Last year of the square body style?
 

I thought that 87 was the last year for the square body for 1/2 ton trucks and 91 for 3/4 and 1 tons. Is that incorrect? I went to see a 1989 3500 today fully expecting to see a square body, but it was the "newer" design.

When was the last year for the square body?

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

87 for regular cab trucks, 91 for crewcabs

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

I think you could get the newer bodied extended cabs in 88. I think just the 4 doors and SUV's made it 'til 91. I think I've seen short bed standard cab squares from Mexico into the 89-90 year on here too.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Not necessarily, you forgot some exceptions. Here is my 88 sitting in my driveway.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...fbc8cb2c00.jpg

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

This was probably a cab & chassis when new ? I had an '89 c & c that was a square .

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

10-30 regular cab pickups through '87

*30 regular cab dual rear pickups through '88

*30 regular cab & chassis (60" CA) through '89

*20-30 crew cab pickups and cab & chassis through '91

*designations changed to 2500/3500 as well as R/V taking place of C/K in '87 due to the overlapping body styles.

'92 was the first crew cab in the new body style. Regular and Ext. cab since '88. Regular cab DRW pickup overlapped through '88. Cab & chassis overlapped through '89

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Indeed. A cab and chassis when it was new and even today when its old.

I was just poking a little because so many people say crew cabs only after 87 and there are exceptions like my truck. Everyone forgets about them.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Well done.

The rollout took place in order to level the workload a bit because of the sheer size of the C/K platform. Sometimes the pickups changed first and the utilities followed; in some other programs the utilities changed first and the pickups followed.

I would add that my first day in engineering was the day the two groups split into the new C/K (GMT400) and the old C/K (R/V truck). I stayed with the R/V program.

Being just a pup I wasn't quite sure what was going on, with all the whispering and posturing. My only though was: "...PLEASE don't send me back to the assembly plant!".

K

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pse4285c12.jpg

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

I cheated. I have that tattooed onto the palm of my left hand

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Thanks, you jogged my failing memory, I'd forgotten about my '89 I didn't have it long.
Gas hit two $ a gallon and I got mad and sold it :lol: ($2.00), but bought an S10 to abuse. The other two in the fleet, (K30 1 1/4 ton srw 4.56 gears, and a C&C w/14' box), both got better mileage ! Both with carbs and manual trans.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Excellent post!^^^

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

That's the only way I would be able to remember it.

K

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

*30 regular cab dual rear pickups through '88
4x4 ONLY

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

88 square body Dually pickup 4x4 ONLY

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Lots of little nuances there.

We still use a chart like that to track model availability.

K

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Not trying to show up anyone, just helping out is all.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Great info, thanks!

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Now a question to really upset the apple cart:
Did the Mexican pickups stay regular cab dually (dooley) until '91?
I have seen the kooky 1/2 ton regular cab until '90 or 91 but my time in Mexico was almost always in a state of tequila fuzziness.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

I wouldn't argue with you. Great to know the facts. I didn't elaborate because I didn't know for sure. All I had ever seen were 4wd,though. I almost bought a beautiful '88 in '91...16k on the clock for $13k at Jones GMC in Lancaster. There was an issue with financing me from out of state and my bank wanted too much interest after me putting $7k down,so I ended ordering my '92

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

What about blazers and burbs?

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Blazers and Burbs square through '91

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Hey Keith, how come the crews didn't get an interior upgrade like the Suburban's and K5/Jimmy's did?

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Back then crew cabs were work trucks, base level vehicles that were the domain of railroad and power companies. Low profit, low volume and short remaining life probably did not warrant an upgrade in the eyes of program management.

The Suburban and Blazer, however, were right on the edge of kicking off the SUV boom that we still see today; using light trucks as personal use vehicles. High profit margins and higher volumes probably necessitated an upgrade to stay competitive until the new product came (keep in mind these things were 15 or so years old - unheard of in the industry up to the this point).

K

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Yep,once 4dr SUVs came out it started the SUV boom. Before that,Suburbans owned the market. This was right about '92 when GM did the 4dr Blazer/Yukon and 4dr Blazer/Jimmy S10s had come out, Trucks really took off once GM came out with the extended cab shortbeds

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

I've been telling people this since 1988!

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

gm and ford both have always let there hd trucks and suvs take longer to change over than half tons. look at the 2500 hds in 01 and the 98 superduty. 00 tahoes. also there was the oddballs the f250 that was not a super duty and the 2500 light duty that was in 99-00.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

tahoe didnt come around until 95. there where no fullsize 4dr suvs besides the suburan centurion broncos and the jeep wagoneer(which stopped in 91). the 4d s10 blazer did start in 91 along the explorer. jeep had the cherokee since 1984. i think it started the small 4d suv craze in fact jeep was ahead of its time with both there fullsize and small suvs.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

I never mentioned Tahoes. Centurions were aftermarket and certainly not an "affordable" offering to most. Yukons came out "about" '92,meaning they came about as a result of the changes in '92. Yes,Wagoneers had been out for many years,but not quite a fullsize,and 4wd Suburbans predated the SJ-series. Suburban owned it's own market once IH (Travelall) stopped producing light trucks. There were other smaller 4dr SUVs before the XJ-series built by foreign car makers. The XJ had been out for nearly a decade and it wasn't until other makers offered a version,just as with the Suburban for full-size,that the SUV boom began. The new Suburban in '92 played a big part in that. This thread is about the last square body "trucks" and somehow morphed into another conversation.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

there wasnt a 4 door till 95 is what im saying you said in 92 they started with the 4d fullsize suvs. wagoneer was on the jeep j10 truck platform and was a fullsize. in 92 you had the suburban or the 2door k5 blazer/yukon on the later body style.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

Yep,the Suburban is an SUV,alright,and as I made clear is when the new "92" came out that played a big part in the SUV explosion. For that matter,so did the new Blazer and Yukon "2dr". Obviously more than the SJ Wagoneer OR the earlier Suburbans,for that matter. It was a slow crawl up through the '80s for SUVs when they were pretty much still 2drs,mostly due to coming out with the new "downsized" class. I never saw the Suburban and SJs as apples to apples,is what I'm saying. The 3dr,then 4dr Suburbans were way more vehicle than the SJ which were downsized in comparison (the way I see it). I feel the same for the J series trucks. They were a notch below Ford,Dodge,and GM in size and most likely why they didn't sell nearly as many and I assume a big reason why they vanished before the SJ did. I'm done theorizing,hijacking,pissing,analyzing,or whatever. That's my take on it,that's all. Back to trucks

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

dude you said the 4dr yukons and blazer came out in 92 in your post. i was merely stating they didnt build anything but the 2 door and burban until 95. jeez ppl get testy on this forum. as for jeep i was saying they where ahead of there time is all. that said a rc lb jeep truck was the same size as its gm counterpart imo. even had a 3/4 ton option.

Re: Last year of the square body style?
 

ya know international was too with the shortbed crew. crazy how things change like that. shorter is prefered now for both suvs and trucks back then the longer was.