longbox stepside/fleetside conversion

[hollywood763]

hello everyone.
I bought a 66 chevy longbox stepside a couple weeks ago and I have a couple questions.

1) is it possible to switch the stepside bed to the fleetside longbox bed without any modifications? I was told it should bold right on, but he wasn't exactly sure.

2) can I swap out rearends from 62 through 65 chevy trucks into this 66? could I have the gears switched without taking the rearend out of the truck? it's a C-20 and want to put in something a little more hwy friendly.

I'm in the process of moving right now but come the first of the year I plan to dive into it a little more and see what I can do to make my truck what I want it to be. no better place to start planning and getting info than right here.

thanks!

[66Freak]

The beds should switch out no problem. As far as the rear ends they should switch out but you might have to change the springs but I am not sure

[LostMy65]

Please find a good home for that longbed stepside.
They are becoming rare.
I understand; they don't look quite right on a 2wd.
Although, they do look good on the 4x4's

[hollywood763]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Please find a good home for that longbed stepside.
They are becoming rare.
I understand; they don't look quite right on a 2wd.
Although, they do look good on the 4x4's

oh I will, it definitely won't go to the scrap yard. I'd even trade the bed strait across for a good fleetside bed.

[fryer1979]

I don't have a great condition fleetside bed, as mine is pretty beat up, but I would be interested in your stepside bed. If you don't have anyone else asking you for it, shoot me an email or pm when you get ready to start working on it. If I can swing it at the time I would love to pick it up from you. Nice looking truck by the way.

[hollywood763]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

I don't have a great condition fleetside bed, as mine is pretty beat up, but I would be interested in your stepside bed. If you don't have anyone else asking you for it, shoot me an email or pm when you get ready to start working on it. If I can swing it at the time I would love to pick it up from you. Nice looking truck by the way.

Thanks! email sent.

anyone know if these rear ends can be swapped out with other years? or if I can change gears without taking the rear end out of the truck?

[Captainfab]

More than likely your truck has the Eaton HO52 rear differential, which has a drop out 3rd member. The tallest gears you are going to be able to find (if you're lucky) is 4.10's and that is only going to be a used 3rd member. There are no new gears or taller gears available for these differentials. The parts for these differentials (bearings, seals, drums) are getting a little harder to find and when you do they are $$. I would suggest swapping to either a Dana 60 or a FF14 bolt. Parts are readily available and not so expensive since there were millions of them produced. Plus they aren't that hard to find. You will however need to do some cutting and welding to mount them to the trailing arms, but well worth it IMO. Unless you are lucky enough to find a Dana 60 from a '71-'72 C20.

Originally Posted by hollywood763

Thanks! email sent.

anyone know if these rear ends can be swapped out with other years? or if I can change gears without taking the rear end out of the truck?

[hollywood763]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

More than likely your truck has the Eaton HO52 rear differential, which has a drop out 3rd member. The tallest gears you are going to be able to find (if you're lucky) is 4.10's and that is only going to be a used 3rd member. There are no new gears or taller gears available for these differentials. The parts for these differentials (bearings, seals, drums) are getting a little harder to find and when you do they are $$. I would suggest swapping to either a Dana 60 or a FF14 bolt. Parts are readily available and not so expensive since there were millions of them produced. Plus they aren't that hard to find. You will however need to do some cutting and welding to mount them to the trailing arms, but well worth it IMO. Unless you are lucky enough to find a Dana 60 from a '71-'72 C20.

That's great info! thank you.

we're moving next week but right after we get all settled I'll be tearing into it and see what it's going to take to make this truck what I want. I do want to trade off this bed for a fleetside bed though, the stepside just isn't doing anything for me.

I've been browsing this site the last couple days and have gotten a LOT of info on what I plan on doing to mine.

[GMR-PERFORMANCE]

a 62 box on a later non X frame is not a bolt .. But I have a later box on my 62. So if you are swapping one get a 64 or later box, I do believe a 63 would work but I am not 100% on that

So if you get a 60-62 box this is some of what you have to do. No understand that I have a narrow mount box on a wider frame, you would end up with a wider mounting box on a narrow frame.

If you do get a early style box it can be modded to work
You will need to re drill some mounting holes and add some flat plate for the cross sills. A 62 is a wider frame than the later years and thus the holes do not line up. Nothing that cannot be over come.. Make sure the box is square ( extremely important) and you will see that the a few of the front holes will not line up. Add the flat steel to the bottom of the cross sill, and tack in place. Re drill the holes in the correct location.

Or if you wanted you could buy new sill's and swap them in if you go that route.

[hollywood763]

here's a picture of the differential in my c20. can I swap gears on this? possibly swap rear ends with a highway friendly differential out of a c10?

[sailed2japan]

No, it's a completely different axle than what you will find under a C10. I believe what you have there is a Eaton HO52. You could swap in a whole axle out of a C10, but I would try to find a Dana 60 With some btter gears. There aren't many options with a HO52 and no aftermarket gears are being made right now.

[speedkills]

hey i have a long box stepside bed (2 sides and the part below the rear window... no tailgate) depending how long u wanna wait, id trade you if you pay for shipping yours to me and i pay for shipping mine to you.

id be ready around 2nd week of february... lmk

[rbar]

The box should swap out fine but possibly need mounting modifications for 60-62, but I am no certain. I would think worse case would be like when I put a stepside from the 50s on my 63 and I only had to put a 1" or so square tube on each of the mounting points.