cab?

Heres a pic of the truck when I got it



And one of it now - before the bed is back on it.

[Travis K]

You would probably want to run some supports in the center of the box too, to keep it from bending in the middle. I am having the same problem with a '68 chassis and a '71 bed. The bed is sitting about 1-1.5" below the cab.

[madmopar]

I had to raise it more than I thought I would. About 3.25 in the front, and about 4.25 in the back. I used stock 2.5 inch suspension lift blocks from a ford ranger and a part of body mount for the front. The back required more creativity. I used a couple bumper prbrackets off a dodge dakota. It reguired me drilling 4 holes in the frame and moving the mounting location in the bed outbout an inch on each side. I am going to go back and put a 4"tube undet the center bed sill - because it works out to exactly 4 inches right there. I have to get the tube sometime this week, but I got it looking correct now... Here are the after pics - go to page 1 for the before pics. Forgive the pics - I didn't have the camera today. I'll get better ones w/ some underneath shots this week.







The rear shot looks tilted, but its just my amatuer photography skills... In reality, It looks level.