anyone lower their beds? (stepsides)

[cory d]

have any of you dropped the bed so the bottem of the step is level with the bottom of the rocker? i would have to raise the bed floor, no problem, it drops right in lol. would it work with the stock tanks? i may be ditching them for a 210 tank in the near future so that may not be a big isue.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Kinda looks like an s10 bed on a truck after that. If s10s had beds like that
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[special-K]

Originally Posted by cory d

have any of you dropped the bed so the bottem of the step is level with the bottom of the rocker

...and the body lines and the wheel openings don't line up and the reinforcement indents show on the back of the cab? No thanks,gain one and lose three. GM got it right IMO

[Bowed]

I agree , I feel it just doesn't look right .

[bigblock73]

Wheel wells didn't line up from the factory anyhow guys...rear was always lower

Lowered bed looks nice IMO, but the back of the cab should be smoothed..the exposed ribs have always bugged me on steppers, lowering the bed will only make them pop even more
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[bigwheel15]

Honestly the wheel wells doesn't bother me much, if the recesses on the back of the cab were smoothed out it would look perfect.
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[cory d]

i dont mind them on the side, it would look weird without those. i could lower the tops of them an inch or two. i think its beter to have the bottem line up then have the body line that is far away to line up. the rear wheel well is already almost 2" lower.

[Redcap]

It would look dumb.

[bigwheel15]

You could always lower the front wheel well opening like dv8 did to solve that problem.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

If the bed was about three inches taller and the fenders raised to body line I'm sure it would look decent
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[Low84]

This is something GM overlooked or was just plain sloppy when designing these trucks and it bugs me quite a bit. Doesn't look too bad on lifted step side but when lowered the gap is noticeable

I've thought about different things and the "easiest" would be to mess with the step and make it come down some to meet the bottom of the rocker and extend under the front lower portion of the fender

[special-K]

I have always loved GM vehicles because across the board they are the best designed and most attractive vehicles out there. Now 30+ years later guys start nitpickin' teeny details...sheesh. Stop starin' at the truck and drive it

Looks good to me:

[durty harry]

Originally Posted by special-K

I have always loved GM vehicles because across the board they are the best designed and most attractive vehicles out there. Now 30+ years later guys start nitpickin' teeny details...sheesh. Stop starin' at the truck and drive it

Looks good to me:

Well said ...

[Low84]

Originally Posted by special-K

I have always loved GM vehicles because across the board they are the best designed and most attractive vehicles out there. Now 30+ years later guys start nitpickin' teeny details...sheesh. Stop starin' at the truck and drive it

Looks good to me:

That's because you're looking at it from the top. The problem is at the bottom...

There's a difference between being brand loyal and being honest and when it comes to GM no other full-size GM body style pick up has this issue where the bottom of the bed won't come down to meet the bottom of the cab and that includes models older than 30 years

[jitteryguy]

not a step side fan so I never noticed this befor, but after look'n at the two picture's I think the orange one does look better.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Low84

That's because you're looking at it from the top. The problem is at the bottom...

There's a difference between being brand loyal and being honest and when it comes to GM no other full-size GM body style pick up has this issue where the bottom of the bed won't come down to meet the bottom of the cab and that includes models older than 30 years

I think I know what I'm looking at after 40 years. Believe me,I've looked at them from all angles. When it comes to Ford Flaresides and Dodge Utilines there's no comparison. Their beds didn't even change to go with the body style. Ford used the same bed from 53-79 and Dodge was like 52-80s(?). Their boxes were too high,IMO. I'm honestly saying that picky little tid bit just doesn't bother me at all.

[Low84]

Originally Posted by special-K

I think I know what I'm looking at after 40 years. Believe me,I've looked at them from all angles. When it comes to Ford Flaresides and Dodge Utilines there's no comparison. Their beds didn't even change to go with the body style. Ford used the same bed from 53-79 and Dodge was like 52-80s(?). Their boxes were too high,IMO. I'm honestly saying that picky little tid bit just doesn't bother me at all.

Which is why I said when it comes to GM. GM still has any other car maker beat hands down in this era. However GM also practically ran the same bed from 54-87 changing little else than the actual fenders.

Getting back on track as I actually own the red one and it's a real issue for me. I think the bed floor does have to be raised and I'm not sure on the stock fuel tanks if you're going to go the same route as the orange one. But as special-K mentioned you're going to hide the bottom gap from the eye and bring up the cab indents, the wheel opening is going to be lower (which many GM car bodies had), and the gas tank might have to be replaced. You start to have to factor in the trade offs and if it's worth it to you or not.

I already gave one of my ideas to alleviate this problem. I have one more, but I need to photoshop it first to see how it will look and if it's even worth bringing up.

[bigblock73]

Might just be easier to lower the steps down and stretch the front side of the fenders down to match

[Da88burban]

Here a quick little MS paint job of a stretch I just did.(front and rear)

I never really noticed how much higher the bed sat up than the cab but I feel its not bad the way it is. I do like the stretched look tho.

[special-K]

Stretching the panels does seem to make sense for solving this issue. I think I've seen this done on other body styles as well. I wondered about lowering these pieces,but not sure the distance to the rail would look so hot and there are a lot of mounting holes to deal with,as well as extending the front stanchion.
I think by '73 (if not '67) the Fleetsides were what the body designs were all about and the Stepsides were a carry-over for the traditionalists and to offer the cheapest base price o fleet bids. For a few it was still a preference foe easier bed access. They were more a utility bed than one for style. Not to say that in '73 there was a following for styling,just like today. It was all about the "California Stepside" back then,more than the Fleetside.