Has anyone here cut a longbed down to shortbed specs? Where do you cut it at?

 

I havent personally, but i talked to a guy that has done a few. Doesnt really sound that fun. Drill the spot welds that attach the front bedplate to the bed sides then shorten the front of the bed sides to desired length and re-atatch. May want to tack a brace inside the bed to keep it from warping during all of this.

If youre talking about the frame, theres 2 more common ways 1) cut right behind the cab at the straightish section, and fishplate, or 2) move the hangers and shackle hangers forward and cut the remainder off the back, no plating necessary.

 

With enough fabrication skills, anything is possible, but it would probably be easier, cheaper, and more time-effective to just, well, buy a short bed truck

 

If you are talking about the bed, it is pretty easy, but time consuming. I had a bed that was about 7.5 inches too long so I cut that much out of the bed. I measured from back of the cab to the center of the rear axle. That gave me the proper length that I would need to subtract from the length of the long bed. I left about an inch gap between the cab and the bed itself so make sure you figure that into your equation.
The bed was about 7.5 inches too long so I cut that much out of the front portion of the bed and then welded it back together. I braced the bed with some 5/4 boards before I cut it apart and left them in place until after I welded it back up.
Once it was welded back together I did the body work / bondo magic on it and painted it.
the other thing to pay attention to is the bed mounting hole locations. When you change the bed you may have to redrill the mounting holes to get everything to line up.

Just take your time and measure, measure, measure, then cut and weld.
Writing this makes me think I should write this up a little better and post it on my website.
Anyway, good luck and feel free to drop me a line iof you have any questions.

Mark

 

Or you can grab a short bed take off your bed cut the end of the frame and move the axle forward. If I remember on my 74 it was 18inches off the frame and move the axle forward 12inches but don't quote me on that it has been forever.

 

Done it once and its a PITA!

Here's what I learned and it might save you some trouble.
I wanted to remove the front tank so I made my cuts around it. I used no bracing... BIG MISTAKE! Brace the inside panels and angle brace to the floor.

Also when making your cuts do it in stages. Getting a level vertical line off the bed rail to translate to the sides is nearly impossible, so start on the top rail and draw your lines square horizontal across the rail the desired distance. Then from the front leading edge at the bottom make 2 cuts vertically the same distance. Now it don't matter if its vertically level it will be square. String a line to the lines at the top, then using a opposite colored spray paint spray a straight strip up or down the string, when your done you should have a nice clean spot that won't distort.

Once you have straight clean lines cut the top across the rails down to a spot where it begins to cut down on the inside of the bed then stop a cut up from the bottom outside to a point where a line can be strung across side to side under the bed. Now's when a rotissory would be handy but if not drill a hole at each corner of the bottom through to the inside of the bed. Now you can string a line inside on the floor to paint and tape a line inside vertically to keep everything square.

Now the hard part is done and patiently tacking the sheet metal back together solid and paint is cake!

The frame is almost as simple LOL no it is simple just time consuming because the frame will have tension on it. I'd step cut for strength but I've seen more than a few butt cuts that held.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'm just cuttin a longbed frame down. I have a shortbed bumpside I wanna throw on a 79 longbed frame. I just didn't know where to start the cut at.

 

Quick and easy chicken peezy! We'll expect pics by dinner LOL

 

Oh I'll give you some dessert too! Can you say bumpside in the form of a 3/4 ton shortbed 4x4??