How about some pics of 73-91 crew cabs

[joe231]

Looks like a decent truck, how much are they asking?

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by joe231

looks like a decent truck, how much are they asking?

2500

[Mr Pops]

a few more pics of my 1990 V3500

[Mr Pops]

Originally Posted by BGRAFX

Only a few more inches higher and you can park the blazer under the crew

haha.. maybe one day. Gotta figure out how big I can go while keeping it a comfortable daily highway driven truck. The way it is now with 6" of lift and 35" tires, it doesn't handle much different then before I lifted it. Its a work truck, not an off roader, but even so, I wouldn't mind doing a coil spring conversion up front just to soften the ride. Also, gotta trade my pitman spacer block for a left to right pitman? arm setup to get rid of some bump steer. Does anyone know if thats a stock option, and if so, what the correct name for that "pitman arm" part is? As for the front coils, someone suggested modifing a Dodge 2500 long arm kit, and I haven't found anything easier short of building it from scratch..

[joe231]

Originally Posted by MrBeast

2500

that doesn't sound to bad...

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by joe231

that doesn't sound to bad...

if I buy it im going to offer 1500 no motor or tranny. I dont need the headaches of a 400 small block.

I think it is a perfect cantidate for a NV4500 and a Cummins through!

[munger]

one i found in the nieghborhood as i was driving by

[ghettoluxury]

Originally Posted by Matt Man

The blue truck looks familiar....

Whoda thunk it

[Scootin 81 C20]

Here's one locally that may be up for sale in the near future. I believe it's a 454/TH400. If it does go up for sale, what would be a reasonable offer for me to make on it?

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by Scootin 81 C20

Here's one locally that may be up for sale in the near future. I believe it's a 454/TH400. If it does go up for sale, what would be a reasonable offer for me to make on it?

Wow, I wouldnt really want to give a lot for that truck, it looks like a rust bomb.

I paid 1,000 for my 85 with no rust.

[ghettoluxury]

[KQQL IT]

Couldnt resist Fixer upper for sale cheap...

[BGRAFX]

I came up on this Girls Truck! Tried to take some pics but she was driving it like she stole it! lol
had a few cool custom touches like the 15" lift and 44inch swampers, skull fender emblem, pink rearend cover, had a cowl hood and billet grill with pink country girl across the windshield. We live in Kansas City so dont see trucks like these ever.

[Scootin 81 C20]

That truck is outta sight. I'd kill to have a truck like that, but then my mom wouldn't be able to get in it or drive it.

[Daniellane]

best looking shortbed ive ever seen

[SBTork]

^^ I don't know if it's the best ever, but it is damn nice

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by Daniellane

best looking shortbed ive ever seen

YOU BASTARD!

You shouldnt show things like that to me, now I want to build one!

[Eyegore]

Originally Posted by Daniellane

best looking shortbed ive ever seen

Isn't that the one for sale on cl in Los Angels?

[capone550]

Originally Posted by MrBeast

Woah hold the phone!

I never said I didn’t like air ride suspension, I love air ride, I would take a bagged truck over a sprung truck every day.

This is my old ride, I put down damn near 500,000 miles in it in the time I owned it.



I had dump valves on each of the trailer axles and I could use them to walk the trailer sideways allowing me to back into holes that most people could never dream of.

The thing to note in this picture are the tool boxes under the trailer, I had 8 of them on there when I started out, they cost 650.00 each. At the front of the trailer I had 6” of ground clearance. The trailer was a huge pain being set up that way because I always had to be crazy careful because I was always hitting the tool boxes on the ground. The reason there are only 4 of the boxes on it in this pic because one night running down the road in western Missouri I went over a set of train tracks doing 65 mph and ripped them off tossing about 6 grand worth of boxes, tarps, tools and rigging all over the place.

Eventually I would wind up removing all the boxes from the truck and placing a new set between the spread axles to protect them. This was because everywhere I went I was always having problems with setting the boxes down and scraping and busting the mounts. I cringe to even think about how much money I spent patching that thing up.





I also spent about 6 months driving an 8 axle haul truck that had 5 inches of ground clearance, when fully loaded, grossed out there were times I would weigh 136,000 lbs and it was a huge pain all the time setting it down on driveways and humps in the road as well as train tracks.

This ties into why I said I don’t like taking a crew cab dually and slamming it, because it makes the truck less functional as a hauler, when you have a long wheel base low to the ground you have to be very careful not to scrape, and even with air ride and the ability jack the truck up you are still going to have to be really careful not to scrape and jack your truck up.

Also when running the semi wheels turned down to 22” so you can run a super lo pro tire, they don’t have a good weight rating, for instance a tire like the Kumho Ecsta 285/30 r22 it only has a 1,819 lb load rating, times 4 tires that’s only 7276 lbs, where as the Michelin XDS2 that I am going to run on my dually is a 245/70 R19.5 with a 4940 lb load rating, that means times 4 tires you are looking at 19,760 lbs capacity.

That coupled with an air ride suspension that will handle the weight that means I could get 12,484 lbs more on the back end of my truck.

So when I say that slamming a dually is destroying the functionality of it as a hauler, this is what I am referring to. And to be honest I have seen a couple of em that I really liked the look of. Like Dragnasty’s truck,



I love the look of it, man I think it looks mean. I wouldn’t mind having it, but I also wouldn’t want to drive it cross country for the reasons I outlined above.

And I have a semi lowered dually.


I have also owned a couple of half tons that were lowered, I had a 95 1500 x cab short bed, and a 71 c/10 that were both lowered I really enjoyed em, My grandpa has the 95 now, when he passes on I am going to get it back, then I will restore and bag it.

Another one I really like is your truck.



I used to have a 78 that is identical but a 4x4, 4x4s4allie has it now.

And for my girlfriend I am looking at getting her a 2WD K5 and lowering it with air ride.

I hope that this clarify’s the point I was getting at, and it might be worth your while to check out the build on my 85, im putting air ride on it and stuffing a Cummins in it, as well I am building a 48’ tilt deck tripple axle goose neck to pull behind it that will have air ride as well.

Also my 94 3500hd wrecker is eventually going to get an air ride suspension.



I have to get my other wrecker built first.

Just one thing though, please dont say I dont know what I am talking about because I have about 700,000 miles worth of towing experince behind me. I have done it in 47 states, 3 canadian provences and mexico, in about every weather condition imagineable.

I think it is safe to say I am speaking from experince.

Please explain to me how you can walk the trailer sideways by just dumping the air out of the bags please. And also since when have American trucks been allowed into Mexico? Last I knew American trucks were NOT allowed into Mexico period. And why were you only 136,000 with an 8 axle combination? And why were you setting a heavy haul trailer down in a driveway? I would never want to see a heavy haul trailer set down in my driveway. And going over railroad tracks with enough grade to rip your toolboxes off seems kinda unsafe at 65 mph?!? Lucky you own the truck huh? I also have hundreds of thousands of miles trucking. But the majority of my miles is well over 200,000 lbs. And with ground clearances at times less than 5 inches I have yet to get hung up on ANYTHING. Thats the great thing about airbags and hydraulics I guess. So saying that a truck with low ground clearance is worthless is kinda like saying 136,000 is grossed out with an 8 axle. Not even kinda dude.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by capone550

Please explain to me how you can walk the trailer sideways by just dumping the air out of the bags please.

It is actually really simple, you have a dump valve on your front and rear axle on a 10'6" spread, you cock your tractor sideways to the trailer at between a 30 and 60 degree angle, then you dump your back axle, pull forward slightly sliding the axle about 3 inches, then you dump the front axle and air up the rear, back up until it walks 3 inches in the same direction, repeat the process as nessacary.

Doing so allowed me to park in the back row at the flying hook in Tacoma when it was packed with a 48' step deck and a W900L with a 265" wheel base.

And also since when have American trucks been allowed into Mexico?

Well my trips to mexico were recreational, My truck stayed in Anthony Tx at the pilot, I went to Juarez and tijuana, but Us trucks are allowed in, I dont know who was filling your head full of that load of bs, but there are a ton of goods made in mexico, how do you think they get here? Now it is the other way around, mexican trucks are not allowed in the US. Hell half of everything chrysler is building these days comes out of mexico.

And why were you only 136,000 with an 8 axle combination?

I was actually permitted for 140,000. 4 Axle pete, trail king tripple stretch hyd detach DD rgn, and a single axle stinger.

And why were you setting a heavy haul trailer down in a driveway? I would never want to see a heavy haul trailer set down in my driveway.

What happens when your drive way is the one that the load is coming to? Or a loading dock that you are trying to back into.

And going over railroad tracks with enough grade to rip your toolboxes off seems kinda unsafe at 65 mph?!? Lucky you own the truck huh?

It was at night on a road posted 65 mph. I was doing the limit, the road was level until it got to the tracks and banked off on the other side. but you were standing there so you know better than I do right?

As well outside of that incadent I never so much as had a fender bender, nor have I EVER had a freight claim.

I also have hundreds of thousands of miles trucking. But the majority of my miles is well over 200,000 lbs. And with ground clearances at times less than 5 inches I have yet to get hung up on ANYTHING. Thats the great thing about airbags and hydraulics I guess. So saying that a truck with low ground clearance is worthless is kinda like saying 136,000 is grossed out with an 8 axle. Not even kinda dude.

Actually with the 8 axle if the company I was working for was willing to pay the money should have been able to load up to 152,000 lbs, or somwheres in the neighborhood, I havent driven the truck for a few years. 136,000 lbs was the heaviest I ever got it with a grove crane on the back. It was the heaviest thing we had to haul.

I know the types of trailers you are talking about because I drove one, But you know what it had its limitations too, and a lowered pickup yanking a gooseneck is going to have nowere near the capability of a hydraulic detach rgn.

As well with those types of loads you have the luxury of pilots to block traffic for you, and often times police escorts, and alol damn day to get them where they are going, and plenty of time to catch your z's with curfew.

I have set a trailer down many times, I am careful and I havetn wrecked em, a great example of setting down on a drive way was when I was hauling a 55 ton crane into a walmart so as that they could set air conditioners on the roof, the driveway was so steep that even with the neck lifted all the way I still touched the trailer down just before the trailer axles.

But you know what because I have common sense and I do know a thing or two about driving, instead of flooring it and trying to drag it over, I backed up a ways, got out, put down some lumber and drove up on it giving me the clearence to make the driveway.

I also used to run a Lufkin double drop mechanical detach tandem axle spring ride, I had plenty of times I couldnt get that old piece of crap in a driveway, often times I was throwing blocks under tires to get it in places.

Getting to the fact of the matter, I never said that hydraulics or pneumatics wernt amazing, I never said that they did not make a vehicle more capable, because I sure as hell know that they do. What I said was that I would find driving a slammed crew cab dually cross country, or as a daily driver for that matter rather unpractical, and that it is not something I want to do.

As well if you read a little closer you would find that I am building an 85 with air ride that will be slightly lowered that is if I dont convert it to a 4x4.

Now all that being said, could everyone get over being buthurt at the fact that I said I didnt like the color 1 truck was painted, the way it was lowered and that I wouldnt want to have to drag a trailer cross country with it.

I am speaking purely what works for my puropses, I really dont care if some one else is doing it, if they are more power to them. I know that everyone here has seen something done with a truck that is absolutely atrocious and had something to say about it.

I mean if I took a short bed, slammed it on hydraulics and stuffed 14" gold wire wheels on it, and then painted it yellow and pink with a mighty morphin power rangers mural on each side. Then if I came over here a postin pics talking about how cool it was, I garuntee some of you all would have something to say about it, and it wouldnt be nice.

That being said, I didnt like it when a guy took a truck that was black (which is my favorite color) painted it purple with silver flames, Is that really such a crime?

Or is it because I am not into rolling in a truck that is laid out, does that make me less of a person here with out the right to an oppinion?

This whole thing has just entered a level of stupidity that makes me not want to come on here at times. And that is a real shame because I love these trucks, the 80's crew cab dually is my favorite truck of all time, it is that one truck that I just love, it is the pinacle of trucks for me.

What I was really hoping when I opened my big damn mouth with my post talking about what I did and didnt like there was that I would meet some like minded folks that I could talk trucks with and become friends with. Was I really in the wrong place?

We all have our own oppinions, there are people here who emphasize on puttin em back bone stock, who cringe at the thought of cutting a dash for a radio, there are guys on here who cut em up into truggies and wheel the snot out of em, and those who ride em low, those who ride em high, those who use em for play, and those who still work em hard.

Just a thought but why dont we celebrate our differences of oppinion a little bit instead of chastizing anyone who has one. Because call my crazy if everyone drove a truck that was done exactly the same way as the next guys, life would be pretty damn boring.

I am going to step off of this rant now and put it to bed, I really dont see a point in continueing it further, so could we please just stick to posting pics of trucks?

[budgetstperformance]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

With that said, please keep all posts on topic here. The topic is "How about some pics of 73-91 crew cabs" .

I agree with N2TRUX about staying on topic, you girls are ruining this thread.
Now lets see some more bad ass crew cabs.

[SBTork]

Well summed up MrBeast, and as stated before, lets see some crews!

[Daniellane]

yeah its for sale in la. i like the lift height and tires

[78BO]

Don't feel to hated, I kind of agree. While I don't hate the slammed trucks, I do think that makes the truck useless so I would never own one. But to each their own. Now I would love to have a 4x4 like the last one. Your are right, that just looks good.

Originally Posted by MrBeast

No, they took it from a truck that I would have loved to have owned and turned it into something that is totally useless to me. It kind of turns my stomache sour.

I can understand slamming a half ton, In certian cases I have seen it where I liked it and it looked good. That being said, I hate it when they take a crew cab dually and need to lay it out on the frame to achieve a look, and in the process turn it into a total pain in the ass to drive.

It just bothers me. Because they are just damn good trucks, and properly setup they will work circles around the new offerings from detroit.

I love the square body duallys, I mean they are still seriously kicking ass, some almost 40 years old now.

I mean this truck as we first saw it.



Man that is what I call a truck, that is to a tee how I hope mine winds up looking, I think it is a very classy looking truck, it looks like a MAN's truck. To me I see a truck that looks like that, and I expect who ever is driving it to seriously have a clue what they are doing in life.

That is a truck that I expect to see hooked to a 40' gooseneck workin it hard yankin a load down the road, or to a custom hauler with a bad ass race car stuffed in the back.

It is a truck that to me is beautiful because it is functional, and man it is just clean and mean. Allthough I would rather have the 19.5's over the 22.5's wrapped in a Michelin XZA3 with the lettering painted white.

Now the truck as it is today.



I hate the color, I hate the flames, to me it looks gimicky, and it doesnt look like it is ready to go to work. Now I know there are people out there who do pull 5th wheels with thier slammed trucks, but for me the idea of having to run this truck from say Texas to Montana, even in the summer doesnt sound fun because I am going to be constantly worried about high centering it, I mean the truck just is not practical to me.

I do understand it takes a ton of work and fab skills to build one like that, but I feel like just because you can, doesnt mean you should. I would be much more impressed if some one took thier wicked fab skills, reinforced the frame, Built air ride that kept the truck up off the pavement, that also served to smooth out the ride and give it some wicked load handleing capabilites, and thus made it a truck that could grab on to about anything a gear head could want to haul and drag it coast to coast or anywhere in between comfortably and in stile!

Now on the flip side of that coin...



This truck also makes me crazy, I think doing this to a truck is a total waste of money, it is my feelings that the only reason some one does this to a truck is because they suffer from some serious insecurity issues and have something to prove to the world and there fore think if they build the tallest truck in town it will compensate for thier short comings.

This truck is absolutely useless, and not functional in the slightest, in fact, with its uber high roll center, the truck can flip right over with the greatest of ease. Call me crazy but having a truck that will roll over so you can scratch its belly aint cool.

Now do not think I am a purist either who shudders at the thought of modification or *gasps* a cut dash.



This truck here, I think it has class, I think it is beautiful, the paint scheme just works on it, and man I could just see myself driving it up in Montana with like 4 snowmobiles in tow and a cab full of friends heading out to West Yellowstone to go have some fun.

It is a great looking truck. The lift is appropriate, the wheels work well with it, and the tires are perportionate. The truck is a well rounded package and is quite frankly one id like to drive.

So, I'm gonna get off my soap box now, I just had to get that off my chest.

[pig rig]

I'm guessing the statement "let's stay on topic" dosnt apply to some

hey scootin81 I'll pm you my thoughts about that crew cab