im buying a 1978 f100 for 325 bucks but it is a long bed. i want a short bed so in going to do a bed reduction. so my question is about how much should i cut out?

 

Are you talking about the frame or the bed???? Shortening the frame is a huge task, but possible with good fab skills and common sense. The bed is impossible to shorten. You would have to find a shortbed to use. Never shortened a ford frame, but the first thing to check to see if it's possible is to set a shortbed on the frame centered over the wheel openings with a bunch of 3" or so blocks between crossmembers and frame to ensure the bed crossmembers sit correctly on the frame and the box is level. The blocks serve to raise the bed high enough that the rear valance piece on the bed doesn't interfere. If all checks out good, measure between the distance between bed and cab, subtract the normal distance between cab and bed and cut that out of the frame so that when the 2 halves are reattached the weld is dead center between cab and bed, BUT, and this a big but, if the frame isn't 100% straight at this point, the shortening will not work. The shortening must happen at a spot where the frame is perfectly parrallel with the ground. The rear of the frame will be pretty self explanitory where it will have to be cut. I form a 3" wide "C" channel backing plate of 3/16" plate that fits snug inside the frame rails and but weld the frame rails and backing plate together with 6011 rod. Don't use high tensile rod on frame rails. I then lap another 5" X 12" X 1/4" plate on the outside welding all sides. All work must be done on a very level surface as well. This has held up to many years of hard abuse on trails, hauling insane loads and trailers. Should be way overkill for a 2wd f100. Good luck
Dustin

 

i know how to do it i just asked how much i should cut out.... as for shortening the bed being impossible read this.
http://classictrucksweb.com/tech/cl_0310_oldschool/
yeah i know its a c10 but it cant be much different.

 

bump....

 

The Old School truck project is a good one. As for as your question the long bed 78 F100 is 133" wheelbase the short bed is 117" so you will need to cut out 16" in front of the axle. I know on the 67-72 models it is 4" behind the axle but I'm not sure on the 78. One thing that is different on the 78 frames is, the frame is 34" wide in the front and widens out to 38" right behind the cab. It can be done, but allot depends on your welding and fabrication skills, you do need good welds and you need to box the frame where the splice is.

 

sorry i ment 68 and im not doing the weldin my dad is and hes a certified pipefitter welder.

 

Should not be any problem then the 68 frame is 34" all the way back which will make it a lot better. You need to take out 16" in front of the axle and 4" behind it. Here is a link to this board were another guy had done the same thing. http://www.fordtrucks.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=257192 , by the way I have also been a pipefitter 36 years now, he shouldn't have any trouble.

 

I have a '66 that I made into a short wheel base. you can go to my gallery and see the pics it turned out real well. we cut the frame at a 45 degree angles and cut out what we needed , which I believe on my truck it was 13" , we cut it right behind the cab. after that we welded a plate on the out side and boxed in the frame on the inside. I race my truck and it works very good. I tink we cut 4" on the rear of the frame to get the bed to fit right. Good luck with yours!!

 

I was thinking about shortening my long bed but from the tailgate to the rear axle. I need the clearance when I climb things vertically otherwise my a$$ drags in the dirt. I would be like a short, longbed. Or it could turn out like a short bus, retarded.

 

Why not add a body lift and suspension lift? Longer trucks are more stable for lifting than shorter trucks are.

 

hes talking about keeping the long wheel base but shortening the over hang in the rear.

 

Wow! Phenominal article! I've been thinking about doing the same, except going even shorter. (I have a small garage and would like to work on the truck with the door closed.) I have several photo-shopped pictures in one of my galleries to see what it would look like.

 

RR4E, arsetard is on the right track. I have a 3in body and a 5in suspension but I still drag my tail when i climb up and over stuff. This weekend I'm going to try a set of 35in tires and see what happens. I still think it would be a fun project. Unique too. I'll try and update my gallery when im done. Sweet.

 

Another thought...
Since my truck (F250 2x4) doesn't have too much of a frame kick-up over the rear wheels, I'm mulling over the possibility of just moving all of the spring and shock mounts forward and then just chopping off the extra frame on the tail. No frame welding required. Of course, there is still a week of MIG to stitch the sheet metal of the box together again.

Am I missing any downsides to this option?

 

I just can't imagine why anyone would ever want to shorten a long bed. If it's for clearance off-road then I say buy a CJ (and an extra toolkit to fix the sucker when it breaks down in the middle of nowhere!--been there, done that).