Check out our latest project: a daily driven S-10 that will be laid out on big wheels, still get 23 mpg, and be driven every day!
That's right, the Daily Dime is in progress. Working with Suicidedoors.com, Air Lift, and Needful Thingz, this daily driven dime will be 'bagged, and body-dropped, keep the A/C, and we'll show you all the cool tricks along the way. Like we said, this truck is driven, and since we couldn't take it off the road for too long just yet, we began by body-dropping the bed, to keep a stock bed floor. So follow along as we get this project underway! For more information, contact the companies listed in the Source Box.
1. Here's the stock virgin...
1. Here's the stock virgin Dime ready for some cuttin'.
2-3. Since we're going to...
2-3. Since we're going to start with just body-droppin' the bed, begin with removing the taillights, gas filler neck, unplug the taillights from underneath, and unbolt the ground from the bed.
4. Unbolt the bed mount bolts...
4. Unbolt the bed mount bolts from underneath, but save them as they will be reused. With everything removed from the bed it can now be taken off and set upside down on the bed cart.
5. There are a million ways...
5. There are a million ways to skin a cat, but for Needful Thingz, they started with the underside of the bed. The spot welds securing the wheel tubs where drilled out first.
6-7. With the spot welds drilled...
6-7. With the spot welds drilled out, mark and cut out the inner-side which secures the wheel tubs to the bedsides. The goal here is to work on separating everything connected to the bedsides.
8-9. Next, the Needful Thingz...
8-9. Next, the Needful Thingz crew worked on adding strength to the bedsides so they bent tubing to line the wheel well.
10. Once the tubing matched...
10. Once the tubing matched the curve of the wheel well it was tacked into place.
11. The wheel well tubing...
11. The wheel well tubing support will be welded to a straight support connecting to the bed mounts, so an area is marked and will be cut to separate the bed floor from the bedsides.
12. Here you can see the supports....
12. Here you can see the supports. They go all the way down the bedsides and add much needed strength.
13. Six inches will be cut...
13. Six inches will be cut out of the sides to raise the bed to where the top of the wheel well came up to the lip of the bed. The bottom cut was marked and scribed right above the wheel tub.
14. As we had two people working...
14. As we had two people working on the bed at the same time, we were able to save a little time and jump around a bit. So, we also had one person drill out all of the spot welds holding the back wall.
15. Needful Thingz uses electric...
15. Needful Thingz uses electric shears to make the straightest cut possible for the bottom cut.