has anyone put a 2nd gen bed on a first gen pick up ?
my bed on my 83 is crappy the previous owner did a terrible bob on it and its all rusty and I want to replace it but there are no 1st gens anywhere near me but alot of 2nd and 3rd gens. I also want the 2nd gen bed cuz they have a lot more options for toppers. so I was wonder what is required to mount a 2nd gen bed on my 1st gen ?

any pics please

 

i've seen them and IMO they look goofy with squared wheel wells in back not matching the round wells up front. but it seems they are close, if not a direct bolt up.

Al

 

no they don't fit, you have to dill a hole.that's what i had to do to mine

 

any pics?

 

they fit, front 2 mounts are slightly differnt because on the second gen frame all front the mounts are attaced to the frame, where as the first gen has 2 mounts rise up from the frame and 2 that drop from the box. if that makes sense
body lines are a bit differnt but you dont notice too bad

heres some of my '83. box is off an '86

 

looks good...

then maybe Ill put on some fender flares to make the wheel wells kinda match

 

how about the fuel filler pocket does it still work normal or did you have to modify it?

 

fuel filler lines up

 

Are you sure that's an '86? I thought they stopped using the bed hooks you've got in maybe 85.. I know my 86 had a "normal" bed, with the lip on the inside, instead of the outside, and no utility hooks. Doesn't really matter, just curious.

 

those hooks where welded on afterwords

 

and IIRC only 89+ had the lip on the inside, though some of the 84-88 didn't have hooks

 

There were domestic and import beds...forget which one had the lip. My old '84 was stock w/o the lip, but the replacement bed I put on it from an '87 had the lip...

 

if your going to put a different style bed on
look for a 3rd gen pickup bed, body lines match up a little better

 

what about mounting is it direct bolt on like the 84-88 beds? and do you have any pics?

 

I agree, the 3rd gen bed style is more similar to 1st gen. It sounds like you're going to have to do a little mod-ing anyway, so..
My '86 had the lip on the inside, just like more modern beds, and no hooks. Not sure if it was an import bed or not.

 

Why not go with the 3rd gen bed? They have a much better track record of holding up against rust. Depending on your location you will more than likely have issues finding a clean 2nd gen bed. Jus t my .02

 

but what about mount the 3rd gen bed?

I know the 2nd gen bed wil bolt right up with the exception of the front 2 mount I can add a post there no prob!

is the 3rd gen bed the same way?

 

I mounted a third gen bed on my 2nd gen pickup. 6 out of the 8 bolt holes were in the same location and the back 2 were only a half a hole out. Large fender washers were enough to catch the metal. The filler was in the same location as well. You shouldn't have any issues bolting one on to your first gen. You will have to change the connectors for the tail lights but that's about the most you will need to do. I have also seen a Tacoma bed on a first gen which looked really good. I had to look at it a few times to figure out why it was different. I think that is the best looking one, but more expensive. As far as the difference between hook or no hook beds on the 2nd gens.... all Japanese and Canadian built beds have the hook sides, all US built beds have the smooth sides. You can buy aftermarket tailgates for the US built beds, but not for the hook side beds, and fiberglass sides for the hook side beds but not the smooth ones which makes no sense whatsoever! Its way easier to find parts for the 3rd gen beds and they don't rust out as bad. Also way easier to mount a canopy to the inside lip. The canopies are the same size for 2nd and 3rd gen beds as I used the same canopy on both.

 

any pics of a 3rd gen bed on a 1st gen pick up

 

any pics?