Build Thread Custom Jeep CJ Truck Build

[Scooter402]

Nice! Consider me jealous. I'm only hoping I can get my hands on a truck bed sooner rather than later. Even if there is a little rust repair on that bed, it looks like you've got a good solid base to start with. Keep plugging away!

 

[shum8]

Yes, the tail light setup is very nice


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[Petescj]

You guys are killing me. I'm going to come in a distant 3rd place in this pickup battle. Good luck with the new bed.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

THX, PB for the great thread!
Please, keep the pics and updates coming.
I think I can hear Peter pull'n his hair out. :laugh:
LG

 

[mtnwhlr]

You guys are killing me. I'm going to come in a distant 3rd place in this pickup battle. Good luck with the new bed.

At least you are in the race.

 

[shum8]

You might be in third place time wise, but the finished project is what shall be judged


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[Peanut Butter]

Never guessed this was going to inspire others to do the same type of build and it then become a competition. Got the measurements of the bed. :drool: Here they are:

Bottom of bed - 48"
Top of Bed - 58"
Length of bed - 80"
Width of tailgate opening - 51"
Height of inside - 19"
Height of Outside - 22"
Inside dimensions - 49.5" x 78.25"

The distance from outside of frame rail to outside of frame rail on the CJ7 at the rear wheels is 38" with approximately 1" of useable space between the frame rail and the tire.

That means I'm going to have to narrow the bed by 7 to 10 inches.

The length of 80" is nice, but I may have to shorten the bed any where from 7 to 20 inches to give me a more reasonable looking bed for the size of the vehicle. That would make the bed 5 to 6 feet in length. Anybody have a suggestion on what they think the length of the bed should be? Keep in mind that the interior width of the bed will be approximately 41" due to narrow track axles. So throwing a sheet of plywood in there is out, but that is what my little trailer is for:



Cutting this bed down in either length or width will be pretty straight forward, as it is basically a rectangular box.

And for those of you that like the lights. They appear to be a piece of pipe cut and welded together with 4" round lights in them.

 

[shum8]

Leave it full width, cut in shallow wheel wells, and add just enough fender outside the bed to cover tires? How bout making the bed width at the rails match the width of the cab, and work the wheel wells as needed?

Just spitballin.....


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[Petescj]

Never guessed this was going to inspire others to do the same type of build and it then become a competition. Got the measurements of the bed. :drool: Here they are:

Bottom of bed - 48"
Top of Bed - 58"
Length of bed - 80"
Width of tailgate opening - 51"
Height of inside - 19"
Height of Outside - 22"
Inside dimensions - 49.5" x 78"

A friendly competition maybe if anything. I'm sure they'll be compared to each other. I have to admit you changed my mind in one way already. The Aqualu bed doesn't have enough character so I'm going to come up with my own as well.

I admit I tried to cheat a little already. Jeff doesn't have the molds for the Gaucho fenders anymore just so you know. I liked Shums idea for the bed. I think fabbing the fenders will be the toughest part. Maybe go with ones to match your trailer , that would make it easy and keep the same theme

 

[shum8]

Use CJ inner fenders and sections of outer rear panels...... Then the fenders would look like CJ fenders..... Sorta.

And ya gotta have some friendly competition - keeps ya motivated.

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[Scooter402]

Nothing at all wrong with a little friendly competition. I hope your tub is in better shape than mine is! I'm losing a lot of time fooling with rust repair...

 

[Peanut Butter]

Thanks guys. Bunch of really good ideas. I'll have to do some thinking about all this. Plan is to get my son in laws Jeep out of my garage this week and get the bed in there. That way I can start addressing the rust problems.

 

[Peanut Butter]

So, I got the new truck bed into the garage and on jack stands. Now I need to figure out how to remove the old wood floor out from underneath.



With a few tugs, well maybe a lot of tugging, I was able to remove it.



Here is a picture of what was left :

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I started cutting away the excess metal on the bottom side. I will add some sheet metal to the outside bottom. After that I will weld a 2" wide piece of angle iron all along the bottom edge.

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Then I took the sander to one of the top rails. Cleaned it up pretty good and then painted it to get an idea of what it will look like.


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It's going to take a little work, but I really like the way it looks. What do you think?


By the way, the heat index this afternoon was 118 degrees -

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[Scooter402]

Very nice! That's going to polish up real nice.

Wow, that's a tad steamy. I live in southeast Pennsylvania now, and I laugh when people complain that it's getting hot (was 92 here today). I was born and raised in Texas, so I still am used to heat. 16 years of Texas summers, a couple from Oklahoma, then all around the country and halfway around the world from there... Ended up planting roots in PA.

Anyway, enough of my hijack. Back to the good stuff!

 

[shum8]

Alright - I'm having a stupid moment.... Was the old wood floor under the bed, or did you have it on the jacks hands upside down? It's been a long day and I can't seem to wrap my head around it...... Sigh.....


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[Peanut Butter]

Alright - I'm having a stupid moment.... Was the old wood floor under the bed, or did you have it on the jacks hands upside down? It's been a long day and I can't seem to wrap my head around it...... Sigh.....

What the PO did was weld in a flat piece of metal over the rotted wood floor while it was still mounted in the truck. I prefer a metal bottom to my truck bed, so I just pulled the old wood out. The metal rails holding the wood were totally rusted out.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Very nice! That's going to polish up real nice.

Wow, that's a tad steamy. I live in southeast Pennsylvania now, and I laugh when people complain that it's getting hot (was 92 here today). I was born and raised in Texas, so I still am used to heat. 16 years of Texas summers, a couple from Oklahoma, then all around the country and halfway around the world from there... Ended up planting roots in PA.

Anyway, enough of my hijack. Back to the good stuff!

Where in Texas and what job took you around the world. I kind of did the same thing, until I retired from the Military, Army.

 

[Peanut Butter]

I forgot to show you how I got it into my garage. Here are some pictures:









Also one of my new found buddies came out to play . Too bad he couldn't stick around!

 

[shum8]

Ok - with a couple cups of coffee on board and your reply it makes perfect sense now. PO's attempt at the floor repair actually made it easier for you - NICE. Any idea on a tailgate? Willys tailgate with material spliced in to adjust width? CJ tailgate?


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[Petescj]

Nice. So you just weld a piece of sheet metal over the rotted wood floor for the perfect fix? :laugh: Gotta love previous owners. I haven't decided on a wood or metal bed floor yet. Maybe I should go that route . :laugh: I love the look you get with wood but I'm leaning towards the functionality you get with metal. The one thing I don't like about using the Cj7s wheel wells is the amount of room they take up. If you look at a Scrambler for example you'll see the smaller rounder wheel wells most smaller pick ups use. Just saying. My bed is going to be narrow enough id like to keep them from intruding the most I can.

Love the build , thanks for the inspiration. And stay cool, lived in Az and have felt that kind of heat.