So, I bought some farm land recently and sold my house in town. I am looking for a new(73-87) truck to do hauling, pulling a trailer, and general farm duties.
I have always loved the 73-87 trucks, and have owned many. So, I found a real nice 85 Chevy 1 ton 4x4 Dually that has a service truck bed on it. It was a local Fire truck in central Washington, so completely rust free.
I can use the service bed for a while, but would really like to either put a flat bed on it, or convert it to a standard p/u bed.
I have found a bed, from a dually with good fenders, also local, for cheap. Is there anything I need to know before I go out and buy this truck, and then the bed? The truck started as a cab and chassis, was there any goofy wheel base issues or rear frame issues I would need to know before I do this? It looks like a standard 8 foot bed W/B, but I would hate to find out after its too late that there is a 3in difference or some other crazy thing.
As a side note, my Dad took a 64 Chevy panel truck that was rusted and pulled the body off and tried to put on a regular bed and cab, turns out the panel was a 6in longer W/B. His solution was to install some side pipes off a Camero between the cab and bed. Everyone thought he intended it to be that way or he stretched it. I would rather not repeat that mistake.