In the pic a part today and saw a real good 1988 short wheel base frame, most parts where gone. My question, is this frame the same as under my 79 or real close? The 79 has a little rust at front spring perch and maybe I could just transfer parts to the 88 frame. I’ll ask tomorrow how much they want for it.

i have a 79 fsm and an 88 fsm. i will take a few pics of the frame section and post them for you to look and see.

Not sure if I’m going to the trouble, they wanted $800 and I had to remove everything off frame, motor, trans, cab and bed

here are 4 pics from fsm. 1st 2 are from 1979 fsm section 13 on frames. critical mounting numbers on crossmembers. 2nd 2 are from 1988 fsm section 13 on frames. again critical mounting numbers for crossmembers. they are identical. you could do what i do and cut down a long bed frame. 16 inches from frame between rear end and cab and 4 inches off rear frame where rear bumper bolts. sorry for the sideways pics. ask me any questions you need to. i will try to answer them. good luck.

Neat, they look the same then.

on my 88 d100 lwb I noticed the engine mount bolted in on one side and you could not bolt a BB engine in it & also the trans xmember & mount changed. IIRC 87 is the last yr chassis you can bolt a BB into with stock parts & 727 xmember in correct location.

I was told this is on v6 chassis but my 88 engine/trans was MIA I did have the different trans mount/xmember with it and could see the frame had no place to bolt the BB mount down. so it all got swapped to an 85 chassis for the BB engine swap.