[Hawker]

Has anyone lengthened their frame? I have a 10' flatbed on my 450 now, but with the welder on it, the bed space gets cut down quite a bit, I was thinking of going an extra 2' or 2'-6"

 

[Hawker]

guess i'm all on my own on this one...

 

[bluedge8]

sorry, haven't done it. someone else was just asking about something similar

 

[dirtboy25]

If you can shorten it why cant you lengthen it?

They only thing i would be concerned with is lengthening everything else. driveshaft, fuel lines, electrical lines, etc etc...

 

[SIC-E]

was thinking of lengthening my frame when lookin at adding a tandem axle. i would just replace frame material rear of cut with additional length desired so i'd have one joint vs. two. good luck

 

[Marty]

I've seen it done. Tammac did it to his F450. He got some 9" C channel for where the frame levels out.

He added 2 feet and therefore had a 10' bed. He had to get a longer rear shaft and then you have the lengthen your fuel system lines.

 

[Hawker]

you guys will love this one...

I called CT driveshaft today, they do pretty much all the driveshaft work around here, balancing and all.

they wanted $900 to lengthen my driveshaft 30". the guy told me they have to bump up the size of it (strength/diameter i would assume) to take the weight of the truck. :doh:

guess its time to call some scrap yards to find some bus driveshafts...


I was also able to have my buddy bend some 3/8" plate to match the profile of the frame.

 

[bluedge8]

so you are moving forward?, cool, we need pics:ford:

 

[Bockhold]

why not just lengthen the rear after the axle?

 

[Dave]

I havent done it to a super duty but have done it to a kenworth T 800

You are gonna need longer fuel lines. Longer brake lines and any wiring that would need to be lengthened as well.




Jarrod the reason most people cut and shorten lengthen before the axle is because the truck handles the weight better that way.

 

[Hawker]

yeah, it already has too much behind the axle. it would look a little goofy.

i heard some different things about the harness, like if I splice the ABS wires, it'll show more resistance in the line and will put the abs light on.

 

[Dave]

yeah, it already has too much behind the axle. it would look a little goofy.

i heard some different things about the harness, like if I splice the ABS wires, it'll show more resistance in the line and will put the abs light on.

Cant say Ive ever had that problem

 

[bluedge8]

I don't know a ton about that, but I'm sure a few of the vendors here would be familiar with what the pcm needs. I have heard that soldering can screw up the signal but I don't know if thats true or not. I'd think the only one to worry about is the abs signal.

 

[TrailerHauler]

So your going forward with this? If you are post of pictures of the progression if possible.

As far as a driveshaft I'm sure it'd be cheaper to shorten and re tube a bus driveshaft, maybe even put the correct yoke on the ends.

 

[Hawker]

yeah, this weekend I'm tearing into it. I'm gonna try and setup a time lapse camera in the shop. today i'm tryin to get all the materials together.

 

[bluedge8]

cool!!!

 

[lubeowner]

Once you are done you will by like, I can't believe how easy that was. As far as the abs they do not measure in line resistance. They are an on/off sensor. Will not cause you any issue. A new driveshaft should run you like $300 to $400 to have made. What they should do is cut the ends off your current drive shaft then weld them back on to a longer piece of tube. You have a welder on your truck so you must be able to weld? Take you drive shaft off your truck and then cut the yokes off at the weld. Go to your local steel mart and buy the same tubing but in the longer length and weld the yokes back on yourself. Just make sure you get the ends to the tubing cut good and square. Then haul the welded shaft to the shop and have them balance the shaft for like $50. When I do this I am usually pretty sad after I see how little the shaft is out of balance, I feel I wasted the $50. We don't even balance them anymore on our pulling trucks or my buddy's mud trucks.

 

[Hawker]

wasn't that bad for the most part. still have some work to do to the bed and have to extend the harness tomorrow. Rebuilt the driveshaft which was a pain in the ass. used a thicker wall tubing than stock, but the one piece is longer than it should be, so should make for some interesting conversation when i have to have it balanced. the frame itself is getting another 7" channel on top of the spliced piece to strengthen it up even more.

more to come tomorrow.

 

[Bockhold]

that looks AWESOME MAN!!!!!!

 

[dave186]

looks good! I think you will need to use a carrier bearing with that drive shaft.