Raising a stepside bed to match the cab

[xbanone]

There was some discussion either on here or over @ 73-87chevytrucks about raising the stepside bed an inch or so to improve the overall look of the truck, does any one remember that magic number to make it look best?

[84GMC15tepside]

I don't know but I'm curious about this as well

[walkerb]

Really? Never gave it any thought. I would be interested in seening pics. Any other beneifit besides just looks?

[Harney Boy]

When i got my 77 c20 short wheel base stepside, i ended up staring at my truck for so long i noticed that it looked like the front of the bed needed to be raised up, i raised mine up about 1 ¾ inches and it looked a lot better. If you look at pics of my truck before and after i raised the front of the bed you would see a huge improvement. But if its already level i wouldnt raise it or else it'll look like your truck is about to fall in half, lol.
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[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by xbanone

There was some discussion either on here or over @ 73-87chevytrucks about raising the stepside bed an inch or so to improve the overall look of the truck, does any one remember that magic number to make it look best?

Never heard of this.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Harney Boy

When i got my 77 c20 short wheel base stepside, i ended up staring at my truck for so long i noticed that it looked like the front of the bed needed to be raised up, i raised mine up about 1 ¾ inches and it looked a lot better. If you look at pics of my truck before and after i raised the front of the bed you would see a huge improvement. But if its already level i wouldnt raise it or else it'll look like your truck is about to fall in half, lol.
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You probably already know this but there was no short wheel base 3/4 ton from the factory during the square body era.

Having said that, do you know if your truck started as a 1/2 and was converted to a 3/4 ton? or if it started as a 3/4 ton LWB and was converted to a SWB stepside?

In either case, but in particular with the second option (where the frame would have to be cut, sectioned and rewelded), I would think the relationship between the cab and bed on your truck would be suspect and perhaps not typical.

K

[74 stepside]

Before you start playing around with raising or lowering the bed, make sure your body mounts on the cab arent flattened out. If so replace them with new then mod your bed.

[Harney Boy]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

You probably already know this but there was no short wheel base 3/4 ton from the factory during the square body era.

Having said that, do you know if your truck started as a 1/2 and was converted to a 3/4 ton? or if it started as a 3/4 ton LWB and was converted to a SWB stepside?

In either case, but in particular with the second option (where the frame would have to be cut, sectioned and rewelded), I would think the relationship between the cab and bed on your truck would be suspect and perhaps not typical.

K

My truck was a 1977 3/4 ton LWB Silverado 454/th400. The previous owner which was CSX the train company, shorted the frame, and put a short stepside bed on it. When i got it i built a 400 sbc and put about 5k into the motor. It was mine and my best friends project, and he got killed a few months ago. So now im finishing the truck in the memory of him. Im in the process of painting the truck right now. But when i had the cab and bed off i put a 4' level across the frame over the weld and it was completely straight, trust me i thought the same thing. I ended up realizng they had spacers in between the frame and the bed mount which was causing the bed to lean forward.
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[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Harney Boy

My truck was a 1977 3/4 ton LWB Silverado 454/th400. The previous owner which was CSX the train company, shorted the frame, and put a short stepside bed on it. When i got it i built a 400 sbc and put about 5k into the motor. It was mine and my best friends project, and he got killed a few months ago. So now im finishing the truck in the memory of him. Im in the process of painting the truck right now. But when i had the cab and bed off i put a 4' level across the frame over the weld and it was completely straight, trust me i thought the same thing. I ended up realizng they had spacers in between the frame and the bed mount which was causing the bed to lean forward.

Thanks for the reply - the concern would not be the straightness of the welds, but the fact that the frame rails have contour. Sectioning the rails moves the bed mounting surfaces to something other than the original design intent.

When you say "they" had spacers - you mean the fabricators installed spacers? Regular production units did not ever use spacers between the bed and frame.

K

[Harney Boy]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Thanks for the reply - the concern would not be the straightness of the welds, but the fact that the frame rails have contour. Sectioning the rails moves the bed mounting surfaces to something other than the original design intent.

When you say "they" had spacers - you mean the fabricators installed spacers? Regular production units did not ever use spacers between the bed and frame.

K

Yeah, i know there wasnt supposed to be any spacers at all in between the frame and bed rail to where it mounts, but when you look at the very back of my bed, where it sits across both frame rails is cut out about 5" wide by 1" tall. I dont know if the they (CSX company workers) were trying to drop the bed an inch in the rear or what. But thats why someone ended up putting those spacers in, to raise it back up. Apparently my truck was originally purchased by CSX, and the employess were gearheads and shortened the frame. Then they shortened the rear end (14 bolt FF) to fit the width of the railroad, took the wheels from the small engine powered rail cart, and put it on the track to use to pull around small loads of material. But IF that were true i dont see how the front fit the tracks. This is what the previous owner told me, which is a well known gearhead around these parts. He was the one to purchase the truck from CSX in 2001.
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[cory d]

if you removed the stock bed wood and dont put anythin in its place it will sag in the front. my truck was like this when i got it.