Hi guys,

Down in Australia we were not lucky enough to get the short bed Hilux. Can anyone give me some info on where I can shorten a long bed frame to convert it to a short bed? Also any part numbers for short bed parts that might make my conversion job a little easier?

Thanks

Aaron

 

One thing most 4x4 owners over here in the states do is "bob" the bed; You cut the frame a bit and the bed, shorten the bed and reweld it together. Although on the long beds, you guys have extra length before the wheels, right? Be easier to just bob the rear. Don't know if you could still use a bumper like that though, reason why hardcore 4x4 owners do this is to eliminate overhang and rock rash.

 

Aaron... you should check out www.candospecialties.com. Steve shortened my 86 toyota long bed.. He might be able to give you good tips on how to. He's a really nice guy and always willing to help...

Cheers,

Danny

 

if you had a 79-83 yota i could tell you how much. you will need to take some out of the front and rear. should be more taken from the front.

 

Thanks Guys,

I'm pretty comfortable with the whole shortining part of the conversion, I guess what I want to do is use as many standard toyota parts as possible to do the job. I am trying to figure out if i just cut the 234mm or so from the center of the frame will I be able to use standard short bed parts that I can get from the local Toyota spare parts dept, e.g. the tailshaft, fuel tank and handbrake cables.

Also I have been told else where that the Xtracab tub is the same as the single cab short bed tub, is this correct?

 

i believe they are, and the frames are the longbed frame. i was planning to shorten my 79 and one thing i noticed is the springs seem different. when i measured the rear i need to take like 6" out of the back, and that would put the rear spring hangar right at the back of the bed.

 

^^^that is 100% correct sir...all the beds that came on the standard cab short bed 2wd/4wd & extra-cab trucks were the same, so the extra-cab bed would be perfect if you want a direct swap...no cutting lol except for the frame!

 

Does this also mean that I could use stuff like the extra-cab gas tank and tail shaft. I had a roll around under my long bed single cab today and it seems both of these parts would need to be changed or modified to do the conversion. The tailshaft wouldn't be too much of a problem to shorten, but it would be nice to use standard parts.

 

the shortbeds use a 1 piece drive shaft. so if you shortened it up to factory short bed wheelbase the one piece should bolt in.

 

So is there a crossmember at the rear of the cab on the short bed, where the long bed has the center bearing? I guess I would just remove this.

 

yeah the shortbed has a crossmember, but most people who lower them usually just cut them out.

 

Im 100% positive that the long beds & extra-cab trucks have a bigger/longer gas tank. So if you want to keep it all factory then youll need to get a short bed tank or go with a fuel cell.

 

One good way to find out (I think) is www.toyotareference.com, that's how I found out about this site. Be aware it takes forever to load. If you're short on time, just type this in www.toyotareference.com/truck.

I know it's for US vehicles, but I bet that the tanks for bed and extra cab are the same all over the world.

By the way, 4x4's and 4Runner tank sizes are way different sizes than their 2wd counterparts.