I was doing a little research trying to figure out if anyone else tapers beds, and as it turns out, the manufacturers do! According to the link below, my 2000 Ford F350 long bed tapers 4" from front to rear (narrower in the back). Most people suspect this is either for aerodynamics or because they are widening the cabs but don't want/need to widen the tailgate. Because I have never noticed this before, I guess others wouldn't notice if I did it too (just the opposite way). I need to narrow the bed either way, so tapering it while narrowing it really isn't any extra effort.

Here is a list of bed sizes and it specifically lists front and rear widths.
Bed Size

 

My plan for one of my beds is to narrow the bed from wheels to front about 2 in on each side It should look good matching the cab.for a dually add a fender to the outside. Just using wider fenders leaves a unnatural look

 

I might not have been clear on this, but I am using a "dually" box with the extra dually fenders on it, but I found an aftermarket replacement dually fender that is 4" wider than the normal dually fenders. the trick is that after I narrow the box, even the dually fenders wouldn't be wide enough to cover my duallys

Something like this Ford Dually Fenders - American Dually Fenders

 

It certainly seems to be coming along well, although I hope any passengers you have, have slim legs, that sure looks restricting. I guess a small problem considering what you are achieving.

 

Chevrolet started the tapering of the box in 1988 with their new body style. I remember the talk of the time being a rude awakening for guys buying their new chevy pickup and swapping their canopies from their old trucks to their new ones, only to find they didn't fit. It was a big boon for truck topper manufacturers.

 

This weekend I brought the box in from the other shed so I could see how it is going to line up. It looks like I am going to need to narrow the box 14", which is about what I was expecting. With the 8.5" I get back with wider fenders, The fenders will be 5.5" narrower than they currently are. It appears that the tires currently sit well within the fender wells, and because these fenders will end up being relatively high, I think I have enough play to take the extra 2.75" of slack on each side. Worst case scenario, I can just taper the bed slightly.

I also did some preliminary measuring, and it appears that I will be taking out 30" of frame between the axles (shouldn't be a problem, since there is a long straight section there) and 26" of frame behind the bed. As you can see from the pics, the fenders and the wheels don't line up at all at this point.











Next I spent some time trying to get the body closer to where I wanted it. I grabbed the plasma cutter and started removing anything that was in the way. It really didn't add up to too much. I had to trim off a couple inches on the drivers side floorboard, cut off the bottom of a section of the c-channel frame the body sits on, and remove the front of the E350 frame as I decided to slide the cab back farther. I have determined I really love that plasma cutter. :-)


This allowed me to set the cab down about 4" lower than it was before. I still can pick it back up a bit if I want, but this is pretty close to where I plan on leaving it. I need to get a bit more clearance though, as I need the cab to move about an inch farther forward and the front clip to move about an inch farther back to get everything to line up properly.





<br/>new stance (before suspension lowering).








C-channel clearancing. I think the body needs to move forward 1 inch from here.





Here you can see the steering linkage going straight up through the factory hole in the floorboard. I need to get the steering column propped in place to make sure everything is going to fit, but worst case I should only need to add a new hole for the steering column so it can come back at more of an angle.





C-channel on the passenger side... I am going to need to reroute the brake lines on top of the frame.

Next step is going to be working on getting the cab and body fitted right and getting things marked so I will know where they go, and then I will spend some time verifying that the steering linkage is going to work as I had hoped.

 

Still chugging away. I have spent some time recently removing more things I know I won't need and doing some fine trimming to get everything fitting nicely.

I was able to cut 32" of frame off of the back of the truck, and am planning on cutting an additional 32" of of the center of the frame to shorten it. That will bring make the truck a whole lot easier to store. :-)

I did spend some time playing with the steering. I grabbed the van steering wheel and column and loosely bolted it into existing holes in the dash. It isn't centered properly and will fit slightly better once I center it properly, but even as it is, it is usable and fits right while sitting in the driving position. I was a little worried when I first put it in place because it seemed to bind, turns out I had the ignition turned off so the column was locked. Once I turned the key forward it worked well.

I would really like to keep the original steering column as it will be plug-n-play with my steering harness and give me my ignition, turn signals, hazards, cruise control and even air bag for free. :-)

 

You are making great progress. You will be looking paint and body before you know it.

 

FYI a dually pickup rear end is 7" wider than a normal 1 ton rear end. You could gain 3 1/2" on each side by using a rear end from a regular 1 ton.
Elmo

 

Pweng1 - Thanks for the comments. It feels like I am making progress faster than I expected, and so far haven't come up with any big unexpected issues to resolve. Also, The size of the shop has come in very handy. I just built the shop over the last year or so. If anyone is interested in that story, I have a build thread on that one too. MN Auto Shop build in a 42x90 pole barn - The Garage Journal Board

Elmo4895- My rear end isn't out of a Dually pickup, it is out of the E350 chassis. I didn't know there was a difference in dually widths. Is there one that would be narrower than what is in the E350 chassis? I haven't ever even pulled the wheels off of it, so I don't know the actual width of this axle.

 

My dually pickup is 84" from outside of tread to outside of tread. It looks like the rear end you have matches the dually bed that you have. Measure the distance the same way and see if it is close to mine. I know for a fact that dually pickup rear ends are 7 " wider than standard flat bed 1 ton trucks. Hope this is of help.
Elmo

 

Your frame might be too wide for the narrower rear end though.
Elmo

 

Leaf spring saddles can always be relocated on the housings, but measuring the center to center leaf spring width might give you something to hunt around in a truck salvage yard for. With all the different axles available, you may find what you need without having to cut or fit anything.

 

I'm with Ray. I think the current ride height looks good.

 

I don't think I am going to go to a narrower rear axle, as it was pointed out, my frame rails are wider so if I were to go to a narrower rear, I would have to move the springs to the inside of the frame rails. By using the wider fenders I can get away without needing to narrow the rear. I did finally measure my rear and from outside tread to outside tread, it is about 91", so much wider than other options.

The next step I want to work on right now is to shorten frame. I spent some time getting the cab in the right place. I finally got it slid forward far enough that I can get the fenders in place properly. I also lifted the cab slightly by adding some rubber spacers between the frame and the cab. I am currently planning on leaving it at this level (although I do plan on lowering the suspension 3" still, eventually).








Once I had the cab in place, I decided to start working on shortening the frame. I got the box centered around the wheels and measured how much I would need to shorten the frame to get everything to fit. It measured out to 32.5", which was shockingly close to my earlier estimate of 32".

Then I had to start cleaning things off so I could cut the frame. I had to remove the battery box, all of the brake lines, fuel lines and wires that go online the frame. I also pulled the driveshaft (which will need to be shortened). I then measured and noticed that, while I have a very nice straight section that I can remove, by doing so I will have 2 cross members very close to each other. I decided that was unnecessary and would get in the way of my bracing, so I needed to remove the front one (the rear one seems to support the suspension mount)





the tape measure is about the length that needs to be removed

After removing the rivets, I found that the brace must been inserted as it was assembled, so I had to cut it in half to remove it. Now I have everything ready to start cutting.




Next step is to move the truck to a side stall (it doesn't need to be blocking the hoist) and then weld up some braces to support the frame when I cut it, cut out my center section and then weld it back together. I am going to wield a diamond shaped support on the inside (5" sides). Then I can start seeing how it looks with a short wheelbase. :-)