1988 square body

[grs]

I saw a truck that had an 87 grill, and a square body style body. It was a dump truck. The owner said it was an 88. I thought the body style changed in 88.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by grs

I saw a truck that had an 87 grill, and a square body style body. It was a dump truck. The owner said it was an 88. I thought the body style changed in 88.

Crew-cabs, burbs, & blazers were still the square body style through 91.

[Heavy87Chevy]

Originally Posted by grs

I saw a truck that had an 87 grill, and a square body style body. It was a dump truck. The owner said it was an 88. I thought the body style changed in 88.

Funny I was with a friend who was getting towed by an guy with an 88 1 ton squarebody tow truck & when the guy told me it was an 88, I told him I had an 87 & i thought 87 was the last year for squarebodys (aside from burbs & blazers) but he said 1 tons stayed square until 89! Thats just what I was told by the tow truck driver though!

[1tonchevy]

Originally Posted by Heavy87Chevy

Funny I was with a friend who was getting towed by an guy with an 88 1 ton squarebody tow truck & when the guy told me it was an 88, I told him I had an 87 & i thought 87 was the last year for squarebodys (aside from burbs & blazers) but he said 1 tons stayed square until 89! Thats just what I was told by the tow truck driver though!

1 tons are always a few years behind.... i have seen a 91 cc 1 ton Square body.

Also my grandpa had a 2000 cc dually and it was a 88-98 body style.

[grs]

Well I learned something today. Thanks.

[Gregs71]

Also,
73-87 4x4 trucks have a "K" designation
73-87 2x4 trucks have a"C" designation
In 1988 the K and C designations were retained for the "new" body style

1988-1991 4x4 square trucks/suburbans/blazers became a "V" designation
1988-1991 2x4 square trucks/suburubans/blazers became a "R" designation.

So if you saw a V3500 for sale you'd know it was 88-91 one ton square body style truck.

[flamingbig10]

Originally Posted by Gregs71

Also,
73-87 4x4 trucks have a "K" designation
73-87 2x4 trucks have a"C" designation
In 1988 the K and C designations were retained for the "new" body style

1988-1991 4x4 square trucks/suburbans/blazers became a "V" designation
1988-1991 2x4 square trucks/suburubans/blazers became a "R" designation.

So if you saw a V3500 for sale you'd know it was 88-91 one ton square body style truck.

actually 86 is the last year a square body is called a c/k

[C-10 simplex]

Originally Posted by 1tonchevy

1 tons are always a few years behind.... i have seen a 91 cc 1 ton Square body.

Also my grandpa had a 2000 cc dually and it was a 88-98 body style.

But why is this?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

But why is this?

Because it was just too much to do all at once.

If you think about all the permutations of C/K/R/V trucks in that timeframe, each product line was the equivalent of it's own car line. There was too much work, and not enough manpower, to get it all done at once.

Plus - if you roll some of the changes out, like TBI - then you get some field testing before introducing it across the board.

The C/K/R/V change over was the first time for a sequential model year rollout - you can see the practice continue with the GMT800 and the GMT900 launch (although we toyed a bit with the age old question: which goes first? The pickups or the utilities?) - lol

K

[1tonchevy]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Because it was just too much to do all at once.

If you think about all the permutations of C/K/R/V trucks in that timeframe, each product line was the equivalent of it's own car line. There was too much work, and not enough manpower, to get it all done at once.

Plus - if you roll some of the changes out, like TBI - then you get some field testing before introducing it across the board.

The C/K/R/V change over was the first time for a sequential model year rollout - you can see the practice continue with the GMT800 and the GMT900 launch (although we toyed a bit with the age old question: which goes first? The pickups or the utilities?) - lol

K

but why can you get an 88-89 Dually in a 88-98 body style? lol some many oddities.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by 1tonchevy

1 tons are always a few years behind.... i have seen a 91 cc 1 ton Square body.

Also my grandpa had a 2000 cc dually and it was a 88-98 body style.

I have a 2000 GMC C2500 6.5 diesel. It's the older 88-98 body. I ask for 1998 parts unless I'm gettin em from GM.
I got tired of the counter goons giving me Duramax parts.

[meter swinger]

It does get old at the parts stores. I usually go to a mom and pop parts place called nine to nine. The place reminds me of places i went to with my grandpa as a kid. And i dont have to tell them that a 88 1ton CC dually is a square because they dont ask me questions of a computer
Posted via Mobile Device

[Gregs71]

Ya, my mistake on the C/K to R/V conversion. I was thinking more of when there were 2 body styles in the same years.

[GM72K10]

For another bit of trivia in 1988 you could get a single cab 4x4 dually pickup (not just cab and chassis) either way, the old style as a V30 or the new style as a K30. As far as I know that was the only configuration you get a pickup both body style that year.

[special-K]

I almost bought a clean (16,000 miles for $13,000) used '88 V30 DRW pickup (Midnight Blue upper/Dark Grey lower) back in '91 before I ordered my '92 K3500. Financing messed everything up by wanting abut $7k down,then just a short warranty too. Man,that thing was saweet! The V30 cab & chassis were available through '89. I was disappointed I never managed to get a new '87 V30 SRW pickup because I also bought my house that year,which really set me back. I tried to scrape up money for a V30 SRW cab & chassis to put a 9' Reading Low-Profile utility bed on. I was real disappointed when in '90 they were no longer offered. My house needed a lot of work the first few years. But,yeah,that's how the square body regular cabs ran out.

[KQQL IT]

I have an old body style 99 crew cab and have to order 98 parts for it.
And we used to have an 89 cab-chassis tow truck that was square.

[andrewmp6]

Gm not the only one ford does it too sell the old body style when the new one rolls out.The 97-03 f150 is still made new in south america,The jeep cherokee the 96 body style is still made in china under a 2500 name.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

Gm not the only one ford does it too sell the old body style when the new one rolls out.The 97-03 f150 is still made new in south america,The jeep cherokee the 96 body style is still made in china under a 2500 name.

You see all kinds of models in South America that haven't been made for the US market in years. I've been in Brazil this week and last.
There's an Ford pickup parked on the street about a block from the hotel. Kinda looks like an early 70's F series truck with square headlights and F1000-Turbo lettered on both sides.
I see NEW VW Microbus vans all over the city.
Chevy trucks that look like 90s Ford Rangers.
Even seen a few Chevy Suburbans that look like a special ed love child of an early 60's Chevy and 70's Ford.
Opel is really dead. I see Chevy Vectra and Chevy Corsa cars all over the city with the Opel circle surrounding the bowtie on the grilles. Dad tells me he rented an Opel Corsa 10 years ago when he was working in France.

[Keith Seymore]

I should mention the reason my truck is an '87 is because I saw what was to be the GMT400 versions and didn't like the styling. I hurried and bought an R/V truck while I could still get one.

Similarly, I saw the '81 front end before it came out and didn't like it, either. Bought an '80.

My dad always teased me; he'd say "...if you had been around in my day, you would have seen the 55 Chevys, not liked them and bought a '54...."

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

Gm not the only one ford does it too sell the old body style when the new one rolls out.The 97-03 f150 is still made new in south america,The jeep cherokee the 96 body style is still made in china under a 2500 name.

also ford changed in 97 but hds where still old body style except a gas f250 that was built on the f150 and frame body with heavier axles they offered only in 97

in 88 you could get an square and nbs dually both for that year. most duallys squares where stripped down.

[Keith Seymore]

One other thought/story: My first day in Engineering, after leaving the assembly plant, was the day they split the engineering groups into the carryover "C/K/R/V" group and the new GMT400 team.

There was a lot of whispering and meetings behind closed doors.

Being new, I had no idea what was going on. My only thought was "...please don't send me back to the assembly plant!"

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

One other thought/story: My first day in Engineering, after leaving the assembly plant, was the day they split the engineering groups into the carryover "C/K/R/V" group and the new GMT400 team.

There was a lot of whispering and meetings behind closed doors.

Being new, I had no idea what was going on. My only thought was "...please don't send me back to the assembly plant!"

K

My last comment: the ultimate irony? I'm sitting in a GM assembly plant as I type this.

K

[grs]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

My last comment: the ultimate irony? I'm sitting in a GM assembly plant as I type this.

K

Keith why did some trucks have 56 inch long rear springs? I am having difficulty getting rear bumper brackets for my 87 short bed.

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by grs

Keith why did some trucks have 56 inch long rear springs? I am having difficulty getting rear bumper brackets for my 87 short bed.

im sure its a towing application performance application or ride improvement application offered