Yes I agree it is quite strage. The thing that gets me is the cylinders are single acting, meaning they cant pull, only push. So the bed would almost have to be heavier on the rear to get it to pivot down, unless they used to winch to pivot it somehow. I didnt notice any sort of latch either to help hold the bed down on the front. Hopefully I can get some close up pictures this weekend. The bed rails and sills look to be a factory job, with the rear wedge and headache rack added on afterwords. It has a wood floor, so it is possible it was a grain box at one time.
As far as restoring it, I always thought they looked better in their work clothes, but it is owned by my 15 yr old brother so it will be up to him to decide. It's still going to have a few years of work left hauling cars for us as well, so maybe down the road it will get some paint.
