frame shortening/bed shortening
 

i see in the faq section there is an excellent post on frame shortening. has anyone ever done one for bed shortening? there sure seem to be alot of people that are looking for short beds. if you've done this maybe you could post some instructions for the faq board...or maybe it cant be done easily?

i have never done it, but every time i read a thread about some one wanting to do it everyone says that you will probably end up warping the bed side and have to throw it away. i am sure people have done it like the frame shortening (cut off 12 in the front and 8 in the rear) but you would have to be a good welder, get every thing straight, and not warp anything

I did the write up on the frame shortning. That is the easy part. The bedsides can't easily be shortened due to the upper body line. It tapers down toward front to rear, and when a section is cut out of the rear and spliced back together, they will be more than an inch off. IF someone was really good at shaping metal, the body line could be massaged back together, but you are better off getting new or used SWB bedsides. I've only seen pics of one that turned out so-so, but have never seen one sucsessfuly completed. There may be one out there, but I haven't seen it.

i forgot all about the taper line...someone should make a fiberglass bond on outter bed skin you could stick over a shortened bed side

If a guy had time, patience, and some metal, I don't see why the rear couldn't be sectioned back together. Mainly removing the section that makes up the body line and repositioning it so that it runs correctly. Not out of the question, but definately more work than it's worth in my opinion. New bedsides aren't too pricey. That's the route I went.

But like I said....if you have the time, patience, welding and metal working skill, it can be done. But rush to quickly on the welding part........ can you say scrap :D