Long to Short bed How-to:

[bluex]

I've answered quite a few questions about this, but I didnt want to write the how to b/c I lost all my pics to a virius.......

Here it is though, vague as it can be. When I get my truck down here (its still in SC) I'll try to take some pics so you can see what I'm talking about...

First get your '6 bed. It will help immensely and no guess work will be necessary. Start in a place that is a close to level as you can get.

Next, take off the '8 bed and put the 6' on, yes it will look very funny. You can then see exactly where you need to cut. Around 5 3/4" must come off after the axle. This will be very close to your shackles. If you want to run a bumper, you will need to switch to the SWB leaves as well. You will have to relocate the shackle bracket about 5" towards the cab. Its easy to see b/c the holes are already in the frame.

Now the rear of the bed should be sitting flat on the frame. The rear most holes of the 6' bed will line up exactly with what was the 2nd holes from the tailgate on the 8' bed. use this to get your correct front to back alignment. You can now measure and mark where to cut the front. I took 14" outta mine. I went 1.5 or 1.25 off the rear cab mount, and the same off the first bed crossmember.

Now disconnect the brake line, park brake cables, fuel lines, driveshaft and remove the fuel tank. Make sure all lines and wires are out of the way of where your going to cut. Use a 4x4 or a good size piece of channel long enough to fit between the bottoms of the frame rails. You need two, one to support each side of the frame while you cut. Use a good jack to support them, dont put alot of pressure on there, just to hold it up. As you cut you may have to jack the cab up, it will have all the weight on it and you dont want it to fall. You need to keep it as level as possible to make the cutting easier. I did all this with one sazall blade!

Before you start cutting, block BOTH front tires on the front and back side. You do not want the cab/front end to move AT ALL! Double and triple check your measurements and that everything is out of the way (gas,brake,wires etc...) Now you can cut, take your time, leave just a small place at each cut, like an 1/16" before you cut all the way through top and bottom. Cut those last. You really need someone to work the jacks and make sure the cab isnt going to fall on you or move.


Ok so now your done cutting and if your like me you stood there for a minute or so realizing how crazy you are realizing you just cut your pride and joy in half! Get over it, its too late now. You can do the cut however you want. Somepeople say to make them overlap, i did mine pretty much like this ] 14" [ pushed them together ][ and butt welded them. Then I put a 1/8" plate on the inside of the frame and welded all around it as well. Good penetration and patience is the key here. A good weld will be just as good if not better than it was before.

Thats pretty much it, put your new 16 gal tank on, your shortened driveshaft, shortbed brake line and cables. I got the cables from LMC, the line and gas tank from a salvage yard. I still have the LWB springs and no bumper. I plan to get some SWB springs so I can run a bumper in the future.

I'll post what few pics I have next......

[bluex]

pics.......

[bluex]

Last ones..........


If I can locate this thread in about two months when I get my truck here I'll try and put up some better ones then, I need to work on my gas tank anyways.....

[1FaastC10]

the best advice to anyone who is doing this type of swap... sell your truck and buy a shortbed. been there, done that. its way more of a PITA than it looks.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by 1FaastC10

the best advice to anyone who is doing this type of swap... sell your truck and buy a shortbed. been there, done that. its way more of a PITA than it looks.

I disagree, I accomplised mine in about the same time as milehightoyz. I cant take all the credit. I had a former co-worker help me and he really knew his stuff.

Dont be intimated by this at all, as long as you take your time and double and triple check all your measurements before cutting and welding you will be fine.


I will NEVER sell this truck. My father gave it to me and taught me basically all I know about working on cars or anything mechanical. Now that hes gone its basically one of the only things I have that we did together. This is the main reason I cut it up. Ya I could have bought a shortbed and sold, but then it wouldnt be mine and I couldnt enjoy the looks on peoples faces when I told them I had it cut in half. Future plans call for a shortbed frame so I can start a "frame off" before I take it off the frame.


The rims are Pacer five stars very similar to Weld Pro Stars. The only difference is the lug nuts are recessed into the hubs. Much cheaper to, also polised aluminum.

[milehightoyz]

great write up....this is really not that hard a conversion to do i did this on my 82 crew cab to make it a shortbed as they were onyl available from the factory as long beds. with 2 guys from first cut too finish was less than 5 hours. just be sure to mark your reference points and get your cross mesurements dead nuts so you know everythings going back togetehr square.

[bigblock73]

Great write up Blue...thanks for sharing it again with us! I have bookmarked the thread, so if you can't find it when you are ready, PM me and I will help out.

I really admire the work you did on this conversion. Sure, you could have sold the truck, went out and bought another...but then you wouldn't have had the fun of doing this conversion....or had the opportunity to help tose who are considering doing the same thing. With the right tools, knowledge, and time, there is no limit as to what a person can or can't do.

[BowTieMan]

Off topic but what kind of rims are those?

[milehightoyz]

looks good blue, keep it up, your truck is looking great. here is a few pics of the truck i mentioned, in case you did not see it yet. started much the same way yours did. still aways awy from beeing any where near complete but i keep gettin sidetracked on other projects. im 23 years old and have far too many projects (over 40 cars). im like alot of guys here i see potential in almost anything. its beocme addictive. im waiting for my family to suprise me with an intervention program.

[BIGT05]

that looks like thats ^^^ gonna be one sweet ride we you get done man

[bluex]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I've wanted to tinker with it here lately, but its 400 miles away.

Looks good milehigh. I'm only 25 and I know what you mean. I got sidetracked with my S10 for about 4 yrs. I sold it, mainly so I could live comfortably while renting an apt here in montgomery and pay for my house in SC.

I wanted to do my frame like you did yours. My friend used to build car haulers out of 3500 and F-350. They would add something like 15' to the truck so you could put a car up on it and then have a trailer as well that holds two more. He said they just butted the frames together there and that it would be strong enough. I suppose I will see in the long run. I have no idea how long it will take before I find a decent SWB frame and start restoring it. One day it will be as nice a some on here.......

[milehightoyz]

yah, if you do your cuts simlar to the way i did mine and you box the inside in with 1/4" plate you should be plenty safe for most normal uses.