Townside Long bed

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FSJRomanGladiator
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Townside Long bed

Post by FSJRomanGladiator »

Apologize in advance if this is a topic - i searched for an hour and could not find.

Has anyone restored their beds and if so - where did you buy the parts? I am specifically looking for the cross members and floor. Mine are shot but the rest of the bed is good enough to restore. I have a 74 townside long bed.

Thanks!
'15 Grand Cherokee 4X4 - Altitude - Blacked Out
'74 J10 - (restoring) 383 Stroker; TH400 Trans, Dana 44's 4.10 gear, Dana 20 TC. 4" Lift from Skyjacker;

Location: NE Georgia
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Stuka
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by Stuka »

The only parts I am aware of are bed sides.

I have seen somebody make their own floor and supports. Was quite some time ago, doubt I could find the post on it (wasn't on this forum).

But, I bet you could modify an aftermarket floor for another truck (which ever is the most similar) and end up with a nice bed floor. For the supports, there is material that is similar that could be utilized for the supports.
2017 JKU Rubicon
Pevious Jeeps: 1981 J10, 1975 Cherokee, 2008 JK, 2005 KJ, 1989 XJ
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FSJRomanGladiator
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by FSJRomanGladiator »

Stuka wrote:The only parts I am aware of are bed sides.

I have seen somebody make their own floor and supports. Was quite some time ago, doubt I could find the post on it (wasn't on this forum).

But, I bet you could modify an aftermarket floor for another truck (which ever is the most similar) and end up with a nice bed floor. For the supports, there is material that is similar that could be utilized for the supports.
Thanks @stuka

The previous owner used a roof of a older Astro van - actually not bad but it has seen better days. The cross members are ROUGH.

I have another option to buy a 84 bed that has good floors and cross members but rougher exterior than mine- for $350 300 miles away and days work. Just need to transplant my gate.

I know Chevy had a lot of influence those years (74) wonder if those parts would work?


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'15 Grand Cherokee 4X4 - Altitude - Blacked Out
'74 J10 - (restoring) 383 Stroker; TH400 Trans, Dana 44's 4.10 gear, Dana 20 TC. 4" Lift from Skyjacker;

Location: NE Georgia
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Stuka
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by Stuka »

FSJRomanGladiator wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 6:36 pm
I know Chevy had a lot of influence those years (74) wonder if those parts would work?
Not without mods. The wheel wells and bed widths are different.
2017 JKU Rubicon
Pevious Jeeps: 1981 J10, 1975 Cherokee, 2008 JK, 2005 KJ, 1989 XJ
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FSJRomanGladiator
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by FSJRomanGladiator »

Stuka wrote:
FSJRomanGladiator wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 6:36 pm
I know Chevy had a lot of influence those years (74) wonder if those parts would work?
Not without mods. The wheel wells and bed widths are different.
Understandable. Thanks again.


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'15 Grand Cherokee 4X4 - Altitude - Blacked Out
'74 J10 - (restoring) 383 Stroker; TH400 Trans, Dana 44's 4.10 gear, Dana 20 TC. 4" Lift from Skyjacker;

Location: NE Georgia
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tgreese
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by tgreese »

The Raybuck site https://raybuck.com/panels/chevrolet-gm ... ckup-truck has good pictures of many replacement body parts. If you had the help of a local parts store, garage or body shop that could order-in some of these parts for resale to you, you'd likely save a bunch on shipping. I know that there is a thread of the mothership (IFSJA) where someone with skills used Suburban bed panels to refurbish the floor of a Wagoneer. You could do something similar with a pickup bed, I'd think. I'll see if I can find it.

Where are you in the country? It would be helpful to add that to your info/sig. I recall the California pick-and-pulls get a lot of pickups for scrap with decent beds. The J-truck bed is smaller (narrower, same length - that's why you need the flares) than the big-3 full-size pickups. If you found a junk bed larger than the one you want to repair, you could take the floors, underpinnings and maybe the wheel houses for repair panels. The J-truck wheel houses in the bed are of very simple construction, nearly all flat steel - should not be hard to repair.

Note that it's a lot of work to take these beds apart. Do you have any experience with this topic? And these trucks don't have the high value that the Wagons do ... you'll probably go way over the value of the vehicle if you track your labor. I'd consider searching for a better replacement bed, even if I had to go far afield. These beds rot badly, and finding a good one that's not part of a truck will take some looking. Or, you could buy a complete truck and put two together to make the truck you want, and sell off the left-overs either as an appearance-challenged runner or as parts. Getting a complete truck from a distant location will be more straightforward than buying a remotely-located bed, though likely more expensive.
Last edited by tgreese on Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:39 am, edited 3 times in total.
Tim Reese
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tgreese
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by tgreese »

Tim Reese
Maine beekeeper's truck: '77 J10 LWB, 258/T15/D20/3.54 bone stock, low options (delete radio), PS/PDB, hubcaps.
Browless and proud: '82 J20 360/T18/NP208/3.73, Destination A/Ts, 7600 GVWR
Copper Polly: '75 CJ-6, 304/T15, PS, BFG KM2s, soft top
GTI without the badges: '95 VW Golf Sport 2000cc 2D
Dual Everything: '15 Chryco Jeep Cherokee KL Trailhawk, ECO Green
Blockchain the vote.
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FSJRomanGladiator
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Location: NE Georgia

Re: Townside Long bed

Post by FSJRomanGladiator »

tgreese wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 6:53 am The Raybuck site https://raybuck.com/panels/chevrolet-gm ... ckup-truck has good pictures of many replacement body parts. If you had the help of a local parts store, garage or body shop that could order-in some of these parts for resale to you, you'd likely save a bunch on shipping. I know that there is a thread of the mothership (IFSJA) where someone with skills used Suburban bed panels to refurbish the floor of a Wagoneer. You could do something similar with a pickup bed, I'd think. I'll see if I can find it.

Where are you in the country? It would be helpful to add that to your info/sig. I recall the California pick-and-pulls get a lot of pickups for scrap with decent beds. The J-truck bed is smaller (narrower, same length - that's why you need the flares) than the big-3 full-size pickups. If you found a junk bed larger than the one you want to repair, you could take the floors, underpinnings and maybe the wheel houses for repair panels. The J-truck wheel houses in the bed are of very simple construction, nearly all flat steel - should not be hard to repair.

Note that it's a lot of work to take these beds apart. Do you have any experience with this topic? And these trucks don't have the high value that the Wagons do ... you'll probably go way over the value of the vehicle if you track your labor. I'd consider searching for a better replacement bed, even if I had to go far afield. These beds rot badly, and finding a good one that's not part of a truck will take some looking. Or, you could buy a complete truck and put two together to make the truck you want, and sell off the left-overs either as an appearance-challenged runner or as parts. Getting a complete truck from a distant location will be more straightforward than buying a remotely-located bed, though likely more expensive.
Thank you for this! I am in NE GA - near Athens. I'll update my sig. good call on that one.

I am picking up the bed tomorrow morning - floor and rails are solid per seller. 5 hours one way - i hope he is not wrong. :shock: Your post helped me understand and add up costs. end of day i'll have two beds to mess with haha.
'15 Grand Cherokee 4X4 - Altitude - Blacked Out
'74 J10 - (restoring) 383 Stroker; TH400 Trans, Dana 44's 4.10 gear, Dana 20 TC. 4" Lift from Skyjacker;

Location: NE Georgia

red70
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by red70 »

Z&M Jeeps sells bed floors. No clue how well they fit though. http://stores.zmjeeps.com/bed-floor-j-t ... driver-lh/
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FSJRomanGladiator
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Re: Townside Long bed

Post by FSJRomanGladiator »

red70 wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 3:33 pm Z&M Jeeps sells bed floors. No clue how well they fit though. http://stores.zmjeeps.com/bed-floor-j-t ... driver-lh/
Thank you sir.

Does anyone have suggestions on the 4 rubber mounts that are between the frame and bed of truck? they seem to be 1/4 thick
'15 Grand Cherokee 4X4 - Altitude - Blacked Out
'74 J10 - (restoring) 383 Stroker; TH400 Trans, Dana 44's 4.10 gear, Dana 20 TC. 4" Lift from Skyjacker;

Location: NE Georgia
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