4x4 conversion

[STOCKISH]

Did a search and found a thread where a guy swapped suspension from a
2wd to a 4wd. However, I am getting a crew cab from a member here and will be doing a 4x4 swap on it. I was hoping to find someone who has done this who has a few good pics as well as any advice they can offer. Thanks in advance guys.

[Stitch]

I think b454rat has or is doing the conversion.

[b454rat]

I'm doing one. Check out the link to some pics in my sig. The wife knows about it now, so will be bringing it home soon, so I can get better pics if yah need....

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 1972SuperCheyenne

Did a search and found a thread where a guy swapped suspension from a
2wd to a 4wd. However, I am getting a crew cab from a member here and will be doing a 4x4 swap on it. I was hoping to find someone who has done this who has a few good pics as well as any advice they can offer. Thanks in advance guys.

Do you have a 4x4 donor rig or are you going to piece it together?

1/2-ton or 3/4-ton conversion or try to keep it a 1-ton when it becomes a 4x4?

Are you going to keep it a long bed or cut it down to a short bed?

[bikes&bowties]

DIY B52 kit and shackle flip!!!

[silvereagle07]

Cool Josh! Glad you finally found one. I know you have been looking for a while. Let me know if you need some help.

[STOCKISH]

Will do Jeramy, thanks. It is a 3/4 ton truck but I will most likely be swapping in a Dana 60 front and leaving the 14FF in there as well. It has already been shortened so it will be CCSB 4x4! I dont have a donor truck but there are a few 4x4 Suburbans in the salvage yard I can get hangers and stuff from if needed. I saw the B52 kit to use the GM 52" rear springs up front to get 4" lift and that looks like a good idea too. Should ride good with the 52s up front. Need to find a 4x4 engine crossmember too though.

[Stitch]

That buddy of mine I was telling you about has a friend that has a D44 front. He's gonna find out the gears in it and how many lugs and get back to me.

[STOCKISH]

Cool, LMK. Hopefully it's a 8 lug 44HD. 4.10 gear too!

[68 TT]

I have a spare 4x4 front crossmember and front frame section for that matter from my 84 K5 parts truck but it would cost you more to ship it 3000 miles than they are worth.

[b454rat]

The 4wd crossmember won't work, not without modifying it. I tried 2, one from a 1 ton, and another from a 1/2-3/4 ton. After looking at the 2, they are the same thing. IIRC, 1/4" needs to be trimmed so it will fit in the frame rail.

I got a crossmember from Tennessee Diesel conversions, hopefully someday I'll drop a Cummins in the truck. Now I just want the stupid thing to run on it's own....

[STOCKISH]

Will it not work if trimmed to fit or does that move the engine mount locations too far if cut down to fit?

[b454rat]

Front to back is fine, but it won't fit inside the frame rails without trimming it. I'm sure if you have a plasma or torches you could make it work, this wasn't an option for me, I didn't have any of this stuff at the time I was putting the truck together. I think it's only a 1/4" if that, this was last summer, I can barely remember what I did yesterday.....

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by b454rat

Front to back is fine, but it won't fit inside the frame rails without trimming it. I'm sure if you have a plasma or torches you could make it work, this wasn't an option for me, I didn't have any of this stuff at the time I was putting the truck together. I think it's only a 1/4" if that, this was last summer, I can barely remember what I did yesterday.....

Your case almost sounds like you got a truck built around a narrower than typical front crossmember making your front rails sit closer together than they should.

A 1/4" you could easily make up in the body mounts. Separate the front cross brace from the frame then spread it out the 1/4" to get the engine crossmember to fit then reinstall the front cross brace. The worst thing you might have to do is slot the frame mounts for the core support body bushings a little on each side to get them to line up.

[b454rat]

It wasn't the width is was the inside height of the frame, would not go in in less trimmed the crossmember.

[Fixwhataintbroke]

Not tryin to do any thread jacking but i was readin this and i just coudlnt help but think "Well sh*t what's the difference between a C30 and a K20 frame?" I know there are suspension differences but if there aint many differences (if any) then im a happy camper..Well let's be more specific. Camper Special C30 vs a regular old K20

[b454rat]

1 tons have a taller frame than 1/2 and 3/4 ton, couple other differences that I know of. 1/2 and 3/4 have the same spring hangers front and rear on the rear springs, using these gives 42.5" perchs on the axle. 1 ton have "thinner" ones (sits closer to the frame) making 40.5" perch width. The front stuff is the same, hangers and shackles, springs probly beefier as well.

2wd and 4wd have different hangers. 4wd's are taller, where some of the height comes in, springs make up the rest of any height differences. Obviously the front suspension is different.

[Fixwhataintbroke]

Ok, i was wondering because around my area, K30s are a hard find, and i wanted to just swap bodys over so im concidering putting it on a K20 (a far easier find) and putting in stronger axles to attempt to keep the tow capabalities

[Stitch]

c20 and c30 crewcab frames are identical according to the GM frame spec chart

[b454rat]

Dunno why GM did that, still a 1 ton, but called it a 3/4 ton. Maybe it had one less spring in the back, wasn't quite a 1 ton, so call it a 3/4 ton?? Or maybe a 7/8 ton??

[Stitch]

lol don't know, but there was a thread a while back and it was found out in that thread that the crewcab 3/4 and 1 ton frames were the exact same specs...maybe they did that just for simplicity...there was no 1/2 ton crewcab so maybe it was just easier to manufacture one frame and not two...but I thought the same thing about the weight rating...the one that Josh is getting from me that he's talking about converting in this thread, is a 3/4 ton 2wd, but it has a 14 FF in the rear end, a 1 ton axle...I also don't think they made a 1 ton crew that wasn't a dually...so all the crewcab duallys are 1 tons and the fleetside beds are all 3/4 ton...I assume

[dgodecke]

Originally Posted by 1972SuperCheyenne

Did a search and found a thread where a guy swapped suspension from a
2wd to a 4wd. However, I am getting a crew cab from a member here and will be doing a 4x4 swap on it. I was hoping to find someone who has done this who has a few good pics as well as any advice they can offer. Thanks in advance guys.

Okay I am doing the reverse of what you are doing. I have a 4X4 and going to a 2WD.

I found a rolling frame for $100 and it was the best money spent on the project so far. I was able to cut the donor frame just in front of the cab and bolt it up next to my frame. This gave me a full template to measure from and perfect location for all the holes I needed in my frame to bolt the K-Member up. You will have less drilling to do but still some.

I found the front cross member had to be changed. It supports the sway bar and has brackets riveted to it as well as bolted to it and the frame. The mounts for the core are not the same and require a much beefed up part for the front spring hangers on the 4WD. You will need the rear hanger also and it requires a hole in the frame for it to fit through.

You will need a bunch of various brackets from the donor frame, most of them are riveted on and have to be cut off and bolted back to your frame with grade 8 bolts. I found cutting the rivets works well if you first use a cutoff wheel about 1/2 of the way through and then an air chisel to pop the heads off. Then the air hammer to push out the rivet body.

In some places you will need to trim the top and or bottom of the frame rails a bit for clearance and you may need to weld on a little in a few places so you have enough meet to bolt through. You will need a cross member for the transmission and transfer case and the extra supports for the ends of the cross member as well as the bracket for the transfer case to frame torque control. The list goes on and on. I figure I got about $800-$900 worth of stuff off that donor frame.

All of these things I found out as I went along in the project and did not expect when I first started the conversion.

It is not hard to do but it is time consuming. If you can find a donor that perhaps has accident damage grab it and you will be amazed at what you need from a donor frame.

As for the over all dimension of the frames they are the same according to the book I have and so far I have not found any deviation in that category.

Good Luch and keep us posted on how it goes.

[qu1cks1lver56]

I'd love to turn my truck into a 4x4

[bluex]

Josh,

I have the front clip off my K5 currently and have only removed one motor mount. I know its half ton stuff, but if you need any pics of the 4x stuff let me know. It is all hanging out in the open and easy to get pics of. I would offer you the stuff I'm taking off mine, but I dont know when I'm going to get around to removing it all. Unless you want to come help one weekend!

[STOCKISH]

Since this frame was already cut to make a CCSB I was thinking about taking a K30 and cutting the frame just behind the front cab mount and the same on the CCSB and swapping the front frame sections. I have alot of fab experience and a buddy who welds for a living so this does not worry me too much but just hate to have too many splices in the frame I will be driving every day. What are your guys opinions on that?