Wrong bed

[Phillip Pennartz]

I have a 77 C30 cab and chasis truck. The truck had a service bed on it and the PO put a long bed on it. But in order to get the tires to line up with the wheel openings the bed and cab must have a three inch gap between them.
I'm guessing that I'm dealing with a longer wheelbase than a regular truck.
Is there a special bed that I need? I ran the VIN it says nothing about wheelbase. (CCT337S178428) And there is not a sticker in the glovebox with the RPOs. Also the rear bumper will not fit with the bed in way.
Also truck has dual tanks so would like dual filler doors. So am I stuck with a flatbed or is there a truck that I need to look for to get a bed from?

[71swb4x4]

If you really want a bed you will either need to shorten that frame, stretch the bed, or move the axle forward.

[DetroitDan]

Huh, thats interesting. I thought the extended cab-to-axle chassis was considerably longer than a regular pickup, not just a couple of inches. My cab & chassis lines up perfect with an 8 foot bed on it. I know that with mine they cut the last 8 inches off the frame to make the wrecker body fit, and that's common with most aftermarket jobber bodies. So to go back to a bed you have to scab 8 inches back on. But that wont fix your wheelbase issue. I did recently see some neat little add-a-leaf/spring block things at Offroad Design.com, allows you to bolt your spring pack together, but then use a second pin to locate the axle, so you can move the axle forward or back like an inch and a half. Probably not enough to help you though. Depends what you want to do with the truck I guess. It could be done, slip the axle ahead a bit with the ORDs, lift the hell out of it so it's less noticeable, line the bed up over the wheels then add an inch of metal on the bed sides at the front and nobody would notice. Cutting the frame is just too big of a job imo. If it were me I'd probably just put a flatbed on it. No worries about dual tank access then. Much more useable from a utility standpoint, just doesn't look nice.

[GM72K10]

Your truck is a model 31003, C&C, wheelbase 135.5. The 1 ton pickup is a 30903, 131.5
wheelbase, thus the difference.

[DetroitDan]

Originally Posted by GM72K10

Your truck is a model 31003, C&C, wheelbase 131.5. The 1 ton pickup is a 30903, 127.5
wheelbase, thus the difference.

thats interesting. That must mean that the handful of rclb fleetside duallies I've seen have been regular pickups with a narrow rear axle installed under them. Instead of being a C&C with a bed dropped on it.
Do you happen to know anything about the crewcab wheelbases? Because mine was supposedly a C&C before it became a pickup, and the bed lines up perfectly, in fact I swapped another, better bed on it with no trouble at all. The bed I got it with had nice custom tubs to clear the inner rear tires under load, and I started to save the tubs for the new bed but gave up on it. I knew I was going to lift the truck and the bedfloor is out of reach of the tire now.
I'm told mine was a wrecker built for a dealership who did their own towing, and when they retired the truck they built the pickup bed for it before selling it to the guy I got it from. I suppose it's not inconceiveable that they put the wrecker body on a crewcab srw, then stuck a narrow drw axle under it for more towing capacity. But I think it's probably more likely that what GM for a crewcab C&C was just the same wheelbase as the longbed crewcab pickup, rather than make yet another length frame. Anyway, interesting topic. love learning stuff about this.

[GM72K10]

Yours was most likely a 31003 C&C with single rear wheel option. A lot of them were made for the lunch truck business and an electrical contractor around here had a whole fleet of them, they wanted a 9'0" utility body but NOT dual rear wheels. I had an 87 utility that way. Wheel base for a 4 door pickup is 164.5.

[DetroitDan]

yeah thats what I just measured mine at. I had a little trouble getting the correct parking brake cable for it, first one I bought was a foot short, second one is right. No idea how that happened, but I'd guess a nitwit parts counter guy ordered 155 not 165, or it was packaged wrong.
Speaking of parts guys (and gals) I have several I deal with, mostly at Advance and it's worth a lot to get a good one who knows anything. Tried to buy two universal glasspacks last week, new guy keeps insisting on looking it up by application, and I couldn't get it through his head what a universal fit part was. All they know how to do is fill in the year make and model on a computer, no idea what the parts are for. This old guy finally had to ask a young kid how to find them, then I had two mufflers in my hands in under a minute.

[Phillip Pennartz]

I guess I will give up on the longbed Idea. I don't feel up to cutting a frame. By building a flat bed I may be able to get both gas caps on the same side.
Thanks guys

[1tonchevy]

Originally Posted by Phillip Pennartz

I guess I will give up on the longbed Idea. I don't feel up to cutting a frame. By building a flat bed I may be able to get both gas caps on the same side.
Thanks guys

could strech the bed... that would be cool to see

[truckfan]

Is this like a "Longhorn" in a 73-87? i've not seen lone with a longer bed....

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by truckfan

Is this like a "Longhorn" in a 73-87? i've not seen lone with a longer bed....

No, that was never offered. His best bet is to section the frame.

[Phillip Pennartz]

Yeah 1tonchevy I think that would be cool also. Its one of the reasons I left the frame alone. But welding that much sheet metal and keeping the warpage under control is beyond my abilities. Maybe some day.