Hey, I'm new to the diesel world and to this site. I recently got an old cal trans 1990 12v utility truck for cheap and I'm working on fixin it up a bit to use as my tow rig.

Its a utility bed and as nice as that is to have I want to put a bed on it. I just came into an incredibly clean 84 dodge 4x4 parts truck but its a short bed. Both trucks are automatic, the parts truck is 4x4, my diesel is 2wd. Unfortunatly the perfect bed on the parts truck is a short bed and the diesel is long bed so I'm thinking about taking the driveshaft from the shortbed and putting it on the diesel and then moving the spring perches and cutting the frame down to make it a short bed. Anyone done this?

Thanks

 

I moved your thread to the appropriate section.

 

I figured it should go under generic since its not a motor specific question, but ok. Thanks

 

i did. i had a frame shop cut 2 feet out of the frame right behind the cab. i dont know for sure but i would imagine that the driveshaft in the half-ton is not as strong as the one behind the cummins. like i said, i dont know for sure, its just my assumption. its alot of work to do though. brake lines, fuel lines, wireing.... looks good when its done though

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this is what mine looks like

 

Wow, clean truck man. Pretty much exactly the look i'm going for. How much did it all cost you in the end? (if you dont mind saying)

 

my dads buddy is a chassis fabricator for drag cars so we did the frame. i cant imagine it would cost much if you had the truck stripped down when you took it to the shop. I had a shop make the driveshaft. i want to say that cost 2-$300. im getting ready to tub and sub frame it now. hopefully start that in the next couple months

 

Any difficulties with brakes or anything?

 

mine were pretty bad when i took them off so i just repaced them with new ones. not not too bad. just use your old line as a template and make it 2 ft shorter in the middle. you will also have a little excess wire. no big deal, just zip tie it up. the most important thing is to make sure the frame is dont right. if you plan on pulling anything atleast box in where the cut was. Towing with a short bed reg cab can get pretty hairy though