I have a 10 foot skirted flatbed body that I would like to put on a 1994 F Super Duty (450) that is 10 inches too short for the chassis length. This was a cab and chassis long wheel base truck originally. The chassis rails cannot be shortened due to the rear spring shackle mounts are at the rear of the rails now. Is it feasible to move the rear end forward 10 inches. It looks like this could be done easily by moving the spring mount brackets forward and shortening the drive shaft. Has anyone tried this before or have advise about whether this is a reasonable mod? I have the flatbed already and to replace it will be expensive.
Thanks

 

Possible...Yes. Reasonable? Well that depends on your level of ability. This is certainly reasonable for an experienced shop with fabrication expertise. For someone in their garage with a tape measure, a flux core welder and just a bit of know how, its a large, probably not smart project to undertake. If you fall in between, then asses your own risk. Only you know whether it is within your ability or not. Seeing how you're questioning it, maybe its not. I find people who tackle extensive mods like this don't need to question whether or not they can do it/have the tools to do it.

 

5speedahead thanks for the frank reply. I could not agree with you more. This is not something I had planned to undertake personally. Not having seen this done I was curious as to whether it is feasible or a crazy idea that I should forget. Are you saying for a shop with the equipment and knowledge this is no big deal?

 

Yes, most likely a good shop will have no trouble. A critically important thing with moving the location of a solid drive axle is it's positioning on the frame, it obviously must be very precise with a solid rear axle since you cannot align the toe of the rear tires. If its not perfectly straight you will have at the very least a truck that chews through tires like crazy, and at the very most, a missile that heads towards the ditch or oncoming traffic.

An experienced shop will have a frame rack they can put this on, and using laser measuring equipment will get it perfectly true.

The only problem is that it wont be cheap.

All this said, there are plenty of people who have done it with a tape measure in their garage. Is it the "right" way to do it? Probably not. But you'll have to determine how much risk you're willing to take to save some money. The first thing I would do is call around and get some quotes. If you live in a well populated area with a ton of shops then you might be able to find one to do is fairly reasonably. If you're rural and there is only one shop that can do it, you'll be paying the price I am sure.