Unsung

Yeah, you read correctly. I was curious if anyone has welded the bed sides off of their first generation Toyota onto a second generation bed. My bed is in dire need of a floor. The bed sides themselves aren't so bad, fixable. I have an '85 bed in great shape, but I want my first gen Toyota to look original. My floor is gone in the back and front. I COULD cut it out and weld in a flat floor, and flat across the back. But I wondered about cutting the outer bedsides off the '85 bed I have, and putting my '83 bedsides in their place. Anyone know anything on this subject?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

It could be done . It would be very labor intensive

The prep work would be a killer you would need at least 2 more helpers because these things spring out of shape as you cut them apart. Then lining them up is interesting.

Getting all the paint and undercoating , seam sealer dirt from all the years off all the parts to be welded

you would no doubt have to fabricate attachment points because of the slight differences between the years .

Then you get into the whole finish thing blending it all smooth putting filler into the low spots.

It would be much easier to just swap beds or fix the one you have .

Then you just might want to build a flat bed and be done.

Unsung

I really want an original looking bed on this thing. The one in it is rusted out front and back, and the previous owner put a huge piece of plywood that covers the entire floor, and has a 2x4 hanging down across the back where the valance would be.

There's another Toyota for sale locally for $2k, that has a decent bed on it, I'm even considering buying it for the bed, then building a flatbed for that truck and reselling it.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

If you really want a bed that bad hunt for one in the Southwest.

Good Luck in any case!!

snobdds

Fiberglass beds are cheaper, more durable, and will never rust again.

Search Toyotafiberglass.com or B&G Fiberglass.