This ole girl followed me home
 

55 GMC has some rust but not bad. Runs but has blow by. Just picked up the bed yesterday has a couple of small dents but no rust. Not bad for 800

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Nice find....

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Nice find ,,,is it a original dually ? your in Idaho but way north of me . like to see this in person.. keep in touch with your improvements with this diamond in the rough ..

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Can't wait to see that cleaned up, nice score.

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

I like it.
Great deal.








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Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

She's a beauty. Congratulations.

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Nice. I would have snapped that up in a second for 800

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Looks solid

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The rear is not factory. The winch is home make but the guy that built it sure used his noodle. The truck hasn't been licensed since 1975. The guy I got it from only used it a couple of times. For the time being I have to let it sit as winter is around the corner and I have a lot of wood to get in.

Question for all you wenches. I'm looking for a rear end for this thing. What would be a good rear? I'd like to be able to do atlease 65 with it. It's a 3/4 ton.

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Are you asking about ratio or specific rear end units? I like a 3.73 rear as a good general-purpose rear for a truck. It will get you to freeway speeds easily enough.

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I need a complete rear. I was wondering if there was a specific year truck I could the rear from?

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A 14 bolt full-floating rear axle would be your best
choice IMO.
Ratio choices :3.21, 3.42, 3.73, 4.10, 4.56, 4.88, 5.13, and 5.38

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10.5%2...t_Differential











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Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

I would also recommend a newer model 14 bolt FF.

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^^I agree^^
One change that occurred in the second design was that on some models the brake drum could be removed without having to remove the hub and axle shaft









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Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Guys, these 14 bolt ff rear ends that you are talking about. Are 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive rear ends the same? And it must be 8 lugs.
I've always been a motorcycle guy this is all new to me. I have lots of dumb questions. Thanks

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Glad I'm not alone anymore.:lol:

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Ask a dumb question, feel dumb for a minute, don't ask a dumb question be dumb forever....

Looks like a nice score!!

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I was kinda hoping for a bad wife joke, but this is much better. Cool truck. Definitely don't see many 55-59 GMCs.

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Here some of the specs I found with the differences.
Spring perch will probably be the main issue for you.(maybe or Maybe not)


14 Bolt Axle Dimensions




WMS to WMS width

'73-'91

Axle tube diameter

Axle tube thickness

Hub type

Driver axle shaft length

Pass. axle shaft length

Wheel stud threads

Brake type

Pinion centered



SRW
67.5" '89-'00 3.375" 0.5" Outboard 37.625" 31.625" 9/16"-18 Drum Yes

SRW
65" '00-07 3.375" 0.5" Outboard 37.625" 31.625" M14-1.5 Drum Yes

SRW
68" 3.375" 0.5" Outboard 37.625" 31.625" M14-1.5 Disc Yes

DRW
72" 3.5" 0.5" Inboard 9/16"-18 Drum Yes

C&C DRW
63.5" 3.5" 0.5" Inboard 37.625" 31.625" 9/16"-18 Drum Yes

SRW Van
70" 3.5" 0.5" Outboard 39.375" 33.375" 9/16"-18 Drum Yes

14 Bolt Axle Spring Perch Width


Axle

Spring perch spacing


3/4 ton 14 bolt 42.5"
1 ton 14 bolt 40.5"

Info came from this link: https://www.roundforge.com/articles/...rw-drw-and-cc/








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Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

I found that this truck is worthy of a back yard restoration. The rust is not bad but needs some love. The question I have is where the front motor mounts are there two pieces of channel welded to the frame. Is this right or Mickey and goofy working on it before I got it. Thanks

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

those mounts look like they were used to install an early style engine with the front motor mounts - the ones that look like a bolt with rubber washers.
Not being really familiar with this era truck, maybe some one can clarify. some one may have done an engine transplant.

Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

Here is a better pic.

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I'm thinking that the mounts show that someone did a quick and nasty engine change in it. That doesn't happen to be a 235 or 261 rather than a GMC engine?

You are going to have to watch the axle width on the back real close to keep the tires under the fenders. I'd check the rear axle to make sure that they didn't just adapt it for the dual rear wheels and leave the 3/4 ton axle. My buddy did that a time or two but he is in a nursing home with dementia and isn't able to tell me how he did it. A real dual wheel rear axle is usually a bit narrower than a single wheel axle. That would let you remove the duals and fit the bed and fenders to it while hunting down the right axle with road gears.

That truck looks pretty good for having a wrecker boom on it. I've seen a few with those home made booms used for yard dogs in wrecking yards that were beat to death but that one must have had a specific task to do in it's life.

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I agree. GMC engines mounted in the center of the crossmsmber. Chevrolet engines have mounts on either side of the crankshaft.

I'd love to see more pictures of the boom and winch. I see a manual crank... is it also powered by PTO? There's a hydraulic brake assembly to slow or stop it... Is that park brake lever connected to a master cylinder? very cool stuff.


For the axle a Dana 60 or 14 bolt corporate axles are both good choices. You may want to look for axles from a cutaway van chassis instead of a truck. I believe they are narrower. Also, the 2003 and newer G vans have a bolt-on spacer that allows a single wheel front end to use wheels for the dually. If the dimensions work out you would be able to run only one type wheel.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SloAA...xzc/s-l640.jpg



These are some axle dimensions for a 98-2002 ish van.

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Re: This ole girl followed me home
 

58 pan - you're lucky you are in Sand Point. There is a guy down the road in Athol that deals in old Chevy truck parts. he's posted on craigslist - Spokane. if you cant find his number, I may still have it.
Looks like a fun project.