3800 series owners upper crust? Well danged if I am not proud to also be a 3800 owner. However, unlike many of you, mine is a grain bed one ton. It came with a 10' bed complete with sideboards and stock rack for hauling livestock.
The year I bought the truck (1997) I hauled slightly over 100 bushels of wheat per trip during my wheat harvest. Uh, that was to test the brakes--they passed.
I no longer grow grain so this spring I cut the bed down to 8' and applied diamond plate steel to the floor. It is still a work in progress as I am working a temp full time job in addition to my regular employment. Paint goes on the entire truck in September if all goes as planned.
This is not only my daily driver but my only vehicle so it is not always easy to work on in between trips anywhere.
In addition to the other comments about what to do, I would suggest that you get several parts catalogs and peruse them to see what all is available and to see what you may wish to replace or add rather than refurbish.
Welcome to the forum. I'm fairly new here myself and don't post much because of time constraints.
