i have a 66 long box that i am going to be putting on 79 half ton 4x4 frame. i am goin to shorten the long box to make it a shortbox. if any one knows the wheelbase of a shortbox truck and length of the short box that would tell me what to shorten the frame to. also if anyone knows of any companies who sell replacement body panels. this is a new project and i don't know much about em any info would help a lot. thanks JOE

 

Hi Joe, welcome aboard:

My one question would be, why not find a 79 short bed frame to start with and just cut down the 66 bed? Seems like a lot of mods to complete when you can get a factory version already worked over.

Sorry I have no insights But I recall the SB wheel base being 114 inches.

--Mike

 

thanks for the info, the reason i am goin with the long box is i have one in the shop, i know it wouldn't be tough or expensive to find a shortbox, but its already there, already stripped and shortening the frame is fairly easy if you know the measurements. but thanks again.

 

thanks for the info, the reason i am goin with the long box is i have one in the shop, i know it wouldn't be tough or expensive to find a shortbox, but its already there, already stripped and shortening the frame is fairly easy if you know the measurements. but thanks again.

 

Short wheelbase 1966 is actually 115". It was increased from the previous 114" in 1965. Let me know if you need some box measurements etc. See my website!

 

Joe, Are you sure you want to cut the box? It has to be cut in front of and behind the wheel wells. You will have to make 4 perfect cuts from sun rise to sun set and 2 welds.

I hope your body repairing skills are very high.

John

 

thanks for the info guys. are you sure i will have to cut behind the wheel wells??? i was assuming that i would have to remove it all from the front. i don't know i guess if anyone has got some measurements handy i could compare them to my long box and see. i really hope thats not the case because shortboxes are pretty tough to come by in my parts and the ones you do find would take more work just to fix the rust than to cut one down. any info would be greatly appreciated. the frame should be pretty well finished tommorrow as long as what i have read about the cab just bolting on is true i should be ready to start on the box new years day. thanks and keep the info coming. JOE

 

Joe, Get the ol measuring tape out. I was told this by someone that was about to cut one, until I swapped him a short bed for the long bed that he was about to cut.

John

 

I have done this, it was a fun project that turned out very nicely. You need to cut out out in front of the wheels and behind the wheels. It was either 13 or 14" I cut out in front and then split and overlapped the panel 1" for support when welding. The back was cut out 4 or 5 inches and overlapped 1" also. We pop riveted the whole thing together before welding to make sure it did not move. Also that kept the set up straight. I later bought a factory shortbox pickup with a step side and transferred my modified box to it. It fit perfectly. I can measure from the back (near tailgate under bed) set of bolt holes to the first set of holes that go through the box and mount the bed to the frame. You can take the same measurement. The difference will be how much you need to cut off the back of the frame and out of the box. Remember, you will have inner and outer side panels to deal with.

My box front was cut 5 inches from the leading edge, across the bed flat panel. The seam between the flat panel and ribs was opened, and the front of the rib section can be trimmed from the front edge and welded. The front bed was the easy part.

Also, my box was cut in the rear about 2" in front of the factory vertical seam. That was followed acrosss through the bed bottom side/flat panels to the ribs. The sean was opened to the back of the bed, and the ribs were cut loose at the back, shortened and then rewelded at the back of the truck. If you are careful and know what you are doing, you can weld the lower ri first, heat the uppers with a torch, tap it down with a 2/4 and then weld. Practice with a scrap piece to perfect this process before starting with the bed. Good luck

Truck4d

 

joe, please post on how the cab swap went, I am looking to do the same type of swap, only I will be doing a f250. also, did you swap the radiator core support/inner fender wells... Good luck on the bed, you will need to cut it in ft and behind, or you could elongate the wheel well opening to run larger tires in the rear. My friend did it using two beds though, and a lot of welding!

 

Were are you? I have a bed in Oregon. I personally would spend the money before spending a lot of time cutting and welding

 

red65crewcab,
You have a 65-66 shortbed? Is it a wide box, a styleside? Drop me a line with the price and condition, please.
Roger Carter

 

red65crewcab
I received your e-mail but have not been able to send a reply. My attempts come back as undeliverable. Please try again, with another e-mail address, if possible.
Thanks
Roger Carter