'53 GMC 1 ton dually axle swap

[Skeet J]

Does anyone know what dually axle I can use to upgrade to modern wheels (16" or 17") and still be close to the original tread width? The original tread width for a dual wheeled '53 is 72.25". I have tried a 10 bolt rear end out of an 80's dually, but it is just to wide for these AD trucks. The tread width was like 85" outside dual on centers. I currently have a 14 bolt out of a '71 SRW 3/4 ton and it bolts right up to my springs. I took the single wheels off, replaced the wheel bolt studs with longer ones, and tried some of my 16" dually rims and the width was not bad. A little wider than original, but not bad. My only hang up is the 16" dually rim center will not quite go over the lip(landing) on the hub that it has to ride on. Plus, the lip/landing is narrow for one wheel to rest on as opposed to the wider lip/landing for the dual wheels. My '53 has a 36" wide frame. I think this is the starting point as far as finding a rear end that's close to accomplishing what I need. Does anyone know the frame width on an earlier GM C30 dually truck like '67 to '70? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[mongocanfly]

I got confrused with where your measurements are coming from..but on my 81 c30 cab and chassis (not a dually) dual wheel 14 bolt rear..the outside tire to outside tire measurement of my rear is 83" ..it was about 81" til I put a bigger tire on it..my 81 c30 frame is 33 1/2" wide and I have about 5" between the tires and the frame where the springs and hangers are. Not sure if any of this helps or not..

[dwcsr]

You need to find a 14 bolt from a Cab & Chassis truck they are narrower than a regular dually axle.

[Skeet J]

I'm measuring from the center of the outside tire across to the opposite outside tire center.

[Skeet J]

I have a nice 14 bolt C&C rear end out of a '98, but it's too narrow to fit. The backing plates will hit the u-bolts on the leaf springs. I would love to use it if I could find a way around this issue. I believe this is because C&C trucks are 34" wide frame rails where 1 ton AD'S are 36". Have you done a C&C swap on an AD before? Maybe I'm not looking at it right.

[dwcsr]

Not sure about drum axles but the disc axle will fit

[Skeet J]

Never thought about that! Mine has drum brakes. Could I possibly switch them over to disc brakes and relocate the perches and make it work?

[mongocanfly]

The 14 bolt backers will clear the stock location of the u-bolts and spring perches but not by much..less than 1/8" ...unless you were going to move the spring perches out to match your frame..then you may have trouble with tire and spring clearance.there's just not much chicken there to work with...what is the measurement of the spring perch of your 14 bolt axle? Is it a dual or single wheel...also what is the measurement of the springs center to center on the truck?

[Skeet J]

Ok, the spring perches on the '53 measure 42.5" on centers. The 14 bolt C&C I have measure approximately 40" on centers and that's a ruff estimate since I can't get the tape measure flat against the entire length of the axle. I didn't really think I had many choices as far as moving my springs since the hangers are rivited to the frame. I did notice there are spacers between the anger and spring and appears I may be able to move my springs closer together. I'm new to the site, but will try to post a picture.

[Skeet J]

Sorry, not getting it figured out how to post pictures yet, but if I take the spacers out and move them on the outside of the springs, it appears I can move each spring in 1/2". That would put my perches at 41.5" on centers. Still off about 3/4" on each side from lining up with the C&C perches. This would mean I would have to cut off the C&C perches and move them both out approximately 3/4" to line up with the springs on the truck.

[mongocanfly]

Ok ..here's a few measurements on mine..the distance between my tires is 44".. the spring centers are 40 1/4"..I have 1/8" clearance between the u-bolt and the brake backing plate and 3/8" between the springs and the tires..here's a pic. Moving the spring perch out won't be a option..there's no room to do it..about the only options you have are move your springs in to match the axle spring perch or use a wider axle..you might run a thin spacer between the hub and rims to gain a little extra width for the between the tire measurement but that wont change the gap between the u-bolts and backer plate...I havnt seen one of the disc brake rears but that's not going to change where the tires are by much if any..dwcsr may have more info on those..

[mongocanfly]

I'm getting what your talking about I think ...but to post pics simply go to reply page,, scroll down to where it says "manage attachments",, click that and when it brings up the "choose file" screen click that..on mine I then go to gallery and select the picture I want and it goes back to "choose file" screen..you can select more pics or if your done click "upload"..after it uploads just close that page and it will be on your reply page..you can click prewiew to make sure..

[Skeet J]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Ok ..here's a few measurements on mine..the distance between my tires is 44".. the spring centers are 40 1/4"..I have 1/8" clearance between the u-bolt and the brake backing plate and 3/8" between the springs and the tires..here's a pic. Moving the spring perch out won't be a option..there's no room to do it..about the only options you have are move your springs in to match the axle spring perch or use a wider axle..I havnt seen one of the disc brake rears but that's not going to change where the tires are..dwcsr may have more info on those..

Awesome! Thanks for the picture. That's pretty much exactly the same measurements I came up with when measuring a '79 C&C dually. However, I think what's kicking my ass is the frame width. My '53 is 36" wide making the leaf springs stick out even further. Your '81 frame rail width matches closely, if not the same, as the '79 I was measuring which I came up with 34". I don't know how to change the width of my springs to better match the frame width of 34" or the 33 1/2". I think that is the only reason the C&C rear end is not working under this '53. I mean, when your talking 1/8" clarence on each side, 2" difference is a lot to work with. My springs including width of the u-bolts alone is 45 3/4". So far, the closest rear end I've got to working is this SRW axle out of the '71. My only issue with it is getting the dually wheels to properly set on the hub landing. I will try to post some pictures.

[mongocanfly]

You could go with a dually axle but that's going to get it out a lot wider..I think there's about 6" oaw difference between them..if your real adventurous you could narrow up your frame in the back to match the c&c axle..

[mongocanfly]

One of these days when I get all my other projects caught up I plan to build a dually ad truck with a 1 1/2 or 2 ton cab with a c&c rear axle and a steel bed similar to a c&m bed .i was going to build my own frame for it...the c&c axle is a better fit for the narrow ad cabs i think..but that's a project for another day.

[Skeet J]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

You could go with a dually axle but that's going to get it out a lot wider..I think there's about 6" oaw difference between them..if your real adventurous you could narrow up your frame in the back to match the c&c axle..

You're exactly right, or at least that is what I have found. A regular dually axle with a dually bed is 6" wider. Too wide for these AD trucks. I'm not that adventurous to narrow up the frame. I would have to get someone to do it, but I'm not to that point yet. I still have the option of staying with the original axle and change out the center section to get the 4.10 gears. I also have a SRW from an 80's pickup, as opposed to the '71 SRW I have under it now, back home where I grew up. The dimensions of the spring perches are 42.5" and it's a full floating axle. I'm going to do some checking with that and see if the hubs will work.