I tried doing the search feature first to see if I could find anyone who may have tried placing a cab on a 78 f-150 short bed frame, but could not find any info, so here I am asking.

When going through the threads that came up in the searches, I read where many did not advise using other frames, and I tend to agree with that bit of wisdom, but I do have a spare f150 frame sitting around in good shape, so I'm testing the waters first here.

Thanks for any info.

 

i put a 55 on a 74 1/2 ton 2wd long bed frame . it was a lot of work and thats an understatement . had to shorten it , cut the " s" curves out of the middle of the frame , tweak the engine mounts to clear the firewall { fe big block truck } modify the front 55 cab mounts , partially box the center for peace of mind , on and on . the front track width did just fit within the fenders up front , the rear was no problem as it had a express aka long bed stepside that had been cut down { they are much wider , taller than a shortbed } . i actually had enough room with a set of mini , mini , tubs to get about if memory serves me , dain close to 14 inches of tire under the back if i wished . it is a long story what happened and won't go into it again but it got " screwed " up by another person in the household in a hurry to move it out of their way without me being able to get some things done to make it transportable ..................... as such never finished . also check out 51 duellers swap of a bonus built onto a 79 3/4 ton frame if he has the pics and such back up . he's full of lots of good info on it .

 

Thanks for the info!

I figure a long bed would be a lot of work if the original was a short bed. I have a short bed frame already that had actually come from a flareside type truck, so the amount of work involved for me would be slightly different.

From what I was able to gather, the cab rear mounts would be similar to the mid to late 70's trucks already, but from what you have said here, the front cab mounts would require modification along with the motor mount relocation/modification.

The front track width you mentioned I suppose is the radiator support???

 

front track width is the distance between the tires center to center up front . the motor mounts i had to unbolt remount them forward in some holes ford thoughtfully supplied and monkey around a lil' bit to get the third one into something solid . the rear cab mounts aren't even simialar . the early ones use a weird wishbone mount on the outside of the frame . the later uses two rubber mounts on a crossmember in the middle at the back . i had slightly reworked that to fit and was going to buy the cups from whereever , that goes under the floorpan , and on top of it for mounting purposes , and use them and i put the oe mounts back on just to mess with peoples heads . the front mounts had to have a little added to the backside heigth wise to level 'em . a few scraps of metal a welder , a level and some patience and walla ......... if you dont straitghten the s curves { dont know how bad it is on a shortbed } you will have a big , ugly gap between the cab and the frame . the other alternative which is probably the way having seen it now , is to use the floorpan and firwall from the donor vehicle into the 56 cab and it'll fit the frame like it was supposed to be there . look up an fte'er called houghda and check out the build on his 56 / explorer hybrid . it's sweet and will send your mind in all sorts of crazy ways ......................

 

anything can be done with a good cutting disc and welder,welcome to the dark side