Shaving the back of your cab????

Edited: 1/21/2007 9:48:55 AM by smallz

Hey when you guys shave the back of your cabs do you just weld a piece of sheet over the existing back or cut it out and then weld in a piece? If you cut it out, is the sheet strong enough or do you have to brace it? And if you have any pics thatd be great,

Im actually working on mine today...

I've already cut out the cab wall, and im going to be cutting a peice of sheet that will fit right in there. Then i'll weld it in place and after that i'll brace it with some square tubing from the inside.

I laid mine over the stock wall and plug welded it from the inside, and welded it on the outside. Its beef.

Would it be to weak if you cut it out and just placed a sheet of 16 gauge?

Yes. It needs some kind of bracing. A piece of 16 guage that large will flex on its own.

I think it looks just fine laying it over. Even before bodywork.

What gauge did you use? 18?

I used 16 guage. And I cut out the factory hump on the inside and plated that with 11 guage.

Gotchya, im in the middle of doing my firewall and floor and thought it would be best to shave the cab while im at it. But thanks for all the help man, and the trucks looking awesome by the way.

i cut out the entire back wall and built my own out of 11ga. and braced it with 1/2" square stock in an X runnin across the back wall. i guess you can do it however you wanted to. but my whole objective was to get rid of the stock wall cause it was stamped and had those ripples in it. i wanted a smooth wall to build a stereo against. its easier than you think, just cut u'rs out, cut it straight and dont be scared. after you cut u'r wall out lay u'r back wall onto a large sheet and mark u'r lines for cutting. DO NOT CUT THE SHEET WITH A PLASMA OR TORCH> use a cut off wheel or a shear or air shears. and heat will warp a 4ft piece of sheetmetal. i learned the hard way. i cut my back wall out and shaved it right after i got my truck, and yes i warped it tryin to cut it with a plasma. the second go around i used a cut off wheel on a grinder. it worked wonderfully. no warpage! it will take forever to weld it all in without warping it, tacj and move away and tack another corner and keep moving dont get the metal too hot. it tok me a whole day to weld mine in. it takes time but why try to run a full bead and warp the backwall?? it pays to take u'r time and get it straight in the end.