How hard is it to shorten?

[chevykid04]

i was wondering what all would have to be done to change my longbox frame and such into short box ready.... so far i was thinking, shorten the frame , move the axle forward, rerun brake lines, and shorten driveshaft(get a one peice) , anything else??

[Truckstr]

Man, that would be a LOT of work. You'd be much better off hunting down a short frame. You can't just move the axle forward. It's more like that you'd have to take a section out from both in front and behind the rear axle.

Are you a good welder?

Whew!
Good Luck,
Jeff

[crazy longhorn]

12" out of the middle of the frame(under the cab), & 8" off the butt end. fabman has some pics on one he did,& a really nice job!

[chevykid04]

reaaaally........ just , snip snip , and then what i mentioned above and your set???

[GMCPaul]

Take 12" out between the front and rear cab mount, this moves the rearend forward and the crossmember that the trailing arms are attached to without changing any distances so no need to have rear driveshaft shortened only the front shaft needs shortened, then remove the front frame to bed mount and and take and move your rear cab mounts back 12", cut your 8" off rear of frame and you have a swb frame. Besides replacing the brake lines with SWB ones you will also need to change your parking brake intermediate cable, swap out your rear taillight intermediate harness for a SWB one or make a loop in it to shorten it up some. Thats basicly it other than the welding that needs done.
GMCPaul

[helmdogg]

I have a 79 longbed truck that I cut the frame to accomodate a shortbed. 1.........I cut 1 Inch behind the "FRONT" bed bolt hole. Then I cut an amount I can't remember because I did the project off and on out of the front frame "behind" the cab. This way you don't have to remove the cab or cab mounts!!!!! 2.........The measurement from the "FRONT" bed bolt hole to the "REAR" bed bolt hole is 61 and one half Inches!!!!!! ( If you have a buddy you can measure his short bed bolt hole length It might be different !!!!!) After I welded the front cut back together, I reinforced the front cut with 1/4 Inch thick angle iron (about 6 Inches long) which I placed on the inside of the frame and slid to where it touches the bottom and back of the frame with the cut centered in the middle. 3.........Since I put a roll pan on rear I cut the rear of the frame off just enough to clear. 4.........I carefully bent a loop in my brakeline and had the drive shaft shortened to exact measurments from tranny to rearend yolk. It works and for me was better than dishin' a truck I had already customized. If you have any questions E-mail me at helmdogg69@aol.com !!!!!!!!!!!

[chevykid04]

would i be able to use a one peice swb drive shaft? and eliminate that carrier bearing? i assume so , since it will be the same length? and wouldnt the one peice be stronger? eventually ( after college probably) i plan on building a beast, so drive shaft strength might be an issue?

[1FaastC10]

the 2 pc shaft is actually the stronger of the 2, and will hold more hp and speed.

[crazy longhorn]

the strenght of the shaft is related to the overall lenght. For the shortbed trucks, a 1 pc shaft would be a better deal than a 2 pc. On the half ton trucks , the hanger type carrier was a POS that caused a lot of problems. The driveline shops will build a shaft to right at the 6 ft line in a 1 pc......& the shortbed will be well under that lenght on the shaft....crazyL

[XXL]

Just follow along with ebfabman on his new web site. I think it starts on pic#14 or so.

Kenneth

[helmdogg]

I have a one piece with a beefy 350 and strength is fine. It was a longbed shaft which I had shortened to specs.

[helmdogg]

Just remember, when you find a shaft to have it re-balanced! While your at it, its a good idea to pop in new u-joints!

[phantom dually]

Turner enterprises out of California did a frame. They have a how to article in Streettrucks mag. They also sell alot of parts for our trucks. Turners is a fabrication shop. number is 909-926-1729 ask for Bill Turner.

[chevykid04]

thanks everyone, oh andhow beefy is that 350? i was thinking of building a big block, probably around 600 -700 hp and similiar torque, obviously not for while, but eventually...

[tripp]

The current edition of Custom Classic Trucks magazine has an article on this. Early Classic Enterprises is performing the work.

[Blue Beard]

If you can pickup the April, o3 issue of Custom Classic Trucks P30 has a article on shortening the frame...........

If you can't find a copy, let me know and I will scan it for you.............

[cdowns]

with these trucks being relitivly common to find i can't figure why anybody would want to spend all that time and effort to shorten one up??????????????????????

[highboy_04]

maybe it will be cheaper. plus if you spent alot of time and effort on one ride and decided you wanted a short bed instead of a long then you dont really wanna give up on what you already started. plus some of us are poor to begin with.lol

[john j]

OK kid, before you start all the cutting and snipping you SHOULD check the law in your state about welded frames!!

[crazy longhorn]

State laws......well, I suppose they could bite you in the @ss, but I have never asked the state if it was ok to cut a truck in 1/2 ,& weld it back together. Had a ins salesman walk up my drive & try to sell me his auto plan.......I pointed to the frame splice on my 79 K 20, with plow & asked him if he would like to insure that? Didnt take too long for that dude to disapear! Dont ask, & dont tell crazyL

[john j]

In some states you have to have a vehicle inspected every year at registration time. To much body rust and frame rust here in NH will not get you registered. Welding a frame is also included.

[Blue Beard]

Sounds like someone should change things there..............frames can be repaired good as new..........

I use to weld for a living.............proper welding will hold while the metal gives way..........setup and prep work is the main cause of failure if done wrong.....

[70 Jimmy]

How would they know you welded a frame? If you clean up the weld and paint it, no one should be able to tell. What am I missing?

[Blue Beard]

If you weld a frame, you don't want to gring all the weld off......takes some of the strength back out of the joing..........

Most people would either box the frame or put some kind o f gusset in to reinforce the area.

I never seen anything on why...........but take a look at a stock frame..............any welds...........not likely even to bare metal.

[70 Jimmy]

I don't think grinding the weld will weaken it enough to worry about. If you've got good penetration, the weld at the plane of the metal should still be stronger than the metal itself. Check out efab's website pic 17. That is the final result, no weld showing. Any professional welders here that can clarify?