lwb to swb frame chop many pics

[Ram-Man]

I did decide to cut down my lwb to a swb. I just think the shorts are more of a cruising hot rod than a long. Just my opinion. I followed the tech article from Early Classic. Here are some pics of what I did and maybe this can help out someone else out. I am not done I still am going to get the frame inserts from early classic for support where the welds are. I spent alot of time planning it out and after it was cut in two I spent about 2 hours measuring and realigning everything. First thing I did was built supports around the areas to be cut so once I cut it I could slide it back together. It worked really well but it does take some time to line and square everything up. When they say measure twice I think I measured about 50 times before I started any welding. Very time consuming but I am withing 1/32" of an inch from when I started. When I welded I did about an inch at a time and alternated back and forth between the 2 sides to reduce the risk of warping. All in all I am very pleased with the results so far.

[Ram-Man]

more pics

[Ram-Man]

and more

[SHORTBEDBOB]

Awesome job! Looks professional! Nobody will ever know it was a lwb.

[Ram-Man]

Welcome to the board shortbedbob.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

looks like alot of fun work..haha..looks real good though

[53sparks]

I cant believe you did that! the long wheel base bedsides are not that much more! what did you have to do something that didnt cost much money this weekend?

[68 short step]

congradulations you are a man now..... looks great, are you putting a reinforcement plate in there? or is that the ECE thing your referring too?
nice job

[Ram-Man]

Originally Posted by 68 short step

congradulations you are a man now..... looks great, are you putting a reinforcement plate in there? or is that the ECE thing your referring too?
nice job

ece sells preformed plates for reinforcement that fit inside the frame channel for $50.

[WinDancer]

Great job! One of the things that makes your ride special is the changes you make. Not for anyone else- just for you.
Looks like you got good penetration with your welds, can't see any voids at all.
I bet you feel better for the remaining build after this mod

[72CSTC5]

I hope you chamfered the frame for better weld penetration with you grinding the weld smooth.or you will possibly have problems there. Was there much penetration of the weld on the inner portion of the frame?

[Ram-Man]

If that those welds break I will hang up the welder. I welded both sides and the inside welds wont be ground off and I will be putting the ece channels on the inside.

[72CSTC5]

O, okay I was just asking to make sure you were safe. Why don't you build your own bracing for inside of the frame and then box that area maybe?

[Ram-Man]

The ece channels are bent to fit inside of the frame channel. They look like a nice piece. At $50 for the pair I thought it was a good deal. I need to order some other things from them anyway. Thanks for the concern but I feel pretty confident of the welds especially when I get the channel on the inside.

[RACINJASON22]

GR8 job Ram-Man looks awesome. If its swb you want I say go for it. Too bad you didn't talk yourself into it before the frame looked that good though.

[Goodguytrucks]

Great Job !! I am planning on doing the same thing to my longbox...What kind of welder and wire did you use?

[jeffspower]

I have owned two 4x4's that were made into shortboxes by someone prior to me buying them. Both were done the "wrong" way with a straight vertical cut & no reinforcement. I put both of those trucks thru hell without any problems. IMO, the work you have done will hold just fine- and looks great!

[71chevylowrider]

Great work, & really nice pictures.

[Rokcrln]

No fair your cab is not in your way!
You might want to grind down the inner welds so the ECE plates can be plug welded to the web of the frame. That is the route I plan on going. I was going to do the step cut but with the cab in the way I think I will just go the same way you did. Plus I need to order new body mounts anyways

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Ram-Man]

The cab wasn't in the way but it sure was hard to work around all that paint On the ece site they put the channel in to form a box.

[Hart_Rod]

I think I might use the 45 degree cut too on my CrewCab frame. Once I figure out which frames I'm going to use.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...06#post2081206

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Ram-Man

If that those welds break I will hang up the welder. I welded both sides and the inside welds wont be ground off and I will be putting the ece channels on the inside.

Ok, why spend $50 for reinforcement plates when you just cut some out of the truck?

Obviously you have a sawzall & a welder so you have the tools. Slice the cut sections in half (length-wise) to reduce the heighth slightly. Grind the weld bead on the inside of your frame rails smooth to snug everything up tight. Center the 'reinforcements' to the splice & weld both the ends & the middle seam (drill a few holes for some plug-welds too). Or use the cut sections to 'box' the frame in that area.

Just a thought . . ....

[Rascal_one2001]

When you ground it down before welding did you make the edges have a little point to them >< so that when you ground it smooth you didnt grind away alot of the strenght. my brother and I did a frame shortening on an old plymoth and we did some testing and found out the test piece that we ground a point on each side ended up being stronger than just welding the 2 edges together.

Edit : Never mind most of this one I missed that someone else already asked about this. Sorry

[jerry moss]

thats exactly how the local welding/fab shop does frames. they even did their own shop truck---F-250 super duty 4x4 diesel--when it was BRAND new. Z-cut with no plates---plates kill the flex in the area where installed and cause the frame to crack in front or behind the plates. i'm sure that isn't an issue with a 2wd frame but on a 4x4 it can be a problem.

[Ram-Man]

I did taper the butts in for the welds but you are only dealing with a little over 1/8" of metal so its not alot. I am not going to grind the inside smooth the ece plates create a box.