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The Suburban frame will work! This is what I wrote a few weeks ago to someone wanting to convert his 63-66 into a 4WD.
Good luck,
Keith
From what I have found the 73-87 Truck frame would not be my first choice of frame for this conversion. This is because the 73-87's have a 45 degree bend right under the cab where the 63-66 do not have this bend, this makes the 73-87 frame difficult to work with. If your 63-66 truck is a short bed, you would still need to shorten a 73-87 short bed frame to match the 60-66 wheel base. The Blazer frame may work better, but I know they are shorter than a short bed truck of the same year.
If your truck is a 63-66 I would suggest one of two frames for the conversion.
1. Find a 67-72 Chev/GMC frame. (long/short bed your choice)
2. Find a 73-91 Suburban frame (If you have a long bed)
The 67-72 trucks have very similar frames to the 63-66 trucks, almost a bolt in job! They share the same cab/bed mounting locations and share the exact same wheel base wheather it be a short or long bed. (Long bed wheel base 127")
The Suburban frames are very similar to the 63-72 long bed frames. Should you use a Suburban frame you will need to remove the cab/mounts from your frame and bolt them to the Suburban 4WD frame. You will also need to move the rear axel spring hangers forward 2.5 inches, this will achieve the correct wheel base for the 63-72 long bed truck. (Suburban wheel base is 129.5")
Q&A:
What truck do you have? I have a 1965 C10 long bed.
Which route did you take? I was looking for a 4WD 67-72 frame or rusty donor truck until I found a rusty 3/4 ton 4WD 87 Suburban for sale locally.
Why the 87 Suburban? All 87 Suburbans had TBI fuel injection, it was 3/4 ton, has front disc brakes, automatic trans, 14 bolt rear axle. The Fuel injection really caught my eye.
Have you done the swap? No, I haven't done the swap yet mainly because it's too cold for me to work in the shop (poor heater). Should be done by mid summer.
Here are the wheel bases:
73-87 Short 117.5"
73-87 long 131.5"
73-91 Sub 129.5"
73-91 Blaz 106.5"
60-72 Short 115"
60-72 long 127"
Hope this helps.
Keith
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GMC
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