why does everyone look at me like im crazy when i say im going to put a short box on my truck?

am i missing something? dont the 2 trucks share the same frame? arent a majority of the holes already drilled in the frame for the spring hangers?

i have found beds for around $1300 same color and everything, i figure i buy one of them do all the work and sell my current bed for same price, im not that far behind.


what am i missing?
obviously you would have to pull the bed off, move the axle forward, move shocks forward, shorten brakelines and driveshaft, cut frame reatach bumper and bed right?

from what i have seen the resale is higher on an ext cab 6ft vs ext cab 8ft, IMO i couldnt loose doing this.

figured i would ask the pro's and see if im missing something here.

ohh yeah anyone know were i could find a shortbed charcoal color for cheap?

some people wouldnt want a truck that has been chopped, just my opinion

Have you seen Lennert's regular cab/short bed conversion thread titled "Short Cut" I believe? Very slick stuff. Would be very desirable amongst certain folk, chopped frame or not...

I am assuming you too have a regular cab....

Well, around here, long beds are cheaper and more abundant than short bed, so I would tend to doubt you would be even money on parts. Beyond that, do some careful measuring of an existing shortbed first. I personally dont care much for the idea of clipping a frame, but it is doable.

the truck is an ext cab

so it wouldnt be unusuall

I would HIGHLY recommend you go to gmupfitter.com, and look at the body builder book for your vehicle. The book is available online and shows dimensions for all the important frame locations, crossmembers, etc.

I am know on "other" trucks that the the frames would not be that easy to change, but maybe on your GM's it is easy. And, you are going the right way (long to short).

Good Luck.
PS: I wish it were that easy to go from extended cab to crew; my kids are getting bigger!

why does everyone look at me like im crazy when i say im going to put a short box on my truck?

i have found beds for around $1300 same color and everything, i figure i buy one of them do all the work and sell my current bed for same price, im not that far behind.

what am i missing?
obviously you would have to pull the bed off, move the axle forward, move shocks forward, shorten brakelines and driveshaft, cut frame reatach bumper and bed right?

from what i have seen the resale is higher on an ext cab 6ft vs ext cab 8ft, IMO i couldnt loose doing this.


Sounds like a lot of work to make something that already exists. Why not sell your truck and buy a used short bed truck? If you go through with this project, I suspect you'll spend more money and time than you would lose if you sold your truck and bought a different one.

And, if you're thinking you're going to raise the resale value of your current truck by doing this modification, I would have to disagree. Regardless of your skills, when a potential buyer learns that you have cut the frame, they'll run like a scalded dog.

Now, if you're not such a practical old fart, and you're just looking for a fun project, then I say go for it! It's certainly doable. Best of luck.

Lennart has done this, he would know the details alot more then any of us that think we are smart. Check with him on his recommendations and maybe he will share things he learned as well.

Sounds like a lot of work to make something that already exists. Why not sell your truck and buy a used short bed truck? If you go through with this project, I suspect you'll spend more money and time than you would lose if you sold your truck and bought a different one.

And, if you're thinking you're going to raise the resale value of your current truck by doing this modification, I would have to disagree. Regardless of your skills, when a potential buyer learns that you have cut the frame, they'll run like a scalded dog.

Now, if you're not such a practical old fart, and you're just looking for a fun project, then I say go for it! It's certainly doable. Best of luck.

it would be cheaper to deal with what i have than to pay sales tax again.

only real expense is the bed and shortening of driveshaft right?

And you don't even have to shorten the driveshaft or buy a new bed. :rolleyes:

That is way funny.
And you don't even have to shorten the driveshaft or buy a new bed. :rolleyes:

I like it!

Why does that truck remind me of a manx cat (no tail)???

I had a '69 C10 long bed I seriously considered doing this to. I think it looks cool!

it would be koo to do a reg cab short bed but its a waste to do ext imo

need a new gas tank too

What about the 34 gal. fuel tank in a long bed, will it fit in the short bed confirguration where the fuel tank is usually a 25 gal? I'm like the others who think your are doing a lot of work for very little or no return.

A hot rodded,short bed,twin turbo dirty-max would be wicked:ro) It would be like that ford in either march or april diesel power mag. If you did it right(suspension,tires,trans,etc) you would have you something there bud. Cost alot though but, BADA$$. Do it,it's just money!

I wouldnt do this to try get more on a trade or raise its value. But i have always thought that a shortened regular cab LB7 would make one hell of a sleeper with minimal work. I would rather cut and shorten the frame, replace the bed than try to install the engine,trans, and wire harness into another body.