anguswilly
+1y
I did this today - it was sooo easy, must have taken me 1/2 hr. per side and came out mint - the only thing is that I could have gone further but I was carefully watching for outward dents to appear from the 2x4 - I got 3/4" on each side which should work perfect for my 18x10 rear wheel ( I cranked it out to 1" and after I welded and removed the jack ended up at 3/4")
If I wanted to go further ( it look like they went 1.5" wider in the article) I would have used a piece of hard foam or rubber under the 2x4 - that and possibly spent time contouring the 2x4 on a belt sander so as not to get the outward dents if I went further, I think you can see in the article photos that they had dents that they had to bang down after they were done - they did go 1.5" wider!
All in all this worked out excellent and I am totally pleased - it looks kinda cool, although more subtle than the one in the article since 1) mine is only 3/4" and 2) the one in the pics is a single cab longbox so it may be easier to see the bulge. With mine, I bet a normal person would not even notice - unless parked next to a stock truck (maybe not even then)