Tilting the Truck Bed (beginnings)

I wanted to write up a quick post without photos, because it has been awhile since my last post. Work is still continuing on the truck, mainly with the bed. A couple weekends ago, we spent most of Sunday welding hinges onto the bed and the truck frame only to have the hinges bend when we attempted to tilt the bed. My analysis determined there were 2 factors that caused the problem. First, the hinges were too far forward and put a lot of stress on them trying to raise the bed. The other issue was the hinges themselves were just not up to the task. Sorry about that Lowes!

I ordered some heavy duty hinges online and the following weekend, we found a different point on the bed to weld the hinges on. A piece of angle iron was welded across the rear of the truck frame, and to this holes were drilled and the hinges were bolted. This is good because I wanted to be able to remove the bed to replace the batteries when necessary. Our test tilt was successful and the next working session will be to remove the bed, finish reinforcing the hinges and welds on the bed side, then install the gas springs and some kind of pins to hold the front of the bed down.

Next post will include photos of the above work. I continue to keep moving forward.