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Taper job gone wrong, now its a flatbed. lots of pics.

gmc4cw

gmc4cw

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I had some time on my hands and decided to taper my shortbed. I had a show bar, fullsize spare, two side toolboxes and a bedliner taking up all the space in my bed. All of this was just extra weight. It was a chore just getting up into the bed.

I started by taking the tailgate off and the spare and toolboxes out. this is what I was left with. pretty standard stuff.

the boxes are for sale in the classifieds. I would love to reuse them but until I inboard my springs there is no where to hang them.

taper 001.jpg

taper 002.jpg
 
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I have a bunch of pics how I tappered my old shortbox if you want them.... if its not too late
 
I pulled the rollbar :rolleyes: if you can call it that. yanked out the bedliner. unbolted and removed the wheelwells. I kind of liked the way it looked at this point. I sold the rollbar at Englishtown for $20 to a girl who is going to paint it black and put it in the back of her Blazer.

The bedliner had tons of cuts in it to fit around the rollbar and spare tire mount. I'm just gonna cut it up until it fits in the dumpster at work.

taper 004.jpg

taper 007.jpg
 
so on to the cutting. I laid out lines where I thought I wanted to cut. I wanted to go all the way to the frame or so I thought. there is a hole in the bedside under the tailights that I thought I would line up with the bed bolt. Measured it by eye and broke out the chalkline.

Went at it with the Dewalt sawzall. Unbolted the cut peice from the bedside and shoved the side in. Damn thats narrow, imagine what it looks like with both sides done.

taper 008.jpg
 
It looked awesome from every angle except straight on from the side. I didn't like how the bed floor showed through the wheelwell. I am not about to do bodywork to this truck. I'm sure it could be finished off nicely by someone who has time and wants to put out the effort. But this truck is Form following Function. I make changes to make it wheel better not look better.


So a few bolts more and I had a bare frame. It looks like crap with nothing back there. there is no weight over the back tires, It sits a little higher. There is also nothing to mount my spare tire or toolbox too.

bed 001.jpg

bed 003.jpg
 
So, are you happy with the outcome? I have allways thought that would be the way to go with a truck. Especially one used for wheeling!!!
 
some of you saw the hitch I made for it while the bed was off. for those who did not, here it is again. This is a hitch off a 2000 sierra that the mounting brackets were bent. I cut the fubared brackets off. made plates that went inside my frame and used the bolts for the shackle brackets. welded it all together and now have a new rear crossmember/hitch/recovery point/lifting point for the hi-lift.

I cut the extra frame off behind the mounts after these pics. from there I had what was left to take measurements for a flatbed. I wanted something simple that cleaned up the look. I also need some weight back there.

hitch 001.jpg

hitch 002.jpg

hitch 003.jpg
 
I am overjoyed by the final out come. I love making custom stuff. The bed is made entirely out of 11 gauge sheet steel. I used a chunk that started out life as 70"x48". There is so little scrap left. I literally used every inch except a strip that was 2"x34". metals expensive so nothing gets wasted.

I made the main peice to just slip over the outside of the frame rails. Bent some crossmembers to mount the bed to the frame and give it some strength. I'm bad at taking enough pics and never have extra time so here it is sitting on the frame. after the pics were taken I drilled the holes to mount it. they use the factory bed mounting holes.

the load surface sits 4" lower then the stock bed did with the 3" body lift. I could rub the 44's on the inside if the wheelwells before. I don't think I will have any rubbing problems now. I still need to mount my spare and either a small toolbox or a fuel cell or both depending on how big a cell I end up with.

It's got some weight to it. around 130 lbs. next step is what to coat it in. I got a quote on lining the top with Line-X bedliner. $253:eek1: and thats my dealer discount. so do I paint the top the same color as the body or should I paint it black?

flatbed 001.jpg

flatbed 002.jpg
 
TexasBlazerBoy said:
Looks good and functional..I would go with black

What's up with the Nerf bars or are they sliders?
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they are Smittybilt steps. they didn't look like they were hanging out in space when I had a bed. They have functioned as sliders the last couple of times out but thats not what they are designed for. :doah:

I put them on right after the first lift since my girlfriend at the time could not get in the truck. Now that its as high as it is I still use them. They will eventually come off. I have lots of stuff I want to do to the truck but I never have any time. I made the bed in about 2 hours. The hitch took another hour.

seems like I fix whatever broke from the last wheeling trip and make one of the mods I have been thinking about and then go wheeling again. Break something, fix it and modify something else and go wheeling again. it's a vicious cycle but at least I go wheeling. I'll get some pics of the underside before I paint it.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the color?
 
subscribing.. thanks for telling me abt ur thread. hey like u say in my thread my paint is too shiny.. so hey! i got a idea, dont paint it.. let it get RUSTY! and it will be your show truck!:grin: :D
 
Xtremegmc80 said:
so hey! i got a idea, dont paint it.. let it get RUSTY!
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I thought about it. but this is built to last so its gonna get some kind of coating. the hardest part is gonna be painting inside the crossmembers.
 
[/quote]the hardest part is gonna be painting inside the crossmembers.[/quote]



tell me abt it! pain in the butt!
 
Looking cool! I think you should paint it black with that cheap bed liner stuff at Auto Zone. I used it on my van project, and liked it.
 
skyyk5 said:
Looking cool! I think you should paint it black with that cheap bed liner stuff at Auto Zone. I used it on my van project, and liked it.
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You just made me realize that I have a gallon of that stuff sitting on a shelf in my garage. It's grey though, don't know if it will look right, but it will give it some traction.
 
gmc4cw said:
You just made me realize that I have a gallon of that stuff sitting on a shelf in my garage. It's grey though, don't know if it will look right, but it will give it some traction.
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Mix some black into it, or even some blue to match the truck. If it be grey, you can get it to match the truck real easy! Now go do it!


But then again, it might not work, and Road Kill is grey. Just give it to me.:haha:
 
skyyk5 said:
Mix some black into it, or even some blue to match the truck. If it be grey, you can get it to match the truck real easy! Now go do it!


But then again, it might not work, and Road Kill is grey. Just give it to me.:haha:
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PAGING RYOKEN! can I mix paint into my bedliner and not mess it up? or do I need to sell it to Turbine?
 
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