This weekend I got the truck in the shop and decided to take as much crap off of it I could. First, I took out the middle console, so now I have bucket seats. It actually looks better in the cab to me, and now it feels like alot more room in there. I put the truck up on the lift, and began taking crap off of the underside of the bed. I took off the thin heat shield that runs where the stock exhaust used to run. I figured I didn't need it anymore, since the exhaust is dumped. I also took out all the parts that had the spare under the truck, like the bracket that raises and lowers the spare. I also cut off the old exhaust hanger, cut down on several other pieces of metal I felt I didn't need. I don't know how much weight I dropped, but with the console, heat shield, and other metal, it all felt pretty damn heavy. Next I will be taking out the 200lbs of speakers before Thunder. I'm also about to check on some racing seats to see how much they weigh. I know the stock seats weigh a pretty good bit, so anything lighter there is better.

 

I have done about the same but I have not removed the middle seat out of mine yet. I will be building a custom console to house a floor shift before long and plan on finding out what other stuff I can take off.

 

Did you have the plastic console? I'm looking for one if you wanna sell it. PM me w/ a price.

 

This isn't the plastic one. This is the carpeted one that flips up. Trust me, you wouldn't want it anyway. My arm has worn the crap out of it. Doing all that parking lot pimping to one side just wore it out.

 

The seats house the seat belts, so you will have to come up with something else for those.

 

Me and a buddy have measured out a steel tube to go across the truck below the rear window. We're going to weld the bar on both sides, and cut a hole out of the plastic pieces where the tube will have a tight fit through. Then, we're going to put two mounting tabs on the tube, and finish it off by painting it pewter. It may be stupid to put harnesses in a slow *** truck, but hey, gotta make it work somehow. We spent a crap load of time measuring everything out this weekend.

 

Once I get into the 11's I plan on doing safety stuff. First will be putting seats and a new console in. After that, I will have a cage put in.

Have you thought about running the straps all the way down to the seat bolts?

 

I have. I really want to get the seats here, so I can see what the cleanest way to put them in will be. Maybe people won't be ripping on me too hard for having racing seats and harnesses in the truck.

 

I like that idea just start cutting random pieces of metal that you dont think you need.

On another note hav you thought about removing the front sway bar ?

 

Hell, yeah, that heat shield was doing absolutely nothing for me and the hangers were just hanging there. I already had the spare tire removed because of the roll pan, so I cut that bracket sh%t off too! I think I'm going to remove the sway bar at the track.