1976 F150 explore 390 FE, I purchased his truck about two months ago. It has an original 79,000 miles, I have done a lot of small easy replacement parts trying to find some solid used fenders doors in the four bed piece panel by the back window. I’m wanting to shorten this truck has anybody out there done this? I’ve watched a lot of videos and if somebody could help me locate parts or give me advice on short in the frame that would be great trying to find a short bed to eliminate cutting and breathe welding the existing bed thank you.

 

Haven't done it, but have seen posts here about it.

 

IMHO...it's one of those risk vs reward scenarios. That and it requires top notch welding skills and a lot of time to get it right. That being said...I've seen it twice now here local to me, a guy on FB Marketplace offering to shorten a truck for like $2500 bux...I have no idea whether or not he's legit.

 

I just did this on my 74 long box (now short box). Bought a used short box from a guy who buys from all over the USA (mine came from Arizona). I can say that the frame work isn't too bad but having considered shortening the long box into a short, I opted to buy the used short box. Getting things lined up and the seams welded properly is a real challenge. I've done body panel welding and unless perfect, there are always witness lines in the panel. I'd be looking for a clean shortbox and then cutting the frame shorter. Youtube search will reveal lots of help.

 

Why you would buy a clean truck with under 100k original miles just to try and hack it up in a way that reduces its utility is beyond me...but its your truck.

I think you will get more help if you edit the thread title to be more specific than "need help!". Maybe "Need help with shortening frame". It also helps anyone searching in the future to find the information they need. Good luck!

 

I was going to do mine a while back but kinda got talked out of it,

If it was me doing mine I would Z cut the frame. My opinion, is it makes a clean strong connection.

X2 on finding a decent short box to install. WAY tooo many hours to cut and weld the 8 ft.
Just my .02 worth here.

 

I plan on shortening my '76 F-100 after finishing my F-150 so have watched every video and read every build I could find. You should do this too. To me as an experienced welder the big problem is dealing with the difference in frame widths after removing 16" from the frame. One pair will be further apart by a few inches. Set-up is the most challenging aspect of welding and this where you will see a wide variety of approaches to the task. The ideal is to use a frame alignment rack but few of us have access to one. Outsourcing the task to a shop that has the right equipment and experience is a viable option. I'm even (over) thinking about building a jig of some sort.
Please let us know how you proceed with this and include lots of pictures, video and text. We all love that stuff.

 

Flowney you're exactly right. I just did my frame shortening. Took 16 inches out. As the rear part of the frame tapers to the front, not only do you need to shorten, you also have to narrow it. We made careful measurement and cut a long "Z" shaped piece of out both sides. (look at my "74 massive progress thread" for more info). Once it was cut we brought the rear to the front and then made a pie shaped cut at the top back section on both sides. We used a ratchet strap to bring that narrower and at the same time a portapower to put the front wider. Got it square and even, tack welded, measure, tacked some more, measured... repeat. Ours had the cab off and motor out so it was easy to measure. In the end we were our 1/32" diagonally, which I'm gonna say is fine. Having built many utility trailers, even 1/16" is fine. It takes time and effort but is doable. Once it was welded, we put a fishmouth plate over the "Z", with 3 holes (approx 1.5" each) and welded over the join. On the inside we used a piece of 1/8" stock to box the frame. The inside extended ~2" past each end. We put a 2.5" hole in the inner piece to allow access to run wires, brake lines etc. Slow and steady wins the race on this! This whole process took us (3 guys who know what they're doing) about 4 hrs from unaltered frame to done. It's not that bad honestly.