CC Wordless Outtake: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
– Posted on February 7, 2012
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The paintjob is dated? The driver has parked in the fire lane?
Oh, I hovered over the picture and now I suspect that you’re getting at the fact that it’s a crew cab with a short box. Maybe I’ve seen too many Dodge Mega Cab pickups, but the proportions look fine to me.
The short bed on a crew cab, in this vintage all the crew cab GM trucks were longbeds.
I don’t want to “ruin” it for anyone but Carmine is a “ding, ding, ding” winner. Would anybody like to postulate a theory on how it got that way? Especially since the wheels seem to be perfectly centered in the wheelwells and the gap between cab and bed are correct.
Is it a Suburban frame?
I’m also guessing that this is not really a Z71.
Wow good eyes on the Z71 badges I didn’t see them till after I took the pic. I just realized it has two gas doors on it too, wonder if it actually has dual tanks?
Not without modification, Burbs have their rear wheels right behind the door. He could have moved the rear axle back to make it fit. Whatever it is, they did a good job
“Would anybody like to postulate a theory on how it got that way?”
Sawzall?
Beer!
Custom bed?
Hmmm…no sliding back window? Bad upside-down art-deco graphics job? No rear step bumper? Dual gas caps and only one gas tank? Your new ride and not a Ford Flex?
I give…
I know its wrong, the question being, how did they do it? They must have extended a regular cab, long bed frame and put a crew cab on top of it, with a short bed. I doubt that it started life as a crew cab, as you can’t just hack off the rear of the frame. It has to be cut in front of the rear wheels and moved forward. Much easier to move everything father back.
why U say easier, I have a 84 crew dually, very clean and for sale as I hate to cut her, but if I keep, I’m thinking of cutting section out n putting a 6ft bed on like n pic, plus pull axles n replace with singles. i have both trucks, the 4×4 one ton single and the 84 crew DRW 2wd which is for sale for 6500, only has 111k n tight, why hat to cut her up, just too nice but after driving for a while, just too long for my needs
When I sent this to [email protected] I called this “the truck that shouldn’t exist.”
As I was walking on the stair
I met a truck who wasn’t there.
It wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish it’d go away!
Dr.Seuss couldn’t have said it better.
My guess is that they took a long bed truck, placed the “3+3” cab on it and then shortened the bed to fit. There was definitely some work done to that bed as the dual tank GM trucks of that era had the side saddle tanks with fillers on the either side of the truck. Quite the pain to fill. I used to laugh at those as all my Ford trucks and Vans with dual tanks had them both on the same side. Then I got into Cornbinders, with dual tanks on my Travelall for some stupid reason the aux tank is on the RF and the main tank is on the LR despite the fact that there is a LF tank used for pickups with dual tanks.
Now you guys have me really confused. Is that a true “short bed” or a “not quite 8 foot bed”? And that rear bumper, is that the truck bumper or a Blazer bumper? More questions are being asked than answered. Wish we had a resident body shop expert.
@Educator Dan: If I recall, back then you had the option of no bumper at all, a step bumper (preferred) or a car-like chrome bumper (for gentlemen farmers, perhaps). The 1976 Chevy I owned many moons ago gave those options. My truck was a Custom Deluxe, so it had the white painted bumper on the front and I optioned a step bumper for the back.
Not sure what year the subject in question is. 1973 to 1980-something.
its prob a stock 6ft, have seen set done that way
Seems to me the angle of the rear driveshaft is wrong too. It would put the t case under the rear passenger area. Could this be right?
Wait I’m looking at that too. Does it have a IFS instead of a solid axle? Hmmmm what if the frame was an extended cab long bed frame?
EDIT: Spoiler Alert. Apparently this is a totally common thing to do with these trucks:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=370279
I was thinking the extended cab/long bed route myself.
Closer look shows the aforementioned Z71 badges on the B-pillar, as well as GMT 880 (’01-’07) 2500HD badges on the doors. I believe those two are mutually exclusive, Z71 only available on 1/2 tons? And I would almost swear that the steering wheel is from the same generation…but that’s an airbag wheel?
You can see the frame through the rear wheel opening, and it looks like the 880 “straight truck” frame…tall as hell and no bends above the rear axle. I’m not sure on this but I don’t think the previous generation of 3/4 and tonners (C/Ks) had that. The 8 lug wheels denote at least 3/4 ton running gear.
So my guess is this…880 Silverado frame and running gear. Minimum 6.0 LQ4 under the hood, possibly the piggish 8.1. Most likely a rollover salvage. 73-87 body in 3+3 style. Standard 73-87 standard shortbed. Second (rear) gas filler kinda hacked in there, and I’m not sure why…I’m not sure if the 880 frame could accomodate dual tanks on a 2500HD. Maybe.
Mounting that body to that frame would not be a picnic. Also, huge hole: that looks like a pumpkin under the front end, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
MYSTERY TRUCK!
That’s a straight axle holding up the front end, and those zero offset wheels aren’t hanging way out of the fenders, so no it is not on a later frame.
From the link that Impalamino found:
To make a long bed frame onto a shortbed frame measure back 6 inches from backside of the rear cab mount support make a line. Measure 14inches from there and make a nother line, this 14 inches is what needs removed. Weld the 2 halves back together and plate the section that has just been welded. From the rear of the frame measure forward 6 inches this must also go. Now you have a turned a long bed frame into a short bed frame
Don’t know all the other details, but the front clip shows this to be AT LEAST post 1980, as the front end was totally redone for 1981 and the front side marker lights show this as the 73-80 had the vertical front side marker lamps and a different side creases as compared to the 81-87 versions, the rest looked much the same as before.
That much I DO know. The cab looks to me to be a standard quad cab as best I can tell.
Either way I like how the windows on the building match the grey decor on the truck. Nice pic.
Not bad for low light conditions and a cell phone camera. 🙂 Thank you.
In 1978, a neighbour did a similar job on a shorty 4×4 Blazer that suffered fire damage : standard lenght pick-up cab, and a shorthened 6 ft bed.
I was 14, very interested in automotive things, and willing to spend my summer nights in that neighbour’s garage while his 4 sons were out playing with the numerous motorized toys he made. I had the right to give him tools and welding rods, but had to keep my mouth closed. He was of the silent type…
Anyway, he cut the front of the bed about 2 in from the front, then cut a slice of maybe 8 in (don’t remember clearly…), and welded back the two parts together. Finition was done with bronze and very little bondo. The truck was painted tow-tone blue and looked awesome. It was put on sale, and like a good kid proud of it’s work, I showed every potential customer the job we did so well. The neighbour was not so happy with my sales technique and took advantage of an absence of my part to sell the truck to an off-roader,
Just when I think I know something about cars (& trucks)…
Admittedly, I’m not much of a truck guy. To me, they’re just tow vehicles.
But I am absolutely humbled by the amount of knowledge displayed here in so few posts…
Cheers!
I didn’t (yet) check the links; but I’d guess the frame came off a one-ton cab and chassis; the quad cab off a donor and the bed off still another. The axle, a non-doolie, off another, presumably Chevrolet, pickup.
Just a guess. Only way I’d see that they could have gotten close to that length. A lotta work for a very-subtle difference from a production crew-cab.
this is my dads truck its a 76 Chevy crew cab with a front clip off a 90 blazer it has a 454 and a 5 speed nv4500 the truck started as a long bed crew cab and that frame was shortened for a short bed and the rear bumper is off a suburban. the rear drive line is a two piece that’s why it looks that way and there is two tank on the truck the rear one is a blazer tank the steering wheel and column are out of an 89 Chevy truck and its a non air bag it has a dana 44 front diff and a fullfloat 14 bolt rear the truck is a 3/4ton and the 7z1 badges were added for just a cool look and the door badges are just the new style stick ons … does this solve the mystery of the truck that shouldn’t exist… but why shouldn’t it oh and all the work to this truck was done by my dad in 11months in a 2 car garage
come on people really you guys are not car guys
cut 14” out of the frame in front of the rear wheel and 4” off the back of the frame and a short bed bed fits perfect.
not that hard i just finished cutting my crew cab long bed to a short bed.
Next for this truck is new paint job and a cummins backed by and nv4500 puttin power to a d60 front and 14bolt rear with disk brakes
This truck started as a crew cab and they chopped the frame in the rear so the bed would line up. I have done a few short bed swaps. Just did my c10 Lwb to swb last month