Any ideas for this beast?

[6 Door King]

Looking at doing some swapping to get hold of this rig, now I need ideas to aspire to! Thinking of ditching the utility bed, and getting it closer to the ground somehow. Anyone know the lug pattern on these things? I have seen them with ten lug Budds, but I am drawing a blank when it comes to the Dayton style wheels. Any ideas, no matter how crazy, shoot them my way! If you can photoshop your scheme, even better. Thanks in advance.

[dieseldawg142]

Sweeeet!

[86454k30]

IMO, lose the utility bed, shorten the frame, install dually box, change the bud style wheels to regular and throw on some 22.5 alcoas!

[motornut]

cool!....monster crew cab,pickup bed

[J Knight]

Put a dually bed on it, get rid of the Dayton hubs and wheels for 22.5 hub piloted bud wheels with 285/75/22.5 tires. Get a Peterbilt Low Air Leaf suspention for the rear and de-arch the front suspension and add helper bags(these guys can help you with the suspension/wheels www.4statetruck.com)

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by motornut

cool!....monster crew cab,pickup bed

exactly!

[N2TRUX]

I know, I know! Take a look at what UPNADM is doing to his. "1981 Chevrolet C50 Pick-up Conversion"

[bk2life]

flat bed car hauler. drive an equally awesome rig onto it and have a kick @ss tow rig

[cory d]

[meter swinger]

22" alcoas', alunimum flatbed.
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[86c20]

make it 4 wheel drive a big diesel twin scews with power thro and a longer dully bed. just like a dodge trex

[6 Door King]

Since I don't have the truck yet I am chomping at the bit for info and ideas. If it is not too inconvienent, could the owner of the yellow C-50 measure the distance from the top of the front axle to the oil pan, crossmember or other lowest point on the frame so I can have some idea of how much lower I could drop the front? Does anyone know if these frames are doubled like semi trucks? I am leaning toward building a tilt deck flatbed since it has an 11 foot box on it now, I figure 16-17 foot should fly ok, and give me plenty behind the axle to tilt to ground level.

[6 Door King]

Got to climb all over the truck today and really pick it apart. The wheels and tires are already 24.5s, and the seller has Alcoas in his shed but said the fronts would need adapters. Why would only the fronts need adapters and not the rears also? I know the hubs are different, but is the bolt pattern different front to rear as well? Has two bench seats and a five speed to fill up the floor. The roof must have doubled as a lookout point at races or something because both the front and rear roof panels are sagging/caved. Drivetrain seems solid with new clutch and pressure plate, and the body is overall not too bad. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get that huge utility bed off, and find a place to stash it til its sold. Hoping to offset the cost of the truck with the sale of the bed, so I'll have to be careful pulling it.

[6 Door King]

Thank you to Cory D for the visual of the truck dropped, that is close to what I have in mind. How do they drop the big rigs so low? Doesn't the front axle get in the way?

[J Knight]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

Thank you to Cory D for the visual of the truck dropped, that is close to what I have in mind. How do they drop the big rigs so low? Doesn't the front axle get in the way?

Some big rigs use a "car hauler" front axle wich is the equivilant to a 2in drop plus they de-arch the springs and in some cases notch the oil pan. Other things they do is install drop fenders, bigger bumpers, mount the steps and fuel tanks a couple of inches lower on the frame to give the illusion of the truck being lower.

[6 Door King]

The front axle has about 5 inches of up travel possible now, and the springs are not far off flat already. I had considered nothcing the oil pan too, since it's a 350 I figure I can find another pretty easy if it doesn't work out. Even considered going spring under, and creating a new set of u bolts and plates to avoid changing the spring arch. Thinking I am going to bag the rear with triple bladder bags and heavy four link. As big as this truck is, I am still considering making it bigger or at least longer. I want to mount a flat bed with tilt deck to haul my other toys but I think the wheelbase is a bit too short with the crew cab. If it was a standard cab I would be ok, but alas I am burdened with two more doors...

[6 Door King]

Got my new rig home before Thanksgiving with the help of a couple willing buddies. Shake down cruise revealed a few annoying squeaks and rattles but the the clutch and trans are tight, brakes are very good, and all the lights work! Have to lose the back up alarm, push out the caved in roof panels and remove the 100 plus pounds of asphalt from the utility bed and she will be ready to start pulling her weight. This is the first vehicle I have ever driven with a manual trans that does not have a tach, so that is on the to-do list as well.
Does anyone know what is necessary to switch the front wheels to Alcoa style 10 lugs? The previous owner has a set that I was eyeing and he said the rearas would fit with no issues, but the front would need adapters. I can not wrap my head around who a regular semi wheel would ever fit the weird a$$ Dayton lug pattern. I have seen plenty of the C-50/60/70s with the Bud style steel wheels, and from what I understand the Alcoas are a direct fit for those hubs also. Any body got pics to throw in?

[kalbert]

It would take some chopping and hacking but I've always thought a 2 ton suburban would be sweet.
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[6 Door King]

There are a couple of those in the crew cab section if my memory serves me correctly. I have converted a Suburban into a crew cab already, so maybe it's time to take one the other way, but CCs are a lot harder to come by than the Subs.

[6 Door King]

I have decided to sacrifice my car trailer in order to provide a wooden decked metal frame for my flatbed. My only concern is just how much weight I will be able to carry. I would prefer to still be able to carry a truck on the deck, so my question is with a 20,000 rear axle and a rig that weighs roughly 8k would that overtax the axles? I have not found what the weight rating is for the front, but I seem to remember reading most were 9,000 lb rated? Also need advice on the maximum length of overhang behind the axle since the frame only extends about two feet beyond the axle centerline. I want to build a tilt deck hauler but I am trying to avoid doing a sliding deck too, so the shorter frame would mean the incline angle of the deck should be shallower, correct? Thanks again for any and all advice.

[JCampbell]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

Thinking of...getting it closer to the ground somehow.

http://www.12gacustoms.com/part_gallery/air_ride