bedsleds rebirth

[bedsled71]

yes the track bar is in place of the panhard bar.. since a 2 link doesnt articulate like a 3 or 4 link. (one wheel up, one wheel down). its simple and creats a triangle that doesnt allow lateral movement of the bars. since the bars dont articulate, both bars move up and down together. so having the track bar on the links gets rid of the side pull of a panhard bar because its not at a fixed location and moves with the suspension

[FnLow69]

man that looks good, making real good progress. how much longer tell its done??

[bedsled71]

i have no idea, i still have to finish the floor inside the cab. i dont have any sheetmetal for that yet. i dont feel like starting all the little things, fuel lines, fittings, valves, wiring, ect..

[bedsled71]

got alittle more done today.. looks like nothing but alot of work.. boxed the inside frame rails of the Z. made a raised tranny crossmember, filled in the gas filler hole in the cab and started the tranny tunnel inside the cab

[nhtc33d]

Man, That's looking great! how do you figure out How much did you need to raise the tranny crossmember?

[bedsled71]

i Z'ed the frame 2 1/2 inches, i dont know how much i actully raised the crossmember i put a 1 x 2 in the frame rails. and then started putting spacers under the tranny till i got the right angle of the tail shaft so that and the pinion angle matched

[bedsled71]

started the trans tunnel. i made it taller then it had to be

[bedsled71]

its now time to try and fit this bed. im so stumped on what to do with it because my tires hit my rear fenders.. it burned through the paint before so i did something stupid and cut holes in the tops of the fenders for the tires to clear..
i dont know if i should raise the bed and lower the steps. or stretch the tops of the fenders.. sounds stupid to some people but all this work i still want the steps laying on the ground

[FnLow69]

I would section and add inches to the fenders and fix the holes in the top of them.... Looks good otherwise

[bedsled71]

either way im going to fill in the holes in the tops of the fenders..
the fenders would only be able to be stretched about 1 1/4 inch till they would hit the top bed rail roll.. so im thinking im going to raise the bed 1 inch and then stretch the bottom of the step 1 inch.. that would probably be the easiest thing to do

[FnLow69]

your body line will be off (or atleast more noticable) this way

[bedsled71]

well my bodyline from the cab to the bed doesnt connect. it stops where the step is and then starts back on the fender, a distance of im guessing.. 1 1/2 feet so it wont be as easy to see the difference.. in the future im will get a fleetside bed and wont have to worry about the clearence issue

[bw4sale]

in the future im will get a fleetside bed and wont have to worry about the clearence issue

Nah! I can't wait to see the step bed sitting on the ground. It'll work out and look awesome.

[bedsled71]

update:
today i stated to stretch the steps. they lay on the ground when aired out and my tires hit my fenders. i will be raising the bed 1 inch so i am stretching the step 1 inch.. here are some pictures of of what ive done so far.

[abadsvt]

Looking sweet! I really like your idea on supporting the air bag brackets. I had the exact same idea and mentioned it to Justin then i came across yours. Great minds think alike. How are you planning on suporrting the bed since you backhalfed it? Anyways great job and glad to see the stepsides guys are still being represented!!

Josh

[bedsled71]

i have a few ideas on supporting the bed but i havent started anything. it would be so much easier for me to layout with a fleetside with 20s but since its stepside its making it challanging, which is good because its making me think and progress and there arent too many of them

[bedsled71]

here are some pictures of the steps stretched 1 inch

[bedsled71]

a couple more

[SCOTI]

I respect the amount of work & think you you've done an outstanding job. Standing back & looking @ it, do you still feel the same about the body lines?

[bedsled71]

yes, i dont really feel that it is that bad on the eyes. its only an inch, if the body lines were close together like on a fleetside it would to a bigger issue.

i also think i figured out how to permanently mount the bed. i will be working on that sat night and sunday

[bedsled71]

not too much progess on the truck. i still need rear shocks, headers and electric fan. other than that most of the hard work is done.. still havnt figured out what im going to do with the dash... tonight i did a 1 inch bumper drop.. doesnt look bad, i just z'ed the front frame horns an inch where the bumper brackets mount

[Frizzle Fry]

I don't think the body lines look too bad. If it were mine I'd have made the fenders taller above the arches and brought them up to the bed rails. But it's yours, not mine.

Another idea for you; Since you raised the whole bed and dropped the steps and front bumper you might want to lower the rear of the fenders. They're already sorta up there visually in stock form. Now they're gonna look way high. I'd add a pie section to bring the front of the rear fenders down. That'll give it a nice "kick-up" and balance the rear out with the rest of the changes you've made.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

I don't think the body lines look too bad. If it were mine I'd have made the fenders taller above the arches and brought them up to the bed rails. But it's yours, not mine.

As a fellow stepsider, I'm feeling some real pain around the lower body line. While there is indeed a gap of a foot or so between cab and fender, the mind's eye doesn't care about that... it seeks to connect the lines together, and it sees them as misaligned.

My 2 cents.

[SanitysBane]

Alot of work went into that, but to me it sticks out pretty bad. Just my $0.02

[bedsled71]

owell, i dont think its that bad, plus its my truck and i built it for me. my 98 cents