Standard bed to stepside conversion

[guardianfyre]

I have a 79 half-ton pickup with the standard bed. It is rusting. Or should I say it is rust. I've been thinking about replacing it and have always prefered the look of the stepside. Can I simply find a stepside bed off of another comprable truck and swap it with mine? Or would there be major modifications to the frame in order to get it to fit? I don't know if it's just an optical illusion or not, but the stepside seems shorter.

Thanks,
Guardianfyre

[xtreme80]

I always thought the bed mounts were different on a stepper

[beaterC10]

The step beds are the same length on the inside and use the same mounting points. I think the step beds use shims or spacers in a few places to get the bed level on the frame. Make sure you get the all the fuel filler hardware and the rear bumper and brackets, those differ between the step beds and the fleet beds. My experience has been that the step bed unique stuff can be tough to find.

The step beds rust at the fender attaching flanges and at the step attachments. You need to check this out from inside the fender opening. The step tailgates and sport bumpers are the same from 67-87. The beds are similar between 67-72 and 78-87 but not directly interchangeable.

[Pyrotechnic]

I thought stepside tailgates were all the same from the mid 50's and up ?

[beaterC10]

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

I thought stepside tailgates were all the same from the mid 50's and up ?

They might be, I didn't wan't to open mouth and insert foot. I knew 67-87 were all the same.

[Captkaos]

Find the donor and bolt it on. Simple as that....

[84_chevrolet]

i did this a few months ago and its just as simple as bolting on the bed and making ur gas filler hose fit!

[Eyegore]

Originally Posted by 84_chevrolet

i did this a few months ago and its just as simple as bolting on the bed and making ur gas filler hose fit!

My neighbor on his 82 did the opposite, step to fleet, only had to deal with what 84 said. Take pics of the conversion and save them for someone else who will want to do the same thing and then there be a refrence for it.