Wee time flies 10 years since I started this project, and 3 since last update.
No its not dead nor forgotten(ok I did forget about it for 2 years or so )

ANYWAYS it has come a long way I actually started it up again as I was looking for a part, and it turned out I used it on this thing. Since I got interested in it again I found a good model of a deuce and a half which I used as a reference(mainly for proportions, and to see details I couldn't see in pictures) in the creation of the bed model I made. The model I made was done in tinker cad from scratch using primitive shapes. The rails are held on by 4 screws for the sides, and 3 for the front one so if I want I could make a covered top for it (which I plan to do eventually)

The bed is pretty much completely made it just needs the finishing work like sanding, and filling in spots where I joined the parts as I had to melt them together. I used a propane soldering iron on a low heat to join em. I tried glue, but it just wouldn't work due to not being able to have anything in the middle of the bed to join it due to it being too thin unlike how I have 2 dowels in the I beam sections per side.


I had to move the rear tires back as far as possible cause I was slightly off on my measurement, and the middle axle was just barely hitting the mudflap which wasn't bad as I measured it with a tape measure cause my calipers couldn't go that high. To do so I drilled new holes in the rails with the farthest back hole for the leaf springs being about 2mm's from the end of the rail. All of the holes were shifted over to match.

I also removed the top linkage mount point for the middle axle as honestly it didn't really do anything, I tested the motions pulling, pushing, etc of the axle before, and after, and noticed no difference. So I moved the lower linkage mount points to that location, and put them on the outside of the rail(they were binding on the inside). I lost one of the leaf spring front mounts so I designed, and printed 4 new ones as the original metal ones were kinda flimsy, and bending The rear where the shackle is at instead of just scrap material cut, and drilled I used washers, and a nut to get the proper distance. None of which can be seen due to the bed having rails that cover them.




The tailgate can open and close. It was easier to do this then to print it in place as I would have had to add fake hinges for looks, and it cut down on the amount of waste plastic that would have been needed for supports..


I am going to redo the cab in 2 parts where as currently it was something like 9-10. I started printing it, but my printer ran out of filament when the back of the cab was like 95% done wasting a LOT of PLA+ So that is on hold for the immediate future)

I've also been thinking of adding in a light kit I have from another build I planned to do, but never did that adds working brake lights, turn signals, and headlights which the bed was designed for. Now if I go with the lights I'm also thinking of moving the battery to the bed of the truck, and drilling a hole in the bed to run power to it. I would make some scale crates that would be stacked up to cover the battery that are held in place with magnets to make the battery easy access as taking the cab on and off with wires running would be a major pain.. Only thing is if I do go the electronics route it will not be waterproof as it is right now, and can't be used in foul weather, or near water so there are tradeoffs(unless I make some kind of sealed box for the light controller).