Bed Swapping

[Chuck Brown]

Guys, Im turning to you in my time of need here, as I dont want to throw money down the toilet based on my often faulty thought process. I found a guy about 90 minutes from my house who posted in the local classifieds that he had a "J-Truck to part out", so we started swapping emails and he sent me some pics. From the casual view, the bed on his parts donor (while not perfect) is a whole lot better than my own. Now, before I hitch up the trailer and make the ride out there to close the deal, can you guys apply your good sense and lmk if you think the donor bed will transplant easy enough over to my own rig?

I recall measuring my own bed a few months back and I recall it being about 86" if memoryt serves correct.


My current J200 bed:

http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss94/Chuck_Brown/PICT0038.jpg

Another view:

http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss94/Chuck_Brown/IMG00034-20090909-1907.jpg

Now.....

The proposed "Donor" bed:

http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss94/Chuck_Brown/bedside.jpg

Anyway, hes willing to sell me the entire donor rig for $250 provided that I get it out of his yard asap, so lmk if you think if this transplant is gonna work, if you can, ok?

BTW, heres a better shot at the donor:
http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss94/Chuck_Brown/motor.jpg


Thanks as always fellas,

Chuck Brown

[Elliott]

If they are both short beds, I know your's is and the other looks to be it will work. The front two bed mounting points on the later bed will need to be moved inboard 3/4" on each side to match your frame mounting points and then you will have to adust for different bolt types used but yeah, it will work.

[Chuck Brown]

Thanks for your quick help Elliot!!! If this guy calls me back, I'll go ahead and pull the trigger and hopefully by next weekend I'll be hauling her back!

Chuck Brown

[Rod2]

[quote=Chuck Brown]Thanks for your quick help Elliot!!! If this guy calls me back, I'll go ahead and pull the trigger and hopefully by next weekend I'll be hauling her back!

From the pictures, the beds don't have the same filler neck mount. I put an '85 long bed on my '73 this summer and as per Elliot, the front bolt holes don't line up and my next 2 were 1/8 wider. I found it easier to weld extensions on my frame perches and redrill them than to modify the bed mounts. The other 2 were reamed in enough to line up.

But the real problem is the gas tank. The '85 bed used 2 straps where my '73 only had one; the strap bolts went through the bed rather than mount in the cross beam; the overflow pipe from the tank came off the front on the '85, the '73 is on the rear; there was no hole in the corner of the bed for the overflow hose on the '85; the fill-hose hole was too far inboard; and the '73 cap flange wouldn't fit the plastic insert on the '85.

So I centered and redrilled the tank supports on the new bed then made slots to capture the original carriage bolts; I drilled a 1 3/8" hole in the longitudinal support of the bed in front of the first cross beam to rout the tank overflow tube; I drilled a new hole in the corner of the new bed for the overflow hose (1 1/2" to allow for a grommet); I used a 2 1//2" hole saw to move the fill-hose hole about 2" outward. To use my original fill hose and cap, I took the plastic filler neck mount out and made a metal plate to cover the hole. Then I hole-sawed that plate to attach my filler neck. I found a lot of the differences after the '85 bed was on and had to do alterations lying on my back.

Of course, you can avoid all these gas-tank problems by getting the tank along with the bed. I didn't have that choice.

Good luck!