Finding my drag truck

[DAVe3283]

I have one of the beds pictured. Took me ages to find one. They are actually only for the 9' cab+chassis, so be aware that truck will have a different frame than a normal one.

IIRC it was made by Royal truck bodies until GM, Ford, and Dodge sued their ass off for trade dress infringement. Shame, because they're a really cool bed.

Inside bed space is the width between the fenderwells by 9'.

That one looks to be in better shape than mine. If you don't care about the bed I'd buy the trim and corner moldings off you if you get that truck.

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[Chevy1925]

I have one of the beds pictured. Took me ages to find one. They are actually only for the 9' cab+chassis, so be aware that truck will have a different frame than a normal one.

IIRC it was made by Royal truck bodies until GM, Ford, and Dodge sued their ass off for trade dress infringement. Shame, because they're a really cool bed.

Inside bed space is the width between the fenderwells by 9'.

That one looks to be in better shape than mine. If you don't care about the bed I'd buy the trim and corner moldings off you if you get that truck.

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You sure they are only for 9ft c&c? Way back when I was dieing for one, you could get drop ons for 8ft reg chassis rigs

 

[TheBac]

There ya go, Jason. Buy the 02 and sell the bed to James,.

 

[DAVe3283]

You sure they are only for 9ft c&c? Way back when I was dieing for one, you could get drop ons for 8ft reg chassis rigs

Not 100% sure, since I could barely get the company to admit they ever made one, let alone sell me replacement keys. I've only seen a couple in real life and they were both 9', but these things are a dang enigma LOL

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[1FastBrick]

Short Bed Swaps are cool. The best bet for a dedicated race truck is to just hang Some bed skins on some tube mounts.

I guess that begs the question, how far you going to go with it?

 

[DAVe3283]

FWIW, this thread has all the info on the utility bed I bought: https://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/threads/another-03-lb7.88425/

 

[1FastBrick]

I just found one on a ford forum that confirms they were mostly on 9 foot beds but they did have an 8 foot as well.

: looking for utility bed (oem looking, royal sport)...

www.powerstroke.org

 

[1FastBrick]

Here is an article circa 2001 that explains the service bed they created.

Is it Really a Service Body?

 

[1FastBrick]

So it looks like there was another company called Innovative Truck Storage that was making something similar, But the bed side flipped up.

And it looks like they were the ones that sued for copyright infringement. I believe according to the thread they lost.

https://ipmall.law.unh.edu/sites/de...iles/2003.12.09_CLARE_v._FORD_MOTOR_COMPA.pdf

Found this thread with a Brochure of the Hide-N-Side version of the bed.

Competitiondiesel Hide-N-Side thread

 

[2004LB7]

Dave's right. Royal truck bodies. This one looked to be an 8 footer but I didn't measure it. Rust spots all over but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed. Trim piece on the rear right below the tail light was broken and left fender trim broken/missing. And no keys for it. One box was still locked. Everything seemed to work on it. Definitely an interesting bed. Would be great for a mechanic or handyman who needs to be able to lock up some tools but still have more room for loading up supplies but doesn't want to go full on tool box bed.

 

[2004LB7]

As hinted above. I went out and looked at that truck in woodland ca. Definitely a California emissions with an EGR and CAT. Not too thrilled about it but can live with it for the right price.

There are a few issues with the truck that drop the value for me quite a bit. The transmission looks to be leaking bad around the 4wd adapter. Not too big of an issue if I get the transmission built. The air filter box looked to be free floating, like it was missing the mounting tabs and fastens. Im the photos you can see some sort of non stock filter box in it. The stock one was put back in but he may not of had all the parts left to finish it. One headlight mount looked cracked. Headlight was flopping around and the front grill was loose. Bumper hacked up and dented. Hood is the larger cat eye HD hood that was also denied.

But the worse part was the damage to the interior. While that may not be that big of a deal due to wanting to strip most of it anyways, the steering column had some broken parts so it wouldn't adjust. All the plastic was rotten and deteriorating on the stock. The dash display didn't work. The interior lights/dimmer control didn't work. And there was a bunch of codes for communication issues with the modules. Plus the door handles and locks where missing. I also plugged my V2 in to see the live data. Main rate mm3 looked good. Fuel pressure was good. MAF was only running at around 22 gram's. Not sure if it was just dirty. Forgot to load up the pids to read balance rates. But it didn't smoke or run rough so probably good enough

Took it for a quick test drive. Ran good but felt like the converter didn't couple worth a damn. Seller said he found a recipe in the tool box for a converter from O'Reilly's. Sounds like previous owner may have had issues before with it. Definitely needs a tighter TC

All fixable with time and money. I offered only $4k with it on its current condition (plus being California emissions). If he gets all of the issues taken car of I could go up to $5k. We will see if he bits. Seemed like a good kid but only a basic grunt worker with not much knowledge of the intricacies of these engines and electrical

 

[TheBac]

So it looks like there was another company called Innovative Truck Storage that was making something similar, But the bed side flipped up.

And it looks like they were the ones that sued for copyright infringement. I believe according to the thread they lost.

https://ipmall.law.unh.edu/sites/de...iles/2003.12.09_CLARE_v._FORD_MOTOR_COMPA.pdf

Found this thread with a Brochure of the Hide-N-Side version of the bed.

I wonder if J ever put those on his pickup. Been a while since I was on there regularly.

 

[2004LB7]

Short Bed Swaps are cool. The best bet for a dedicated race truck is to just hang Some bed skins on some tube mounts.

I guess that begs the question, how far you going to go with it?

I don't really want to hack up too much like some do to the bed to just make it a shale with no bottom or insides. I'm ok on gutting the interior and shortening the frame to fit a short bed on it. Light but not overboard where it's really only good on the track. Want to be able to daily drive it but also take it to the track and have some fun. 10's would be nice but I'm ok if that is unrealistic with what I am willing to sacrifice and spend on it.

I'm thinking about 6-800 hp depending on what turbo I end up with. Need it to spool decently quick enough to make it fun on the street and not smoke. But also give more air then stock. But this will come later. Need the truck first. Then talk upgrades later

 

[1FastBrick]

At least the company is still around. They moved from Paramount to Carson. I think the parent company that owns them has changed too. Those handles look like Generic handles so I am not sure it would be too hard to get a key from them or a locksmith with the key number.

Your goals are reasonable for a street-strip truck.

 

[1FastBrick]

As hinted above. I went out and looked at that truck in woodland ca. Definitely a California emissions with an EGR and CAT. Not too thrilled about it but can live with it for the right price.

There are a few issues with the truck that drop the value for me quite a bit. The transmission looks to be leaking bad around the 4wd adapter. Not too big of an issue if I get the transmission built. The air filter box looked to be free floating, like it was missing the mounting tabs and fastens. Im the photos you can see some sort of non stock filter box in it. The stock one was put back in but he may not of had all the parts left to finish it. One headlight mount looked cracked. Headlight was flopping around and the front grill was loose. Bumper hacked up and dented. Hood is the larger cat eye HD hood that was also denied.

But the worse part was the damage to the interior. While that may not be that big of a deal due to wanting to strip most of it anyways, the steering column had some broken parts so it wouldn't adjust. All the plastic was rotten and deteriorating on the stock. The dash display didn't work. The interior lights/dimmer control didn't work. And there was a bunch of codes for communication issues with the modules. Plus the door handles and locks where missing. I also plugged my V2 in to see the live data. Main rate mm3 looked good. Fuel pressure was good. MAF was only running at around 22 gram's. Not sure if it was just dirty. Forgot to load up the pids to read balance rates. But it didn't smoke or run rough so probably good enough

Took it for a quick test drive. Ran good but felt like the converter didn't couple worth a damn. Seller said he found a recipe in the tool box for a converter from O'Reilly's. Sounds like previous owner may have had issues before with it. Definitely needs a tighter TC

All fixable with time and money. I offered only $4k with it on its current condition (plus being California emissions). If he gets all of the issues taken car of I could go up to $5k. We will see if he bits. Seemed like a good kid but only a basic grunt worker with not much knowledge of the intricacies of these engines and electrical

The interior still doesn't sound too bad to me. I have a couple of the newer column's around 03-07. I know some parts interchange and some of the guys pull the shaft to convert for the newer steering wheel out of the 03-07 style trucks.

Sounds like the trans needs a rebuild.

I also have a MINT white 01-02 HD Hood. There is still some people that will pay like $200 for that hood with a dent.

The chrome bar on the Bumper can be replaced. The Brackets are specific to an HD though. I think the Lower plastic is the same, just the upper is different for the grille and the gap between the headlights. Same with the headlight bracket. it interchanges with the 1500. Junk Yard or aftermarket for that stuff.

 

[2004LB7]

The interior still doesn't sound too bad to me. I have a couple of the newer column's around 03-07. I know some parts interchange and some of the guys pull the shaft to convert for the newer steering wheel out of the 03-07 style trucks.

Sounds like the trans needs a rebuild.

I also have a MINT white 01-02 HD Hood. There is still some people that will pay like $200 for that hood with a dent.

The chrome bar on the Bumper can be replaced. The Brackets are specific to an HD though. I think the Lower plastic is the same, just the upper is different for the grille and the gap between the headlights. Same with the headlight bracket. it interchanges with the 1500. Junk Yard or aftermarket for that stuff.

If he accepts my off and I go with this one, I'll probably be spending some time at pick and pull to round up some parts. How about the GMC bumper. I'm pretty sure they swap out just fine for the HD version but my local yards don't get them much. But they do have them from a 1500. Modify the brackets to lift the bumper up more?

 

[1FastBrick]

If he accepts my off and I go with this one, I'll probably be spending some time at pick and pull to round up some parts. How about the GMC bumper. I'm pretty sure they swap out just fine for the HD version but my local yards don't get them much. But they do have them from a 1500. Modify the brackets to lift the bumper up more?

The GMC should be the Same The chrome should be the same but the brackets are different. the lower I believe is also the same. The upper cover is taller to take up the difference because there was a 2 inch lift built into the body mounts on the frame.

 

[2004LB7]

The GMC should be the Same The chrome should be the same but the brackets are different. the lower I believe is also the same. The upper cover is taller to take up the difference because there was a 2 inch lift built into the body mounts on the frame.

If I'm going through the work to get me a bumper I'll grab all the brackets that go with it. I like the look of the GMC bumper much better then the Chevy

 

[1FastBrick]

If I'm going through the work to get me a bumper I'll grab all the brackets that go with it. I like the look of the GMC bumper much better then the Chevy

OK just keep in mind you need the HD bumper brackets. You can get all that stuff aftermarket. I don't think the OEM stuff is available any more. They have discontinued so much stuff it's hard to keep up.

So you just want the GMC bumper on the Chevy Front end?

 

[2004LB7]

So you just want the GMC bumper on the Chevy Front end?

Yes. If I replace the bumper because they hacked it up then I'll go with a GMC one