Raising bed floor

FTC

Just a dumb welder
Dec 18, 2012
133
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Hawaii
Sup guys, finally started work on the back of my truck!!! So my plan is to raise the bed floor 3" so there will be no holes in the bed. Before anyone says go more, I never plan on ever doing a bd on this truck or going larger than 22s. Plus I already have 3" body lift spacers which will work perfect for what I'm looking to do. So my question is are my cut lines correct? I want the bed to look stock just 3" higher, I would really love to even keep the stock tubs but if bigger tubs are needed I will do so. I'm planning to remove the front bulkhead and drill out the rear spot welds, just wanted to be sure on the sides. Also anyone's opinion if I should overlap the sides or just butt weld them after the 3" section comes out?

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Overlap as in cut out a 2.5" section and overlap the panels 1/2" to make up the 3" total drop. Then weld a lap joint vs a bit joint
 
I have always drilled holes about 3" apart above and below the removed section. remove the section. use 3" wide 1/8" plate and use the holes a spot weld 1.5" above the cut line and 1.5" below. then weld down the but joint. That way, when your welding the joint, it's more difficult to burn thru or warp.
 
I have always drilled holes about 3" apart above and below the removed section. remove the section. use 3" wide 1/8" plate and use the holes a spot weld 1.5" above the cut line and 1.5" below. then weld down the but joint. That way, when your welding the joint, it's more difficult to burn thru or warp.

I had thought about doing a backing strip joint design, but i was concerned about how to clamp the backing strip to the bedsides. But making holes and plug welds is a great idea to make the fitup cherry. Im thinking what i will do is just use the old sheetmetal section that gets cut out, and drill holes top and bottom of the seam. Plug weld the top holes to keep the backing strip up, and maybe use some zip screws on the bottom to pull it into shape. Your saying to make it something like this right? ------_------ but without the gap of course. And do my cut lines look ok to you brett? thanks