|
F350 High Lift
Custom Tuber Bed
|
| We are
starting with a bone stock F350, plenty cool all by itself, but that's
no reason to not tear into it. This is a customer Project. |
|
| First
order of business is to remove the bed, for good. The plan is to
have it open and close using the stock hinges and body clips for holding
it down. I am playing with
the idea of also removing the plastic extensions from the hinges.
It would allow for the bottom of the bed to sit lower. |
|
| I
started with the main line that will help to recreate the shape of a bed
and form the lines for the rest of the build. The side rails and
hoop up over the cab is one piece, and took quite a while to get
perfectly even! Not my
truck, so the top of the cab is protected. |
|
| Here
is the first cross brace that will form the spare tire mount. This
was the easy one. |
|
| THIS
one, however, was quite time consuming. Matching the first cross
bars bend wasn't so bad, but getting it centered just right and making
sure it still attached to the main frame exactly like the first one,
well, was fun. |
|
| Here
is a mock-up on the truck...
The side rails are going to end up
being fenders, and the bed floor will be as low as I can get it to the
frame. |
|
|
|
|
|
Build Day Two |
|
|
| I
started today by adding a set of side rails to hold in any cargo that
might be carried up on top of the fenders and give it a little style.
They flow nicely with the body. |
|
| I
spent quite some time trying to come up with a good way to mount the bed
to the factory hinges. I finally came up with this. The
section in the center won't be visible, it will be covered in a sheet of
aluminum. This is
essentially a mock-up, as all the braces between the main frame and the
hinge mount are not yet installed. |
|
|
The aluminum sheet on the floor of
the bed will have to clear the shock towers, so I reversed the shock
screws so the nut is on the outside. This will allow a smaller
hole for the shock, or more clearance for the floor, whichever way it
goes. |
|
|
I made spacers as short as I could
and still clear the corner of the end of the frame. The factory
plastic bed mount extensions will not be used. |
|
|
Here it is, functional. There
is a tiny space between the bed and the frame, is drops beautifully. |
|
|
Build Day
Three
|
| I
started the front brush guard today, it's nearly done with 3 hours
involved already! Tomorrow I'll add the supports and figure out a
way to mount it... |
|
|
|
|
|
Build Day Four
|
|
Finished the guard tonight, tomorrow it gets paint. As soon as I
figure out a way to mount it anyway... |
 |
|
|
|
| The
bed is nearly done as well. It still needs the center panel
mounted and the side panels made and mounted. That should all be
done tonight as well, then paint tomorrow along with the guard.
The panels are each massaged to fit
right into place, they look great. There are small nuts brazed
onto the frame and the panels are all attached using small hex head
screws. |
|
|
|
|
| The
bed is almost done (I keep saying that...). All that's left at
this point is to take it all apart (there are 14 screws in this thing!)
file all the edges of the panels smooth and paint all the parts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the bed is all painted.
I'll assemble it in the morning when it's dry and snap some pics in it's
completed state. |
|
|
| The
guard is half painted. By morning I'll flip it over and paint the
other side. By evening it'll be done.
We ended up mounting it by running
screws through the hood and bumper with nuts underneath. That way,
there is no ugly brackets sticking out. |
|
| The
tuber bed is complete and installed. It looks sexy as
you-know-what and I can't wait until the brush guard is finished drying
so I can get it mounted and see the truck complete. I'll take nice
nice outdoor shots at that point. |
|
|
|
|
|
| It's
100% and being delivered to it's owner this evening. Enjoy the
pics and look for more of it on
rccrawler.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |