55.2-59 This ole girl followed me home

[58pan]

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

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice find....

[GOPAPA]

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 ..

[notsolo]

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

[Getter-Done]

I like it.
Great deal.








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[truckster]

She's a beauty. Congratulations.

[FleetsidePaul]

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

[68panelman]

Looks solid

[58pan]

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.

[truckster]

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.

[58pan]

Originally Posted by truckster

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.

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

[Getter-Done]

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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[truckster]

I would also recommend a newer model 14 bolt FF.

[Getter-Done]

^^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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[biketopia]

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

Looks like a nice score!!

[67ChevyRedneck]

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

[nvrdone]

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.

[58pan]

Here is a better pic.

[mr48chev]

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.

[1project2many]

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?

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.





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

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[nvrdone]

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.

[dsraven]

motor mounts look like the quick and dirty style. possibly the cross member used in the truck is for a GMC and may be a little different than the Chevy. I have had both Chevy and GMC with a 6 cyl and 3 on the tree and both were apparently the same. Canadian models though.

https://www.trifive.com/55-59Assy.pdf

[dsraven]

check engine section around sheet 25 for engine mounting instructions. dimensions are in the frame section.

[1project2many]

GMC and Chevrolet use different crossmembers in the US. Top is a 57 GMC, lower is a 59 Chevrolet.

[jmlloar]

Definitely looks like chevy engine rigged into a gmc frame.
You cant go by Canada stuff their gmc's used chevy engines and U.S. had gmc 6 cyl and Pontiac V8's.

You could swap to chevy crossmember but to do that you have to swap rad support also since the gmc support mounts to the crossmember and chevy mounts to tabs on the frame. Again Canada stuff is chevy parts there also.

I used a 14 bolt semi float in mine from a 99 3/4 ton. All I had to do was knock all brackets off the rear. It had same tube diameter and same joint size. Since the gmc stuff was bolted on I just had to weld perches on and rest fell into place.

Driveshaft shortened a little since rear had a slightly longer nose.
3" total wider. Only 1.5 on each side.

Now I got 8 lug rear with easy to find parts including brakes and 3:73 gears all in one package from a donor truck that only cost a few hundred for complete truck.