[caseyjones]

That puts it in perspective for me. I'm going to carve into that transmission case and make it work.

I've had a couple of guys ask for details about the frame shortening process. I should have taken more pictures, but I can describe what I did...

I put a couple of jackstands under the front of the frame near the front bumper, about as high as they can go, and then I put another set somewhere behind the front cab mounts. I shim them up so they make solid contact with the frame. Then I remove the rear cab mount bolts and set the rear of the cab on jack stands after I take out the rubber bushings. I use a floor jack under the trailing arm crossmember to hold the rear half of the frame after it's cut so I can roll it back out, and use the jack to lift or lower the frame to keep my sawzall blade from binding.

I use the CPP frame strengthening plates to bridge the cuts. The nice thing about the CPP plates is that they help with keeping the frame straight too. They are a really tight fit inside the frame channel so make sure you clean up the frame with a wire wheel and get all the rust and undercoat out of there.

I measure from the front cab mount to a spot to the rear of the frame cuts so I have a reference to measure after I take out the 12" under the cab. I mark the rear cut about 9inches in front of the trailing arm crossmember.

After I cut the frame I move the rear cab mounts back 12". I just use a carpenter square to mark the front holes for the cab mount, drill the holes and use the mount to mark the rear holes. I use 3/8" grade 8 bolts to attach the cab mount back to the frame. Then I tap the CPP channels into the rear sections of the frame, at an angle toward the center of the truck. They are a really tight fit so they won't just slip into the front section of the frame, they need to be pounded in from the sides. I roll the rear frame forward and pull everything together with tie-downs and measure and grind until I get the frame cuts square and get a matching measurement between my reference marks, side to side. Once I have the frame cuts where I want them, I pound the CPP channels all the way into the frame. I put 4 bolts along the bottom of the frame and 4 bolts through the side of the frame on each side of the cut.

I put the bed back on the truck before welding to make sure the body lines match up and are straight. I had to use a floor jack to lift the center of the frame on my green truck to get everything straight on the driver's side. I'm putting new rubber mounts on my GMC before I finish welding to make sure the cab is in it's correct height from the frame.

I get a 1pc driveshaft made, but I'm swapping transmissions to ones with slip yokes. If your transmission has a fixed yoke you might need to just shorten your 2-pc driveshaft.

I use regular short wheelbase parking brake cables, they are pretty cheap on Rockauto.com

You can check out the videos of the Brothers frame shortening kit being installed, it's pretty much exactly what I do, I just make my own marks instead of using their template.

Hope this helps!