Thinking of trying to use a late model truck frame to lower a 55 truck body on. Anyone know of anything that has been done and known to work?

Thanks, Kevin

What do you consider a modern frame to be?
They fit pretty well on a 1988-2003 Dakota frame, still a lot of work, but the match up is decent. Full sized trucks are too wide, and have really bad motor/trans placement for a 55 Dodge.

The 1955 Dodge truck has a short nose, the drive train and the front wheel placement are pretty close to the front of the truck, where most modern stuff have the drive train and the front axle are placed much farther back on the frame for better passenger safety in a crash. Park your 55 with any possible donor side by side and match up the front wheels. Then look at the cab, motor & trans, and rear axle placement match up between the two trucks. Don't forget to take into account how width of the tires & wheels compare with each truck as well. The more stuff that has to be moved, the harder the swap becomes, and the "easy ones" are not really that easy.

I've done a few frame swaps with the 39-56 Dodge trucks, currently I'm doing a 49 onto a 96 Dakota 4x4 frame. Gene

Hello Gene. Thanks for the info. After posting, I tried a search and found where you helped another member with advice on a 55 build. Read thru it. Great information! I'm not sure I'm up for that much cutting and welding. Maybe after giving it more thought i might try it. I like the idea of a 90's running gear. I enjoy measuring and figuring things out. We'll see. I appreciate you responding to my question. People like you are the reason people like me (novices ) are able to try and do things themselves when they can't afford to pay a pro.

Thanks! Kevin

Kevin, there is a lot of good info on Moparts doing these trucks. Pretty much any info covering from 48 up to about 57 will apply. There are some variances between the years, but the frames didn't change much and the late 55 cab (with the curved door posts) carried on through 1960.

The frame swap is a big undertaking. If you decide to move forward on it, there are several guys that can and will be willing to help you, including me. I'm on here nearly every night. Gene

I know you said you're not much into cutting and welding, but, check this guy out from YouTube. He uses the '09 Durango with Hemi for swapping. He doesn't do just Dodges onto the Durango, he's done Studebakers too.

What I like about how he does it, it essentially stays a Durango, just the body changes, so all the creature comforts still work, and it retains its stock reliability.

That video has a lot of fluff and not much meat.
I personally would really like to see how they put the frame back together after they took 11" out of the frame. An 05 Durango frame tappers wider as you move towards the rear, and changes height as well, nothing on that frame is straight or on one level. When you take 11" out, the frame mismatch is almost 4" in height and width. My son and I put an 86 Ramcharger on an 05 Hemi Durango and ended up taking 14" out of the frame. A Durango frame is a lot more work then using an earlier Dakota frame.
Of course, they may have thought of something I didn't. The way I did it sure wasn't pretty. That is why I'd like to see they shortened the frame. Gene

A) I posted that video just to reference the website.

B) I guess you missed the entire part after mentioning the truck was a foot too short that he chose to lengthen the bed 11"? Aside from modifying frame horns, I don't think I've ever seen him shorten a frame to fit. Remember, his goal is to use all stock Durango equipment. He talks about the bed starting about the 2 minute mark and even shows where he lengthens the bed and running board.

If you compare a Dakota short wheelbase to the mid to late 50s Dodge pickup, the wheelbases on some models get real close. A short wheelbase Dakota is 112", while the short wheelbase 50s vintage Dodge wheelbase is 108". Sounds like a miss-match, but. maybe a little "fudging" can get real close without altering the frame of the Dakota. I have always thought the front tires are too far back in the stock wheel opening of the fenders. If possible then, mount the vintage cab 2" to 3" further rearward on the Dakota chassis. That already gets the vintage cab/box wheelbase up to about 110" or 111". Then mount the rear fenders/running boards to the box about one to two inches further rearward and it makes it a 112" wheelbase.

Now, I am only speculating (haven't done it myself), but it seems plausible. But, using the Dakota frame at the rear means you'll loose depth in the box about 4" to 6".

Another thought. Instead of shortening the Dakota frame to match the wheelbase of the vintage pickup, why not do like the 53 on a Durango chassis, and then lengthen the bed to achieve the needed wheelbase on the donor chassis. It's much easier logistics wise to modify the bed length instead of the donor chassis frame. Also, no structural welds to be concerned about, no driveshaft mods needed. Leave the chassis as much OEM as possible. Following that logic, use a 112" Dakota chassis, mount the vintage Dodge cab and then lengthen the box 4" to suit the wheelbase, and you'd gain more storage capacity in the longer vintage box.

If you just move the cab forward on the frame, you will be cutting the firewall and making room for the motor inside of the cab.

On my 49, I ended up moving the front wheel arches forward about 1 1/2" to match the wheel openings with the tire location. My motor is real close to the firewall with the Dakota firewall in the factory 49 cab location, any forward cab movement will put the motor that far back into the cab. As far as moving the rear fenders on the bed side, there are body lines around the fender, moving the fender more then an inch puts the fender on top of either the front or the rear bed side body lines. I have actually done this stuff, not speculation.

In my opinion, adding 11" to the front of the bed just looks wrong. It makes the bed length in front of the wheels too long. The original rear fender location on the bed puts the rear fenders at the bed center. 11" longer front on the bed is a lot. Most people like to shorten the bed length, not make them longer.

Please don't let my opinion alter your design, if your OK with the longer bed, or altered fender locations,, go for it, its your truck.

Pic 1) Front wheel well arch removed, notice how close the front is to the opening then the rear? that is what 1 1/2" looks like in real life.
Pic 2) This is the best pic I have of the wheel arch welded back in 1 1/2" forward without paint and body work.
Pic 3) The rear fender placement on the bed side. I did not shorten this frame, someone else did. They could have shortened it another 2", it would have been great I know the frame was shortened, but I do not know which Dakota frame they started with. I slid the bed rearward from this position, but there is an inch and a half between the cab and the bed at the center. I still spread the bottom of the fenders and shifted the fenders towards the front 1/2". By the way, the spot welds you see behind the fender are the angle iron that the bed floor sits on, the bed is only about 10" deep.
Pic 4) I think it came out OK.

I posted that for thought. For my 56 I still plan to use the back half of the 56 frame with the front half of the Dakota frame, so I can get the wheelbase right where I want it, while maintaining the proportions of the 56.

But also, I plan to use the Dakota cab floor and firewall, welded into the 56 cab after I cut out the 56 cab floor and firewall. That way everything that goes through the Dak cab floor and firewall hopefully will remain where they are currently. After I get the Dak cab cut off, my next step will be to install the 5.2 Magnum and 8HP-70 trans into the Dak chassis. Get all the engine/trans/drivetrain figured out without the cab and everything forward of the firewall in the way. Since my 2001 Dak also had an option for the 5.9 Magnum (same physical size as the 5.2) I'll use the Dodge OEM engine mounts and position in the frame once I get the old 4.7V8 out of the way. So I should be able to get the engine in the right position relative to the Dak firewall.

My Dak has the extended cab so I'll have plenty of floorpan length to work with. So I hope to be able to adjust the 56 cab position on the Dak floorpan to get the optimal position for the fenders over the front tires centerline, and close to align the 56 firewall flange close to the Dak firewall, and weld in metal to connect the two. If I cannot move the cab back to properly position the wheels in the fender opening, then I'll alter the fender openings (similar to altering the fender opening like you did with your 52). For sure, if I don't align the front wheels as I think looks best, it'll bother me constantly.