tubing a pick-up

[grumpyvette]

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what to do with the back half of my LUV truck. I have been wanting to tub it and and stuff some huge tires under it. Part of me also is questioning my thoughts on if I should do it or not. I have seen some LUV trucks pull the front tires off the ground using leaf springs and close to stock width rear ends.

I am also trying to weigh in my mind what suspension to use. I would think a parallel 4 link would be the best but If I leave it with leaf springs and stock width rear cal-tracs would probably work fine too.

As it sits right now the rear end is garbage. Its a 8 inch ford with freeway gears and one leg. I don't see wasting time and money on this rear as a good move and if it ever did hook hard I could see it self destructing rather fast. Even with tall gears its a smoke show when I stomp the pedal.

I am waiting for a guy at work to bring me a narrowed 9 inch housing with axles. It needs a third member and brakes. I don't have an actual measurement but its probably about 30 inches wide give or take a few inches. The price was right at $100. I am on the fence to make it work or just go with a stock rear width axle.

What are the pros and cons of running fat tired back half street strip truck VS something with about a 10 inch wide tire? This truck will probably be a never ending project but I do want it to hook when I go to the track. This is just a toy and will never see the road on a daily basis but I would like to drive it once in a while if I feel like it.

because tubing a detachable pick-up truck bed is in comparison to the comparable work done to accomplish the required results and clearance, in most cars, and the work is about 90% faster and easier and far less complicated to do,hell, you can remove the bed to do the metal work and make access far simpler, I would not even consider NOT tubing a detachable pick-up bed if you decide thats what you want to do!
you could even purchase a salvage yard, pick-up bed, from a similar truck, and tub that bed, and save the original bed should you want to reverse the modification.

honestly I tubed a 1969 camaro and a 1968 corvette in the past and thinking about what was required then thinking about a pick-up....theres just no comparing the difficulty, a good mig welder and a bit of careful measurement, and ideally a plazma cutter or at least a die grinder and your most of the way there