long to short bed conversion??

[justn84]

Does anyone had any articles or detailed pictures of a long to short bed conversion? Thought I could ask here first before getting in over my head.

Thanks Justin

[Captkaos]

I do: http://www.73-87chevytrucks.com/lwb_to_swb.htm

[Slonaker]

67-72

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=123624

I know someone on here did it to a 73-87, but I am not sure if it is the same guy as Chris linked to. I think he had the word "blue" in his name, but I am not sure.

Slonaker

[Captkaos]

BlueXdid one here...

[Slonaker]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

BlueXdid one here...

Hey, I was pretty close. Not bad for a guy with a bad case of CRS...

Slonaker

[N2TRUX]

Check the FAQ forum too...

[justn84]

Thanks for the replies.

One qestion if my drive shaft is to long would a regular short bed drive shaft work,for some reason i thought short beds had short tail transmissions.
thanks justin


Wanted to buy posts not allowed unless you are a subscriber...

[N2TRUX]

Justin the short bed drive shaft will work. They did not put a different transmission in long or short beds.

If you really want a short bed truck, have you considered selling yours and buying a shortie? That would be less hassle than cutting one down since clean short bed 73-87 trucks are still easy to find at a reasonable price...

[justn84]

I have thought about it but i figure money into motor,trans,suspension,and body work it would be like starting over.Plus it is my first truck i could not sell it no amount of money.

Wanted to buy posts not allowed unless you are a subscriber...

Did not mean to step on any toes by posting a want to buy,how do i become a subscriber??

[N2TRUX]

I know that sometimes the situation doesn't allow you to sell or make sense because of the loss you might take. I would suggest you take a look at what you have invested in the truck and how much you might be able to recover if you sold at fair market value. You will probably take a loss, but what you need to consider is if that loss is close to what you might spend to build the truck the way you want it. You may be surprised to find in the end it works out about the same, and doesn't require the labor.

It's hard to put a value on sentiment, but I have learned for the right money almost anything can be replaced....

[bluex]

You can convert a long bed to short in about a 8 hr day.......10 if you want to strech it out.


Its really not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. Justn84, thats the exact same reason I cut mine. If it means something to you, keep it and chop it. Its really easy. You just need the bed, a rear brake line, parking brake cables, gas tank and the driveshaft. I just had mine shortened, balanced and new joints installed for $65. Use the new bed as a guide to make your cuts. Its around 5" off the back and 14" out of the middle. The hard part is changing the cables and brake line. The rest is easy.....

[no longer curly 71]

If i was you i would consider looking into a shortie i just bought a 86 Silverrado shortie for $800 with
a 350 and at trans ps pb tw
pw pd locks.

[454HO]

Why not buy just a shorty frame and box then swap all your other stuff to it? Then you may be able to sell your frame and long box to recoupe some of the money you spent.

Oh, on the driveshaft question... my long bed has a 2 piece DS. It's been a while since I looked at it, but I was under the impression that the front half did not have a slip yoke at the trans tailshaft like a one piece DS would have. The rear section must have some sort of slip yoke between the center bearing and the axle. And I though I read somewhere that you couldn't convert to a one piece DS with out changing the tailshaft housing on the trans. Is that incorrect??