s10 frame under 48-53 chevy pickup

[stovebolt]

i just got a 1990 s10 frame. its the short one with 108 wheelbase. i know i will need to stretch frame or shorten bed. anyone done this? pros and cons please. thanks

 

[low dawg]

I shortened a long bed S-10 frame by 30"...not to hard to do to lenghten it...the section under the cab, up front near the fire wall you'll see where the front section goes from "box" to "c" channel...thats the BEST place to start for any cutting...make sure you measure 100 times, keep notes, pics can help, and I boxed the remainder of the frame to strengthen the heck out of it. Acurate measurments are CRITICAL!!! Good luck!

 

[hotrod preacher]

a popular swap, i think the regular cab, long bed frame is very close to the stock length... like said previously alot of measuring is key....

i personally think the s-10 is a tad narrow in the front "track width" but that is just my opinion...

search it on here- i am sure a few are documented in our build section

 

[molinerat]

There was guy on KB that moved the front spring hanger back 8" I think. Then he cut the rear of the frame off in front of the rear spring hanger flipped it over to the opposite side and welded back on. Made the shortbox S10 the perfect length for the shortbox AD truck.

 

[sneakysnake]

Im doing the same thing but gonna go slammed and shorten the bed.

http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18588

 

[sneakysnake]

There is a kit out there for this too.

http://www.e-zchassisswaps.com/

 

[imapeopleperson]

Great information, How did it work with the s-10?

 

[62ChevyII]

There was guy on KB that moved the front spring hanger back 8" I think. Then he cut the rear of the frame off in front of the rear spring hanger flipped it over to the opposite side and welded back on. Made the shortbox S10 the perfect length for the shortbox AD truck.

That was me. Here's a link: http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=16296

The way I did it was move the springs back and modded the rear of the frame the way molinerat said.

I have also seen guys slide the frame sections apart by splitting the welds and sliding them to a longer wheel base and then re-welding like low dawg alluded to.

The long bed regular cab has the correct wheel base with no mods so it is the easiest by far.