late model bed on early trucks
 

Hello, Im new to the board, and Im hoping some of you chevy guru's can help

I just purchased a 72 c20 here in california, its completely rustfree with 102k miles, the cab and front clip are very straight, the bed is another story, it looks straight, but the other owner played cement mason with the bondo.
Anyway I saw a truck, 70-2 in one of the local truck traders that had a 91 or so dually bed, boy it looked sharp, and Im wondering if anyone has done this conversion, other than the dually hub conversion which Ive found on wheeladapter.com, are there any other issues that would make this difficult

Thanks Ken
69 GS stage 1 4sp
70 GS stage 1 auto
67 Nova Pro-charged 455 buick

http://www.augamecock.com/albums/alb...1167.sized.jpg

That's a 94 stepside on my 70. I bought it like this. Doesn't look too bad IMO. Wish the fender well matched up a little better. I don't know how hard it is to put on

Wow, I like that!!

My 72 is a longbed 8 lugger, so the dually bed is the natural choice for me, plus I need a tow vehicle

Ken

72 Dually, First Welcome aboard !!

The retrofit is relatively an easy changeover, There was an article written here some where about doing it. I like the look very well myself. I know you have to build some spacers to put between the bed and the frame of our trucks to get everything lined up. Try doing a "Search" and see if the article can still be found.

Welcome to the board. To do it right you should make the wheel arches match front and back.

Thanks guys, I think Im going to get some usefull information here.
As far as the dually conversion, I did a search and found some pictures, but no details, maybe Im using the wrong search word, if anyone remembers where this conversion is, please direct me, I'd sure appreciate it
I found a 71 or 2 with the wheel arch cut to match the front, but I prefer the late model arch's

BTW Ron, spent the last 10 yrs in Reno, use to visit the casino at topaz from time to time. Will be returning after I finish remodeling parents house, so they can put it on the market, they want out of california, off to prescott arizona, Im considering it as well
How's the fishing been?

Thanks Ken

69 Buick GS stage 1 4/sp
70 Buick GS stage 1 auto
67 Nova pro-charged 455 buick
72 C20 3/4 custom camper deluxe (soon to be dually w/91 bed)

I have a 92 l.b. on a 71. dont see that many that have that. have really mostly seen the stepside sb. on the trucks. It was a 2 day project, still not finished because of the mounting brackets were torched by a former owner to fit the heavy duty flat bed on. I just drilled some 8 grade 12 or 14" long bolts into the bed and bolted to the frame.
will post pics next week along with bunch of others. Towing it back from home in spokane, washington.

Would love to see photo's of that conversion screecher

I found this conversion today, absolutely love the look, although my preference would be a lower stance

http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/car...ch_1972_01.htm

I was going to do this to my 69 but have since decided to put
stock bed back on. I am in the process of painting it now. I did
however mount a 92 bed on the 69. I had a welding shop make
some brackets and weld them to frame. Then bolted the new
style bed to the brackets. It was solid.

Hi I'm new also, Some of the dually conversions can cause problems. The tires are to close together, and with a load the bulge at the bottom makes the tires touch each other. The rolling motion causes rubbing, which causes heat and tire damage.

:gmc:

I was going to post this same question, but I have a 72 C20 long bed. I'm hoping a newer long bed will fit without much need for welding since I am not a good welder or metal fabricator yet. I did see a 70 or so truck with a newer step bed but there was a gap like 3 inches between the cab and the front of the bed. My bed is ok on the outside but the inside is all scratched up and the wheel tubs are rusted out some, plus the wood floor is pretty bad. A dually bed would look better but I think a regualr long bed will work better.

nope no gap no mine, like a 1/2 one, but a factory looking gap. no welding that I had to do, yet. when I get original bed mounts on there I guess I will find out.
I dont know how to resize my pictures or else I would post them. anyone else knows how to resize them, please post them from my cardomain site, here is the link http://www.cardomain.com/id/screecher

oh yeah and my molding on the cab was put on way before the bed was put on. look at how close the molding from the cab to the bed difference is.