Vintage Theme Tuesdays: Bed Dancers

Sources: Tilt Bed Nation, layitlow.com, The Coalition of OG Minitruckin'

Feb 3, 2015

From the first time I spotted a bed dancer (which may have been in the movie House Party) I’ve been intrigued by this interesting and unique part of minitrucking history.

From a fabrication stand point making a bed lift up, spin around, completely fly apart, and in some cases shoot flames is no small feat. Coupled with the fact that a miscalculation or failed part could lead to a dented bed, or worse a smashed cab, it’s a wonder bed dancing caught on at all since it really has no practical application. Yet miraculously it did and actually still survives to a much, much, smaller degree today.

Some of you would rather the trucks in today’s post stay lost in time, but indulge me a bit because I’ve held this one back as long as I could.

bed-dancer-12 — In my searches for bed dancers this s10 known as Schizophrenia came up repeatedly

bed_dancer_3 — Over the top, extreme, and intricate was certainly they way to go for a lot of these builds

bed_dancer_5 — I believe this is considered a 4 stage z-rack

bed_dancer_4_91 — The popularity of bed dancers helped them cross over into the world of Skateboarding…

... of course BMX soon followed — …as well as the world of BMX

Japan seemed to be pretty into it as a lot of the vintage videos I found originated there

These videos are both state side with the later being from Hawaii

bed-dancer_9 — Bed dancers and lowrider styling cues seem to have gone hand in hand

bed-dancer-15 — I can’t even begin to imagine the man hours in this

bed-dancer_6 — If memory serves me correctly this truck is a current day survivor

bed-dancer-10 — For those of you curious how it all works here is Solid Works rendering I spotted on layitlow.com

Model Bed dancers are also somewhat of a popular sub niche, I remember this build blowing my mind back in 2004 or so

bed-dancer_7 — Today things have gone more the way of the tilt than the dancer

bed_dancer_2 — Of course there are still those who will take a little from column a and a little from column b and put it into one package

9 COMMENTS

chris Feb 4, 2015 At 9:53 am

awesome post!!, really enjoyed those videos , tilt beds are making a come back , i wonder how long til we see dancers again , cant wait !!! lol

- DaveT Feb 4, 2015 At 5:00 pm
  
  Ha Chris I thought I was the only person who would be into this.
  
  I still really want to see one in person.
  
Four-Links – Rally de Bandama, NHTSA Impala, pop art Plymouths, bed dancing | Hemmings Daily Feb 7, 2015 At 9:00 am

[…] Stance Is Everything reminded us this week about bed dancing, one of those things that really petered out with the minitrucking movement, and collected some of […]

Four-Links – Rally de Bandama, NHTSA Impala, pop art Plymouths, bed dancing | 3Buzz Now Feb 7, 2015 At 9:05 am

[…] Stance Is Everything reminded us this week about bed dancing, one of those things that really petered out with the minitrucking movement, and collected some of […]

Joest Feb 7, 2015 At 10:08 am

You can also see a bed dancer (with dancing doors) in Fatboy Slim’s Rockfeller skank.

- DaveT Feb 9, 2015 At 6:34 pm
  
  Ha! Look at that! Looks like an old Datsun or something too!
  
dougie Dec 6, 2015 At 3:21 pm

I stumbled across this site as I was looking for various ways to thing my bed to the side: bagged, boddied, shaved and laid 01 ranger if you Google “clenzer72” you can see some pics and videos.
All my air management fuel cell and battery are under the bed so being sick and tired of crawling on my back for ten years I think its time for easier access’ plus it can show my powder coated frame and other things that often never get noticed.
Thanks for the links’ brought back some memories!

Robby Lett Nov 11, 2017 At 2:17 pm

I ran across this article while doing research on my Z-rack build. I’m building a 90 GMC Sierra with a scissor lift and z rack setup. I plan to debut this truck at the Battle in Bama show May 2018. It is held in Mobile, Al at the battleship.

- DaveT Nov 12, 2017 At 11:24 pm
  
  Any pics Robby? Sounds sweet!