After installing the doghouse, I installed the lights on the front of the truck, and rigged up the rear lights to the frame so I could drive it until I figured out what to do for a bed.
I also picked up a new front bumper along with a sport bumper for the rear of the truck.
It didn't take many drives to realize that the shock relocation kit was needed. Without a bed installed this part was a breeze, I had everything replace within an hour. I ground the rivet heads off and used an air chisel to remove them. All of the new bolt hardware was included. This made a huge handling improvement, the back end was much more settled at all times. The most noticeable change was crossing bridges on I-65, before the shock relocation it was a bit sketchy..
And these are just a tiny look into the mess of a shortbed that I purchased. At first it seemed salvageable as a temporary replacement, but after attempting to remove the fender wells I found more rust than I anticipated. So shortly after this we moved the bed back outside and starting thinking about some other options.
A neighbor ended up offering me what I paid for the bed and loaded it up and left with it, so that problem took care of itself. About a month after this we finally decided to get a shortbed kit from SOKY.