Converting from a long bed to a short bed.....is it worth it???

I am toying with the idea for my 1999 Silverado 1500 2WD of swapping out the long bed for a short bed. To do this I would end up doing a back half on the chassis and going pro street.....a look I LOVE! I need either a new bed or a lot of work to my existing long bed so if I am buying a new bed I might as well do it right! I might even go for a sportside and really make it different.

Is it worth the effort?

 

totally worth it. beds are a dime a dozen so you can find one cheap. or you could just replace the bedsides and shorten the floor and walls.

pro street would look pretty rad with all the modern wheel and tire sizes out now.  

if you do it, shoot lots of high res pics. i'd love to run a tech article in the mag on how to go from stock to pro street.  

there ya go moldman66!  

I never thought about doing that with the bed. There is a listing on eBay for quadrasteer bedsides, that might be different. I think a replacement shortbed box is the answer.

What about suggestions for the rear end and suspension? Do I make the swap to 5 lugs?  

I swaped out a fram and bed on a long bed 1990 chevy 1500. i did a fram off and got a used bed thats the only way to go. Im going to 4 link it this winter. your project sounds like less work then i had. If your going pro street i would back half it and uses a 4 link. Unless you could sell your truck and replace it with a short bed for the same price I would say uses the truck you all ready have.  

moldman66:
I never thought about doing that with the bed. There is a listing on eBay for quadrasteer bedsides, that might be different. I think a replacement shortbed box is the answer.

What about suggestions for the rear end and suspension? Do I make the swap to 5 lugs?

I have seen the quadrasteer quarters grafted to a Tahoe and that looked pretty cool. For the rear end you have a few options, but usually shortening your rear end housing and buying new axles comes out cheaper than buying a 9-inch.

Usually the only good reason to switch to 5-lug is wheel options. You might find it hard to find a 6-lug wheel that fits the specs you need. I would check availability of the wheels and tires first.

Oh and wait till you see the November issue we have a few stories that talk about this very subject.

Calin  

I will probably make the switch to 5 lugs because I want more options with rims, especially back spacing. I'd like to go with the sportside bed but I think it's going to be more money and harder to find. I'm no having much luck finding an affordable bed yet.

Calin, do you know how those Quadrasteer bedsides grafted onto that Tahoe? I'm thinking of doing a custom bed using certain parts from my existing long bed. It seems to be my cheapest bed option...and unique, too.

Also, does it make sense to c-notch my long bed frame, thus shortening it to fit the short bed wheelbase? I can keep my existing frame and with the extra wheel spacing of the Quadrasteer bedsides still get the big rear tire look I want.

Thank you to everybody offering ideas!

George