Hello. I recently acquired a 1988 Dakota with the long box, and I was wondering about the difficulty of switching to the shorter box. Is there a dramatic difference in wheel space between versions? Or can I simply cut the frame down a bit?

 

There's 12" of difference.

I don't know how good you are at welding, so I can't answer if YOU can cut the frame down, but it's doable.

My question is "Why?" There's shorter frames out there, make more sense to me to sell that 1988 and buy a regular wheel base 1st gen. But eh.

*sez the guy what likes his 8' long bed*

RwP

 

IF your really going to try this, IMO you need to start with a short bed and take lots of measurements. I would start with a measurement of the length of the bed to the center of the wheel well, both front and back. Then compare that to your 8ft bed. Its very possible you will have to cut the frame in 2 places in order to keep the wheels centered under the wheel wells of the short bed. Then you will need to look carefully at the bed mounts to keep it at the same height. Change brake lines, cables, and driveshaft.
As Ralph said, in the end you will probably be better off trading rather then trying to shorten your truck