some of you may have read my air ride build thread a few months back. in it I said that the next point of contention was to raise the bed floor. when the bags are aired out, the differential is 2-3' above where the original bed floor is, so it's time to figure out a viable solution. so for you mini notch/stepside guys, this is for you.
first the bed
had to be functional. I will be transporting old british iron, so the bed is going to be used and abused.
second, it
had to look bone stock. I'm talking sun weathered original board wood and metal strips that have seen their better days.
lastly, the floor had to be mobile. all of my air ride is under the bed. I wanted to be able to access the air ride components without dismantling the entire bed....... or having to lay on the asphalt if something goes south.
so after many designs drawn out on paper I came up with a solution. Enjoy.
first of all, the stepside bed is maybe easiest out of all bed types to raise the floor in. there are no fender wheels to modify which means a straight lift without cutting the inner bedsides.
I started the process by gutting the bed. this gives you a good idea how GM did it 40 some odd years ago. forget trying to save the original hardware, it's usually toast. save the bed wood and metal strips if your going for the original look.
next step is to head to your favorite metal-by-the-foot shop. I ordered (2) strips of cold rolled rectangle .75" x 1.5". this will be used where the original bed wood met the bedside angles. this is also a good base for your bed if you plan on hauling over 500lbs.
this pic shows the strips installed and bolted to the bedside angle & cross members.
now come the bed frame. I will post the plans to it later this evening or tomorrow. sorry Shane!!
a friend of mine whose a great welder and I mocked up the final design. remember, this frame is built for hauling weight and it is over built imho. you can take the general plans and reduce the cross member size for the same effect, if you going
only for athestics.
install the frame back in the bed and lay your boards and strips out and matchmark the holes on the strips to the angles underneath them. this is an IMPORTANT step to layout the strips and wood inside the bed. (the plans I will be posting matches the locations for a swb stepside bed strip).
paint. I used Rustoleum Industrial semi-gloss. this stuff is tough, and looks good after drying.
give one of the forum supporting vendors an call and order a bed bolt kit. (order a cheap set if you plan on rusting the heads, like I did. oh yeah, I plan on doing a tutorial on rusting bolt heads this week. again, I'm going for an original look.)
install the bolts and nuts through the strips and tighten. some of the holes that are in the bed wood was filled with cutdown bolts and Gorilla glued in.
viola! 5" raised bed floor. you can go higher or lower by substituting the 5" x 2" side angles. the possibilities are endless since you now have doubled the useable space
under the bed...... and the bed is still there and can be used. what a concept. for me, my 1949 Yard Patrol mower, my mortar slash tool chest, and an old Standard Oil can graces my space out back.
oh yeah. white bumper now. thanks Keith!!
