The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 59 bed on 41 3/4 ton frame

I'm back to working on my 41 again. I have an 8' '59 bed sitting on it now and could use some help/advise on what to do.

I have the bed sitting to the height I want it (the "roll" in the body is even with the "roll" in the top of the bed.) It also has a TF full floating rear in it with 19" wheels.

The width of the bed is 50" and the inner width between the rear tires is 46"; the clearance from the top of the tire to the bed is 1".

I was considering moving the wheels out from the WMS, but 2 plus inches on each side is too much, right? The only other option I currently see is cutting into the bottom of the bed enough for the required tire to bed clearance - and I don't really know how much that should be yet, 5"??? If I need to do that, I will need to raise the inside of the bed by that amount. I can do it if I need to, but is there another way?

Thanks for your help!

Have you considered tubbing the rear inner fenders?

Are you using a fleetside bed or a stepside bed?

I have, but don’t really want to go that route because I want to keep the full width of the bed.
That’s why I keep coming back to raising the bed. It’s a fleetside.
Thanks for your consideration.

What is your current WMS-WMS? You could put a later axle in to get the wheels at the right width without using spacers or extensions.

My personal opinion is that trying to raise it enough to clear will look worse than either tubbing it or widening the axle. That comes down to personal preference though.

It is fairly common to have raised bed floors on conversions to newer frames, but I have never really liked that look myself.

What other modifications are you doing to the truck? Any drivetrain/suspension changes? If so, those could inform better advice.

Victor,

If you have a Task Force axle under a Task Force bed, shouldn't it just fit, unless your wheels/tires are bigger than stock for that era truck?

Or am I not understanding what you're trying to do?

How are you going to use the truck? If a cruiser or with light hauling a 2" spacer is acceptable as that what is used on all S10 conversions to position the wheels on center to the fender. We use STEEL spacers/adapters which expand-contract the same as the drum and axle and never need periodic tightening. If a heavy hauler two inches puts a lot of strain on the bolts or studs.

Kevin,

If I read his posts right, he is trying to meld a TF fleetside bed to a '41 frame. Definitely apples and oranges which will take some modifications to complete.

Someone correct me if I misunderstand please.

Dan, I was looking at this ^ in his original post.

???

Thank you all for your comments and helping me get through this.

Gdads51 - you are corrects; TF bed to a '41 frame.
The truck has TF front and rear axles, but the frame is 41 (33" frame width, or whatever it is).

I want the truck to be able to handle some weight. I drive and use my trucks, so don't want to have to worry about a little weight in it-especially when it goes on to the next owner. I put a 350 in it (truck was already set up to SBC when I got it) and a 700r4. I had a one-piece (3") driveshaft made to mate to the TF FF rear. I'm running 19.5" wheels. So, that the drivetrain.

I have the bed sitting where I would like it. It's about 3" off the frame in the front and less as to frame bends over the rear. I will need to made braces. But if I need to raise the floor of the bed, say 5", I will have room to install cross braces and design it so it mounts to the newly made frame to bed braces.

Does that make sense? I came to the same conclusion as Gdads51; it will take some modifications. But, what's the alternative?

Thanks again!

Doesn't your Fleetside bed already have wheel tubs? They came that way from the factory. Is your tire clearance to the sides or top? If the sides, 1" should be plenty. You'll want more clearance at the top of the tires, though.

Your issue is the rear hump in the frame. They were pretty high until '54 (or was it '53?) when the flat top bedsides showed up and the bed floor and frame hump was lowered.

Putting a deep bed like a '59 will need to either set higher (with additional cross sills) to clear the frame hump, or move the bed floor up. Moving the floor up will likely be more difficult to do, as you'd likely want the tailgate hinges moved up so the horizontal tailgate is on the same level as the bed floor, or if you don't care about that, there would be a step up from the tailgate when extended up to the bed floor.

Good luck with your project.

I misspoke. It’s a stepside bed and I have 41 fenders that I will put on it. Thanks

Victor,

At this point in the conversation, maybe the best next step would be for you to post some pictures of what you have. Include anything you have currently set/mocked up with details all around.

Pictures will help all those looking/helping better understand what you have and what suggestions may work best towards your goals.

Looking forward to seeing what ya got!

I was thinking that as well. I’ll take some tomorrow and post them. Thanks

Here's my mock up. I realize I need to extend the frame about 17" or so, and an assortment of other things, but just want to focus on mounting the bed at the moment. It's sitting pretty close to where I would like it. As you can see, the top of the rear tire is about 1" from the bed. As it sits, the bed is 4" off the frame in front and 2" in the rear. Rear WMS is 62".

I'm thinking I need to raise the inside of the bed for top of the tire clearance-however much that is. I need to but new bed support brackets in it anyway.

Let me know if you need additional information and thanks again.

It looks like you've got a dually wheel on the rear (and front). Unless you're planning on running duals, you could get wheels without the dual offset. That would probably bring the tires out past the floor of the bed. I'm not sure those are readily available though. Is the inside-inside tire measurement the same front and back?

You are correct. Original plan was for duallys. But given the additional time and expense to do it, and the desire to get it on the road, I decided to do SRW.

WMS in front is a couple inches wider.

Thank you very much for your time and advice. I believe I have one wheel that will work and I’ll look for a second one.
I believe that is my best option and couldn’t have gotten there without your guidance.

Thanks again!

Trying to line up the top of the box with the cab belt line is really going to force you to modify even more.


My wife still asks of my 51 1 ton, “Why the heck is the box so low on that one ton? Shouldn’t it sit higher?”


This is simply the way they were built back then.

I pulled to duallys off and replaced the front hub with the one that was on the truck when I got (a couple decades ago), along with the 17.5 wheels that were on it. Looks like I'm clear to proceed with mounting the bed without moving the floor.

I still need to do some measuring, cutting, welding and stuff. The frame rails were cut off at some point - the truck did not have a bed on it when i got it.
I'll need to make frame to bed mounts, mount the rear fenders, cut the running board to fit, and a bunch of other stuff.

klhansen - I would like to request advise on those issues. Is it ok to do here or should I go to a different forum?