Flatbed on K5 frame pics UPDATE 9/26/05

[mrk5]

We took B_To_C's rust New England K5 body off. Mounted a CUCV pickup cab and a custom flat bed.

Here's some pics of the project so far:

We made our own cross members to get the bed level and then used some left over mounts from the body removal. There are 4 mounts total.

So far we've used about 60ft of 2x3x3/16 tube and 20ft of 1x2x1/8 tube. We're going to use expanded metal for the floor on the front half of the bed and steel diamond plate for the back half and fenders. When we're all finished the bed is going to weigh around 600lbs.

He's going to mount the spare, an air tank, and 2'x4'x2' lock box on the bed.

Along with the bed, we are going to raise the gas tank 2" and cut the back of the frame off just past the tank.

Hmm, only about 2 more weeks til the Bash.

 

[hunterguy86]

I'm loving that!!

 

[BigCountryx]

Can't wait to see more pics of this thing. I'm diggin it

 

[BurbLover]

Cool!!



Hmmmm... Gives me an idea. Can I have my truck cab back now?

 

[TLCOR]

Very Nice ! But that 14B is begging for discs, and those shocks are cheap.

 

[mrk5]

Hmmmm... Gives me an idea. Can I have my truck cab back now?

I can't a headache just thinking about the idea of undoing all that work. So I'll answer for Nick, "No f@#king way man!"

Very Nice ! But that 14B is begging for discs

Heck no! Those drums give him an extra traction surface. Just ask Burblover, he's seen them in action!

 

[B_to_C]

Very Nice ! But that 14B is begging for discs, and those shocks are cheap.

Yea what Scott said, those drums help more than hinder offroad performance. And yes those shcocks are cheap...that's the point. I think like $30 ea. from doesthech.

 

[k5 krawler 50]

I like that idea a lot. Maybe some day, i will do something a similar.. Sweet job..

 

[big dodge]

i really like what your doing looks great

 

[mrk5]

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

Here's a pic from today.

Not much different, got the expanded metal installed in the front half and the toolbox mounted.

The rest of the bed will be steel diamond plate.

We had to get the tool box in there since now that is his only protected cargo carrying area, and he's used to having an entire K5.

 

[bigcountryk5]

very pimp i comend you guys on some good work looks good and keep the pics comming!!

 

[mrk5]

More pics

B_to_C got the bed painted today with Eastwood's Chasis Black:

Hopefully we bolted it on for the last time today, never to be removed again.

Wednesday we are hoping to get the rear bumper made. We will cut the frame about 4-5" shorter and mounted the bumper on there.

I also took some pics of how we mounted the bed to the frame. I figured you all would find that useful.

Front: We made a platform that bolted to the crossmember. Then we used a set of factory body mounts. We also had to use 2 of the 1" body lift spacers because we didn't measure correctly!

Rear: We had to be a little more creative because the top of the frame rail had been weakened by rust. To the point that the original body mount just pulled through when we removed the body. So we made another platform. There's 2"x1/4" angle risers bolted to the frame using the holes that would normally hold the bumper supports. Then we welded 2x3 tube to the risers just above the frame. Finally 5" wide 3/8" strap is welded across the width of the frame. Then we used 2 of the "big" body mounts. This setup worked well, because we were able to get the mount out where it was easy to get to.

So the entire bed is held on with 4 factory body mounts. It is about 79" wide and 66" long. Base on the steel we used, the bed should weigh between 550 & 600#.

 

[k5 krawler 50]

Man, you guys did a sweet job with that bed. I also like the fact that the military truck cabs dont have the drip rails above the doors, i think it looks better. Great job on the whole swap..

 

[B_to_C]

Thanks for posting Scott. I KNEW we would get it done before Blazer Bash

 

[mrk5]

military truck cabs dont have the drip rails above the doors

I never even noticed that.