Hey y'all. What's the best way to mount the 66 shortbed to the 76 short bed? The 76 is 2 inches longer and 4 inches wider in the back. I've been told there are supports for the bed sheetmetal that I would need to move, and re drill the mounting holes. Problem is, I want to use the stock driveshafts that come with the rolling chassis, but also keep the bed and cab gap normal. How can I go about doing this? Or am I gonna HAVE to move the springs forward and shorten the driveshaft? Any advice appreciated thanks.

 

As the first responder I will pop the question why do you want to do this? The V.I.N. of your truck is on the frame so if you swap the frames you might not have a 66 truck in your jurisdiction anymore. If you are just looking for the brake upgrade the spindles will swap right onto your 66 frame from the 76 parts truck you have. The sway bars will swap over too. Is this what you are trying to achieve?

 

I'm taking it from 2x4 to 4x4. So I bought a rolling chassis. Both axles and full driveline minus the engine included. I will be revamping the front brakes just because it needs it and converting the rear to discs.

 

To keep the gap normal and have the wheels line up in the fender you need to shorten the wheelbase, no way around that. I haven't done the swap you want to do but others have and after researching I chose to convert my 2wd '66 chassis to 4x4 using a '78 donor for front suspension and frame crossmember. If you bolt your cab on without a body lift i believe you will also need to deal with interference issues between the bed and frame, either surgery to your bed or modify the frame. I've seen it done both ways.

 

That helps a lot thanks

 

What are my odds of just swapping the axles to the 66 frame?

 

The rear axle will need the spring pads moved, possibly the shock mounts also. The front will need all of the twin I beam removed including the crossmember, pretty much stip it down to the bare frame rails. Then you need to remove the crossmember, brackets, steering box, etc., from the 4x4 and move it over to your '66 frame. Sounds kind of simple but probably not the best project for a beginner, then again you need to start somewhere. To be honest, I think using the '76 frame is probably easier and gives you a factory rear mounted gas tank if that's a modification you want. For me converting the '66 frame makes more sense and my frame is rust free having come from CA. Here in the North East rust free is hard to get and trying to find a good late 70's short bed 4x4 frame isn't all that easy.

Here is a truck on a 70's chassis....https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...oky-looky.html

 

And here is another worth looking at for ideas.... Slick 60's ? View topic - 65 4x4 Daily Driver Upgrade

 

Wow these are all great info thanks. If all else fails I'm thinking I might just get a wood flat bed made and use the box for a different project. Maybe back half of the body for a crown vic swap. But first I'll see if I can't make it work.

 

I did this swap for a friend about 20 some years ago. We did not move the axle (but should have) so we just kind of split the difference and slid the bed back a little. The bed mounting holes ended up just inside the frame so we made so 1" square tubing cross bars to go under the frame lip and bolt up through the holes. You might be tempted to just redrill the holes but then you do not have the supporting sleeve that's in the original holes and the bolts will just pull through eventually.

 

Willow, were the wheels centered well enough in the wheel wells, and the cab to bed distance wasn't too extreme?

 

IMHO, I wouldn't leave a bigger gap, leave the wheels 2" back in the fender, or split the mismatch between the two. All are short cuts and I think down the road you'll be happier if you make the wheelbase what it's supposed to be.

 

I put my '65 2wd shorty on a '79 150 4x4 shorty, the cab bolted right on, but I had to jack it up an inch to line up with the bed, because the rear of the frame is different I had to modify the rear of the frame by cutting it off just behind the rear spring hanger, and adding my own cross member. It ended up 1" higher than the cab, so I put a hocky puck under each body mount on the frame. I think the only real mod I did besides the rear of the frame was the steering column. I believe I had to shorten it a bit.