Frame section swaps
 

Hey all, just pondering this today I've got a couple ram's my 96 2500 ctd 2wd, a 1997 1500 4x4 xcab short box, and my 94 2500 4x4 5.9 gasser, I bought the 1500 for 250.00 bucks with a blown rear pinion as a project truck to put 3/4 ton axles under and put my cummins into it, I've always loved the look of the ex cab long bed trucks but finding one within a reasonable distance in decent shape is almost impossible, so I was wondering how hard it would be to knock the rivets out of the rear frame section and put one of my long box rears on it.

From how I've looked at it, all I'd really have to do is take the rivets out swap rear sections and put new ones in, then extend brake and fuel lines along with wiring.

What would be your guys thoughts on this?

And I've searched on here and Google but can't find anything about it

The 1500 frames are made of a little thinner steel than the 2500/3500 frames but should mate up ok. I've heard that the HD2500 frames under the cab are 2" taller than a 1500/LD2500. I have no idea if this is true but it's something to take in to consideration. My advice would be measure, measure, measure. Check the frame heights, bed mounts, cab mounts, ect, to make sure everything will line up correctly. If it will indeed work I'd suggest using grade 8 bolts, washers, lock washers, and loctite to secure the sections together through the old revit holes. You could also weld the frames together but would have to be careful not to get it too hot and deform it.

These frames are quite frail through the mid section un-boxed), and the joint where it meets the rear section has an affinity for rust. One of my 2ndgen trucks was a 1-ton dump with a broken frame.

If you have decent metal and replace the rivets with 1/2" hardware (or larger) I don't see a problem. :c:

update
 

I've been doing my homework, I took measures off 5 different trucks

1994 4x4 2500 hd sclb
1996 4x4 2500 unknown sclb
1996 2WD 2500 CTD
1997 4x4 1500 xcsb
1995 4x4 1500 scsb
From what I can tell all the frames are made with the same thickness material and have the same dimentions, there is no height difference on The frames between light duty and heavy duty all the frames I measured were exactly the same, only difference I saw was the spring hangar width, 2.5 vs 3in between 1500 / 2500.

Now what I did notice is that the center frame sections were all the exact same length between ex cab and standard cab, just different mounting locations for the cab and bed.

I've got some more looking into it to do, but I need to find someone with an ex cab long bed.

I'm also gong to be taking more measurements when I get the bed off one of my parts trucks.

But as of right now it looks like it would take cutting and extending the frame between the front bed mount and the spring mount.