'69 Gmc 2wd to 4wd questions..

[Darkrider]

Hey guys I was just wondering if it was possible to do a 4wd coversion to my truck and keep the trailing arm rear suspension? Guess my main concern is if I have enough space ahead of the trailing arm crossmember to mount a transmission/transfer case combo?
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[dennislbrooks]

I thot GMC's had rear leaf springs but maybe parts got switched around. I just finished converting may 67 swb c10 to a k10 using a 350 turbo trans and a np208. Came out perfect with the xmember. I did however change to leaf springs in rear for greater suspension movement and look.

[Darkrider]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

I thot GMC's had rear leaf springs but maybe parts got switched around. I just finished converting may 67 swb c10 to a k10 using a 350 turbo trans and a np208. Came out perfect with the xmember. I did however change to leaf springs in rear for greater suspension movement and look.

Nice! That is exactly the kind of pic I was looking for to confirm if it could be done or not!
The plan I had axle wise was to get a 6 bolt front diff and regear the rear to match, and just run spacers or taller coils to set the rear ride height to match the front.
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[dennislbrooks]

From my observations on placing my rear diff on leafs, the rear sway bar on the rear coil suspension will probably need to be lengthened if you raise the rear much as it actually pulls/pushes movement side to side when it travels.

Your front leaf setup and spring choice will set the height for what you will need to achieve for the rear.


I listed what I used in this post.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=505589

[Darkrider]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

From my observations on placing my rear diff on leafs, the rear sway bar on the rear coil suspension will probably need to be lengthened if you raise the rear much as it actually pulls/pushes movement side to side when it travels.

Your front leaf setup and spring choice will set the height for what you will need to achieve for the rear.

Thanks for the heads up! Might wind up having an adjustable track bar made or buy one, I know a member on here cut and modified his original one to be adjustable since the oposite is true with lowering these trucks.
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[Chevymaniac]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

I thot GMC's had rear leaf springs but maybe parts got switched around. I just finished converting may 67 swb c10 to a k10 using a 350 turbo trans and a np208. Came out perfect with the xmember. I did however change to leaf springs in rear for greater suspension movement and look.

Do u consider your truck stock height? What did u do for driveshaft in rear?
Truck looks great, I hope my turns out that good.

[dennislbrooks]

Well, I tried to keep it close to a stock height but as I mentioned the front 72 3 leaf with 1 leaf removed (2 left) determined the back. My front leaf with curb wieght is just negative arch.

I have an old 67 Chevrolet pickup brochure that says "As a result of advanced engineering and a redesigned power train configuration, overall height has been reduced by five inches while still retaining the normal transfer case to ground clearance of 12 1/2"."

My truck is probably 4 " taller than the chevy pic. It may be about stock height for a 72. My travels to the rubber bumpers is only about 4" which I would not really wants less.

At the moment running 265x70x15R General Ameritracs --- from ground to middle top of body wheel opening --- it is 38" in rear and 37 1/2" for front.

Driveshaft is 44" on rear -- one piece on my swb. Front driveshaft is a 1985 shortened about 4.25 inches.

I will put 31x1050x15 on it someday raising it another inch.

[Chevymaniac]

At the moment running 265x70x15R General Ameritracs --- from ground to middle top of body wheel opening --- it is 38" in rear and 37 1/2" for front.

I will put 31x1050x15 on it someday raising it another inch.[/QUOTE]

The 31" tire will not raise your truck another inch. The tire you currently run measures 31.7". So you would lose a inch by going with a 31" tall tire.

[dennislbrooks]

thanks, maybe 32's or may stay with what I have. My rears are on 10" rims with 4.5 inch offsets plus a quarter inch spacer. Fronts are 8" with 4" offsets. front and rear are pretty even with the outside of fenders. With the 15" rims, the front tie rod ends only allow 4" of back spacing. For more front offset I would need to go to a 16" rim.