94 b4000 axle swap/offroad build

[escort_gts]

Heck, I've been looking for a 1354m for a couple years....

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[joxracing]

Hope Krous' doesnt mind, but here's a quick pic i snapped of his bedside mount. I thought it was so damn cool, i had to get a pic when I was at carquest...

 

[4.0B2]

wonder if you could use the skin you cut off for the hole and hinge it and make a locking door for it? kinda like the new dodge ram does in the top of the bed, but just for a hilift in the side. that way it can be functional storage but hidden????

 

[kroussinoffroad]

GGGRRRRR...... that pic does make me mad.

loaned my truck out for 1 week and told him to just make sure to keep the salt to a minimum cuz i still wanted a truck in the spring and this is what it got to before i had to repo the truck and wash it myself.

For those southerners all of the white on the truck is roadsalt. and it does REALLY nice things to vehicles up here.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

wonder if you could use the skin you cut off for the hole and hinge it and make a locking door for it? kinda like the new dodge ram does in the top of the bed, but just for a hilift in the side. that way it can be functional storage but hidden????

NO for two reasones.

1 i had to cut it twice. 1st hole was slightly smaller (intentional) and there was a aditional 1 1/2 that needed to come off the top of the hole.

2. with the box i made it wasnt possiable to sink the highlift in enough to have it flush or sunk behind that factroy bodyline. however had i made the box deeper i could have cut out the inner bedside as well and recessed the box in further and made everything fit behind the factory bodyline. but if i did that it would never get noticed haha.

besides the piece that got cutout was so warped outta shape by the time it was out it would have been pretty hard to form it to the correct shape. surprisingly the bedside didnt loose much shape at all.

 

[4.0B2]

For those southerners all of the white on the truck is roadsalt. and it does REALLY nice things to vehicles up here.

wait, yall yankees put salt on the road???? why the .... would you do that...

 

[kroussinoffroad]

Here are the pictures i do have from the construction of it.

the box tacked together

the hole cut in the boxside. here you can kinda see why the box couldnt be recessed that far without inner modification as well (but that is a possiability)

now here is the first test fit and for the long description. as you can see in the picture the box if welded all the way around this was done with countless welds that were slightly more than tack welds. (I spent a small amount of time playing bodyman in school) the two main bolts that the hightligt rides on are 1/2 allthread it runs thru the cutout box and thru the inner bedside it is bolted on the inner bedside and as soon as it comes out the cutout box. since there was a gap inbetween the cutout box and the inner bedside i had to measure (by poking the allthread thru making it and figuring for metal thickness) and cut two dowel spacers that fit over the 1/2 allthread. i used 1/2 "black pipe" "black iron" "gaspipe". then i put everything together samwiching the dowel spacer inbetween the cutout box and the bedside and cranked down on the nut in the bed and in the cutout box. i did this for both pieces of all thread (the spacers were different lengths) there are also 8 -3/8 bolts thru in the same fasion. i then cut off all the excess threads (in the bed) with a cutoff wheel. I didnt want the weight of anything riding on these welds as any flexing in this area over time would distort the metal and most likely crack the welds. they are purely for look's but they have held up for over a year now to some serious trail use and the highlift has been up against a couple tree's and drug across some smaller tree's. not even the slightest damage so i'm happy.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

wierd i just looked back thru the build to october 2010 and found the post where i first showed this but i never did post what went into this project.

to say it was VERY late and there may or may not have been so courage in a bottle in the garage. i do remember stumbling around my truck with the highlift thinking of redicoulous places to put it when all of a sudden BAM it was no longer a joke. and i was looking at the side saying i can do this. the next day after the courage was gone i spent A LONG TIME looking at the side of my truck with the cutout box at my feet thinking " DO I REALLY WANT TO CUT MY BEDSIDE OUT?" i'm still in disbelief that I made the cutout box that night and everything turned out square and i still have all my fingers. normally once we get to that all construction STOPS

 

[CHKNFKR]

I'm so stealing this idea! hope you don't mind....

 

[kroussinoffroad]

That is just fine. ive been told that by ALOT of people but i have yet to see another. i would like to see some other designs as i am kinda thinkin of doin this on the spodey as well

 

[CHKNFKR]

I'm a long way from doing anything significant with the ranger, so odds are you'll have the ex built and wheeling before i have a recognizable pile of truck....

 

[dangerranger83]

Oh I do plan on doing this mod and no intents of hiding it either. But I will integrate a way so that I can lock it to my truck, hate to think that it grows feet and walks away one day on me. I also do plan on spending an extra 17 bucks to get the 60 inch one. Thank god I have a 7 foot bed.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

I'm having a very hard time finding the motivation to get this thing back to working order just to sell it off and the more i look at it sitting there knowing what it is capable of the more I want to build it into a completely different truck. build it into a stripped down rig with the bare minimum needed to get the job done right.

 

[dangerranger83]

You need to have a wheeler that you can beat the living shit out of and not want to worry about and the exploder as one that will be taken care of and it be a family wheeler. Have the truck as one that will change as ideas come up and the exploder as one that has a set purpose and doesnt need to go any further.

 

[CHKNFKR]

You need to have a wheeler that you can beat the living shit out of and not want to worry about and the exploder as one that will be taken care of and it be a family wheeler. Have the truck as one that will change as ideas come up and the exploder as one that has a set purpose and doesnt need to go any further.

What he said!

You can "justify" keeping it as a recovery/support vehicle, just make sure it's kept up to the task....