Stinky
Registered Member
Folks, I am thinking a Long-Bed into a Shot-bed (a 3/4 Ton 4 door PU). Does anybody know of a link for such a conversion?
CK5
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Changing a LWB to a SWB
- Thread starter Stinky
- Start date
there is some good pics and info on how to do the long bed to short bed swap.
need box and gas tank as shorter. and rear driveshaft will need to be cut / rebalenced for shorter wheelbase.
plus hard part is cut/shorten the frame. in the middle behind the cab.
search b454rat here he did this with a crewcab 2wd to 4wd conversion and short bed box swaped in also with frame cut down.
its not a basic bolt on. but for a skilled person with tools and time its easy to do.
need box and gas tank as shorter. and rear driveshaft will need to be cut / rebalenced for shorter wheelbase.
plus hard part is cut/shorten the frame. in the middle behind the cab.
search b454rat here he did this with a crewcab 2wd to 4wd conversion and short bed box swaped in also with frame cut down.
its not a basic bolt on. but for a skilled person with tools and time its easy to do.
Ive cut down 3 lwb 3/4 tons and made them into swb trucks. unfortunately I never took any pictures so I dont have any to offer.
Like sweetk30 said, the cut is the hardest part. As long as you have some skills in cutting and welding it isnt too bad though
Like sweetk30 said, the cut is the hardest part. As long as you have some skills in cutting and welding it isnt too bad though
Check this out http://www.earlyclassic.com/tech.aspx?category=Longbed, No!-Shortbed. It has a good step by step procedure. Not sure what year ur truck is but you can also search the 67-72 truck forum site. Several conversions are documented there. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/
Last edited:
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182007
Heres a thread I found helpfull. I'm in the process of doing the same thing, only with a standard cab truck, not a crew cab.
Heres a thread I found helpfull. I'm in the process of doing the same thing, only with a standard cab truck, not a crew cab.
Tho I haven't really touched the truck since before there was snow on the ground, I'm building a crew cab short box. Truck was originally a 2wd dually, turned it into a 4wd short box. I had the frame cut/welded professionally, at the time I didn't have a welder or any real way of bracing, cutting and then welding the frames together and have it even close to be straight.
Need to cut 14" out of the frame between the rear spring front hanger, and behind the forwardmost bed holes. Also need to cut 5-6" off the very back of the frame. All the bed bolt holes lined right up, just dropped them in place. Now one of these days I'll start working on it again....
Need to cut 14" out of the frame between the rear spring front hanger, and behind the forwardmost bed holes. Also need to cut 5-6" off the very back of the frame. All the bed bolt holes lined right up, just dropped them in place. Now one of these days I'll start working on it again....
If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the frame work? I'm looking to do the same thing.
Joe
Joe
I had the frame shortened and welded, and had spring perches moved on the 14 bolt van rear, cost me $175. Gotta love small towns.
Well, no link, but I am driving one. Don't know how much my experiences will help though.
It was a 2 door 3/4 ton, not a 4 door. It was done quite a while ago, so I do not remember what it cost,........Oh yeah, and its a Ford........
But for what it worth....
I ordered it new in '89. It came in on one of those car carriers to the dealership. There was an outfit across town that did custom truck bodies and installs of lift gates and that kind of stuff.
Drove it over there, they pulled the bed off, put it in a frame machine, and sawed the frame.
Before you cut yours, it would help to have a swb sitting next to see where the extra length is.
If I remember right, they measured either the spring hangers, or bed mounting holes between swb and lwb, and cut to make them match.
The beveled and welded the ends of the frame, and put a piece of plate inside and welded it.
The exhaust system had a spacer in it that slipped out and the two ends fit back together.
The truck has two gas tanks, so the side tank got swapped out for a swb one.
The rear drive shaft got shortened, because Ford did not make a swb drive shaft with the right ends.
I think the brake line had a section that came out. Don't remember about the E-brake cables. They may have swapped out with a set of swb ones, or just tied up the slack.
The new bed, gotten out of a junkyard off a truck that got wrecked with just a few miles, fit perfectly and all the holes lined up.
Back to the dealership for a quick paint job on the bed, and the truck looked stock.
Of course, then I took delivery of it, and really started to modify it.......
Its been 22 years now, over 300K darn hard miles, and so far so good........
It was a 2 door 3/4 ton, not a 4 door. It was done quite a while ago, so I do not remember what it cost,........Oh yeah, and its a Ford........
But for what it worth....
I ordered it new in '89. It came in on one of those car carriers to the dealership. There was an outfit across town that did custom truck bodies and installs of lift gates and that kind of stuff.
Drove it over there, they pulled the bed off, put it in a frame machine, and sawed the frame.
Before you cut yours, it would help to have a swb sitting next to see where the extra length is.
If I remember right, they measured either the spring hangers, or bed mounting holes between swb and lwb, and cut to make them match.
The beveled and welded the ends of the frame, and put a piece of plate inside and welded it.
The exhaust system had a spacer in it that slipped out and the two ends fit back together.
The truck has two gas tanks, so the side tank got swapped out for a swb one.
The rear drive shaft got shortened, because Ford did not make a swb drive shaft with the right ends.
I think the brake line had a section that came out. Don't remember about the E-brake cables. They may have swapped out with a set of swb ones, or just tied up the slack.
The new bed, gotten out of a junkyard off a truck that got wrecked with just a few miles, fit perfectly and all the holes lined up.
Back to the dealership for a quick paint job on the bed, and the truck looked stock.
Of course, then I took delivery of it, and really started to modify it.......
Its been 22 years now, over 300K darn hard miles, and so far so good........
cutting the frame is not as big of deal as some make it out to be.
Very careful measurements some drawing on the floor and a couple of plumb bobs and you can get it extremely close
Very careful measurements some drawing on the floor and a couple of plumb bobs and you can get it extremely close
Yup
Mine turned out fine, just a bunch of measuring then cutting
My dad's stance on woodworking: "Measure thrice and cut once." He still gets it wrong.
"I keep cutting and cutting, and it's still too short."
-- A
