What exactly is a stock-floor body drop? What's involved in the process?
Well, since this is the newest way to lay your truck's rockers on the ground, we figured it was about time to shed some light on the mystery that is the stock-floor body drop, and answer some of these questions. We teamed up with Cary Iaccino and the IF Customs crew to show you the basic process of everything that goes into the chassis and body modifications of a stock-floor body drop.
The basic idea of a stock-floor body drop is to lay the rockers on the ground by extensively modifying the stock frame, or building a completely new frame. With a modified frame, the body mounts can be moved down and the top of the frame can be cut away, enabling the rocker to sit flush with the bottom of the frame. This allows the truck's floor to only be modified around trouble spots, such as the tranny tunnel, the driveline, the firewall, and possibly the gas tank. The benefits include retention of interior space, more headroom, stock ride characteristics, stock carpet, and most importantly, a lower ride height.
This might sound like a modification that anybody who can weld is able to perform, but anytime you're messing with the factory frame structure, you better know exactly what you're doing. Your truck's ride, safety, reliability, and appearance are on the line whenever the stock frame is extensively modified. This is not meant to be a do-it-yourself how-to article. This is meant to strictly show the basics of the process to help you understand what's involved. A stock-floor body drop is more labor-intensive than a traditional body drop, and all the other clearance issues still need to be dealt with. The bed is generally handled by using traditional body-drop methods: cutting out the bed floor and raising it up 2-5 inches, depending on the size of your body drop.
The main areas we'll focus on are the frame modifications, the cab modifications, the engine bay mods, and the bed. For this particular body drop, the frame was cut and boxed in, the tranny tunnel was raised, and the firewall was tubbed for 24s. The engine bay was taken care of by relocating everything that was in the way, including the brake booster, the computer and fuse box, the battery, the wiper cowl, and anything else that got in the way of the wheel/tire combo. Follow along as we cover these four main areas of a stock-floor body drop.
Frame Modifications 1. The...
Frame Modifications
1. The stock C-frame is modified by cutting away the inner side sections of the frame to create an opening for the new 3x4-inch box tubing that will be used to support the frame when the top is cut away.
2. The 3x4-inch box tubing...
2. The 3x4-inch box tubing with a 1/4-inch-wall thickness is measured and cut to mock up inside the stock frame. The 4-inch height is short enough to stay under the floor everywhere except the very front.
3. The front mounts on the...
3. The front mounts on the cab floor need to be sectioned to keep the body mounts from hanging below the frame. This allows the use of the beefier 3x4-inch tubing, since this particular truck is a fullsize extra cab. This also shows how the stock cab mounts are dropped down and welded back in.
4. The front frame horns need...
4. The front frame horns need to be notched and lowered like a traditional body drop to lay the front end on the ground. They are plated back in to clear the radiator hose.
5. After the frame is tack-welded...
5. After the frame is tack-welded into place inside the stock frame, it is removed to be fully welded. Once it's welded up, it gets reinstalled and welded to the stock frame. Then the front and rear sections are plated and reinforced and the top of the factory frame is cut away. This provides the 4 inches or so needed to move the frame up below the floor, putting the rockers even with the bottom of the frame.
Cab Modifications 6. The...
Cab Modifications
6. The transmission tunnel will usually need to be moved up and plated. In addition, a handful of trucks require sections at the very front floor of the cab. The easiest way to note your trouble spots for clearance after the frame is cut down is to see if the cab is still hitting anything under the floor, and then dealing with the trouble spots accordingly.
7. At the back of the cab,...
7. At the back of the cab, a spot for the driveline, and sometimes the gas tank, will have to be sectioned out and plated
8. The firewall will need...
8. The firewall will need to be tubbed to make room for whatever size wheel and tire combo is on the truck. This fullsize is running a huge 24-inch wheel that has almost a 31-inch od, so the firewall is tubbed to fit these massive wheels.
Engine Bay Modifications ...
Engine Bay Modifications
9. A custom mount is built for the brake booster, which moves it up and out of the way of the wheels.
10. The wiper cowl has to...
10. The wiper cowl has to be modified on this truck to clear the intake manifold.
11. More than 200 wires are...
11. More than 200 wires are lengthened to relocate the PCM and the fuse box. This is definitely a time-consuming process.
12. The inner fenders are...
12. The inner fenders are cut out to make room for the wheel, and new inner fenderwells will be built.
Bed Modifications 13. The...
Bed Modifications
13. The tailgate skin and rear section is welded in first; this gives the bed support when the rest is getting cut out.
14. The bed is measured and...
14. The bed is measured and cut to lower the bedsides the amount of inches you need to put the rocker to the floor. In this case, the bedsides are dropped 4 inches to match the amount taken out of the frame.
15. The bed will have to be...
15. The bed will have to be measured for wheel and notch clearance. The inner fenders are cut out, along with a hole for the notch.
16. For this truck, a pair...
16. For this truck, a pair of Grant Kustom's tubs is used to seal the bed. A custom bridge-notch cover is built and welded into place as well.
17. This is why you have this...
17. This is why you have this sort of work done: rockers on the ground with big rollers.
End Note
These are the main areas that have to be addressed. There are still many other things that will need to be taken care of, including exhaust, crossmembers, possible driveshaft modifications, bodywork, and paint. This serves as an overview of the work involved in the newest way to lay your body flat on the pavement.