 Been looking for a bigger truck for several years and had given up on finding a Dodge 4x4. People tend to keep them for a reason as the newer Fords seem to have all kinds of motor/driveline problems.
|  Wasn't really looking for a megacab and this one has a long wheelbase.
|  Went to see it in Indy and it was SO clean for a work truck.
|  It had been sitting outside a while and needed a good cleaning but no real damage was done to it.
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 It's a 2008 5500 4x4 diesel with a Knapheide service body.
|  Made a lowball offer and he accepted so here we go.
|  I bought it to pull my gooseneck trailer and didn't think the service body would work without some mods. Local dealer offered me $3000.00 for it so I started to do some measuring.
|  After measuring I was happy to find that it looks like it will be fine if I just cut the step bumper back.
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 To make the gooseneck hitch mount correctly and easily I decide to pull the service body off and paint it then. Has some scratches and would be the best time to correct that.
|  Interior is extremely nice for a work truck that has been used.
|  Lots of room here!
|  Cummins runs great and is all stock.
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 Top cover was broken but a buddy said I could have his.
|  Cleaned it all up and looks a lot better now.
|  Buffed the paint and it shines again.
|  First up is the bumper. It does clear as is but is too close for me anyway. Off cambers might have hit but not sure. It was bent there anyway so plan is to make it flush with the inset in the center.
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 Here you can see how much will be removed.
|  Someone had a couple of whoops as you can see. No real need to have it sticking out this far for my use anyway.
|  Rear frame will have to be chopped off a little too. Made the marks for amount to be removed.
|  Put the bumper on the table and got it ready for the plasma cutter.
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 They had pinched the wiring loom where it passed by the frame. I notched/smoothed it while I was cutting things.
|  Won't be any issues now. Makes everything tidier too.
|  Next I cut the frame ends off and smoothed them up.
|  After smoothing some paint was applied.
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 Bumper was next and cut off the extra there as well.
|  Smoothed the edges and cleaned it up for welding on the new lower section.
|  Here is the middle section that was covered by the steel that was sticking out. Plan is to use a section of the same size box tubing to make it the same size/look.
|  Got a scrap piece from the pile and looks like it'll work fine.
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 Wanted to bend the corners around and here is a little trick. I use a piece of cereal box and bend a 90 degree edge. Then cut a V till it matches the angle. This way you have a quick, foolproof cutting guide.
|  Here is the angle needed.
|  Open it up and lay it out.
|  welded the box tubing on the original center section.
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 Once welded on the end, I pulled the outer edge down. Note I left it long so I could have a built in leverage advantage. Once tacked, I'll cut it off. Saves a lot of measuring this way.
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 Pulled the bed off and out in on a wagon. I'll have to put it back on and off to double check the gooseneck hitches position so this will make it essier to move around. It IS pretty heavy.
|  Put it in the garage for now.
|  Truck is beefy, here you can see the springs are over 7 inches in total thickness.
|  I did a lot of measuring before taking the body off. You have to be dead on with this for your hole to align.
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