Anybody ever cut / shorten a Bullnose frame before?

[Rembrant]

Cory is chopping a section out of his frame, as explained here, and Jonathan/FordF834 has done it but, if I remember correctly, on a Supercab.

Excellent. Thanks for the link Gary, I hadn't seen that one in a while. What I was curious about, and I guess that threads confirmed it, is if there is a nice straight section on the frames of the 133" wheel base trucks where the 16" can be removed, and then the two halves match up perfectly square for welding.

Going to go look at an '86 tomorrow...long bed of course, and was wondering how much work it would be to shorten it so that I could make use of the spare Flareside bed I have;).

Doesn't seem like too big a deal. As long as the difference is all between the back of the cab and the rear axle, then maybe it won't be too bad to remove and still keep it square.

Of course it all depends on how rusty this 133" truck is...

What years had the so-called "Swiss Cheese" frames? I guess they'd be more difficult to shorter eh? Or, not recommended at all...?

And, I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but how do you reply in a thread without directly replying to a specific post? Does that make any sense?

[Ford F834]

What years had the so-called "Swiss Cheese" frames? I guess they'd be more difficult to shorter eh? Or, not recommended at all...?

And, I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but how do you reply in a thread without directly replying to a specific post? Does that make any sense?

Swiss cheese were only 80/81, and from what folks have reported the late 81’s did not have the holes.

That is a good point about the reply function, the way it’s structured there does not seem to be a way to generically reply to the thread other than replying to the very first post.

[Rembrant]

Swiss cheese were only 80/81, and from what folks have reported the late 81’s did not have the holes.

Ok, that's what I thought. I'm casually looking for another project Bullnose, and an '81 popped up semi-locally. I call it "local", but it's far enough away I can't just drop by and have a look at it. The seller is sending me pictures of the frame today. Thanks Jon.

Cory

 

[Ford F834]

Swiss cheese were only 80/81, and from what folks have reported the late 81’s did not have the holes.

Ok, that's what I thought. I'm casually looking for another project Bullnose, and an '81 popped up semi-locally. I call it "local", but it's far enough away I can't just drop by and have a look at it. The seller is sending me pictures of the frame today. Thanks Jon.

Cory

I have done a lot of measuring and checking on my ‘81 Swiss cheese frame, and I actually think the spacing of the holes would work out, and I think it could be shortened. That said, if you are on the shopping end of things, a solid frame would be an easier/better candidate.

[Rembrant]

I have done a lot of measuring and checking on my ‘81 Swiss cheese frame, and I actually think the spacing of the holes would work out, and I think it could be shortened. That said, if you are on the shopping end of things, a solid frame would be an easier/better candidate.

Are the Swiss cheese frames lighter/thinner than the later ones, or is the only difference that they're full of holes?

On the topic of frame shortening (Swiss cheese frame), what would stop a guy from filling the holes if they were in the way? You could have a steel disk cut, and then weld it into the hole to fill it.

Is that crazy talk? I really know nothing about the Swiss cheese frames.

[Gary Lewis]

I have done a lot of measuring and checking on my ‘81 Swiss cheese frame, and I actually think the spacing of the holes would work out, and I think it could be shortened. That said, if you are on the shopping end of things, a solid frame would be an easier/better candidate.

Are the Swiss cheese frames lighter/thinner than the later ones, or is the only difference that they're full of holes?

On the topic of frame shortening (Swiss cheese frame), what would stop a guy from filling the holes if they were in the way? You could have a steel disk cut, and then weld it into the hole to fill it.

Is that crazy talk? I really know nothing about the Swiss cheese frames.

I think they are the same thickness as the other frames. However, there's no real advantage to filling the holes. The way I-beams or C-channel works is that the web, the part in the middle, is there mainly to hold the upper and lower lips apart. As long as the web is strong enough to do its job then holes don't matter. And that's the case for those frames.

There's a guy on FTE that has a pulling truck with a swiss cheese frame. Has used it in competition for years with no problems.

But, if you need the holes filled where you are cutting you could do that. Or, fishplate over them.

[Rembrant]

I think they are the same thickness as the other frames. However, there's no real advantage to filling the holes.

OK, gotcha Gary. I was only thinking of filling a hole if by chance you had the cut the frame and reattached it where there was a hole, that's all.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I think they are the same thickness as the other frames. However, there's no real advantage to filling the holes.

OK, gotcha Gary. I was only thinking of filling a hole if by chance you had the cut the frame and reattached it where there was a hole, that's all.

Understand. You could just cover the hole with a larger fishplate. But, you'd want to treat the original weld and the frame as you might get water in there. And/or leave a weep hole in the bottom so water can get out.