- Joined
- Aug 23, 2011
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- graham, wa
- Vehicle Year
- 1987
- Make / Model
- ford
- Engine Size
- 7.3l idi diesel
- Transmission
- Automatic
hey guys got a question on dove tailing
me and me buddy dove tailed the front of my ranger the other weekend and it was really easy, a couple cuts and brut force and the inner fenders set were i wanted them, connected the core support with some sheet metal and self tappers, and just bolted the fensers on and bent them to fit right.
i want to shorten the bed it will only be about 3' 6" to about 4' total legth, the front panel will be about 1/3 of the way into the wheel well then will narrow to the frame width at the rear and i will narrow the tail gate abut 14-18 inchs.
has anyone done this or have any good ideas on how to do this.
my thought is to cut the spot welds out for the front panel and then were the center panel on the bed floor meets the inner side panels just inside the wheel well cut along that seam the whole length and then cut that panel at the angle that i will dove tail it and then weld it back together and cut the extra bed sides off in front of the front panel. and then my problem with doing it this way is with the tail gate on the bed the pegs will not sit parralel with the tail gate like factory they will be angled in tords the middle of the bed and the tail gate will not work on the hinges correctly or even latch i am running into a problem with how to angle the back of the panels so they look factory not angled in. i have thought of cutting the top rail and the floor about and inch or two infront of the tail lights so i can bend the tail light section back out so the pegs and the latch for the tail gate will sit like factory and not have any issues with the tail gatge opening and closing.
any ideas would be great or if there are any pics out there that you have seen that you could post would be awesome
me and me buddy dove tailed the front of my ranger the other weekend and it was really easy, a couple cuts and brut force and the inner fenders set were i wanted them, connected the core support with some sheet metal and self tappers, and just bolted the fensers on and bent them to fit right.
i want to shorten the bed it will only be about 3' 6" to about 4' total legth, the front panel will be about 1/3 of the way into the wheel well then will narrow to the frame width at the rear and i will narrow the tail gate abut 14-18 inchs.
has anyone done this or have any good ideas on how to do this.
my thought is to cut the spot welds out for the front panel and then were the center panel on the bed floor meets the inner side panels just inside the wheel well cut along that seam the whole length and then cut that panel at the angle that i will dove tail it and then weld it back together and cut the extra bed sides off in front of the front panel. and then my problem with doing it this way is with the tail gate on the bed the pegs will not sit parralel with the tail gate like factory they will be angled in tords the middle of the bed and the tail gate will not work on the hinges correctly or even latch i am running into a problem with how to angle the back of the panels so they look factory not angled in. i have thought of cutting the top rail and the floor about and inch or two infront of the tail lights so i can bend the tail light section back out so the pegs and the latch for the tail gate will sit like factory and not have any issues with the tail gatge opening and closing.
any ideas would be great or if there are any pics out there that you have seen that you could post would be awesome