Spring weather is here, and it's time to start my truck build/restoration project. I am thinking of stretching out a Flareside bed to 8' to replace my trashed out styleside bed, just wondering if anyone has ever done this before, and how it turned out. This is my truck...

And I pulled this at a junkyard last year...

I know there are mixed responses to putting a fender bed behind a crew cab, and admittedly a 6.5' Flareside behind a crew can look pretty goofy, but I think an 8' Flareside behind the crew would be pretty nice. Anyone ever do this modification? Does not seem like it would be too hard. I will be starting a build thread over on the pre-powerstroke IDI forum, as most of my build will revolve around a mild to medium turbo diesel engine build. Could really use this group's input on the 80-86 body stuff though. Thanks for you input, especially you flaresiders!

 

I would personally try and find a 1973-1979 8 foot flareside bed, rebuild the floor and put the 1980-1986 fenders and tailgate on that.

Would save a whole bunch of work.

Last year of the factory 8' flareside was 1979. Last year of the 9' flareside was 1972.

Very little difference between these beds from 1953-1987 except for cosmetic differences so some parts can be switched around easily or made to work without too much effort.

Definately something to look around for before you decide to make your own.

 

Agreed. It's completely doable but i think it'd be way easier and nicer looking if you use a older bed. I own a stepside truck and almost always wish I had a long bed, so don't give up on it! I'd like to see what you come up with!

 

X2 on finding a real long bed step side!

 

Thanks. That's a very good thought. I will have to check up on the dimensions a little, as I know the pre-1973 beds were narrower, with no wheel wells inside the bed (straight wall) and they had bed rails that slanted inwards. Looking at online pictures of the 73-79 beds *it seems like the box is more like the 80-87 beds, with small internal fender wells and flat topped bed rails. 1973 is also when Ford widened the frame behind the cab, so this makes sense.*

A 73-79 eight footer would probably be perfect, but also probably a moot point. ANY kind of flareside bed is becoming quite the rare and high priced collectors item, and I believe I have only ever seen ONE eight foot Ford flareside bed in person... on a nice, ex-forest service dentside truck in someone's driveway.*

This is not a super "high budget" classic car restoration type project, so I wont be spending a mint on collectable parts or fancy reproductions. I bought the flareside bed for 150$, and i still need to find a tailgate. I have a few ideas on how to stretch my bed if I have to, might start a "bed build thread" separate from the truck build thread on this forum since the IDI crowd isn't too into flares LOL.*

 

Thanks for these great pictures John! I am seeing that this particular 8 footer has the slanted bed rails even though its on a dentside, so that makes me wonder if they ever made an updated, wider box 8 footer. Come to think of it the one I saw had the slanted bed rails also iirc. Not that box width matters all that much, but it would set the fenders inward a couple inches on each side (I want to say 3" per side?) which might look odd and possibly cause tire clearance issue when loaded. I need to get my facts correct concerning the box dimensions through the years.

 

This walk-around of a 1979 Flareside shows the new/different box style very well. Should look familiar to us bullnose Flareside owners. Compare this to the pics of the black dentside posted by dieseljohn.

 

1973-1979 had the same box width length and wheelbase as 1980-1996.

For completion sake, the styleside beds even share inner wall parts between 1973-1996. Only the outer sides and rear stake pockets are different. Some people make 1973-1979 beds out of 1980-1996 beds by welding and swapping bedsides.

Only a few exceptions. 1973-1979 F-350 [Super] Camper specials, and F-350 Trailer Specials with 140" wheelbase, and F-250 4x4's between 1973- and mid year 1977 are different.

So most 1973-1979 beds are interchangeable easily with 1980-1996. Same width length and wheelbases.

 

Probably for a little bit of money you could get a local machine shop with a big metal break to bend you some new bedsides. They can probably even give you some sort of curl on the top close to what the factory had. If you did this, I think I would do some computer work and or some type of drawing and figure out the height for the bedsides. I do not like the previous pictures of the factory 8ft bed, I think the bedsides are too high. That's one thing I noticed right away when I had my 1953 f100 on the road. The bedsides where low and it was very easy to load from the sides.

P.S. I just looked at the pictures again, and I guess your bedside height will have to be the same as your later shortbed you have so everything will match up(tailgate and front piece).

 

Planning out and making bedsides is a ton of work. I wouldn't doubt if you have close to a grand into them when done. You'll still need locations of all the weld studs, and mount holes (which I found to be a pain).

Most of your "basic" shops won't be able to do the full curl (takes specialized tooling). That's one of the reasons I built mine the way I did. They will also need a deep-throat spot welder to weld in all the studs.

This is as far as you can go with "basic" tooling for making the curl.



I had to do it in two pieces, and as you can see, I just changed it and enclosed the whole thing.











You could also try bump-forming the curled edges, but I don't think it's going to turn out right. Once you get over half way, the material will get in the way of the tooling.

Just something to think about. They look pretty basic, but are a pain to make.

 

I believe that black truck in question has a 1972 and older flareside bed on it.

Here are a few 1973-1979 flareside 8' longbeds...

 

Thanks Explorer and ChopTop! That is some really useful information for me, both of you. I'm thinking I'll at least do a thorough junkyard search for 73+ eight footer, but if not maybe I can find a second short box that I could use to extend mine. If I go the splice route, I will probably cap the bed rails with diamond plate, and hide the splice behind the fender flares as much as possible. Again, thanks for your help guys!

 

What did I find here? Now I am thoroughly confused. This is a 1974 USFS truck that obviously has the original, factory bed attached, the way it was ordered from Ford. It has slanted bed rails. It is 8' long. It is 54" wide and has the inner fender wells. Thinking it might work for me. I'm starting to think also that slanted vs. flat bed rails could just be a matter of how far they are bent over. Looks to me like one could cut and "square off" the post pockets and bend the rails to 90* instead of 45*? Possible? I'm thinking of going back to the junkyard today and picking this up and playing with it for my bed build. Fenders are shot, steps not great, but bedsides and deck metal are decent.*

 

I would get that bed if I were you.

1974 model? They could have still been using backstock of 1972 and older beds for the 8' flaresides. Ford did something similar for the 1961-1962 models using 1960 and older styleside beds on trucks that were not unibody.

Ford discontinued the 6' flaresides for 1973-1976 models, so there were no "flat bed rail" 6 footers until 1977.

This could be the reason for the slant vs flat...

 

Check these guys out
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...ttw3jZBdS7QJwQ

They have a bed perimiter kit for $600