elcome back! Assuming you left off where we last left off—with the conclusion of the ’73-87 Chevy/GMC longbed chassis shortening—we’re now all primed and ready to finish the job with the shortening of the ’76 Chevy’s factory bedsides at Brothers Trucks’ tech center.

Now, let’s let it be known: By far, the easiest/quickest way to shorten a longbed Fleetside is by acquiring a new set of short wheelbase bedsides … plain and simple. However, as is the case here, when said longbed has the cab-matching patina, and said patina needs to remain, well, then we take the long road, so to speak, and proceed with the semi-laborious task of cutting down the long wheelbase bedsides (same as the frame we just severed: 14 inches off the front, 6 inches off the back … but not quite as simple cut-wise, as you’ll see).

As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat and, as such, there are definitely a number of ways to go about shortening long bedsides. Though not as in-depth as we care to illustrate, due to space limitations, we’re presenting you with what we believe is the most straightforward method … one that (hopefully) won’t leave you having to call Brothers to order a set of those aforementioned “new” bedsides! (For the full, in-depth procedure, follow along with Dave Welch on Brothers’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSi2gzylceU.)

n the past, I never put a whole lot of thought into having parking brakes (at least not fully functioning ones) in my old trucks. Most of the time, the rearends were drum brake equipped to begin with, so the presence of one wasn’t crucial to the performance of the older brake mechanisms themselves … or at least that’s what I assumed. It wasn’t until I started dealing more with updated rear disc brake setups that I became aptly aware of the importance of having properly performing parking brakes—and it’s not for use in “emergency” situations!

Ironically, one of the main things that always bothered me in the back of my mind about my ’69 C10 ever since I thought I got a smoking deal on it a couple years back (I did not—I’ve spent the entire time practically redoing the entire truck!) was having to deal with and facilitate the factory parking brake setup. Even though I’d swapped out the stock 12-bolt for a Strange Engineering 9-inch and had acquired a new set of cables, the original lever mechanism was completely missing—and I’d already designated the space immediately behind under the dash for the forthcoming fuse panel setup.

Well, my worries were no sooner put to rest when I got a call from my buddy Mike Hamrick at Wilwood Engineering asking me what kind of brakes I had on my newly installed 9-inch. It just so happened that Wilwood was releasing their new Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) equipped rear kits for C10s, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t need to be persuaded into switching to something with the word “electric” in it! Ever better, with Wilwood’s expanded customer customization options, I was able to choose not only the color of my calipers, but the color of the logos as well!