How to Body Drop a Mini Truck
Mini trucks are cheap, affordable and easy to work on. As a result, people are always working on building them in cool and different ways. One of them is lowering a truck, but, sometimes, low just isn't low enough. That's where body drops come into play. A body drop is when you take a truck that lays so low the frame sits on the ground and you cut up the cab so the body of the truck itself covers the frame and, in turn, lays on the ground. It's not a mod for the timid. It's definitely challenging and difficult to do.
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Things You'll Need
- Welder (240-volt preferred)
- 16 to 18 gauge sheetmetal
- Air saw
- Sawzall and 1/8-inch to 3/16-inch metal cutting blades
- Grinder with grinding discs and sanding discs
- Cut-off tool
- Tape measure
- Seam sealer
- Sprayable rubberized undercoating
- 2-by-4-by-1/8-square steel tubing, two 10-foot sticks
- Jack
- Jack stands
- Permanent marker
Instructions
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Body Dropping the Cab
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1
Strip the entire interior of the vehicle. That includes removing the dashboard, steering column, seats, carpet, headliner and any and all plastics. The goal is to have a completely bare cab, with just sheetmetal exposed.
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Remove all exterior sheetmetal from the vehicle, including the fenders, hood, grille, core support and bed. It's okay to leave the doors on. On some mini trucks, the core support and cab are one continuous unit. On most mini trucks, the area that joins the cab to the core support needs to be removed for wheel clearance anyways, so you can always cut it out if need be, just be sure to properly support it once the job is done.
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3
Jack one side of the vehicle into the air and secure the vehicle on jack stands. You want the entire truck to be suspended in the air, at least 12-inches off the ground.
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4
Jack the front of the vehicle into the air so the stands are underneath the cab toward the front of the vehicle are free.
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Place the square steel tubing across the jack stands and lower the truck onto the tubing. Repeat this process for the two stands at the rear portion of the cab. The goal is to have the vehicle suspended across the steel tubing so that when the cab is cut out, the cab will eventually rest on the square tubing. It also gives you a good reference point for measurements.
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Measure the distance from the top of the square tubing to the bottom of the cab. This is amount that you will be body dropping your truck. For the sake of this article, we'll use 3 inches as our point of reference.
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Mark the perimeter of the floor with the permanent marker. Go toward the outside of the floor of the cab, outside of the body mounts. Make your marks as straight as possible, this will make placing the new sheetmetal easier.
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Continue your marks up the firewall of the cab. At this point, the sheetmetal is starting to go vertical, so you want to make two marks: one for where you're going to cut, the other will be 3 inches higher, which you'll also cut. Once the cab is lowered, these two cuts need to align, so make sure that your marks are accurate. If you think you can overlap the metal in some areas, then it's okay to cut less than 3 inches out of the sheetmetal.
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Mark the rear of the cab. This, like the firewall, needs to be a vertical 3 inches. Some people prefer to mark the rear wall at about 1 inch shorter than necessary; that way you can overlap the sheetmetal and get a better weld. It's a matter of preference, because as long as it's welded up securely, you'll be okay.
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Load the sawzall with a cutting blade and start cutting along your marks. Make sure that no brake lines or electrical connections are in your way; otherwise, you'll cut through them and cause more headaches later. Start by cutting the front and the rear, then move on to the sides. The cab just won't drop automatically onto the square tubing; it may take some pushing and tweaking to make it happen.
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Cut sheetmetal to 3 inch lengths. Weld this in the gap left by separating the cab floor from the cab. Always be sure that the cab is square and straight before you start welding.
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Weld the entire floor, making sure to close every gap.
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13
Apply seam sealer across every area that you welded. Make sure to cover all of the weld, as this will ensure that it is leak proof.
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14
Spray all of the cut sheetmetal with the rubberized undercoating. Make sure to get both sides of the welded area.
Dropping the Core Support
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15
Measure a vertical 3 inches on the frame rails right behind the core support. This will lower the bumper as well as the core support to match the cab.
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Cut the core support with the sawzall.
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Once the core support is cut, line up your marks and weld the mounts exactly the same amount that you lowered the cab. In this case, 3 inches.
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Gusset the cuts with steel triangles both top and bottom, making sure there's still enough clearance for the core support as well as any accessories such as a radiator or tubing.
Body Dropping the Bed
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Place the bed on jack stands, so the rockers are at least 1 foot off of the ground.
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Measure the bedsides. Cut the bed at least as much as your body drop, but if you'd like to cover something such as a frame notch or other accessories, you can always body drop the bed more and space up the bed off the frame. In our case, we will just be cutting 3 inches.
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Cut the bed just like you cut the cab. You need to remove the 3 inches for the body drop, or more, depending on options.
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Cut the fender wells to free the floor from the sides. Remove the bedside supports at the same time. Lower the bed down to its new height.
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Weld the bed back together. making sure to keep it square. Then cut your bed supports and lengthen them as necessary. Now you just have to put the truck back together, it's been successfully body dropped.
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Tips & Warnings
There are lots of considerations when cutting apart a truck, such as interference between the engine and the hood, steering clearances as well as other unforeseen problems. Be sure to examine every modification you do before you do it and think it through. This is not an easy modification; if you do it wrong, your truck could be nothing but scrap metal. The rewards, however, are many.
