New Toy / Workhorse

[Chevytrux4me]

Towstrap,
Now that's what I call some heavy-duty mods!! I had thought I'd put a dump bed on that one of mine, but I bought a parts truck with a dump bed already on it. If I knew I could get a title for it to register it, I'd leave it together and put a dually bed on mine. Now you've got me really considering this!!

[ratty 46]

Ha ......... I knew it!!!

Ratty 46

[Chevytrux4me]

Ok, we got back into town a little early this afternoon, and I actually got to take this thing out for a spin. The engine and tranny seem very tight, no rattles, smoke, etc. however the tranny needs adjusted a little to upshift at a little lower speed I think. The steering feels good and tight, didn't want to wander all over town on its own. The brakes feel pretty firm, however the back brakes want to lock up, probably from not having any weight back there, coupled with sitting awhile since being driven much. I'm hoping to get all the fluids, belts & hoses changed out this week, and get to bring her home this weekend. Still need to get more / better pics, but working out of town is kind of putting a damper on things. I'm hoping we'll finish up this job this week, so I can spend a little time catching up on some things around home like this that need some attention. I've noticed a dually bed sitting in the town near where we're working, and can't help but think it would look good on the back of this one. Hmmmmm.....

[Scootin 81 C20]

I think that would look sharp. There's one here that's retired that I want the cab from because I like the doors on these better.

[red caddy]

OK, this thread has really given me the bug to have one of these "high rider" cabs. I'm thinkin' the right mix of parts might give my tow rig that "Li'l Big Rig" look for a lot less bux than the $12K kit price for the Kenny.

I've just finished the bodywork and prep for paint on my '84 GMC 1 ton and now I got the bug to "high rider" it before final paint. Anybody know if the "big truck" sheetmetal bolts to a standard cab? (I've been told it does, but my source is a little shakey on the details,LOL)


If I can't find a donor truck, (I'm still looking, gonna make a trip to several "big truck" yards in Tampa this weekend) are any of the front clip parts or a one piece tilt nose ( I'm thinkin' hood, fenders, grille and fender/rocker panel extensions?) available aftermarket? Just once, I'd like to start a makeover with virgin sheetmetal... Yea, Riiiiiight.


OTOH, maybe I should just get Doc to change my med's, wadya think? Paul

[JCampbell]

Originally Posted by Chevytrux4me

By the way, does anyone know of a good place to get parts for bigger trucks like this one? Most sites and parts stores are mainly for pickups.. Any help is greatly appreciated..

Not an overly-informative site, but you might try contacting this guy. He showed up on Dually Scene a few weeks back, but I haven't seen him pop back up.

www.bigasstrux.com

[D13]

Cabs C60/65/70/80 seem to be tilt fiberglass front. The big truck frame doesn't kick up in front, but the nose is shorter than on the light trucks, so the firewall seems to be recessed up into the cab more for the big trans. The front metal fastens different, haven't tried bolting on the fenders from a standard truck yet. The doors interchange with the regular trucks. There are at least 3 different mirror packages available (I have 2 of the 3 on 1 truck!). Mine's a C60 with 23k GVW so no CLD required, 366/5speed single speed single axle. Oh, and the cab rear may be different - ther's regular, small, and no window versions, same stamping, just different holes in the metal.

[red caddy]

Jason, thanks for the link. I E-mailed Mike at www.bigasstrux.com and got a great responce.
Do I continue this hijack, or give this foolishness it's own thread, wadya think guys? Paul

[tvblazer78]

Here is mine that I have had as my farm truck and yes it is a ford, but it is also 4wd with Rock wells! We have hills here is east TN and needed it to pull trees up hills. And It is for sale too.

[89muscletruck]

Those big chev's are still VERY common up here in Central Alberta as grain trucks. My Dad still uses his old 81 to haul all of his grain, and despite the rust, and old age she still runs strong and is a very cool truck.
For what its worth Chevytrux, I think your project is sweet, and if she were mine id put a dually box on it in a heart beat.
But Red Caddy from my experience with these trucks, it seems to me that there wold be a few problems. The first is with the front sheetmetal as the hood and fenders are considerably shorter on the big trucks than on the 1/2 to 1 tons. As the engine and transmission sits quite a bit lower in proportaion to the cab in these trucks, so the front end was squished to make for room on the chassis for the load. The second is that since the cab sits higher above the trnasmission the tranny hump is a good 3 to 4 inches lower than the ones on the smaller trucks. The thrid as already stated by D13 is that the firewall is recessed about 3 or so inches more than the smaller trucks. So you could probably make it work for you but it would require a ton of metal fabrication. Mainly in reworking the firewall to recess even more to acomidate the engine with the shorter engine bay and raising the cab floor, and moving the cab mounts so the cab sits at the right spot on the chassis so you dont have extra framerail poking out through the front end.
I once thought about doing this same idea so I have thought it all out and I was ulitmatley forced to give up the idea as it was FAR beyond the scope of my meager abilities. But if you can do it do it, it would look really cool, I am not trying to rain on your parade, I am just trying help you understandwhat you may be gettting yourself into.

[truckfan]

Originally Posted by Chevytrux4me

Ok, we got back into town a little early this afternoon, and I actually got to take this thing out for a spin. The engine and tranny seem very tight, no rattles, smoke, etc. however the tranny needs adjusted a little to upshift at a little lower speed I think. The steering feels good and tight, didn't want to wander all over town on its own. The brakes feel pretty firm, however the back brakes want to lock up, probably from not having any weight back there, coupled with sitting awhile since being driven much. I'm hoping to get all the fluids, belts & hoses changed out this week, and get to bring her home this weekend. Still need to get more / better pics, but working out of town is kind of putting a damper on things. I'm hoping we'll finish up this job this week, so I can spend a little time catching up on some things around home like this that need some attention. I've noticed a dually bed sitting in the town near where we're working, and can't help but think it would look good on the back of this one. Hmmmmm.....

i was gonna suggest the dually bed. i love those new ones that the horse haulers are buying. would look great

[JCampbell]

No way...stick with a dump bed.

[Chevytrux4me]

Hmmm..... Let's see. On one hand, the dump bed / parts truck combo is already paid for. On the other hand, ...there's different fingers. I dunno....

[JCampbell]

Any updates?

[Damien]

Mechanical parts for these shouldn't be too had to find as there are a lot of these trucks still used for farm trucks. I saw a tandem rear truck for sale last year and thought it would make an awesome car hauler, but I have no room for more projects, let alone the ones I already have.

[Chevytrux4me]

Ok, I gotta apologize for the delay in adding to this thread. Things got a little crazy around here awhile back, then a health problem popped up, then winter hit, (in a really big way) so now hopefully things will get back to normal. ....I haven't made much headway on this project in the last while, but I did gut the interior and am going to try to use most of it that is still good. I bought a fleetside bed and some other parts from a pickup a friend had that is parting out. My wife got me a set of dually fenders for Christmas, so I guess we know which direction this one is headed. I got to thinking about the dump truck thing, and decided that if it had survived this long with only 8000 miles and only very minimal rust, I'd hate to subject it to the kind of abuse a dump truck would take. Maybe I'll get the parts truck going for that. Haven't removed much from it so far..

I tried to upload some new pics, but couldn't get them to upload. I'll try again later...

[OYMC]

I really don't mean to be a smart a$% but why did you cut the cab in half. You could have just removed your cab, and bolted on the crew cab (Minus rear cab mounts)? Seems like a lot of work for nothing?

If there is a reason I am unfamiliar with I apologize... Cool truck!

[JCampbell]

The "big truck" cabs are different than the "light duty" truck cabs. Flat floor, diff firewall, no seat riser, etc.

[Chevytrux4me]

I thought I'd post a few pics of this thing while my computer's actually working right. Here's a couple of the interior minus seat & floor mat, and of the engine bay. Oh, and by the way, here's a perfect example of what JCampbell is saying on the flat floors. More later...

[Jonboy]

The flat floors mean you could put late model seats in with minimal mods. That's awesome. Your truck is insanely clean. I think it will be great with the dually bed.

Kinda off the subject, but can you post some pics of your '61? It looks to be the same colors as the one I had in college.

[JCampbell]

I *heart* this truck.

[74 C-30]

thats a wicked cool looking shifter! lol

[87 chevy silverado]

any updates?