First,  gather up the following tools.  You'll need the following:

 1) Drill

 2) Jigsaw with about 10 to 15 fine metal-cutting blades

 3) Reciprocating saw

 4) A T-square or other 90-degree angle

 5) A small drill bit

 6) Welder, Mig is preferred, stick will work

 7) Some string and a can of primer

 8) Tape measure

 9) Crayon pencil

 10) Two C-clamps

 11) Grinder

 12) Can of under coating

 13) And of course, the necessary safety items 

   The first step in this process is to remove some items in the back.  Take your bumper off, remove both tail lamp assemblies, disconnect the license plate lamps,  and take off the tailgate. 

   Next, decide how much of a slice you want to do and mark the area.  The amount of "bob" that you want to do will depend on: a) your liking , b) your truck, be it a long bed or short bed.  Some do just a small bob. I, however, went the maximum on my '81 long bed and took 19.5 inches off.

    With your T-square, lay the top portion up on the bed rail.  Now you will have some straight lines to go by.  Measure from points such as your tail lamp housing walls.  Make some marks along as you go.

After you have drawn your first line, measure the distance from your points and go do the other side.   Got those measurements?  Then mark them off on this side and once again draw your line.   Confirm that both sides, drivers and passengers, are equal. 

   The next line you crayon in, will tell you how much you are going to bob off.  The important key here is make sure you are allowing enough room for your shackles in the rear.  Determine how much you want to bob and draw your second line on your truck with your crayon pencil.

Measure these marks and go do it to the other side.  Remember to confirm the exact area by checking several different points along the cut lines. Look at picture 1 as a reference. 

   Once you have drawn your lines, grab your drill and that small drill bit.  Drill some holes from the exterior of your bed on the inside of the slice you are going to be removing.  You should drill two holes for each side. 

After you have drilled your holes, take the string and thread it through one hole and to the other hole on the opposite side of the bed.  Now you should have a string lying flat across your bed. 

This is your cut line for the inside of the bed.  Take your spray paint and spray the string.  After spraying, lift the string up and you should now have your lines marked on the inside of your bed.  Repeat the process for the other cut line. 

   Now you are almost ready to start cutting.  First, make sure you have moved all electrical harnesses, air lines, brake lines, or anything else that you might have wired under you bed. 

  Start your Jig, put those goggles on and start cutting.  Start out by cutting the most rear section first.  You will be snapping some blades as you go, be prepared.  Also, as a hint, take a few-minute break every now and then to let your Jigsaw cool down.

It's going to be working hard and this will save it.    Make sure you follow those cut lines with great precision.  You'll be thankful when it comes time to weld!

    Done cutting the first section?  Now you should be ready to pick it up and set it aside.  Your now ready to cut the next section.  Go ahead and start cutting out the section your bobbing. 

   Now that you are done with cutting all that extra bed off, pick up the tail-lamp/rear section and hold it up to the new surface.  You should still have your frame in the way that is sticking out.

More than likely, especially if you have no body lift,  you will have to cut some new holes in your bottom roll pan so that your frame can go through and hold your bumper. 

   Once you have cut your frame holes in the bottom sheet metal, then butt the rear section to the other half of the bed real close and clamp down at the bed rails.  Your truck should look like drawing C.  Now decide where you want to cut that frame.

This will depend on the bumper you will be putting on or maybe you don't even want a bumper on.  Look at it and then mark your cut lines on your frame with your crayon pencil. With a reciprocating saw, cut the ends of the frame off. 

Now you are done cutting and need to prepare for the welding.   Using a grinder lightly prep both sides off all the seams that you will be welding together.

Once you have prepped the surfaces, then check that you are still butted up as close as you can to both joining pieces.  Adjust your clamps if needed.  If your certain that your ends are as close as possible, then let's get welding!  This is where your patience comes in.

Start out by just spot welding the top of the bed rails.  Make sure that everything aligns up properly before you do. Then, do some more spot welds every 6-8 inches or so. 

Once you have spot welded all around the bed, then go ahead start filling in.  This takes time,  lots of time.  Be patient! When I welded my bed I used a stick welder.  The stick welder worked, however I am sure that a MIG, line feed welder would have been much more efficient.

Once you have welded your new funny-looking bed, then start in on the body work.  Grind away the big chunks of the weld and smooth down the rest.  Plan on having to break out the welder again to hit some unfinished spots.

Once you've ground as best as you can, then hit the seam with a coat of Bondo or other body filler.  You might have to do a couple of light coats of the body filler. A wise idea also is to spray the seam under the truck with some rust-proofing spray.

I hope this article helped you bob your truck.  I am not an expert by any means on doing this,  I have simply gathered some of the ideas from others that have shared their experience bobbing their truck.

This is the method that I used to bob my truck and it worked just fine.  If you come up with other helpful ways to make it easier, then utilize them!  Have fun in that new short funny-looking wheeler of yours!  If you have any further questions, don't be afraid to ask  john.tale.bree@worldnet.att.net