My 89 CC Dually: Double Wide

[monte0185]

So you will have to raise the center section between the wheel wells approximatley 6.5-7 inches depending on if you want to run an cross sill or not. Wonder what it would take to run a 4 bar like this with bags and not cut the frame or bed? Just getting ideas for mine. Sorry. but thanks for the info. Its looking great.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by monte0185

So you will have to raise the center section between the wheel wells approximatley 6.5-7 inches depending on if you want to run an cross sill or not. Wonder what it would take to run a 4 bar like this with bags and not cut the frame or bed? Just getting ideas for mine. Sorry. but thanks for the info. Its looking great.

Correct. Center section is raised about 6.5".

You could run a 4-bar set-up that is positioned lower F/R while being parallel for more clearance or run a set-up that's not parallel. I considered Ride Techs set-up & Porterbuilts. But, I went the direction I did based on budget goals.

I don't see how you can do any moderate amount of drop w/o cutting into the frame unless it's only getting lowered for sitting still. I drive my stuff low so a c-section was a must have. Since it is a C30, I felt that there should be no compromise in frame strength & went w/step notches to allow a full height (strength) frame section. The trade off is some bed area is lost but I would prefer that compromise vs a strength related one.

I have a full 4+ inches of clearance before the bumpstop touches.

[monte0185]

Im just wanting mine low enough to tuck the top inch or so of the tires like the front of mine but I have no desire for it to drag frame. I do alot of pulling trailers and I wanna pull a 5th wheel camper and bigger GN trailer but like you i dont want to sacrafice frame strength by cutting it but at the same time i need to keep all the bed space I can. I was just thinking i could get rid of the leaf springs and swap to bags to get the stance i like but somehow keep my bedspace but seems like its going to be one or the other i guess.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by monte0185

Im just wanting mine low enough to tuck the top inch or so of the tires like the front of mine but I have no desire for it to drag frame. I do alot of pulling trailers and I wanna pull a 5th wheel camper and bigger GN trailer but like you i dont want to sacrafice frame strength by cutting it but at the same time i need to keep all the bed space I can. I was just thinking i could get rid of the leaf springs and swap to bags to get the stance i like but somehow keep my bedspace but seems like its going to be one or the other i guess.

Mine is set-up to be basically an 8" drop & in theory should tuck the top inch or two of the tires @ ride height. The issue is compression.... I wan't 3" minimum clearance before anything touches the bumpstop which meant the bumpstop point of contact needed to be @ the top of the factory frame rail vs it being bolted to the bottom of the rail.

My 68 was bagged w/c-sections & had about 2" clearance w/no bumpstops. It could tow just fine because w/a load I would add extra room but for the ride height I wanted unloaded it made contact way more than I cared for. My 74 was the same but w/a home built AOL. My 90 is just leafs @ this point but it's worse than both of those were & can't carry anything w/o being on the bumpstops. All had stock floors....

This time around I'm not compromising:

No c-sections that consume 2/3 of the frame rails strength while still allowing contact.
No clearance issues & bumpstops installed for safety.
Better ride quality unloaded.

[aggie91]

Surely by now you have gotten something done on your bed mods. How about some pictures of the progress and an update on this one...

[SCOTI]

Yes & no....

Front re-pop bed panel swapped in place of the old mangled unit. Hammer & dollied the notch cover section of the floor to get it as straight as possible for welding in place. I started focusing on the tub flanges again & realized I should prob be building the flanges w/the center section permanently attached. This meant swapping the floors first & changing the order of things.

It was about this time I decided to hit the easy button.... I'm cutting out the old floor between the tubs & going w/a full raised floor (less fab work). I removed the center stake pocket housings, trimmed the new floor @ the rear outer corners, & have things (spacers) mocked up. I hope to swap the new floor into place over the weekend ~ next week if I can get the necessary man-power to navigate the new floor into position.

Nothing really pic worthy.

[slimneverdies]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Yes & no....

Front re-pop bed panel swapped in place of the old mangled unit. Hammer & dollied the notch cover section of the floor to get it as straight as possible for welding in place. I started focusing on the tub flanges again & realized I should prob be building the flanges w/the center section permanently attached. This meant swapping the floors first & changing the order of things.

It was about this time I decided to hit the easy button.... I'm cutting out the old floor between the tubs & going w/a full raised floor (less fab work). I removed the center stake pocket housings, trimmed the new floor @ the rear outer corners, & have things (spacers) mocked up. I hope to swap the new floor into place over the weekend ~ next week if I can get the necessary man-power to navigate the new floor into position.

Nothing really pic worthy.

Come on, everything is picture worthy around here. Especially when I need ideas

[Devillusion]

nice build so far....

[MattA]

I hope to swap the new floor into place over the weekend ~ next week if I can get the necessary man-power to navigate the new floor into position.

Nothing really pic worthy.[/QUOTE]

Let me know when you need an extra hand.

[68Timber]

I missed this one, subbed. Looking good!

[suxtobu65]

Nice build.

[SCOTI]

Thanks guys!

Floor was swapped into place as planned. I had to tweak the tailgate this week to close properly & I'm waiting on a tailgate handle relocation kit so I can get the bed Line-X'd.

Still waiting on the Porterbuilt lower front control arms.......

[SCOTI]

PB arms arrived & were nicer than expected. These guys are top notch. I need to drill holes for my bags & then have to drop them off to get coated (they're that nice) LoL....

Still waiting for the handle relocation kit from Mar-K. In the meantime I got the floor corners welded in. I also pulled the brake master cylinder off the booster to verify a few things.

My seats were dropped off @ my buddys place for recovering & I got the last 2 wheels needed JIC I get an urge to run full steelies (you never know w/me).

[aggie91]

Just saying...

[SCOTI]

T-gate handle flip complete. New t-gate lights to replace the old dead units. Bed welds cleaned up for seam sealing. Mud flaps installed (not sure if they'll have to be moved for regulatory purposes but they sure look decent as is.''

Gotta power wash the bottom side for some detailing, Line-X the inside portion of the bed, & then to quote my buddy N2Billet "buff it within an inch of it's life".

Now it's back to finishing-up the loose ends on the front suspension. Need to shuffle things around again to have enough room for pulling the front end apart to install the Porterbuilt lower control arms, the Bell Tech front sway bar, & wheels tubs.

[lolife99]

Progress looks great!

[aggie91]

Nice progress. Whose handle relocation kit did you use?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice progress. Whose handle relocation kit did you use?

Mar-K. The company is a PITA to deal with if you have diff billing/shipping addresses but the product is decent (it could also be better).

[tinydb84]

I always liked your work.

How did you go about attaching the bed floor? What modifications did you do to the bed sides for the tubs?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I always liked your work.

How did you go about attaching the bed floor? What modifications did you do to the bed sides for the tubs?

Floor is spaced up 3" under all 6 OE floor supports. All spacers span the majority width of the OE floor to help spread any load (except the rear tailgate area because of that support structure). The 2 spacers just fore/aft of the rear end/tubs/notched area have tabs welded to them & are bolted to the bedsides. All 'spacers' are welded to what remains of the OE bottom floor sections F & R.
Bed -through- frame bolts were extended.
The front lip of the 'top' floor had nutserts installed @ the leading edge (the front OE bottom floor section has bolts that pass through it & thread into the front bed panel; the new top floor has bolts that pass through holes drilled in the front bed panel & thread into the nutserts).
The rear 'top' floor is welded @ the stake pocket area just like the OE bottom floor section & again along the inner bed wall in front of the stake pocket.
The inner/outer bedsides were trimmed for an additional 4" of clearance.
Nutserts were used to bolt the tubs to the inner bedside.
OE hardware attatch the tubs to the floor.
2 'relief' cuts were required for the inside tailgate skin to clear the raised floor.

All said & done, you can walk on the floor just like you can an unmodified floor. The bed can also be serviced just like OE....
Remove the front bed panel.
Unbolt the tubs.
Unbolt the center spacers.
Unbolt the bottom floor sections.
Cut the rear welds & the bedside can be removed.

The hardest part was figuring out how to keep it serviceable. Once I figured that out, it was how to coat the spacers/tubing to minimize rust staining.

[SCOTI]

I have all new lenses for the bed on the way from GMC Pauls

[tinydb84]

That was a great explanation! I really appreciate it.

How much time did you have in it? I want to do the same thing for my truck and was thinking about sectioning the insides but this looks a lot easier and less time consuming.

Lastly, any tips you figured out along the way?

Thanks again for the help!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

That was a great explanation! I really appreciate it.

How much time did you have in it? I want to do the same thing for my truck and was thinking about sectioning the insides but this looks a lot easier and less time consuming.

Lastly, any tips you figured out along the way?

Thanks again for the help!

It took about a week for the actual labor. Double that thinking everything through & measuring to make sure it would work .

I scribed each spacer after drilling the holes for the bed bolts so they could be installed back in the same position/orientation for final install.

I didn't want a bunch of rust staining from the bare steel. The spacers needed to be coated but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money to get it done & they needed to be done inside & out. My solution was coating them (inside & out) w/Rustoleum Flat black from a gallon can ($25 + acetone/thinner). I taped each one up thoroughly except for 1 hole. I thinned the paint slightly, but not as much as I would if spraying through a gun. I poured about 16-20oz of paint into the tube, sealed the hole w/tape, & sloshed the paint back-n-forth turning the tubing @ the same time. After several minutes of doing that, I poked a hole in one end & poured the remaining paint out. When it was all said & done, the insides were 100% covered. I just used a small roller to cover the outside surface & then touched up where necessary after welding them in w/Rustoleum flat black rattle-can.

This way was MUCH faster/easier vs the way I was going (stepped floor section between the tubs w/raised & stretched tubs that could be removed just like OE). I spent over 1 week alone on re-working 1 tub flange to match the stepped floor section & still was only about 50% done. Then they would have required body working to get things smooth enough for bed liner. This method was boom, boom, done.

Bed floor & tubs were $100 from a board member.
Steel tubing for the spacers was $140 (.125" wall 3"sq x 40')
Paint, thinner, tape, & 2 cheap throw away rollers/foam brushes was < $50.
About $50 for all the hardware (longer bed bolts, nutserts, additional bolts etc).

The down side is ~6" less bed depth.

[aggie91]

I had seen a similar floor done on a SWB Square in Street Trucks or Trucking that was done by Status a couple years ago. Simple compared to doing the stepped floor.

They bought a complete repo floor and tubs new then just made the spacers.

I think your way was a bunch cheaper...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

I had seen a similar floor done on a SWB Square in Street Trucks or Trucking that was done by Status a couple years ago. Simple compared to doing the stepped floor.

They bought a complete repo floor and tubs new then just made the spacers.

I think your way was a bunch cheaper...

They used spacers only to establish height of the floor. Once the floor was welded in place, the spacers were removed so there's nothing supporting the 'top' floor on that truck. It was a cool little square & when Brian repainted the inside of the bed, he matched the buffed OE exterior spot-on. He's good. Very good....

Mine is just like the floor sitting on the frame. The weight of the spacers is a con but since the OE leaf set-ups aren't there any more, I'd say it's a wash (those spring packs are heavy mo's). Plus.... mine is just a work truck & can be used as such.