Sorry if this is the wrong place for this, couldnt post in "exterior how to's"

My neighbor gave me one of those police style lock boxes out of a decommissioned tahoe crusier and i want to add it to my rig for lockable, secure bed storage.

Unfortunately the box is 48"W×40"L×15"T. That 48" wide dimension is the issue, the 2 wheel bumps in the bed are only 40" apart. Ive considered everything else and i think my only option is to cut out the wheel humps by 4.5"on either side. I really dont want to mount it on top of the humps as it has a huge "POLICE K-9 UNIT" retroreflective sticker on it and it would stick up nearly 10 inches out of the top when i dont have my camper on as well as ruin the entire utility of having a pickup truck.

Does anyone think i can get away with cutting out the wheel humps and brazing in some new steel plate? If so, I plan to mount it on 1/2" raised (to clear tailgate) heavy duty sliders so it can be locked against the front of the bed and slid forward to the edge of the tailgate and then the drawer pulled out. I have 33×12.5 inch tires and plan to go to 35s if possible. I think tire clearances will be okay as the rear has 3" blocks and i have a set of 3" shackles from a leveling kit on hand if need be. I also have a full size spare thats usually kept strapped to the front of the bed by the cab and would need to find a solution and am not to keen of mounting it flat to the box.



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Sounds like you have it thought out.
Do you know any welders? I am not sure I would trust brazing simply due to flexing.
Good luck and pictures are always helpful. I look forward to this thread.
PJ

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2000 Ford Ranger XLT Ext Cab 4X4
4.0 ohv
4.10 rear gear
30" tires
2" body lift

Brazing should be more than adequate.

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2001.5 2.3 213xxx and counting
M501-HD L154 Manual
Don't bother looking for 1st gear synchros, I bought the last one

I was thinking that brazing it would be the best call since the sheet metal is so thin. Id rather worry about it being not enought that burning through and turning into a nasty problem from welding, considering the flex issue, based on what ive looked at and tested, it seems to be that most of the left to right rigidity is at the tailgate and front of the bed. But either way, im confident that brazing will not only be cleaner and easier, but cheaper (as i may be able to do it myself if im feeling particularly adventurous) and safer. I dont need a ton of rigitity for this application, because whatever i lose there i can probably make up for with how i mount the box itself. I will have to keep an eye out for cracking and corrosion i think down the road though


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I agree, im a little worried that welding something so thin could cause some permanent damage and my understanding is that its a relatively low stress area as it is. Ive heard that in some cases, brazing can actually be stronger

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You make a great points. Both with the thin metal and the flex issue. Thank you for pointing that out.

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2000 Ford Ranger XLT Ext Cab 4X4
4.0 ohv
4.10 rear gear
30" tires
2" body lift

If you are sure that the tires won't make it up high enough to hit the cut outs, go for it. Just to be sure, I would try to exercise the suspension to verify that before you reach the point of no return. If you have any ramps or a hill you can get some flex going, that may be sufficient to get the answers you need.

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Sgtsandman's Work in Progress
2011 Ranger XLT, 4X4, 4 door Super Cab. 4.0L, 5 Speed M50D-R1HD, 3.73:1, 8.8" open differential, Jason Pace cap
2019 Ford Ranger STX FX4, Super Crew, 2.3L Ecoboost, 10 speed automatic, 3.73:1 with rear locker, Leer 100XR cap

Tried this this morning, great sugestion, short of loading up 500lbs and hitting the rock trail, it looks like I'll be okay in the department (I have abt a 1.5 inch offset so that help) however, if i do run into an issue there I have that 3 inch lift on standby just in case, also thinking about a body lift being a 19nyear old and all

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Found a guy in the denver area thats willing to not only do the work for this, but fab up some coilover conversion brackets to get rid of those garbage t bars. Know anyone selling plans for them or the brackets themselves?

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Okay so here we are several months later and since I got nothing else to do a really really would love to see more or read more about your project here. Would love to see photos. How you doing?