I am gearing up to body drop my 89 standard cab pickup, hopefully next weekend. I was hoping someone here could direct me to a write up or if anyone has some pics to share. Basically I just want to get as much info as possible before I start cutting on the cab/frame. Thanks for the help.

 

i'd give yourself more than a weekend to get it done. the initial drop isn't hard but there's ton's of little stuff that you'll run into.

heres an article seth did.

http://www.minitruckinweb.com/tech/suspension/0808mt_mini_truck_traditional_body_drop/index.html

 

Thanks a lot burnzya (and Seth for the awesome write up)! That is exactly what I was looking for! Hey, the name of the write up says it all! "Mini Truck Body Drop - Traditional Body-Drop 101: Body-Drop Your Cab In A Weekend" I can get a lot done in a weekend when I into it. It doesn't really have to get done in a weekend though. I am not even driving this truck right now. It is strictly under construction at the moment. I still need to find a bed.

 

I like doing stock floor body drops personally. After doing them both ways, I like SF better. A lot of it depends on your available tools and fab skills though too. If you have never done one before, then traditonal is way safer (and anyone can do one with basic shop tools and a basic welder, lol).

Go for it dude, can't wait to see the pics. (be pepaired for a crazy sunburn, lol)

 

Ok, so it took a little longer than I expected for the right time to come up, but my boss is taking a week off from work and I get to pull my truck into the shop bay for the next four days. So the body drop has to be completed to a point of drivability to get the thing out of the way when the boss gets back. I think it is a time scale I can work with. My goal for tomorrow is to get the floor pan and back wall/firewall cut. I want to get the frame rails cut so I can lower the body and tack it together and hopefully do any more aditional work I can fit in the day. We'll see how it goes.

 

are you going to channel it? just wonderin why you said your gunna cut the frame rails.

 

I was planning to cut right behind the front two body mounts and drop the front of the frame. I am doing what I believe is referred to as a "traditional" body drop, not a stock floor, not exactly channeling... Like what is shown in the write up you posted.

 

ok, got ya. yeah thats traditional. the way i explain it is: cut the perimeter, lower the cab, plate the gaps.

 

Well said^^^ That's basically my goal for tomorrow. I'll be happy if I just get things tacked in place.

 

First ever shop time for the slab!

Alright, so I got the truck in the shop which feels really good.

I took off the doors, fenders, tires and hood for access. It is supported on jack stands 3" behind the second set of body mounts. I just ran into my first little ???.

There is a crossmember in the front of the frame that I am going to be cutting loose and lowering, but up until now I hadn't realized that I was going to have to modify these brackets.

I am thinking cut them about in the middle of the bracket and put in a piece of 1/4" plate that sticks out on the bottom the amount needed for the drop (haven't got that measured yet). Does this sound like I am on the right track or is there some better way to modify the brackets? I am about to start marking out the cab cuts so I just have a little while to figure it out. Thanks a lot for the help!

 

I was also wondering if there is any proble with taking out my torsion bars and just leaving them off when I have to drive it out of here (riding on the bump stops). I don't have to go far. I just have to be able to get it out of the way. I want to fab a new crossmember so I can lay frame and I don't want to deal with the torsion bar mounts in the stock one. Thanks again for the help!

 

There is a blue truck on these forums that drives on the regular without the bars... at least per his posts.

 

WOW! Well then I should be able to get it home no problem (1/4 mile). That's cool. Thanks for the info. So I am going to drop it 1 1/2" plus 3/4" for the pinch weld for a total of 2 1/4" drop. I think once I hammer the pinch weld over it should lay out pretty good. The floor pan cut is going to be pretty close to the door openings. I was picturing it farther in like on Seths write up, but it seems like the best place for e to cut to clear the body mounts is right inside the door.

 

hey dan, check out this article for the front. it's on a 93 yota and looks pretty clean.

http://www.minitruckinweb.com/tech/chassis/0709mt_1993_toyota_pickup_body_drop/index.html

i think javi (v8titan) runs on the bumps. shouldn't hurt anything in a 1/4mile.

 

hey, also try to angle the filler plates at the door opening. looks a lot better than the big ledge that is usually there.

 

That's kinda what I was getting at here^. I don't know what to do to get more angle out of them. There is not going to be a lot of angle from the inside of the door to the cut by the body mounts. Maybe 1 1/2". I think that will be enough of an angle to make it look decent since it is only going 2 1/4" though. If I go any farther I think I will have to modify the body mounts somehow.

That was a very cool write up! That new front crossmember they built looks great! They did an awesome job tubbing that thing! Looks really good. Thanks! That helps having some pictures to go buy on my make of truck.

 

i would leave the areas in front and rear of the door opening staight to the side. and "radius" the ends of the angled area into the straight portion by the mounts. know what i mean? it looks pretty sweet that way.

 

Wow yeah. That's a good point. I hadn't thought of that. It would look like it made a lot more sense that way. I will give it a shot.

I wonder what they did about the lower radiator hose in that write up? If I do the cross member like they did the radiator hose is going to run straight into it... Any ideas? I could snap a pic if needed but at 2 1/4" down, the radiator lower outlet comes pretty much straight out at the crossmember and brackets.

 

maybe a z-shaped piece of tubing to clear it?

 

With the stock radiator I don't think there is even room for that. I am rethinking the new crossmember thing. I think I can get by with a piece of angle iron, like a piece of 4x4", that runs up the frame and out on to the top of the bracket which I would just cut off around where the first hole from the frame rail is in the picture. There is room for a triangular gusset on the front side of the angle iron piece to stiffen it up. I would do the passenger side to match. If I need another crossmember for strength I can add it where it will fit and I can also add some triangular plates for bracing from the front crossmember to the frame. Any thoughts on this?