sideburns

The inevitable Toyota bed rust is starting to infect my 1983 Hilux 4x4 shortbed, and rather than install steel patch panels or a flat/tube bed, I've been considering a fiberglass bed. Since there only seems to be a few companies that make fiberglass beds, and possibly only one that makes a fiberglass 1979-83 style, I've started to contemplate a few other ideas such as installing a later model bed (steel or fiberglass).

The cover of this month's 4 Wheel & off road "Readers Rides" magazine shows a 1st gen truck w/ a 3rd gen bed on it and I was wondering if anyone else has done this swap. The body lines at the bottom of the bed looked like they matched up perfectly. So, if you've made this swap, please let me know the details (i.e. are the body mounts on the bed even remotely close, etc)

slacker

iTrader: (1)

mounts are close .. but only 6 of the 8 will line up (not a big deal) fuel filler is also a bit of a bother , but can be accomplished with some "fanegaling" .. biggest issue with the swap is the width . the 89-95 bed is 2"'s wider then the 79-83 .. so it will stick out and 1" on each side . Body lines are also close , but dont match ...

all depends on what your budget is , and the final "look" you want for your truck .

orange02ss

the second gen bed matches a little better.