1972 C30 help

[lrader99]

Im looking at buying a 1972 C30 dually. only problem is that it has no bed. What options are out there for a bed. Its a long bed truck. Is it just a regular long bed and then add on the fiberglass fender flares? I know JC Whitney sells the flares.

Will a later model bed fit? such as a 83 long bed dually?

any help would be appreciated.

[cam.man67]

If you want the body lines to line up, 67-72 long bed is the only way to go. Haven't seen JC Whitney fender flares, but it seems to me late model dually flares (83, in you've got one) might look all right.

Or, what about a flatbed? They can look really nice.

[lrader99]

ultimately i want to buy a wrecked 01-04 2500HD and stick the 6.6L Duramax and Allison 6 speed in the truck, bag the rear end and stick a hideaway receiver for gooseneck in the bed. I have a couple C10's so i have an extra long bed, thats kind of beat up so i could fix it and get some flares and throw them on. I just didnt know if the bed was specific for the duallys or not.

second question...is there a way to get RH bedside w/tool box. my bedside is all messed up and i can not find a bedside with tool box.

[Longhorn Man]

A regular 8 foot bed won't fit your new truck.
The one tons all came in a 133 inch wheelbase, or a 156 inch. A normal 8 foot bed truck has a wheelbase of 127 inches.
You could get a 9 foot stepside bed, or an 8 1/2 foot longhorn bed. Neither will be too easy to get your hands on. They'd probably be inexpensive since the one tons are usually bought for parts, but still, not real easy.
If you got lucky and located a bed, then you'll discover the rear axle in your C/30 is a narrow axle, and it doesn't kick the wheels out like a daully pick up does. To make a bed work, you'd have to widen the inner wheel wells, and then the outer tire would be right under the fender lip, making lowering the truck interesting. You could cut the bedside off, then fab an extention or fender a few inches out, but that'd end up looking kinda funny. Most people (myself included) would opt for a later rear end (you'll be able to get good gearing and actually find brake parts) like a 14 bolt GM unit out of a daully and then use stepside fenders modified and mounted on the fleetside bed. If done right it can look bad-a and the lines look right too.

[lrader99]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

If you got lucky and located a bed, then you'll discover the rear axle in your C/30 is a narrow axle, and it doesn't kick the wheels out like a daully pick up does.

Im sorry im not following you here. The truck is a C30 dually.

[jasons]

The 67-72 Dual rear wheel trucks were not dually pickups as they became in the square body style. They were sold as cab and chassis for the end user to put on a flatbed or whatever utility bed they needed. The axles were not as wide as the ones used on the later trucks.

[jasons]

Here are a couple photos I found after a quick search of the site.

Original rear axle, outside rear tire is not much wider track than front.


Later style rear axle, standard dually pickup width.

[lrader99]

ohhhhhhhh ok, so do as longhorn man says then. I might just through a flat bed on it for now until i can get this all sorted out. thanks

that blue truck needs like a 2-4" flare, but i really like that the track width is not really wide like modern duallies

[lrader99]

ok so, new questions. with the C30 being a 133" wheel base which is the same wheel base as a 2002 single cab short bed 2500HD what would you do? ultimately i want to stick the body onto a modern frame

extend a long bed by 6" to make it a longhorn bed, or what i would prefer. extend the cab 6".

What is the best option for extending a cab? use a suburban?
since its a C30 it has the cab lights which i really want to keep.

I will probably stick a modified long bed that will fit the duallies on it even though the 6" gap between the cab and the bed will look stupid I need something to drive on a daily basis until i can get something else figured out....With winter coming up i dont want to drive around with nothing on the back end..

[72freak]

The blue 68 pictured above was mine...I built it. It was a narrow rear with a 133" wheel base. If you want a longhorn bed to bolt on it contact board member UNCLE. Him and his neighbir will have several to choose from. If you cant get hime PM me....Ill get you his #

[lrader99]

PMed uncle....we are all relatively close to each other. where in marietta are you. im just off of 575 and bells ferry.

[dccarpenter]

This might sound like sacrilege but what the hell...if your desparate for a bed and don't want to build a flat bed you can put a late model dually bed on the truck, all you have to do is cut the wheel well on the interior of the bed and add a patch of metal to space it out a few inches, I have a pic if necessary of how I did it.

The gap at the front only ends up being 3, 3 1/2" or so if I recall correctly between a cab and chassis and a regular dually. It really isn't that badly obvious. Of course the longhorn bed sounds like a perfect solution.

[lrader99]

i thought about a late model dually bed, but after seeing how narrow this dually set up is I dont want to go that route, plus I would like the body lines to match. The guy has a flat bed, but if i can find a longhorn easy enough then that is one less extra thing laying around

[72freak]

Reminder.....you will have to tub the wheel wells to make it work. Here is a before and after.

[Masstowingllc]

This is what I have right now
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[Masstowingllc]

I might sell or trade this bed but I want a regular bed
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[Masstowingllc]

Here is a question if I was to put a newer bed on my 73 would it be wider inside the bed? And what year beds would fit?
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