[drewskiren]

I have determined the the wheel base will grow by 4.5 inches, first thing I know that will interfere is the spare tire mount. I cut it off and will also move the last tubular cross brace back 4 inches. The frame can be lengthened at the rear if I need to, the rear axle will simply get relocated 4.5 inches back instead of cutting the frame and welding it back together in the middle.


The frame kick up has been difficult to work around, but really it is a frame that sinks down in the middle more than it kicks up in the rear only. Instead of mounting the cab nearly on the frame, I am going to reuse the 2.5 inch body mount biscuits that came on the new truck. The frame looks normal under there at that height and it helps tremendously with mounting the bed.

I think I can get away with only removing the bed cross mounts and substituting 1 inch tall channel iron. Here you can see I have started that work.