Bed Chop??!!!

[Kindafearless]

I love it and I want it. I’ve only been able to get an estimate from one shop and they reported back that it would be $25k-$30k!!! For that kinda paper, I’d say not worth it. Maybe I’ll be getting some practice with body work in the near future. Anyone else get a reasonable quote or is this actually an accurate cost?

I would guess the reason for that kinda quote is litigious culture and the complexity of the job. I'm seriously considering doing it and will document it if/when I do.

Like ZoneArc said, dropping down hard from obstacles is annoying me way more than any minor break over problems.

Risks I see in the job (not that I'm all knowing):
* Moving the spare (you basically need to give up your spare, move it to the bed, or put it on a rack)
* There is the possibility of imperfections in the body work after the job is done. If your welds are off or you don't grind it perfectly smooth, it will show.
* You'll need to cut and patch the frame, which can effect towing and is a liability.
* And it requires moving wires, painting, welding, cutting, and violating the warranty.

Not many people and shops are comfortable doing all of that.

I bet it could be done by a brave/competent home mechanic in a few days with maybe a little outsourcing for paint and stuff.

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[Fcmalie]

I would guess the reason for that kinda quote is litigious culture and the complexity of the job. I'm seriously considering doing it and will document it if/when I do.

Like ZoneArc said, dropping down hard from obstacles is annoying me way more than any minor break over problems.

Risks I see in the job (not that I'm all knowing):
* Moving the spare (you basically need to give up your spare, move it to the bed, or put it on a rack)
* There is the possibility of imperfections in the body work after the job is done. If your welds are off or you don't grind it perfectly smooth, it will show.
* You'll need to cut and patch the frame, which can effect towing and is a liability.
* And it requires moving wires, painting, welding, cutting, and violating the warranty.

Not many people and shops are comfortable doing all of that.

I bet it could be done by a brave/competent home mechanic in a few days with maybe a little outsourcing for paint and stuff.

Red Summit Machine works has a great high clearace bumper/tire mount that gives about 4" more clearance in the back before a bobbed bed. They had just the bumper on their previous shop truck that had been bobbed after an accident and it looked great.

 

[SigSauerKraut]

Well, I’ve just had a conversation with my dad. We’ll be doing this between Christmas and NYE. I’ll try to document this as best I can and you can all revel in my success and learn from my failures. Worst case scenario is Hot Daniel has an ugly booty. I’m a little nervous about it but I’m posting about it so that I have to do it.

 

[Kindafearless]

@SigSauerKraut did you do it? I’m getting started this week on mine. If you went for it, any tips?

 

[SigSauerKraut]

@SigSauerKraut did you do it? I’m getting started this week on mine. If you went for it, any tips?

I did. I’m sorry I haven’t posted about it been busy and currently on an off-roading trip from west to east coast (wheeling John Bull Trail today).

Most of it was pretty straight-forward. Making sure you get straight lines is kinda tough but a chalk line and plumb bob worked really well for us.

We made a template for the bolt holes on the back of the frame, cut it back 10” and tattered the holes over. For the nuts that are welded into the bottom of the frame we chopped out a rectangle around them that’s narrow enough to insert into the new end of the frame.

The pictures might be out of order, but I’m posting from my phone and about to hit the trail.

We ran out of time so the metal work is unfinished and you can still see some of the weld. For the welding, I recommend placing a spot weld every 6-8 inches and coming back after it cools to ad another spot next to each and build the bead like that to prevent warping the thin sheet metal. Very low settings on your welder so you don’t blow through it. I had a 110v MIG and had it set to low.

 

[Kindafearless]

Awesome! Thank you for the info. I’ll do likewise as I go. Congratulations on getting it done, enjoy your trip! Sounds like a fun one.

 

[dcmdon]

A bed chopped Gladiator is a solution in search of a problem. Or put another way, just a stupid way to be "different".

The biggest impediment to the Gladiator off road is the wheelbase. (longer than a Suburban's). The rear overhand may drag, but it doesn't stop forward progress most of the time.

The best thing you could do is shorten the wheelbase, but then you'd have a JL.

So maybe a better solution is a JL pickup conversion. Which then gets you access to all the JL options and colors that aren't available on the Gladiator.

There are companies that will build you a complete 4 door JL pickup, complete with a super short bed.
There are also companies that sell the parts necessary to build a 2 door pickup.

 

[SigSauerKraut]

A bed chopped Gladiator is a solution in search of a problem. Or put another way, just a stupid way to be "different".

The biggest impediment to the Gladiator off road is the wheelbase. (longer than a Suburban's). The rear overhand may drag, but it doesn't stop forward progress most of the time.

The best thing you could do is shorten the wheelbase, but then you'd have a JL.

So maybe a better solution is a JL pickup conversion. Which then gets you access to all the JL options and colors that aren't available on the Gladiator.

There are companies that will build you a complete 4 door JL pickup, complete with a super short bed.
There are also companies that sell the parts necessary to build a 2 door pickup.

Cool story. Love your edgy take?. My wheeling has been a lot more enjoyable without dragging my rear end on every obstacle I come down.

The break over angle has not been a huge problem but I’ll admit that having to readjust on tight turns is cumbersome. Planning ahead and knowing your wheel base is key and usually gets me through without having to back it up a tad. It’s when I focus too hard on the next step and am not paying attention to what comes after when I set myself up poorly for the next obstacle. I’m sure that goes for most rigs though.

On the trip I’m currently taking from coast to coast, having the room in the bed is absolutely necessary when my two dogs dominate most of the cab space. A 4dr JL super short bed simply would not suffice let alone a 2dr. The Gladiator with the bobbed bed is exactly the amount of Jeep that I need and want.

Thanks for pissing in my cheerios, ??!

 

[dcmdon]

Cool story. Love your edgy take?. My wheeling has been a lot more enjoyable without dragging my rear end on every obstacle I come down.

The break over angle has not been a huge problem but I’ll admit that having to readjust on tight turns is cumbersome. Planning ahead and knowing your wheel base is key and usually gets me through without having to back it up a tad. It’s when I focus too hard on the next step and am not paying attention to what comes after when I set myself up poorly for the next obstacle. I’m sure that goes for most rigs though.

On the trip I’m currently taking from coast to coast, having the room in the bed is absolutely necessary when my two dogs dominate most of the cab space. A 4dr JL super short bed simply would not suffice let alone a 2dr. The Gladiator with the bobbed bed is exactly the amount of Jeep that I need and want.

Thanks for pissing in my cheerios, ??!

My comments almost don't apply to you. You did it yourself. I completely get doing something sometimes just to see if you can do it or just to see how it turns out.

The idiocy would be spending $7k for someone else to do it.

As far as doing it yourself, that's freaking awesome.

 

[mog]

On the banned site, they trimmed the bed along the line at the bottom where the bed sliders go. That’s about a 4” nip/tuck along with a high and tight rear bumper. Doesn’t improve the departure as much as this bob, but does keep the bed volume the same. They have a video of it.

This guy at the King of the Hammers did the same thing on his Mojave. He did an awesome job and I did not realize the bottom 4" was missing until he pointed it out. There is a natural line there that makes that perfect. With the custom bumper he built, he probably gained a total of 8 inches over the stock set-up and hitch.

 

[Kindafearless]

Ok, so update from the weekend. I feel like I got a lot done! I was hoping to be a little further along with the finish work, but its been kinda cold and the bondo has been taking forever to set :/

The biggest challenge I ran into was keeping the heat down for the butt welds. I tried to get fancy and it still didn't help enough to get by without bondo :/

My brilliant attempt was to do normal welds (TIG around 30-35 amps) where the metal is stronger and plastic would hide any imperfects at the top of the bed and under that plastic guard near the bumper. Then, for the rest I used silicon bronze filler at around 25 amps. In the end, the metal still deformed slightly, so I applied the bondo to make it smooth.

Note: I found that whatever material is stuck to the inside of the body metal easily starts on fire and really quickly ruins welds, so had to clean that up.

Also, I cut the hitch off the truck to gain a couple more inches, but kept the tow bar since thats where the hooks are mounted (for now). That hitch was a massive pain to get off. Ended up using the plasma cutter and sledge hammer on it. Carnage shown below for your enjoyment.

The truck is currently wrapped and waiting for the bondo to cure.

 

[Chuck]

It’s looking sharp! Wish I had the talent for this because I’d jump!!

 

[Willpower1]

Wow that’s incredible! Congrats on the ingenuity and guts to both of you here in doing your own work!!!

 

[Kindafearless]

Ok, calling this modification done for now. Thanks again @SigSauerKraut for going first!

While finishing, biggest suggestion is to buy more paint than you think you need. 4 cans wasn’t enough to do the bed well. I’ve got 10 more on the way so I can mask it up and hit it again later this month, but I’m feeling good about the rest of the project.

Test fit my spare and cooler in there tonight, everything worked out as planned! Should be able to fit those plus my compressors and a few misc tools in the bed, which is exactly what I wanted.

 

[A 2]

And here I am, all proud of the 1” spacer lift I installed this weekend. I’m so inadequate. Well done you two! No guts no glory.

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