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  #1  
Old 06-08-2019, 01:12 PM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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Default Land Cruiser Fj45 Bed

I have been busy with this FJ for a while now. Started as just repairing the fenders and then the doors. Then it was the cab and the chassis. Now it has progressed into a complete build.


There was no bed available for it and since it will be used on a farm only, something strong was needed. The bed started life as a long wheel base Isuzu pick up.


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The sides were removed.


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Bed rail was lowered 35mm. Doesn't sound like allot, but makes a huge difference. The bed was shortened 180mm in the front and 230mm in the back, but unfortunately don't have any pics of it.



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New sides were bent up. The panels doesn't run the full length of the bed. This is for two reasons. First, my bender is too short. Second, I wanted something to reinforce the rear of the bed as it is too flexible without the tailgate.


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The corners were made separate from the sides so it could be used to hold the inner and outer panels rigid and makes it easier to replace if it does get damaged. These were made in several sections and welded together just to save some time. I had to make a very basic buck just to visualize what needed to be done.

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The corner section curls back towards the inner panel to give it another reinforced point. Really stops any flex on the panels.


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The roll pan was hanging way too low, so it needed to be trimmed and simplified to fit the land cruised design.


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The front corners are a bit easier. Had to make a filler plate to join the inner and outer panel.


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Next up will be the tailgate and mountings for the chassis. Will post as I go.
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  #2  
Old 06-08-2019, 06:09 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James. V. D. W View Post
I have been busy with this FJ for a while now. Started as just repairing the fenders and then the doors. Then it was the cab and the chassis. Now it has progressed into a complete build.


There was no bed available for it and since it will be used on a farm only, something strong was needed. The bed started life as a long wheel base Isuzu pick up.


Attachment 53074


The sides were removed.


Attachment 53075


Bed rail was lowered 35mm. Doesn't sound like allot, but makes a huge difference. The bed was shortened 180mm in the front and 230mm in the back, but unfortunately don't have any pics of it.



Attachment 53076


New sides were bent up. The panels doesn't run the full length of the bed. This is for two reasons. First, my bender is too short. Second, I wanted something to reinforce the rear of the bed as it is too flexible without the tailgate.


Attachment 53077


The corners were made separate from the sides so it could be used to hold the inner and outer panels rigid and makes it easier to replace if it does get damaged. These were made in several sections and welded together just to save some time. I had to make a very basic buck just to visualize what needed to be done.

Attachment 53091


Attachment 53079


Attachment 53080

The corner section curls back towards the inner panel to give it another reinforced point. Really stops any flex on the panels.


Attachment 53081


Attachment 53082


The roll pan was hanging way too low, so it needed to be trimmed and simplified to fit the land cruised design.


Attachment 53083


Attachment 53084


Attachment 53085


Attachment 53086


Attachment 53087


Attachment 53088


The front corners are a bit easier. Had to make a filler plate to join the inner and outer panel.


Attachment 53089


Attachment 53090


Next up will be the tailgate and mountings for the chassis. Will post as I go.

James, that is nice tidy work - especially the corners. Good to see ----

and thanks !
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  #3  
Old 06-08-2019, 06:34 PM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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Thank you!
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Old 06-08-2019, 07:59 PM
cliffrod cliffrod is offline
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It's looking great.

You mentioned the sides being flexible without a tailgate- Is the Toyota tailgate shown in some of the pics going to be installed?
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  #5  
Old 06-08-2019, 10:16 PM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cliffrod View Post
It's looking great.

You mentioned the sides being flexible without a tailgate- Is the Toyota tailgate shown in some of the pics going to be installed?

The Isuzu beds are notoriously floppy and has a tendency to crack in the tailgate area. These pickups take allot of abuse here.


The Toyota tailgate is too big and too crusty. It is 30mm too long. I will be making a new one.
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  #6  
Old 06-09-2019, 04:49 AM
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Good job on repurposing the Isuzu bed.
The original beds are even hard to find here in Australia and my niece looked for several years before finding a usable one.
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  #7  
Old 06-09-2019, 06:02 AM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gojeep View Post
Good job on repurposing the Isuzu bed.
The original beds are even hard to find here in Australia and my niece looked for several years before finding a usable one.

Thanks. We can find them, but it is usually badly rusted or worn out from years of abuse. Our pickups have a similar work life as your Utes. Farmers work them into the ground. This Cruiser has a bobbed chassis and bed as well, so any bed we used would have to be modified.
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  #8  
Old 06-12-2019, 02:42 PM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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This is how I returned the edge to reinforce the bed sides. Still need to add a link to the lower brace.


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  #9  
Old 08-23-2019, 02:25 PM
James. V. D. W James. V. D. W is offline
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I made some more progress on the bed and some other parts of the Land Cruiser. I have started making supports for the Outer panels to stop them from flapping in the wind by modifying the original Isuzu parts.


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I made a tailgate for it as well. It is made out of 25mm square tubing. It was then covered with 1.6mm sheet. The inside sheet was beaded with the Pullmax to make it as rigid as possible. The outer sheet was given a razed area with the bead roller. Considering my bead roller was made for 1mm only, it handled the 1.6 pretty well after the mods. The tailgate has drop locks keeping it closed and has a quick release just in case it needs to come off for some reason.

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The top of the tailgate was made from 40mm square tube and then covered with a 1.6mm profile to match the bed sides.



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If the top rail seems a bit low, it was done on purpose. It is getting covered with thick rubber liner and possibly a stainless strip.



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  #10  
Old 09-03-2019, 03:51 AM
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Good work there, James -well executed.
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