Long bed to Short bed conversion.

[Grumpy old man]

Well...I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, It's your truck and you should do whatever it is that makes you happy with it . Different strokes for different folks that's what this hobby is all about in the long run anyway . At the end of the day as long as your happy that's all that matters . Everyone has an opinion and to each their own . Being one of the old skool guys I like to see them left as they were built and the short bed craze today may lead to the long bed craze 5 years from now .Who knows ? With as many trucks being parted (I do it myself when rust has claimed another one ) and still seeing these trucks in metal scrap yards not junk yards but metal scrap yards to be crushed it's only time that will tell how rare some of them will become ? I saw one Tuesday at a local scrap yard and tried to get them to let me pull a number of parts off it only to be told "you have 20 minutes then its gone " I jumped into it and kicked the windshield and back window out to save the trim and popped the paint divider off as they came to grab it . I could have spent hours pulling good original chrome . Yes ,There are still a bunch of these out there but we're already seeing them being pulled from the weeds and out of junk yards to be rebuilt ,Guys are searching for good original parts everyday and nothing lasts forever .

[Ken B]

Coming from the owner of an all original C30 Longhorn all I have to say is this... Longer is always better.....

[musicman75]

I understand GrumpyOldMan. And if it was a matching numbers truck, I'd be all about keeping it original as much as I can. In my case though, it looks like an old work truck, and for the most part has been treated like one as well. And without having a pocket full of cash, the chances of it ever going back to original is slim at least with me. Those willing to buy it later down the line for collectors purposes would knock everything that is not matching now, so is why I figured I might as well build it how I want.

[musicman75]

Very Nice build Reno. It looks really nice. Thanks for the video NoStop

[izzy_Britton]

Build it how you want ! cut the frame or dont cut the frame.

I just bought a 68 3/4 ton long bed and i bought it knowing i was gonna cut the frame. the only one that will know you cut it is you, and if your gonna keep it then who cares?

if your building the truck for you to play with, non stock engine and lowered and stuff then its technically gonna lose '$tock' value anyways.

if your gonna cut it to build a barret jackson auction truck then thats a whole other world and i have seen a lot of garbage cross the auction block that are way worse than any shortened frames might ever be.

do YOUR OWN thing. be happy with what you do. and lets face it, if you decide that you totally screwed the pooch by shortening your frame and putting the more sought after short box on it, then you could be one of the 1%'s that traded a long bed frame for a short bed and put your truck back to a long bed.

[musicman75]

Does anyone have the cad drawing of the fishplates used? I have access to a torch table if I have the cad of it.

[rlxrocker]

I'm brand new to the forums and this is my first comment. I have a 69 C10 Shorty that use to be a long bed. Okie Speed Shop did the conversion on the truck and I couldn't be happier.

If you are looking to do it yourself, I just saw Brothers Trucks came out recently with a slide in frame shortening kit, in my opinion is straightforward for the home mechanic.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by rlxrocker

I'm brand new to the forums and this is my first comment. I have a 69 C10 Shorty that use to be a long bed. Okie Speed Shop did the conversion on the truck and I couldn't be happier.

If you are looking to do it yourself, I just saw Brothers Trucks came out recently with a slide in frame shortening kit, in my opinion is straightforward for the home mechanic.

Good point (and welcome) - Sam Memolo's garage did a show on that kit and it was pretty straightforward. I forget the name of the show, it's morphed over the years - used to be the shadetree mechanic, then he was on two guys until kevin byrd and the other dude took it over, now he has his own show. It's really a 25 minute advertisement with 5 minutes of more advertisements, but occasionally (as was the case in this episode) there is something worthwhile.

[musicman75]

Yeah I looked for this kit a while back on Br#thers site a while back and didn't find it. I looked again last night and now it's listed. It has a $400 price tag. I wished I could see the show that used it, would like to see it in action.

[musicman75]

Did some research. The show is called Sam's Garage....now I just need to set DVR to record til it pops up again lol

[lolife99]

follow @autorevolution on Instagram. They have pics and videos of using the Brothers short bed conversion kit.

[musicman75]

Sweet thanks lolife99

[COOP3726]

I don't understand what the big hype is about cutting the long bed down. Most all of these trucks have been altered somehow. Weather it be engine, transmission, rearend, or ETC. The truck is only worth what the other person looking for one is willing to pay for it. I just bought a highlander several months ago and it is going to be cut down, LS engine, and 4l60e transmission. It is your preference. If you want to cut it down, then make it your truck and let us see what it looks like when you get through with it. Good luck which ever way you go with it.

[Coley]

Find one of the bazillion 1/2 ton lwb frames around...and cut it down if you want a swb.
No shortage of these trucks around...but...as mentioned before, be aware of everything that will need to be shortened.
As well...remember....it will never have the same value as an original swb. Factor this fact into your budget.
All good
Coley

[izzy_Britton]

I hate to be the one that states the obvious here, but here it is.

We are not all concerned with the overall value of the trucks we work on with respect to what it's worth when trying to sell it. Most, dare I say all of us put way more time and money into our project trucks than we could every get out of them.

For me, the value of my truck is how much fun and happiness it brings to build and drive.

Just one example is my current project. I am currently working on an 86 swb, no frills, nothing special truck. I am doing the 5.3 / 4L60e conversion, and lots of other comparatively little things to it. When I am all done, I am not painting it, I would have to ask $10k for it to get my investment back out of it, that is out of pocket expense and lots and lots of time.

Bare in mind that this truck might blue book around the $4500 mark in exceptional condition, and this truck ain't THAT. However what this truck IS worth to me, is that it is giving me time to myself in my shop, where I may otherwise be out prowling the streets murdering prius overs or other such idiots.... But something has to keep is centered, right?

Do cut your trucks into little pieces and glue it back together with gorilla snot, do what you want, it is your truck and do whatever you want it, do whatever makes YOU happy!

We don't all agree with everything, we dont have to. This is what makes each of us unique.

Izzy

[derotoreut]

A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to find a very nice original 71 SWB out of Arizona. I'm using that truck today for a total resto-mod restoration. The truck was an original California truck that spent its life in Arizona, so it had ZERO rust. In a way I kinda wish I would have done things differently. My restoration is using a custom chassis, with LS3 engine and 4L70E transmission. The sheet metal is all original, which is cool, but I could've gotten away with using piece-meal original sheet metal parts, or aftermarket sheet metal. Since the entire chassis is custom, it would have been fine to do that way. Instead I took the original sheet metal off the original frame and sold the frame, engine, complete drive train and bed floor to a fellow board member. I'm really glad that Jim got it, because he's a great guy. But hindsight being what it is, I wish I would have kept that truck together.

That being said, you have every right to do what you want. After all it is your truck. Sometimes we have a tendency to do things that seem OK at the time, but afterwards we wonder why we did them. I'm kind of in this situation right now. Don't get me wrong, when my build is done it's going to be awesome, but sometimes I wish I wouldn't have dismantled an original truck to do it.

Point being... Just think it through before you do it. Make sure that you're fully satisfied with your decision. Once you cut it, it's a done deal. Once I sold my original SWB frame it was a done deal. Enough said. Peace out!

[66clow]

The Brothers conversion kit

https://youtu.be/GDx7LBCC4ao

[musicman75]

After much consideration, I do think the kit is the best way for me to go being this will be my first frame cut. I trust my cutting, it's my welding that is rusty. I like the fact that I can bolt it in and then take it to get it welded. Thanks for the video 66Clow Just waiting for the weather to cool down a bit more where I can tear into my project. Also scored a 4.8L and 4l60E with comp and harness for it. Might do a cam swap on it, haven't decided yet.

[WarMonger]

Has anyone used the brother kit yet here on this site?

[musicman75]

Just an update. Found me a 5 lug disc brake frame. Still needs to be cut as it's a long bed too. But it allows me to start working on a frame without worrying about storage for the cab and bed. I'll just move everything over once I get to that point. Found a 4.8L with the 4l60E tranny and comp and wiring harness. Now if I can get the weather to co-operate with my time off.

[Kennuck]

Here is the Sam's Garage video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpeeIbVcCzE

[67 chevelle]

I cut my 67 , followed Stacy Davids instruction , came out good , you have to cut the driveshaft also , I left the 8 inches in back , so I have a 7 foot bed

[musicman75]

Thanks for the video Kennuck. I'm thinking of trying Stacy David approach. 400 is a lot of money for the brothers kit, that I can put elsewhere in the build. I think overall doing a stepweld will be stronger also in the long run too, versus the straight cut that brothers does. I don't have a whole lot into the new frame as far as money goes, so if I screw up majorly, I still have another frame to fall back on chalk it up to lesson learned. I know you take 12" out of the middle and 8" out of the back, but did Stacy mention where he took the measurements from? Middle of the cab mount, centerline of rear rivets or what? And when re-attaching, does the mount sit flush with top of the frame rail or slightly below it?

[Kennuck]

Your welcome, I think Stacy's method is the better way to go too. Mine was an original short bed so I can't help with your question.