1963-72 Chevy & GMC Truck Longbed to Shortbed Conversion
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- This video Installation Guide is meant to be used with BROTHERS 1963-1972 Longbed to Shortbed Conversion Kit. BROTHERS kit will take all the confusion out of this conversion and will provide you with all the necessary provisions to complete this popular conversion in a clear step-by-step process.
BROTHERS kit includes: laser cut steel template with hole locations and steps clearly marked - high strength steel inner "C" channel reinforcement brace - new shortbed front-to-rear brake line - new shortbed parking brake cables - all necessary hardware to install the kit - highly detailed instructions.
With BROTHERS conversion kit, you will have everything needed to shorten your longbed frame with basic hand tools in your own garage. The kit does requires welding to finish the conversion but with our bolt-in steel inner braces, you will be able to safely transport the vehicle to a certified welder if needed. The driveshaft will also have to be shortened before re-installlation.
Direct Product Link:
www.holley.com/brands/brother... - Авто та транспорт
great video. just finished my lwb a few months back, but now after seeing how easy this will be, I'm going short very soon.
Nice professional and informative video. I watched just because it sounded interesting. Maybe one day I'll convert my '67 to a short bed.
Man I miss my old 56 Chevy when I watch these build video's... Bought some parts from Brothers for it and they were amazing...
Just wish I was in the USA where parts are so freely available... Would love to have an old truck again...
Just did mine last weekend and it took about 8 hours. The biggest Hangup was the rivets. Awesome kit and made very easy. Cut the lines straight and your good.
Unique design, I have heard a friend say if there was a safe & sure way of shorting a long bed to a short bed I would do it. Well here it is!
100%
This video is absolutely incredible!! Thank you for taking the time to show whats all involved!!
Very cool, very clean too. I'm definitely buying 1 of these kits.
There was a ton of thought put into that template design. Well done. Cheers
Thank you sir!
That does look like a quick and easy project but it does take time and patience . Great job.
Thank you!
Guy is really good at describing exactly what and how to do things. Great work teaching man!
Thank you for watching!
Well done! Great descriptions for a pretty cool template.
Great video, love the detail but yet it wasn't made for a first grader, some people talk forever; the video started and you just got to it!!! Thank you!!
Good to know I'm not the only one that does fab work in flip flops :D
The template really makes a huge difference!! Now somebody needs to design one for Ford trucks too!!
awesome vid. i already have a shortbed but it was cool to see a professional presentation
Thanks for watching!
Love this video , now ready to shorten my truck. Thank you ... Job well done
Glad it helped
Awesome directions and video .You guys rock.Thanks so much.
Thanks for watching!
Excellent demonstration of how to "PROFESSIONALLY" shorten a chassis.I don't know how many videos that I have seen where some boneheaded "expert" pulls out an oxy torch and goes to town on a chassis without any thought of preheating or proper procedure when welding the chassis halves back together.
Thanks for watching James!
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV it is a pleasure for an old Mechanic to see a job done decently.The only other video that I have seen where I saw good practice when modifying a chassis was on an old COE where they used heated oil to give correct temperature. Coming from a Heavy Earthmoving background I understand the importance of "good practice" when working on heavy load, high duty cycle components.
Another trick is cut a screw driver slot in rivets without cutting brackets or mounts, then air hammer will knock rivets off in short order.
73 + squarebody guys want this too!
I've done a couple of conversions in the past and I must admit that template looks pretty slick. That will definitely save so much time measuring, re measuring and measuring some more, just to be safe. Just an added note, this is not an extremely difficult procedure. It takes time when you start playing with brake lines etc. Just remember on later model trucks 73 to 87 you are also re locating the gas tank. Other than that it is very similar. Stock trucks are boring, hack it up !
Yeah the template definitely is a fool proof hack... if you don’t know lay out or your way around a tape then the kit is the way to go...
How much can you load in the back of the truck? Does it weaken it in anyway... definitely easier than a plasma torch and Welding
my c 10 highlander "c" code is going under the knife next week with this kit!
You guys are Bad Ass this is definitley something that helps out us low budget guys
Thanks man!
Excellent work and description 100%
Thank you very much!
Nice job! Thanks for sharing.
Our pleasure!
Outstanding video, if you can’t do it with these instructions then you’ll never be able to do it
Thank you Robert!
my boy did this in sandals 😭
In Southern California, those are work boots!
Steel toed flip flops. Trick of the trade.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV hell yea! I used to weld patch panels while wearing flip flops , in socal they're essential.😂
@@260657df everyday footwear!
I need that long bed and I think I just bought those doors at a local swap meet
Great video, slick!
Thanks for watching!
Awesome n sweet to watch
awesome work
Thank you, and thanks for watching!
Thanks brothers
Awesome video thanks!
Very nice video!
Thank you!
This video never gets old. It's been almost a year. Have y'all came up squarebody kit yet???
Squarebody kit is still a work in progress
Y'all should develop a GMT400 long to short bed kit.
Easy to do even on c20. Just have patience aligning bolt holes . They will fit snug . Almost looks like never cut.
You answered my next question. Thank you.
Why would you do that congratulations you just ruined it.
Wow this sounds like easy AF
It 100% is.
These videos are so cool
Nice video, but i am keeping my longbed. I lowered it a litle and i love those long sleek lines...
Good video, man after my own heart, flip flops???!!
Wish there was more info like on long bed to blazer conversion. Can’t seem to find much
nice 😀the long bed trucks are hella cheaper than the original short beds that's wassup.🤔on that custom built
Brilliant.
Awesome 👍
Thanks for watching!
Badass video
Thanks for sharing guys. Buy the way,could you share info about that kit? Such as brand name and where it is accesible? Thanks again.
Excellent
Thanks!
I love my factory shortbox stepside so much more after seeing this. Do you mention in the kit that the factory shortboxes have a two piece drive shaft with a steady bearing ? someone looking for a factory appearance might like to know that.
This kit maintains the carrier bearing like the factory.
Apologies, rewatched and yes Steve does say "the front part of the driveshaft" which then must mean that the fleetsides of that era all have a two piece driveshaft as well ? Did not know that, so if we ever damage a short driveshaft there should be some available to hack down from the longboxes of the era... good to know.
Just curious, why do you have to relocate the rear bumper mounts? I figured all that back there was the same?
The middle of the frame has to be shortened as well as the rear, so because of that the bumper mounts need to be moved.
After using this. Does anybody know the length to switch a two piece drive shaft to a 1 piece?
The specific length of the driveshaft will vary depending on which engine/trans combo you have.
I have a '69 C10 Long Bed that I will converting to Short Bed (using your kit) and need to know what adjustments I need to make regarding my wood bed parts. I have the new wood bed kit, but do I simply delete the cross member closest to the cab to shorten the bed length?
Joe, it's probably best for you to call our customer service guys and have a bit more detailed discussion about this. However, assuming you already have short bedsides, it's basically eliminating the front cross-sill and building the bed back as if it was a shortbed to begin with. If you move forward with the project and get stuck, just call the shop and we'll get you moving again.
Nice job Brothers! Just ordered a kit from you! Do you still use the longbed trailing arms on the newly cut shortbed’s rear suspension?
Longbed and Shortbed trailing arms are the same, nothing to change, it all just moves forward.
Serious question, when converting a long bed to a short bed, can you use a step side bed? Or will more modifying be needed? Thank you for your help?
Any style of shortbed will work, Step or Fleet. We actually have a video where we converted a Stepside to a Fleetside and it was more or less just removing one and replacing it with the other. Here's a link to that vid: ua-cam.com/video/dxlzZaVCAYA/v-deo.html
Great Video and Instructions..I just got a 70 C10 long bed and want to go short during my restoration.. Do you add a dvd of this video in the kit?.. I am going to get a new bed kit anyways due to rust around the wheel wells.. NO BONDO ALLOWED!!!
I have a separate question also.. Do you make a splice bracket for frames that have bad or broken places ?
No DVD come with the kit, but the written instructions are excellent and make a great companion when used with this video. We do not have splice braces (fish plates) for strengthening broken frames, but you can make your own out of raw sheetmetal.
Y'all have one for the squarebodys yet. Been waiting. Lol
Very, very close.
What do I do if there are no holes to align in my frame. I have a 72 c10. One hole lines up on the right side but none align on the left side
Call the shop, ask for Jamie. He'll have the answers
All the videos I've seen of the conversion show people cutting their longbeds. Can a factory shortbed from another truck work? And if so, will a stepside bed bolt up? I assume so, but wanted to be sure. Great video by the way.
Yes, 100% you can use a factory short bed, including a step-side. Both will bolt right on.
So I’m doing mine now.. frame is welded up. Big problem though. Rear cab mounts aren’t lining up at all.. any suggestions?
Call the shop and ask for Jamie, he'll help figure it out. 800-977-2767
You never showed fitting the front bed mounts, do you have to change the angle?
Once you remove the old front mounts the secondary mounts will become the front mounts and they happen to also be in the exact perfect position already!
I just finished reading the questions and comments after watching the video. The questions that I had were well covered in the comments section as well.
I have a '68 C10 longbed with rear leaf suspension, option code 04G70RE. Everything in the video related to the frame was well covered. Driveshaft and brake lines are easy enough. Parking brake cables weren't covered, but I assume that they can be easily replaced with the short wheel base parts. As for the in cab fuel tank conversion to frame mount type, I can only assume that's easy enough to do as well.
Now for my question;
I would like to use my original long bed box and shorten it too. Is there an affordable way to do that while retaining most of the panels and such? Mine is in really good shape despite the one dent on the passenger side. My biggest concerns on shortening a long bed box is the gradual sloping body lines on the front and rear of the box. How can I do this without spending a ton of dough on this?
There are a few videos on UA-cam of guys shortening the bedsides. The detail where too cut, measurements, etc. We've never done it here because we've always used reproduction bedsides and floor to get the job done. There's also a place in AZ called MetalOx Fab that does this for a reasonable price
@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV I meant to provide an update to this. A year ago you guys had posted a video titled 67-72 Chevy and GMC Truck / How To Shorten Bed Sides with your host Dave.
I want to thank everyone at Brother's Trucks for your videos on converting and upgrading our beloved trucks. We are going to miss you all.
after cutting the rear of the frame and drilling new holes for the bumper will i still be able to use my factory overload springs ?
Curt, we did a '66 with factory overload springs a year or so ago but honestly can't remember if we had to remove them or they got to stay in place. As we recall, they could have stayed in place with a modification to the bumper brackets so they would clear the spring mounts. Although, we're reasonably convinced that we removed ours just to make the job easier. We know that there is enough room to cut the rear of the frame and keep the helpers, it's just the bumper mounts that interfere.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV thanks for the reply
There should be a double thumbs up button.
Does a regular short bed driveshaft fit if I shorten my long bed c10 to short bed ?
i would weld it back much stronger and would give me piece of mind.
We 100% recommend welding it back together. We do not consider this a bolt-in and leave it alone kit.
Ok so after I do this I need to cut the bed frame too right
Trying to do this. But was not able to tuck my saw saw in between cab and frame like video. Not sure if blade was to big or saw saw to big. Any one any thoughts?
Possible that the saw blade was too long? We've never run into that problem.
Can this kit be strong enough to hold a truck with around 500+ horsepower or does there have to be more modifications?
It is plenty strong for a truck with that level of power.
Should this be used on a light used truck ? Or could this be used on a lifted truck that frequently goes off road. (No heavy offroading, just driving on dirt roads with washouts and ruts getting to certain locations).
After the frame is shortened it will be as strong if not stronger than it was originally. The "C" channel support has been used in big trucks for decades (Kenworth, Peterbuilt, etc).
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV Thanks a bunch!
Will a stock short bed drive shaft from a store work after shortening the truck? Or does the long box drive shaft have to be customed cut to the new truck length?
Very good question... It should work, because when you shorten the frame is matches the same dimensions as a factory shortbed, but we've never actually tried to buy a replacement driveshaft. We typically just have ours shortened.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV that's what I was hoping for! Guess I'll be the test dummy once we get to that point haha thanks for reply!
I hope you guys make a 133" wheelbase to short bed.
No, sorry, just a 127" to short.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV How much different is the camper special from the long bed? It can be that hard to make this happen for a camper special as well.
Will you be doing a video on the 3/4 ton conversion? Still photos?
3/4 Ton conversion is exactly the same as the 1/2 Ton, with the exception of the possibility of rear leaf springs not allowing our template to help you with relocating the bumper brackets.
Are you going to make a kit for the 3/4 c20 trucks? My c20 has a combo coil spring/ leaf spring system.
The same kit can be used on 3/4 ton 63-72 GM trucks with a slight adjustment to the rear cab mount location. We recommend converting to the half ton rear cab mounts for ease of installation. The rear bumper bracket template will not compatible for leaf springs applications, so you will have to create your own template.
Nice job.how much is usually a job like that?
I Just Have a Question Do They Make One For A 84 Chevy 4x4.?? I was just going to say!! I hope they weld it...
Not yet, but we are working on it now.
Great video guys. Straight forward and makes sense, ...except...the welding of the frame. I'm a decent welder and feel I could tackle that however there's no detail (even checked your on-line instructions). I feel like this was a "little" detail/comment at the end that deserves a little more attention.
Also...
I'm in the middle of a frame-up on a '72 C20 8' fleetside (plan on replacing the bed) so the plan was to bring the bare frame to my media/powder coat guy. I'm a little leery of welding in the C channel against bare frame (beforehand) however doing it after would obviously not be as pleasing aesthetically. If I were to do this, what are your thoughts as to when in the process this should take place?
We're not welders here either. We're like most guys out there, we can weld if we need to, but for something like this we'd take it to a pro. That's why we didn't cover it in the video.
Regarding the powder coat... we think this would work cosmetically as well as avoid the "bare frame" problem, as a matter of fact, we've actually done this to two different frames we've shortened here. Start by shortening the frame, before you put it back together and weld it, sandblast and prep the C Channel area of the frame with a rust inhibitor and sealer, THEN re-assemble the frame and weld it, finally, take it to your powdercoater and let them powdercoat the prepped, assembled and welded frame. Good luck with the project!
Nice work.cool videos. Just wondering if you guys make a kit for F100
67-72 thanks
No sir, sorry.
So once this is done all you have to do is locate a short bed to install?
We sell a complete shortbed kit, as well as all the individual parts to create one!
Awesome! Does the template work for the 'camper special' long beds?
We've never tried it, but we would have to assume it won;t based on the extra length of the camper special.
Wondering how much does it cost a person does it include the driveline and cables or is it just the template
Our kit includes the brake lines and parking brake cables as well as the template and backing plates. You would have your driveshaft shortened locally. You can check availability and current pricing here: goo.gl/xEsPsC
Having trouble with rear 5/16 #1 hole. There is no rear holes on the frame. Is this common?
Yep, some trucks have one hole. No big deal just use the hole that is there. If you feel like you need the extra clamping force to hold it in place then just drill the other hole. Also, if you ever run into issues during a project then call the shop and have one of the tech guys help, it's often faster than waiting for an answer here on UA-cam. Thanks for watching, good luck with the project!
Will this conversion still be able to tow the same weight?
I would like to know if you guys have this kit yet available for my 84 c10
Not yet, still working on it.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV Still working on it?
Can you still make a short bed conversion after you’ve dropped the suspension on a longbed truck?
Yeah, not a problem as long as you didn't mess with the actual suspension components in the rear, like the control arms or their mounting position. If you just did springs/shocks you're OK.
@@BROTHERSTruckPartsTV thanks!
So what did you do to the long bed once you've converted the frame ?
On this truck we cut it apart and dumped it. The truck bed was converted to a refrigeration unit and the moisture had rotted it beyond saving.
I have a 68 c20 custom camper. Its got a 98 in long bed. Would this kit work on it?
We're not 100% sure. Please call our office and ask for Jamie, he's the expert on fitment for this product.
Where is the best place to find the actual short bed bed?
I called Brother's today to order a catalogue for the long bed to short bed conversion on a c20 69 Chevy. The guy on the phone said the kit was difficult on the c20. However, on this you tube video they said it can be done easily. So can it be done?
Not difficult at all, 100% the same as doing it on a C10 chassis.
Just did my c20 2wd today. Same 6 inch frame but cab mounts lower on c20 I bolt mounts back on body then drill into frame and bolt in.
What about the drive shaft? What size would I need?
The shaft would need to be 12" shorter than it is now, simple as that.
What about a 67 leaf sprung rear end? Same kit?
Same kit works for leaf spring trucks, however... #1- The Template will not help to relocate your bumper bracket holes as it would with coils. #2 - You will need to replace your rear bumper brackets with 4wd brackets.
The length of the rear swing arms of the
c10 must be the longest in the whole
automotive industry.
That's why C10's ride so well for a truck!
Are there any of these conversation kits for an 80s f150 long bed to shortbed
Sorry, not from us. We only do Chevy & GMC trucks.
Do you offer shortening frame services at your location in Corona, CA?
No sir, we only sell parts, we don't have a service dept. If you call the shop we could probably recommend someone local for you.
Is it the same process for a 89 gmc Sierra c1500??
Would this video also work for a 1962 C10 Chev long bed?
Sorry, it won't work on the '62 and prior frame.
Wow, that's a good product. Does it work for a c20 with leaf springs.
Yessir it does. leafs are a little different where the rear bumper holes get moved to, but otherwise it's the same kit.
@Brothers What is the benefit of cutting a frame this was vs the way Stacey David shows us?
The main benefit it that it requires no measuring, squaring, etc... There is literally no guesswork involved in the conversion. By using the "C" Channel to reinforce the frame, you eliminate the need for a step-cut like Stacey David does in his conversion.
This was my question as well, and thankfully I found the answer here. Thanks guys!
Would this work for a 65 c30 dually
Does this template work on a 1961 chevy pickup as well ?
No, sorry. Different frame on the 60-62 trucks.
Would this work with leaf springs as well?
Yes, absolutely. Small difference in how you use the template for the rear bumper holes, but everything else is exactly the same.