Tail Trimming? Pics!

[Cole]

I just can't seem to stay away:sombrero: I've built dozens of rigs and now have a full size Dodge to play with. (1998 V10 Quad Cab 2500 Shortbed)

Want to set it up for a bit of off road use. First up would be to trim the rear corners of the bed before I bend them up.

Would love to see what others have done. I have collected a couple of pics around the net, but want to see more.

 

[redthies]

Hey, it's a 98 V10... Probably not too expensive these days, so be brave, grab your sawzall/grinder and have at 'er! I just had the grinder going on my 99 Dodge yesterday! Felt good to make sparks!

That red Dakota looks badazz!

 

[Cole]

Part of the whole reason I bought the truck. It was only $2,700 My excuse was to have a truck around to do some house projects.......but it may as well get some mods:sombrero:


But it has to sit outside so I want to keep it somewhat tasteful. Here is the truck in question.

 

[redthies]

The dog in front of the truck looks much happier in the snow for some reason...

 

[redthies]

I think that you would do fine with a small lift, some 35s and a stronger than stock set of bumpers. Unless you are trying to build a full on crawler, you should be fine like that. I have to show up at clients houses in my do-it-all Dodge/Ford or whatever, so I try to keep it stock-ish looking. No exo-cages or cut bodies for me, unless I hit the lotto and get a Defender 110 with the factory exo. I think it is hard to sell the wife on the necessity of a cut body to head to Home Depot or the dump! Nice starting point though

 

[Cole]

Don't want to lift it. If I ever put bigger tires on it I would rather trim sheet metal a little sheet metal. 99% of lifts give up the tonnage rating of the truck and strive for "ride quality" Truck needs to stay functional.

As far as "showing up somewhere in it"....I have 8 other vehicles of much nicer quality in the garage I would rather "show up" in:wings:

The rears bumper of this truck is already bent to hell, so I need to replace, or build one. If I build one I would like to trim their rear corners. That will give me much more functional clearance than a lift alone. After than I may find a high clearance front and then just streamline the bottom of the frame, may be clock the TCase, etc. Lots of ways to make a functional off road rig without just lifting it. (which makes it worse on road, on off camber, on steep climbs, etc)

 

[gavan]

Just a different thought...

Replace the whole bed with something cut a little higher

Military trailer beds are easy to work with, tough, and look pretty cool

 

[Cole]

Certainly a thought. I always liked the way they look. (and that Jeep looks like a Military CJ10 that may have been set up to come with that bed)

However, it's a much more complicated and expensive task than just trimming my current bed and building a bumper. (keeps my topper, lights, fuel filler, etc).

 

[gavan]

Certainly a thought. I always liked the way they look. (and that Jeep looks like a Military CJ10 that may have been set up to come with that bed)

However, it's a much more complicated and expensive task than just trimming my current bed and building a bumper. (keeps my topper, lights, fuel filler, etc).

It is a CJ-10, but it was built as a airplane tug. I did just a little work on it to make it into a 1 ton cummins powered pickup truck

As always, it depends on what you are doing and how you plan on using it. Trailer beds are 200-300 if you do your shopping, and if you wad it up into a tree, it is a lot cheaper to replace than a regular pickup bed. A lot of work once, or messing with it over and over again for years. At least thats how I looked at it.

 

[Cole]

Cool rig!

I'm just trying to keep this truck a little bit more low key of a project than some of mine in the past. (frame splicing, custom suspension components, crazy axle builds, etc) Have plenty of projects in the garage that I would rather spend time on. The truck needs to stay tow rig/heavy haul useful with a touch of off-road flare and expedition type use. (it still needs to pull a race car trailer, load big motorcycles in the back etc). I got carried away with my last resto-mod build and defeated some of its basic usefulness.

 

[RockPunk]

HAHA HEEEEEEEEEYY I built that bumper haha.
That last picture you posted of the white Dodge with tube rear bumper and cut lowers is my old 01 diesel. Was building it up for my roof top tent toting,dirtbike hauling,back country camping and fishing rig.Unfortunatley during my PCS from Alaska to TN, I ended up trading it in on a 2011 Dodge Diesel in MT. But now that 011 will be getting the same treatment as my 01. Bumpers,rock sliders and RTT/roof rack in the works.
You pull it from Pirate or ? I just slapped a strip of duct tape on the rear quarter,and broke out the sazall.I'll slam up some more pics.
:sombrero:

 

[RockPunk]

 

[Cole]

Perfect thanks! Like the pic with all the pieces put together on them floor.


I probably found the pic on Pirate. I usually just save things I want to remember to the iPad while surfing. Bu to post it back up here I had to upload back to flickr.