1 ton fame for 1/2 ton?

[zenchal26]

I want to bag my 57 3100 but I don't want to stop driving it to do the work on the chassis. I found a 55 1 ton frame and am wondering if this will work for my 1/2 ton? Are the fender and cab mounts the same? are any of the bed mounts the same (maybe the ones closest to the cab? Obviously the frame is going to be way to long and need to be cut, which isn't a big deal sense Im going to be removing pretty much everything but the body mounts to fab up the suspension. Is it going to be just a matter of cutting it off the back of the frame or is the frame drastically different from the 1/2 ton?

[Mac the Yankee]

Unless I'm mistaken, the 1/2 ton and 1 tone frames are completely different (staring at the 1 ton panel in my back yard and the 1/2 ton frame in my driveway)...

You'd be better off finding another 1/2 ton frame to do what you want, or suck it up and let your desire to be back on the road be the driving force for your work ethic

[mongocanfly]

^^^ditto^^^

[zenchal26]

Motivation isn't the problem its the wallet. Figured I can build the chassis over a few years and still drive my truck

[1project2many]

There must be a frame floating around after someone started an S10 frame swap.

[Johns 57]

I started with a 57 3800 with a 9 foot bed now I have a 3100 short bed. Frame rails are wider, all the bolt holes from the back of the cab forward are the same, from the front of the bed back is a little different. I can send pics if that will help.

John

[zenchal26]

Pics would be great thank you

[mr48chev]

According to this https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/doc...olet-Truck.pdf The TF frames are the same width.

The 3800 does have a slightly taller frame rail with heavier/thicker steel. You have to scroll way way down the page to page 151 to see that.

It seems that all of the TF frames on up into the bigger trucks are 34 inches wide at the back end of the frame.

[dsraven]

study up on independent front suspension systems and theory
study up on rear suspension systems and theory
look online at what manufactured frames look like and pic features you want/like
check sites like welder's series for brackets and items you want/need but can't fab in a hurry or don't want to fab
draw up a plan of what you want to end up with
run to the scrap dealer
pick up some straight pieces of scrap I beam
make a frame table
take your drawn up plan and then make your own frame from rectangular tubing the way you want it with the components you want. the frame doesn't need to be the same width as the stock frame, just needs to be the same wheel base and have a track width that will work. the cab mounts can be built or modified for frame width. tack it together and have a welder finish it off for you
when done sell the table or take it back for scrap prices

this would beat the idea of cutting off the front of the frame to sub in a front end from some other vehicle, then cutting off the rear of the frame to fab up a new rear suspension and really only using the center section because it has the cab mounts. those mounts are so easy to build you wouldn't need an old possibly tweaked frame. if you have an old 1 ton frame steal the cab mounts off that and fab up your own new frame using those cab mounts. get the frame dimensions from an assembly manual and start cutting steel. if you look at a diagram of the original frame, in the assembly manual, you will see it would be an easy frame to copy if you just want a copy of the original. if you want a more custom frame the dimensions are there for items like cab mount locations, rad support location, axle center line etc etc.

a nice frame is one from Canadian Hotrods in Tappen BC. corvette underpinnings, fully boxed, hidden brake lines, battery cables etc. set up for whatever driveline you want.

just saying, a new frame may not be out of reach, budget wise, if you build it yourself.

[_Ogre]

fam indicates 3800 is 1/8" wider. i think the 3100 vary that much
as mentioned 3800 is a little deeper/heavier and behind the cab is stick straight
depth shouldn't matter and you will need to c-notch regardless
that said proceed with caution and pass unless it's a freebie