Crewella - My '81 crew cab, short bed 1/2 ton

[Tow Me]

So I've posted a couple posts here and there, but never a project thread. I know I should have done this earlier, but I'll start now.

Here's the background on my truck. I had seen this 3/4 ton crew cab sitting on a side street for years. It already had a shortened frame and bed on it. It never moved so I figured it had issues. One day I finally knocked on the guys door. He was eager to sell it but never advertised it. It had a broken driveline/yolk and the motor had a blown head gasket, he possibly ruined the motor from overheating it. He did not build the truck. It only ran for 6 months before it broke down and it been sitting ever since. The builder was a local racer and he used to haul his race car. The owner's wife said he would be stupid not to sell it to me for $1000. I offered him $500 and he could keep the nice 8-lug rims and tires. He agreed.

I towed it home and it sat for a few months. After looking it over, we found the 3/4 ton frame was nasty. The fab work was shotty and the bed didn't sit right. It just had cut springs in the front and the rear leaf springs were just moved up on the frame and welded into place. See the frame pics. I was planning to swap out the front suspension and the rear end to make it 5-lug... while using the current frame. Since the frame was a little scary we decided to think of other options.

After seeing a crew cab truck with flat bed on a Suburban frame, my dad got the bright idea to mate a 2wd Suburban frame with a 2wd short bed truck frame. We found a free gutted 2wd Suburban in a nearby town and traded some parts for a stripped short bed truck frame. After lots of measuring and checking, we cut the Suburban frame right at the second cab mount where the frame is straight. I have never heard of anyone doing this, but it worked like a charm. After welding it up, we placed the cab and front clip on the new frame. Every bolt slid right into place. Set the bed on it and it was perfect as well.

So now the truck is a 1/2 ton crew cab with a short bed. I put some drop spindles on it and used the cut 3/4 ton springs for now. I bought axle bracket to flip the rear and I'll probably look at getting some shackles or hangers to go a tad lower and adding a notch. I'm running 7" rallies in the front and 8" ones in the back. I'll powder coat them black or charcoal. I also have a 91 grill/core support for it and power mirrors on the way.

So that's where I am now. Thanks for check this out.