first timer, BD questions

well i started prepping for the bodydrop. my buddie is gonna help me but hes super busy, and whenever hes free, im busy, and vise versa. What i did was weld some 2x4x1/4" angle to the bottom of the frame, to give it a ground reference point(the trucks up in the air on stands) Now its ready to cut, just a lil scared to start as i dont know the first cut to make, and where, etc. Do you guys make reference points ebfore cutting so that it all lines up after?( like make a mark on the rocker and the 2x4 angle iron before cutting, and when its dropped make sure its still lines up?) im just looking for any little pointers so i can get this show on the road!! thanks in advance, and i allready searched the forums and didnt find the answers i was looking for, so dont tell me to search

I take it your doing a conventional? or are u gonna stock floor? and also i take it from the pic that its a mazdog

yeah its a mazda b2200, a 89. Im going to do a traditional BD on her.

I start on the sides, cut both sides almost all the way. cut around the wheel bumps (inside on the floor) follow them up and over the tranny tunnel, back down behind the pedals. Dont join to the side cuts yet. Support the cab with jacks, (you would think to do this first, but they always get in the way of sawzall blades if you do) and remove the amount of drop from the firewall and the back wall. If you keep your cuts as horizontal and vertical as you possibly can, (ie dont cut wacky shapes or curve the blade around, a die grinder helps to chnage direction) except around the wheel bumps (they will slide down outside the cab and you can just push them back a bit and weld them back to the floor).

Then cut the corners, connecting the firewall cuts to the sides and the side cuts to the back wall. If you left your core support on you will need to cut the ears off the frame up there before dropping the jacks.


Nothing to it but to do it.

thanks russ, here goes nothin, lol

Below is what is needed to do a 2

holy shit leif! lol thanks for that one.... do you happen to have any "along the way" pics?

Originally posted by littleb



holy shit leif! lol thanks for that one.... do you happen to have any "along the way" pics?



No problem for the free advice. I will do anything to get more people to body drop there Mazdas. It is not as hard to do a body drop as you may think, its really easy.

With regards to "along the way" pics I have none to offer as I did not take any while the body drop was being done on my Mazda.

i'm doing the same thing only on a ranger. . .russ is a ton of help. . .actually only a little help. . .j/k. . . you can also go through the profiles of your model truck and look for some pics in the owner profiles. .. granted it takes awhile, but it can give you some good references if you get stuck or just want something to look at. . .i did this and it was a tremendous help when i got a little nervous about cutting something. . .

Awesome thread