DIY Bed for Dodge Dakota

So I drove the truck like this for about a year. When it came time to address the bed, I considered buying a bed for a quad cab Dakota, but I wanted something unique. One style of truck bed I've always liked were the step side beds…. or in Dodge speak "Utiline" bed.

So I decided to build a utiline bed. I started with several lengths of 2x2 inch square tubing and several sheets of diamond plate aluminum;

Here is the mock up of what I had in mind. I purchased a pair of aluminum light housings for a pair of LED tail lights and a pair of trailer fenders;

Once it was all welded up and the aluminum was bolted on, this is what I ended up with;