Thinking of converting 71 2wd suburban to 4wd need suggestions

[66mustangguy]

thinking of converting my 71 2wd suburban to 4wd. what is the best approach to this?? should I find a 71 long bed truck and replace the body mounts? What is the best approach?

I have a 93 donor truck, but I am thinking this isnt a good idea to drop the body on this frame....

[LockDoc]

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Welcome to the board.

If you scroll down through some of the older threads below you will find some info on this. I can't really help you but I think most guys use the '67-'72 4x4 pickup frames because they are much easier to find. You would have to make a couple of changes to the pickup frame but nothing major.

LockDoc

[72c10suburban]

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[jeffro308]

[QUOTE=66mustangguy;6498385]thinking of converting my 71 2wd suburban to 4wd. what is the best approach to this?? should I find a 71 long bed truck and replace the body mounts? What is the best approach?

QUOTE]

I've got the same plan for my 69 panel. I'm going to use the stock frame and install a different engine cross member, spring hangars, Sliders rather than shackles and a divorced transfer case.

[vectorit]

Personally, I'd look for a roached out 4x4 67-72 Suburban. Then swap frames, and sell the donor as a roller.

Converting from 4x2 to 4x4 on these trucks is a challenge trying to make a 4x2 to 4x4, plus you have the rear to deal with if you are running coils for suspension. Sure it can be done, but comparing work involved in making a chassis work to swapping in a 4x4 chassis?

[jeffro308]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Personally, I'd look for a roached out 4x4 67-72 Suburban. Then swap frames, and sell the donor as a roller.

Converting from 4x2 to 4x4 on these trucks is a challenge trying to make a 4x2 to 4x4, plus you have the rear to deal with if you are running coils for suspension. Sure it can be done, but comparing work involved in making a chassis work to swapping in a 4x4 chassis?

Sometimes the work involved and the completed project is the point.

[Onelefttoget]

Hey Iam thinking of doing just the opposite text me 3605616926 maybe we should talk

[Captainfab]

You are correct.....that will be way too much work.

I always recommend keeping your original frame and just changing the suspension and running gear. There are advantages to having a frame and body with the same VIN. Hopwever if you do happen to find a 4x4 frame and running gear of the correct vintage, so as to make it an easy bolt on swap, be sure you get a title with the frame, and follow the proper legal procedures in your state.

Originally Posted by 66mustangguy

thinking of converting my 71 2wd suburban to 4wd. what is the best approach to this?? should I find a 71 long bed truck and replace the body mounts? What is the best approach?

I have a 93 donor truck, but I am thinking this isnt a good idea to drop the body on this frame....

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I always recommend keeping your original frame and just changing the suspension and running gear. There are advantages to having a frame and body with the same VIN. Hopwever if you do happen to find a 4x4 frame and running gear of the correct vintage, so as to make it an easy bolt on swap, be sure you get a title with the frame, and follow the proper legal procedures in your state.

x2

Keeping a proper paper trail of where the cab/body & frame came from is very important in many states. Mine requires an inspection by the state patrol with a body swap to certify the pieces used are not stolen then a new VIN number is affixed to the cab that matches the frame VIN.

Even when like with our trucks that only have a partial VIN on the frame and the whole VIN on the cab the frame is still the primary component for registration in my state and it over rules the body VIN. So with your swap the title for the parts Sub would be the one you needed for registration.

Every state is different so you need to know what your state requires to know for sure what you need to do to make this legal.

If the vehicle ever gets wrecked and the insurance companies get involved the mismatched VIN could cause you way more grief than you think. Not that yours is not a valid transaction but as an example say the donor vehicle you purchased came with no title but you bought it anyway on good faith that it was not a stolen vehicle. You complete the work to get the body swap done and once the Sub is back on the road it gets hit in an accident. Say the insurance estimator at the body shop finds the partial VIN on frame doesn't match the body during his inspection. If he runs the numbers and finds the donor you used for the frame was reported as a stolen vehicle then your entire vehicle could be confiscated on the spot with no compensation to you what so ever. This applies even if you unknowingly had a parts vehicle that was a stolen vehicle.

I lost a car I purchased legally with a title that matched the VIN on the dash this way. Body shop I had replacing a floor pan found a hidden VIN on the floor that didn't match the dash so they looked for the other hidden VIN's and they all matched the floor. They tore into the dash to look more closely at the dash VIN and found it had been taken from the body of another car so the police ran the hidden VIN numbers and found it had been stolen 25 years earlier and never recovered. Dash VIN fasteners were not visible without taking the dash board apart so it was not caught even by the police department that inspected my car when I transferred the title from CA to WA. The original owner who had the car stolen from him in 1972 got it back and I got nothing to compensate me for it even though I thought I had purchased the car legally and had a clean title for it.

[pwdcougar]

Great information. Where is the vin on our frames?

Paul

[Gobuffalo]

It can be found on the left frame rail. The one I have always found is stamped on top of the frame about halfway between the axles. If the body is on the frame you will need a mirror.
I sometimes find it also stamped on top of the left frame rail by the steering box.

Here's mine at the middle of the frame.

[Gobuffalo]

And by the steering box.
Not the complete number. Some of the beginning and the last 5 are from the end.
My understanding is the one in the middle is the most important as the one in the engine compartment is easily faked.