Flaresides?
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 551
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From: Norton Ohio
My truck is now a step side and I realy like it I got some pics in my gallery but it has improved since when they were taken. All of the boards are now bolted down with stainless bolts and the tailgat and the taillights off a 55 stepside are now on.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,240
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I love 73-79 flaresides! I own a 77 F-100 shortbed flareside that is restored to original condition. I had the truck all redone about 7 years ago and it is garage kept so that it will stay in excellent conditon. It is rangoon red(orange-red) with black pinstriping. It has a 351m and a C-6 trans. I agree with you, these 73-79 flaresides are really neat looking trucks.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,701
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I have thought a 250 supercab shortbed, or 4 door with a short box swapped for a flareside would be really cool 
It wouldn't be factory, which would make it even more rare. I could see a supercab painted red with the wheels that are on my truck now on it. That would be so much fun 
Maybe one day. Ted
It wouldn't be factory, which would make it even more rare. I could see a supercab painted red with the wheels that are on my truck now on it. That would be so much fun Maybe one day. Ted
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
From: WV
i love the stepside look. my trucks bed is homemade from 1/8 inch sheetmetal. only the fenders and the "headboard" are stock. my fiancee and i just bought a 78 supercab with intentions of stretching the 4x4 frame to accommodate the supercab body and keep the stepside bed cause we have the same idea as Ted. we have not seen any jacked up 4x4 supercabs with stepside beds. maybe we will all see one by thanksgiving
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,701
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Eddie, love your truck! Stretching the frame would be quite the task. I wanted to get one that already had the wheelbase and just swap the bed. Finding the right truck can be a problem, though. In that regard, stretching might not be so bad. I have tossed so many ideas around in my head. One is to put a supercab on my frame and bolt stock flareside fenders to a custom shorter than shortbed length bed. I would be losing about 6 inches from stock. The other was to lengthen mine 6 inches to accomodate the stock supercab and stock shortbed. Like I said, all dreams. For now, a longbed regularcab is what I will have. If you do hack into it, take a bunch of pics and post them in your galleries. I love seeing the work more so than the finished product 
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
From: WV
frame stretching
hey Ted, glad you like my truck. i have been checking out some of your work and really like what you got going on. as far as stretching my 4x4 frame it is not that big a deal for me. i am a steel fabricator and have access to shears, pressbreaks, mig/tig welders and etc. a friend of mine has his own shop and we have a truck in the works. we completley stripped her down to the bare frame and cut off anything we were'nt gonna reuse later on, then we chopped the front and rear it and made caps to weld in. we then cut 14" out of the middle of it and put her back together. we then had it powdercoated and it turned out pretty darned good. most people cant tell were we took the 14" out which lets us know we must have done something right...lol. back to my truck, initial math calculations say i will need to extend the frame about 23.5 inches. if i get started on this idea you can bet the first thing i do is buy a camera so i can share my experience with everyone interested.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,701
Likes: 6
Glad you like it. I have over 3 years of tinkering into it. That is really cool that you did a frame already. Did you make some L shaped cuts, or how did you join the frame? I figure I could make a jogged L type cut, and then I could slide the frame back so that 3" gaps were in between the two pieces, and then take two 3" pieces and weld them into the gaps. 2 3" gaps would equal a 6" stretch, right? Then I have a wheelbase the same as the supercab shortbeds. Anyway, loooong ways down the road. More than anything, I just want to do it because I love work. Sick, I know, but that is how it is. I enjoy tinkering. Yeah, definitely get that camera fired up!
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
From: WV
we did'nt get that fancy with our cuts. just straight down and tacked it back together on the outside with a gap about 1/8" wide, bent some 3/16" plate about 4" wide to fit inside the frame. we penetrated the backing plate trough the gap we left then stitched the to the inside of the frame. we build things from beams and channels and anles everyday so we figured that would suffice. but now people are saying we made it too strong and may have lost some "flex". this is to be a show truck and not meant for big hillclimbs and deep mudpits. hopefully magazine articles and local parades will be it's main job. i wish i could put some pics on here but i dont think they will be allowed.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
From: WV
also imho it would seem like making one cut then filling in a 6" gap would be better because you would have half as many weld spots to worry about breaking. we put up a 10 ton bridge crane in our shop and had to stretch it about 12 feet to fit our rails. we made dovetail cuts in it and put it back together. has worked great.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,701
Likes: 6
Here is a pic of what I mean. I thought I had seen it somewhere.
http://www.ncspecialties.com/autobod...s/P1000857.JPG
http://www.ncspecialties.com/autobod...s/P1000857.JPG