Widening a 65 Chevy Stepside Bed

Ever noticed that the stepside bed width at the fenders is narrower than the front fender width? This kind of stuff bothers me so I widened the bed on my 65 Short Step by 4 inches.

New angle brackets at the front are bolt on's.


Made new "jamb" for tail gate out of 2" angle and 1 x 2 rect. tubing and added removable cables to hold tail gate in down position.,


Added internal wheel tubs. Cut and spliced in 4 inch wide pieces on all the sill plates.


Assembled with fenders, roll pan mocked up.


Added 2 inch filler pieces to each side of the roll pan. Filler pieces were used on the bottom of the fenders, kind of hard to see in this picture.

 

WOW! Very cool idea. Can't wait to see some comparison shots on the truck.

 

15x8-1/2 slots with 33x12.5x15 Goodyear rubber. Widened bed really isn't very noticeable. I doubt that most people will even notice the difference.





Spare is a Firestone bias ply (cool comparison, old -vs- new). Fab'd up new mount for the spare, the stock mounts are spindly and pretty ugly. New one is hidden and made from heavy structural steel. Check out the attached pdf for details of the new mount.
See how low the spare tire sets into the fender? That's because it is a long bed fender. The spare tire cut-out is down lower on the long bed fender vs. up higher on the short bed fender. Also locates tire closer to the cab, thus no big gap between tire and the cab.
My Truck has a long bed fender to mount the spare tire lower:


Stock spare tire location for a short bed fender:

 

Some progress photos:

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Build thread: http://talk.classicparts.com/showthread.php?t=13928

 

LOL, your tire combo brings back memories of my '59 Chevy pickup. I had Goodyear polyglas GT's (I think they were N50's?) on the front and 31/10.50/15's on the back... it gave it a heck of a a rake!

 

Pretty slick! Me Likey.

 

Looking good John

 

That's pretty killer work man. Makes the proportions of the stepside bed much better.

 

nice work I personally dont like the spare tire on the side doesnt fit
cool idea making it fit better nice tail light Idea too

wait... is that a camero dash???/

 

Nice job on the bodywork. It really looks good.

FWIW, I believe the original intention of having the rear narrower than the front is for purposes of improved straight-line tracking. Think of a tricycle rolling down a hill. With the narrower track in the front, it's all squirrley (sp?). Spin it around so the narrow-ness is in the rear and it will track a straight line better.

I'm not saying yours is right-or-wrong. I just wrote this a response your comment about it bothering you. I don't believe it was an styling over-sight.

Again. It looks good.

 

Nice work on the bed. Is that a 67-68 Camaro dash?

 

So ... The work you have done looks like a Quality Job.

But from the above shot it appears the rear fenders Now stick out past the side of the Cab ... Am I Right ?

If the truck was coming at you you could see the rear fenders sticking out past the cab ???

I think that would Look Goofy & out of Proportion.

Got any straight on pics to prove me wrong ?

 

Thanks for the posts.

In regards to the spare, it's period correct. I like the diversity of showing stock vs. hot rodded.

The dash is a from a 67 Camaro, an Ebay score. I widened it to fit the C10 and used the stock truck knobs and controls. It all fell together like it was meant to be.... well, with a little persuation...

Goofy??? Prove you wrong ??? Nah. While I respect your opinion, I built this truck the way I wanted. Like it? That's cool. Don't like it? That's also cool.

The rear fenders are indeed wider than the front, but not by much, maybe an inch. On the 60-66 trucks the beds were a couple inches narrower than the cab / front end. This is simply because these step side beds remained unchanged from '55 thru 66, but the cabs evolved and became wider.

Look at any "factory" muscle car from the mid 60's to early 70's, every one of them have a wider rear track than the front.

I like the look, and the truck reflects that look.

 

Yep, you can really see the width change on the short bed fleetsides.

 

it is refreshing to see a modified truck that is built like a truck and not made to lay frame like some dumbshit mini trucker. cool

 

nice job on the metal work,looks cool.

 

Looks realy good.I love that dash.I think i seen your truck on 67-72chevytrucks.com before.

 

Very nice work.Dan Carpenter makes a wider bed for the F 100.I would have never thought about the Chevys.I will have to check a friend of mines 62 Dodge bed to see how it fits.Your truck reminds me of a 69 Chev truck that street raced around here with a small block and 4 speed.Of course his rear tires were hanging out side the fenders.

 

It's there, as well as a bunch of technical threads I wrote. The queen banished me from their kingdom... Banned For Life. Kind of like "Double Secret Probation" .

As Colin Powel once said "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."

 

That sucks!c10 forum.com is a good forum for chevy trucks.

 

I see why you really widened the bed .... nise tire and wheel combo

 

I was looking for you the other day on that forum. Couldn't find you, now I see why. Trucks lookin' good though.

 

great work looks good but in one picture looks like you have created opposite problem.you said that it bothered you that it was narrower now it appears wider.looks good .

 

looks great, i prefer the stepside beds for trucks not hauling loads to the dump or needing a 5h wheel hitch. i plan to be swapping a stepside bed onto my 65' pickup once i find one!

 

"Oi loa la`ula". That's "wider is better" in Hawaiian.

A rear end that is slighty wider, and yet in proportion with the rest of the body, should never be called a problem. Note: This theory is also applicable to women. ​

 

i like it...it makes for better proportions..

 

Here is a photo for ya'll.

 

build it your way,did you make the roll pan?