Converting a SRW Ford bed to a DRW questions

[Lonesome7.3]

I have a 97 F350 chassis in my yard I am thinking about building and I want to convert it to a dually. I know where a good bed is real cheap. The bed floor is in great shape. But the area around the wheel wells is rusted. Not a big deal considering I am cutting that away any way. I also have a friend with brand new Ford flares for that model year. So I can have this bed done for a very reasonable amount. Is cutting the wheel wells all there is to this? Are there any structural issues I should be aware of? I have looked at my 95 ford dually and it looks pretty cut and dry. I want to make sure I am not missing anything though. Have any of you done this before?

 

[sassyrel]

I have a 97 F350 chassis in my yard I am thinking about building and I want to convert it to a dually. I know where a good bed is real cheap. The bed floor is in great shape. But the area around the wheel wells is rusted. Not a big deal considering I am cutting that away any way. I also have a friend with brand new Ford flares for that model year. So I can have this bed done for a very reasonable amount. Is cutting the wheel wells all there is to this? Are there any structural issues I should be aware of? I have looked at my 95 ford dually and it looks pretty cut and dry. I want to make sure I am not missing anything though. Have any of you done this before?

where the outside fiberglass fenders,,attach to the box,,is TOTALLY different....

 

[Lonesome7.3]

That is what I was afaraid of. How is it different?

 

[snicklas]

There is a flange the is mounted to the side of the box... and all there is no sheet metal under the the area that is covered by the hip..... we had a thread on this not long ago, and there is a few pictures from where Ron redid Goldie (Dsl_Dog_Catcher)..... there are conversion fenders out there.... but they are not the same as the factory fenders....

Look at the ArrowCraft website... they carry conversion kits

On Edit:

Here are a few pictures of a dually bed, sans the fenders.... (thanks Ron)

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2044876710073615033bJElnG
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2938725890073615033buvvSb
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2533762520073615033WWXdMb

There is alot of side cut out of them..... I know it is not just simply cut out.... but you will see what I mean....

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Now we are geeting into a price range I do not want to be in. I priced some of those conversions a while back. It would be cheaper to locate a good bed instead. I did not want to do that because if you can find one in great shape for a truck this old they are very coslty. I'll have to find that thread.

 

[sassyrel]

Now we are geeting into a price range I do not want to be in. I priced some of those conversions a while back. It would be cheaper to locate a good bed instead. I did not want to do that because if you can find one in great shape for a truck this old they are very coslty. I'll have to find that thread.

go to www.car-part.com ,,and check for box prices........i got a complete box....complete..for 350.00, out of mo.. i had to drive for 7 hours..and i pulled it home,,on a snowmabubble trailer..fuel cost,,was WAYYYYY minimal!!! every other price i got,,was from 800.00 on up.....................

 

[Lonesome7.3]

That is the problem I am having. All the good dually beds I have found have been rediculous in price. And it is not like I have found a lot of them either. The bed I am looking at is $150 with a perfect bed floor. I can get the flares through trading stuff I do not need anyway. around here good beds for that year truck are real damn hard to find.

 

[towcat]

you didn't mention if you have a pickup chassis or a commercial chassis.
huge difference in wheel track width.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

The truck I am using is a nothing special 97 F350. I have already taken measurements and they are the same as my 95 F350 dually. I think I am even going to use the rear end out of my 95 because it should be getting a D80 soon.

 

[towcat]

The truck I am using is a nothing special 97 F350. I have already taken measurements and they are the same as my 95 F350 dually. I think I am even going to use the rear end out of my 95 because it should be getting a D80 soon.

what year D80?

 

[Lonesome7.3]

No idea, I am hopfully getting the rest of the information on it today. If the deal works out and it is the rear end the guys claims it is, my 95 dually will get it. then I will use the stock Sterling out of that one in my other dually project.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

On Edit:

Here are a few pictures of a dually bed, sans the fenders.... (thanks Ron)

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2044876710073615033bJElnG
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2938725890073615033buvvSb
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2533762520073615033WWXdMb

There is alot of side cut out of them..... I know it is not just simply cut out.... but you will see what I mean....

Man I missed this part, thanks for posting them. That does clear up a lot and I did not have to pull my flares to see it. That kills it right there, what I would have saved in money I would have more than made up with worth and extra parts. I guess I have to locate a complete bed now. This project just took a turn towards the scrap pile.

 

[purg113]

http://killeen.craigslist.org/pts/2874342457.html that is a nice looking bed in texas i think hope it helps

 

[Lonesome7.3]

That is a nice looking bed on the outside. Can you make out if those are holes on the inside. It is hard for me to tell.

 

[TexasLefty]

That is a nice looking bed on the outside. Can you make out if those are holes on the inside. It is hard for me to tell.

Contact the guy, I can have someone who can purchase it for you, long term storage would be a problem but short term would not be.