[Timbuddha]

So . . . after running Aftershock at the Hammers and truely taking all of the paint off my sliders and DeMello rear bumper, I have realized something . . . I am too freaking long for these tight trails. With 124 inch wheelbase this pig doesn't exactly turn on a dime so I need to do some surgury. Should I . . .

1. Bob the bed

2. Flat bed it.

Give me your thoughts and opinions.

 

[ATLRoach]

My opinion would be flat bed it or Tube bed it.

 

[zszac111]

ditch the bed, and flat bed it, do some coilovers back there and 4 link it , well atleast thats my plan, except im cuting the frame behind the cab and running 2 peices of 1.5" DOM from where i cut the frame (of course after correctly tying it into the existing frame)

 

[Bones]

Flat/tube bed.

A std. bed leaves you with to much storage which means more weight which means more chances of breaking parts.

 

[Puckett]

So . . . after running Aftershock at the Hammers and truely taking all of the paint off my sliders and DeMello rear bumper, I have realized something . . . I am too freaking long for these tight trails. With 124 inch wheelbase this pig doesn't exactly turn on a dime so I need to do some surgury. Should I . . .

1. Bob the bed

2. Flat bed it.

Give me your thoughts and opinions.

Either way your truck will not turn any tighter, and your approach and breakover angle will be the same. All that you will accomplish is making your trucks overall length shorter and increasing your departure angle. Your wheelbase is still long and that is what makes the truck more difficult to drive on tight trails. Having a shorter overhang in back is not a bad idea, but overall it will not cure your turning radius problem.

 

[Phil88]

Like puckett said nothing will change unless u bring your rearend forward. I love the look of a bobbed bed. If it were me id bob the bed front and back so u can move ur axle up and still keep it looking somewhat stock. i dont know who it is but someone on the pirate board has a bunch of pics of his bed like that.

 

[tercel89]

i like both , but if you go with the flAT BED ,it can be bobbed itself, to give you the better escape angle and it is easier to build than to have to bondo and repaint your bed.

 

[synovus]

I agree with Puckett, Tim. Neither bobbing the bed nor going with a flat-bed will do anything for your wheelbase. Just from the little bit I've checked it out, it looks like the best way to relocate the rear axle considerably farther forward is to cut the frame off just behind the cab, then fab up a rear tube frame/cage assembly. If looks is an issue, and you'd prefer a more stock appearance, it may be possible to swap in a DC bed (which you could still bob the rear of, to improve departure angle).

 

[Davidtaco]

I love my bobbed bed... I'm not into the whole flat bed thing yet... Starting next week i am am tubbing the bed ( also tieing it to the cage) and dove tailing it, then i plan to jump up front and dove tail the front also, by taking about 10"s from each side and tube behind the fenders, tieing it into the Cage. I will beable to remove both bed sides and front fenders in under 5 minutes.

-David

 

[KRYPTO(dale)]

weee!

Regular cabs rule!

 

[ATLRoach]

weee!

Regular cabs rule!

Damn right!

 

[Puckett]

So . . . after running Aftershock at the Hammers and truely taking all of the paint off my sliders and DeMello rear bumper, I have realized something . . . I am too freaking long for these tight trails. With 124 inch wheelbase this pig doesn't exactly turn on a dime so I need to do some surgury. Should I . . .

1. Bob the bed

2. Flat bed it.

Give me your thoughts and opinions.

You might want to look into getting a regular cab frame and modding it to accept your extra cab body and a double cab's bed. That would be cool as hell! :xrocker: You'd be the first to do the extra cab AND double cab bed on a reg cab frame. I don't think it would be too hard unless the wheel base was far enough off to not sit in the bed's well.

Some poeple have done the extra cab on regualr frame swap already, but never with the double cab bed as far as I know. I think it'd be worth looking into at least from a "coolness factor" view point.

 

[BK005]

Whats the diference in overall length, and wheel base between an X-Cab and D-Cab?

 

[oztaco]

So . . . after running Aftershock at the Hammers and truely taking all of the paint off my sliders and DeMello rear bumper, I have realized something . . . I am too freaking long for these tight trails. With 124 inch wheelbase this pig doesn't exactly turn on a dime so I need to do some surgury. Should I . . .

1. Bob the bed

2. Flat bed it.

Give me your thoughts and opinions.

I did both, I bobbed my bed and with a reg-cab the bed still got in the way, it got so beat up that since my truck is not a DD anymore, I'm working on my flat bed, the ideal would be to run coilovers on the back and make the rear tube just like what Zac was talking about, that's what i really would like to do, but since i got no money for that i'm just gonna make the flat bed.
its up to you what you want to do, but with the flat bed even with the 124" WB at least you don't have to care to what's behind the cab so it can scrape trees rocks etc.
good luck.
Oz.

 

[Timbuddha]

Well, after my run to the "Hammers" I realized that my rig is not really "Hammers Ready" There were a few times when the bed just barely missed the rocks and that was with a spotter. I really like the flatbed that AJ put on Jeffs rig, but I don't know if I am ready to turn my rig into a beater. I enjoy my drive to and from the trail, but on my way home from Aftershock the front end is pulling to the left and now I think one of my calipers isn't working so it's off to races of dumping more money into the truck. My wife isn't liking this much.

List of things broken or bent:

1. Bent leaf springs
2. Boiled powersteering pump
3. Leaky rear axle
4. Warped front brake rotor
5. Leaky transfer case


I'm sure something else will surface in the next few days, but man this is killing me! :xcrybaby:

 

[zszac111]

when i did my swap my front axle moved foward a few inches, i think im at 126 or so now, so i plan on moving the rear foward around 10" or so, removing everything i can from the underside, so POS gas tank is going to get a match thrown in it after i take it out, J/K but i will find a safe way to blow it up , as far as the coilovers i have no clue if i will do them or not, ive toyed with the idea for a 3/4 eliptical setup, keeping the existing 63", airshocks. hell i dont know, but i do want to be different, i know im taking the exo throught the back 2 windows and making someshit inside. ill probably mess up about 100 freaking foot of DOM trying to make it look sick but hell its a hobby and a pretty expensive one at that.

zac

 

[Timbuddha]

Right the heck on! I have some many ideas, but I don't have a tube bender yet nor do I know how to use it. I need a zen master tube teacher in So-Cal. I can't see paying people to do things when I can do it myself. I've got a freaking degree and and a masters on the way!

 

[zszac111]

yeah ive done some bending but mostly for jeep cages, the bending 101 over on pirate is really helpfull. ill be bowowing my buddies tube shark for the exo and i have a jb2 model 3 manual bender for a few bends i have in mind that i cant do on the tube shark. the best way to learn something is to throw your ass into it, then you have 2 options, make it right or spend a shit load of money due to fuck ups

 

[Timbuddha]

Ohh I think I have f . . ed up enough lately. I hate re-doing crap because I didn't do it right the first time. I need another vehicle to drive!

 

[halfxspaid]

Ya know if you Bob it and dont like it, go flatbed!