M923 CrewCab Project

[klawrence]

Bed is painted, spent the weekend wiring up my reverse lights, plate light and some seals for my windows. Getting inspected tomorrow.
Still need to finish up the tire mount and crane and finish the seat for the rear of the crewcab.

 

[jdknech]

when do you want to start on mine?
looks great!!

 

[jdknech]

so how did inspection go?

 

[jdknech]

Oh, one more question... how much frame space did the added cab take up? (or how much did you shorten the bed)
I am trying to figure out how far to strech my frame, i need to strech it enough to add the second cab, plus a foot (or 2)...
as it sits right now 100% stock, my trailer will smack the spare tire pretty hard if the tractor is at a slight upward angle and i turn..

 

[klawrence]

inspection went fine, I beleive it was 46 3/8 that we removed from the bed. This was with remooving the factory hoist/tire mount.

 

[350TacoZilla]

I hope to be there for Johns gathering. Here are a few more pics. I managed to break a window over the weekend. It has since been replaced. Taking the two passenger seats and makign one long seat.

nice looking crew cab, has the right look to the cab. how hard was it to replace window? I just cracked my passenger side one other night, shutting door in cold temps I guess.

 

[350TacoZilla]

jdknech- have you thought of just using a m923 chassis as starting platform? would have about right length stock to do a crew cab tractor, or heck tractor with sleeper built on 923 chassis might work.

 

[Reckless]

how hard was it to replace window?

Taking the windows out is extremely easy. Roll it down almost all the way. Pop the window regulator out of the bottom of the window frame (have to pull the "C" clamps off the back). Unscrew the window stops (looks like brass angle iron about 2" long). Then slide the window out. It gets easier once you pop the access panel off and can see exactly what I am talking about. Its a little easier with 2 people, just so you don't accidentally drop the window into the door.

 

[jdknech]

jdknech- have you thought of just using a m923 chassis as starting platform? would have about right length stock to do a crew cab tractor, or heck tractor with sleeper built on 923 chassis might work.

A M923 only has a foot longer wheelbase.. (i measured one at the haspin rally) a M927/928 would get me closer.. but I dont have a problem having the frame welded (by a professional)

 

[mendo]

just so you don't accidentally drop the window into the door.

I hope you didn't learn this the hard way!!!!

Truck looks Great!

 

[350TacoZilla]

A M923 only has a foot longer wheelbase.. (i measured one at the haspin rally) a M927/928 would get me closer.. but I dont have a problem having the frame welded (by a professional)

yeah 140 for 931 and 152 for 923, but the frame is like 43" longer ( 307.5 M923 VS 264.5 M931 ) I would think nearly 4 ft extra would be enough frame and you could put the hitch where you need it and slide axles back.I understand using what you got though since you wouldnt have to buy another truck to cut up.

back on topic I'm really liking these crew cab builds

 

[klawrence]

Almost ready for Saturday!

 

[srodocker]

I have a bunch of pics saved on my computer to give to the fabricators when I take my 5 ton in to have them do the 4 door for me. Only difference I want is to have them make it like a mega cab so I can recline the rear seats. Awesome build!

 

[wsucougarx]

Oh Scott...

 

[walkerhunter]

It has been done but its still work you still need to split the rear cab and "open it up.

 

[cx65083]

Looking great!

 

[Jeep Nasty]

we thought about doing suicide doors with the rears of the cabs going together. yet with having a hardtop that we wanted to reuse, we would have to then stretch the rear of the cab. Still thinking of swapping the rear cab door jams for suicide doors, this way passengers could share the same set of steps.

The initial cab connection was done via the the 2x8, to get the cab close. We then mounted the rear cab bracket and attached the cab. Once the rear bracket was attached we used bottle jacks to level the front of the rear cab with the back of the front cab. Then 1x2 square stock was welded between the the two cabs. We used 5 peices, the length of the pieces came out to be approx 1 foot long. I placed a piece of sheet metal over the braces...I will try to get a pic from underneath.

I got my curved pieces of the roof yesterday and hope to finish the roof up today...with lots of pics.

After the interior is done with welding, I was thinking of using some exterior oil paint while mixing in some ceramic micro spheres for heat sound deadning.

do you still have pics of this part of the build you could post where the cabs mate together from underneath

 

[Jeep Nasty]

You truck came out awesome and is exactly what I've been getting mine ready for.
I started preping the donor cab last week. I've built some jeeps in the past for rock crawling, but I've never really done body work before so this should be interesting.
I have a few questions, so I'll try get them all into one post. Thanks in advance for some help.

1.what thickness sheet metal did you use for the cab and floors?

2. Did the 2x8's get you in the ball bark with height and then some fine tuning with the bottle Jacks.

3. Do have any other pictures that might be helpful with my build or any pointers I should look out for?

4. is the hard top center piece 1 big piece with rolled corners or is it 2 rolled corners then a center piece welded to those

5. On your battery relocation, do you have a tray that slides out and could you take another picture of that setup in there. Ive already converted to a 2 battery setup so space should be fine.

6. did you have to replace any body mouths, and do you have a part number for them. Mine are missing off the donor cab and horseshoe mount.

Sorry for being a PITA with the questions, but I definitely need to find answers to a lot of my questions before I dive in, since I don't have a shop and will be doing this outside in my driveway here in New Hampshire.

 

[Vintage iron]

I have two crewcab builds coming up in the spring and have learned a lot from this thread and viewing the pictures. Great job on your build.

 

[klawrence]

1.what thickness sheet metal did you use for the cab and floors? 16 ga

2. Did the 2x8's get you in the ball bark with height and then some fine tuning with the bottle Jacks. Yes the 2x8 got it close to mount the 2nd cab rear cab mount, the bottle jacks to aling the front of the 2nd to the rear of the first.

3. Do have any other pictures that might be helpful with my build or any pointers I should look out for? Kee an eye on the rear of the cab where the hard/soft top join..make sure it stays plumb..mine moved and hat to cut and reweld for doors to align.

4. is the hard top center piece 1 big piece with rolled corners or is it 2 rolled corners then a center piece welded to those, 2 rolls with a flat peice welded in between.

5. On your battery relocation, do you have a tray that slides out and could you take another picture of that setup in there. Ive already converted to a 2 battery setup so space should be fine. No tray , I hope to not have to remove them for some time. I can take more pics if you like.

6. did you have to replace any body mouths, and do you have a part number for them. Mine are missing off the donor cab and horseshoe mount. I did not, my spare cab came with the rear mount.

Also find my bob a crew cab project. I placed a freightshaker aire ride and removed one of the axles..