Alaskan on a 97 F250 4x4 Diesel

[Motafinga]

Thanks for the encouragement!
Had a bit of a set back after stacking on my dirt bike about 4 weeks ago, got a couple fractures in my foot and sprained my thumb and shoulder pretty good. As soon as I could stand it though I got back to work on the truck bed but was only able to get a couple hours in here and there. I recently got the nod that the space I'm using isn't going to be available a whole lot longer due to a construction project starting up so I've kicked back into high gear foot cast be damned!
I got the rest of the body work and white paint done as well as some aluminum corner guards. For the inside of the bed I went over the diamond plate with Chassis Saver and did the sides and top with Monstaliner, that stuff is pretty nasty to breath I wouldn't want to use it inside without a respirator!

 

[Nosferatu49534]

Looks really good. hope the foot heals quick.

 

[Motafinga]

Looks really good. hope the foot heals quick.

Thanks! It gets a little better each day.
Got some upgrades done to the suspension yesterday, I bought the truck with some HD Bilstien shocks and while it handled pretty damn good for a big ol camper rig in the twisty stuff (tarmac) it was a bit rough on the really bumpy dirt stuff.
I reached out to Agile Off Road who's based in San Diego CA and does 4x4 van conversions using twin traction beam front axels like my truck has and they also do ride improvement kits for the Quigley and Quadvan rigs. They use Fox 2.0 shocks that are fully tunable and rebuildable so I had them valve up a set of em spec'd for my rig. I got em on yesterday and while I haven't tested em with the truck loaded yet it already feels better and more compliant over the harsh streets of Oakland. We also spoke about possibly doing a long travel front end using my axel and coil springs. They do this on their vans to great acclaim.. so maybe next year.
I also installed some Daystar air bag cradles to let the rear axle flex better.

 

[Motafinga]

Got a good start on the nasty under belly of the bed today, I luckily have access to a forklift and my buddy helped me get er tipped on end so I can go after 3 decades worth of crud and rust.
It's pretty obvious the bed lived on a diesel in it's previous life due to all the black oily build up under the tail pipe!

 

[Nosferatu49534]

Diesel all the way.

 

[Motafinga]

Well today wasn't fun but necessary, had to grind scrape and scrape some more rinse and repeat etc...etc.. found a bit more cancer as well so I did a quick surgery on that. She's pretty much ready for a couple coats of Chassis Saver paint tomorrow once it all dries.
The white stuff on the patch is automotive Seam Sealer I put all around the patch after a few welds

 

[Motafinga]

Got the bed undercoated with Chassis Saver today, this stuff is pretty much the same as POR15 but made by Monstaliner. Dries rock hard

 

[Redline]

Got the bed undercoated with Chassis Saver today, this stuff is pretty much the same as POR15 but made by Monstaliner. Dries rock hard]

Nice work!

 

[Motafinga]

Nice work!

Thanks I think it'll be worth the effort spent to not worry about any cancer coming back..at least for a long time!

 

[Motafinga]

This happened today, glad I have a 4x4 and a tow strap since the forklift got stuck in the woodchips constantly where I'm storing the bed. Hope to have the new bed mounted this weekend!

 

[Motafinga]

Still a bunch of little stuff to do like extending the fuel fillers, rear bed mounts lined up with some kind of brackets, wiring, finish diamond plate trim etc...
Feels good to finally make it to this point though!

 

[Rjsoaz]

Can't wait to see it with the camper mounted!


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[Redline]

Can't wait to see it with the camper mounted!


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X2, looking good!

 

[Nathaniel0712]

Awesome project! This is exactly what I want to do with my 7.3.

 

[Motafinga]

Still gotta fairly long laundry list to check off but I got the camper on the bed for a test fit. I'm pretty happy overall, it sits a wee bit high over the cab compared to before but not too bad. Before I mounted the camper I did a bit of flex testing after bolting down 4 of the 6 mounting points on the bed specifically the 4 forward mounts leaving the rear unbolted. I should add that I had to make brackets for the rear mounts since the frame holes were about an inch shy of the ute bed holes so the back of the bed was basically just hanging off of the end of the frame rails.