Crew cab short bed brick nose....

[laserjock]

I'm pretty sure at this point that they were never made from the factory that way but I also know that has never stopped a lot of the guys on here. Anybody build a short bed crew cab from a long bed ext cab truck? I was staring at my 91 the other day and scratching my head.

 

[junk]

Fairly confident you would need to shorten the frame to get it right. I don't remember his name, but there was a member on here who had one. He used a flare side box on his and I thought it looked pretty cool. I think he was parting it out. Might be in the marketplace.

You could always get a newer frame from a 95-97 or so as I don't remember the exact years, but ford did make a 3/4ton crewcab shortbox truck. If you have to tear it down to the frame you could just start with a different frame the right length. maybe even buy the cab with it.

Definitely a cool project if you go forward.

 

[Vegas-Misfit]

the frame length is the same... my cousin converted his ext cab long bed to a cc SH IIRC though i think he had to do a little cutting on the floor of the cab and re weld to match up with the curve of the frame... but am not 100% sure

 

[vanet]

I have a 1990 f-350 crew cab, short bed. They definatley made one.

 

[laserjock]

I was thinking that there may be a little cab cutting involved to get it to set right. I was thinking maybe go find a f150 donor somewhere down south with a clean cab. The only problem I can see then is registration. VIN usually goes with the cab right?

Interesting... I'll have to do some more searching... Wouldn't mind having the crew cab but a truck a city block long is not real handy out in this neck of the woods.

 

[Vegas-Misfit]

ya the vin goes with the cab... hmmm dunno about that one

 

[diezelcrazee]

I have a 1990 f-350 crew cab, short bed. They definatley made one.

Could we see a picture of it?

 

[laserjock]

It wouldn't be a problem a lot of places but out here in the peoples republic of Maryland, they are pretty picky about the engine switching rules. I don't think I could get it inspected unless I can claim its a clone of something that exists... but hmmm...

 

[vanet]

"could we see a Pic of it"

2 problems, It is at the house, (Im at work), and it has a flat bed at the moment so kinda hard top see it is a short bed. I will try to get a pic in the next couple of days. If I can Ill take 2 pics with it lined up next to one of my ex-cabs. Frame to frame it is exactly the same length.

 

[laserjock]

That would be awesome. The thing I was grappling with was would the rear axle be in the right place or would I have to do a custom cut down bed.

 

[laserjock]

Did some more reading. I can find references to crew cab short boxes in 96-97 trucks. I haven't found anything else besides mention of a few Centurions that were made. I believe there were even some f150 centurions.

Just another in a long line of brain farts. I did find a few cc trucks locally that were reasonably priced with blown motors.

More reading.
vanet, if at all possible could you take a wheel base measurement? That would probably be the most important bit of information.

 

[GENIUSLOERTS]

extended cab long beds have a longer wheelbase than a crew cab short bed. if you want to put a crew on a extended cab frame you either need to do a 2" body lift to get the cab to clear the bump up in the frame or the second option is to cut the floor and weld in a pie piece to get the proper raise in the floor pan to clear the frame.

as far as wheel base goes you either have to cut the frame down to get a CCSB, cut down a 8 foot bed to the right length, go flatbed, or relocate the springs and axles forward on the frame then bob the back of the frame.

my plans for my ex cab long bed is to cut down the bed, it will end up somewhere around 7 foot.

 

[bike-maker]

CCSB only existed in 96-97 (and newer). There used to be a member here (Yotee?) who had what you describe. ECLB frame with a crew cab. The wheel bases are not the same; IIRC the bed was a short bed that was extended something like 4" to fit.

 

[gingrass179]

Not a hard swap...your hardest part as said is going to be building your floorpan under the rear seats to compensate for the frame and cutting the bed down...the cab mount and bed mount locations have to change also....and if you want just a factory length bed it would be way easier to find a crew cab short and put in an idi...I did mine on a reg cab long bed frame pulls into Wal-Mart's like a geo..lol I can pull all the way by the front doors lol

 

[laserjock]

I am probably just going to repair the ext cab for now. I'm dying to get this thing on the road. Body work on the cab is all it needs to pass inspection I think. Need to get it on the road so I can move stuff around. My other truck suffers from NB syndrome. The little one is only 15 months so I got a while before back seat space is a big problem.

Thanks for the tips and discussion guys. I appreciate it.