longbed or shortbed

[A.C.E. Graphics]

i have a 1971 chevy longbed and i am up in the air about changing it to a shortbed, i love the shortbed look but like the longbed also but the longbeds look a little akward sometimes,

so can you guys put up some pics of bagged longbeds so i can better see what they look like, and also your comments or opinions.

thanks for the help guys
josh

[98crewcab]

also back and forth....but to fit her in the garage, have to be a shortbed. so mind set, going under the knife VERY soon....lol

[A.C.E. Graphics]

ya man its a hard decision for me to lol, i havnt yet seen an ugly look of the short bed, but i have seen some very akward looking longbeds, so im prob going under the knife to, but untill i put it in the shop im going to be looking hard at all the longbeds i can lol

[longbed67]

are you going to use this as a truck or show vehicle.... I am keeping the long bed simply because it will be used, but if your not going to use it to haul anything long, I would say chop and swap, a lowered short bed looks hot!

[stsalvage]

Boy i see a lot of people spending money and time they don't need to.I had 3 of my friends get half way into the shorting the frame they run out of money or time.

First off Do some looking for a short bed step side bed truck.Most of the time there so dam cheap to buy. and there are tons of them out there.

Cus no body wants a short bed step side bed.That will cut your time in half if you find one with disc brakes and all the goodies then there is a saving of 5000.00 in cutting and welding and patching mistakes.

Now i feel your thing i don't want to do a full off restore.What's 6 bolts 4 on the cab 2 on the core support.Now I've seen 5 guys pick up the front end and the cab all at once change the cab and core support rubber bushing and bolts and lower both of them back on the frame there using.

one other thing give you prep time to sand and paint the frame and over haul the front end and rear end and brake system Lot more cheaper.less down time and spare parts we all like spare parts

One other thing with the cab and front end off the drive train is so easy to remove and all you need to do if there was no drive shaft in the step side have one made or go buy one used

[special-K]

These are nice customs

[71sierragrande]

Originally Posted by special-K

These are nice customs

I gotta go yep/yep on this question. I've long been an advocate of the longbed and have somewhat recently been pulled to the shortbed side(not entirely, I straddle the fence). I'll never be without a long cuz I need it to haul 16 foot lumber, but for a dropped street toy, its a shorty for me. I will always get others opinions(as you have)cuz it has helped me see the light many times in the past, but go with what YOU want in the end. Nobody's right and nobody's wrong on this topic. We've all seen what the shortbeds can look like(awesome), and with these pics that SK posted, we all see what a well done long can be. Anyone who doesnt like that blue/green longbed with flames needs a trip to the eye doc. You will make the right decision... but, all that cutting and fabbing is too much work for me. I would make it what it came out of the factory as. This is why I have a longbed that I will keep forever and I'm looking for a shorty. Just another opinion. Tim

[special-K]

Mire nice looking low longbeds. May or may not be bagged. May not have big hoops. But,they all have respectable looks AFAIK.

[cool1972gmc truck]

LONG BEDS RULE!!! LOOK AT ALL THIS BEAUTIFUL TRUCKS!!!

[hugger6933]

I have two trucks that are under going the long to short thing and I found disk brake suspension and frames for both to make things go more smoothly. I have a body shop and rebuild wrecks for a living so I am not afraid to cut one just not the way to go in this case.

[GASoline71]

Longbed all the way...

Gary

[leddzepp]

lots of longbed cutdowns end up abandoned projects and abortions as pointed out above. if you decide to go swb, look for an original frame and swap everything over. sk's pics above show some really sweet slammed lwb trucks.
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[JWall]

IMO for lowered trucks go with short bed.

[special-K]

And,what's wrong with Stepsides??? You can just call me "Nobody",cuz I sure do like'm

[special-K]

A lot!

[CG]

I always considered it a personal preference for short or long.

I sure do like that stepbed pusher, very cool.

[wild4wheels]

Originally Posted by CG

I always considered it a personal preference for short or long.

I sure do like that stepbed pusher, very cool.

x2!

[special-K]

I like'em all. You can make any of them look right or you can make any of them look wrong. It all depends on what you do. One thing for sure,they all look good when you leave them as they came from factory

[ChopperDr]

Dare I say they are like women; blonde or brunette, flat or busty, curvy or thin. There is something for everyone. Myself? I see the beauty in them all.

This message board is pretty neat the way it brings all the different styles of trucks together. My own truck needs to have an eight foot bed. Period. I already have a truck with no bed, see the Bronco behind my 68?




Chop

[cdowns]

i personally love longbeds

not often made public is the really nice longbeds that go into the chop conversion process and end up in the dumpster. yes some have been sucessfull but i'd guess less than 25% are actually completed correctly and presentable final products

[wicky]

I like all of em. If they're built right swb can basically pull it all off stock custom slammed ext. Lwb imo need to have all the chrome on them and basically be stock appearing on the out side. The do look nice with something like a 4/6 on em. But if your building a shop or patina style truck it has to be a short or stepper. Just my .02
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But i would say that alot of people would agree if you want a swb buy one dnt shorten a lwb. There's plenty of swb out there. They can just be a little harder to find sometimes.

[50bomb]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by 50bomb

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I agree...

[special-K]

I've always tried to have one of each. A longbed for work and a shortbed for play. They can both work and they can both play. But,sometimes that extra 2' makes all the difference in the world. Sure,drop the tailgate on your shortbed and you have an 8' deck. But when you have to haul 12' material on a regular basis (which I do) I like to have 10' on/2' out rather than 8' on/4' out. Going over bumps makes the load tip up off the bed. It's also not legal in my state. Anything over 12' goes on the ladder rack. On a longbed the rack is 12'. To have a 12' rack on a shortbed you have 50% mounted to the bed and 50% cantilevered. That's bad physics. If you use a 10' rack you get what you'd have with a longbed w/tailgate down. I can haul up to 28' legally on the rack. All this hauling talk (remember,we're talking trucks here) takes me to the point that you can't even get a 3/4t or 1t in shortbed and that's what I work out of.
Now,for me,I like the shortbed for play because that's always been the cool little toy of a truck guys fixed up rather than a car and that's the kind of guy I am...a truck guy. So,when guys say you can't haul anything with a shortbed I tell them that's what my longbed's for. The shortbed's my car "and" it can haul "and" it does. There was a time when using a truck as a car was quite the exception. A truck can do what a car can but a car can't do what a truck can. They make long and short beds,always have,because different people have different needs from their trucks. When I want a longbed I get a longbed. When I need a shortbed I get a shortbed. I have too many interests and desires to waste my time making a longbed into a shortbed when they are already made. I have had a bells & whistles longbed with a good cab & clip and a crapped-out no option shortbed,both needing restoration,that I decided to combine to create a big block shortbed Cheyenne. And,I took a sweet '69 CST/20 Stepside 396 a/c truck,cut the bed down (real easy),and back-halved it to create a pro-street w/4-link years ago. But,the work on the frame was necessary whether I started with a shortbed or not and it's a real simple matter shortening a Stepside.

[longbed67]

Well put special-k
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