unibody conversion, not the bed/cab thing.

okay, ive seen it a few times and am strongly considering this idea for my ramcharger. im gonna be doing a 5"ish body drop (new rockers, shorter than stock) and would really like the extra floor space it would save. im planning on running an inline 6 w/ turbo from a supra. ill also be caging the interior. anyways, whats everybodys opinions of the design? its either that, or a narrow frame like mike alexander. im gonna run IRS so i can help with backseat clearance. because the seat is right over the rear end. i saw a truck on here the other day from the top 5 that did that method. i believe it was a square body s10 blazer. i looked through all of those and didnt find it. anybody wanna help me on this one? pics would be great. thanks guys.

come on, somebody has to be of some help here.

What do you mean by uni-body conversion?

sounds like he wants to ditch the frame. he wants to turn his dodge into a honda.

KEEP THE FRAME....if you are really concerned with floorspace run frame rails in the center next to the driveshaft and then a supplimentary set outboard of the seats right by the rockers...then you can french your seats into the floor....

think so? i was sorta iffy about that idea on strength. i could make it plenty strong, but dunno if running with the frame and body connected would be good or bad. anybody have experiance with these first hand? building or driving? and yes, thats a picture of my truck. old, but thats what they look like.

its definately possible, most back-halfed drag cars have the frame rails part of the unibody. Although there are more structural things to consider when doing this. But, you honestly wont save that much room over using 2x3 or so rails and maybe doing some mods to the floor or building a new one that sits right on the frame.

well if i made the frame sit right on the floor, wouldnt that cause problems when things move/flex in corners or hard launches?
another question. how much space is enough, but not too tight, for the floor to rail clearance. the area in the front (under the buckets) isnt the big issue. the area in the back (rear suspension and bench area) is the problem. i did some rough math and it will be about a 17" drop from stock height to the point where its aired out. 5" or so of that is the body drop. im making shorter rockers. anyways, thanks for the help guys.

just stockfloor BD it with 2X3 1/4" wall tubing man

drop the cab to the new rockers with no floor, then rebuild the floor completely to cover the new frame by 1/4" and right over the tranny and driveshaft

1/4 is too damn heavy.. 3/16 is what i'd use.. all of this 1/4 or more or its hacked up bs, is just s10forum.com bullshit.