The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Wheelbase questions

I found a 79 K30 GMC Sierra Grande 4x4 dually and am considering swapping my cab and utility box over to it.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/57%20PacBell%20Chevy/DSC03967.jpg[/IMG]
I've rebuilt my steering a bunch of times and I still use my truck for work, and I think I want a more stable platform than the 57 apache 3200, plus the ability to get off the dove lease in the rain with some 4x4.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/alb...own_Tan0531024x768_zps66c60382.jpg[/IMG]

My question is: I measured my wheel base with a tape measure, and I got 126" and change, but the GM book says an apache 3200 is 123"

The K30 shows 131.5 inches.

8" is too much to make up and I think the utility box would be too far from the cab, but if it's 126, then maybe 5" is doable.

Is there a chance my 3200 Apache (had 1 ton springs on it when I bought it) was really a 3600 dually in its first life....and could it possibly be longer than 123"

Other folks that have resto-modded their apache's or task force's have used the K20 4x4 frame which I believe is also 131.5". Does my PacBell Utility box look like it could be on a dually? Can one still run skinnier inside rims? Or does this board of fine opinion think a SRW K20 frame would be just fine and skip the dually option.

Lastly, what would be the newest model frame, engine, chassis one would run for a cab/box swap? Last year of the square bodies? What is that? '88?

Have you looked at a suburban frame instead of a pickup?
70s-80s chevy pickups had a weird step in them,suburbans were flatter anyway.

I think your little ol 57 looks pretty cool as it sits,Maybe find a locker for that stock rearend and youll go just about anywhere with it.

How did you measure your wheelbase? If you had a tape measure hanging in the air it can easily add 3 inches.

The 3200 and 3600 have the same wheelbase. There wasn't a "1 ton" spring option for the 3200 or 3600. There was an HD spring option for both, but neither used the 1 ton parts. The 1/2 ton HD spring (both 3100 and 3200) was simply the base 3600 8 leaf spring, and the HD spring for the 3600 is a 10 leaf single stage. The 3800 1 ton uses a different spring setup, with different shackles and hangers, 8 leaf single stage for the base, and 8 leaf main with 5 leaf auxiliary for the option. If you're has auxiliary springs, they most likely are an add on aftermarket part.
If it were a 3600 originally, it should have 8 lug axles, plus the frame number should identify it, too.
There are no lockers available for the original rear end, and the factory Positraction axles, Spicer 45 first offered in '59, are extremely rare. There was also an Eaton Positraction that will fit the original differential, offered from '60-'62, but it is just about as rare, I've only seen 1 in person, plus 1 on Ebay.
While I do agree with zmaxmotorsports that it is an awfully nice truck to alter, another option that sapping cabs would be the swap the axles and running gear to the original frame. That will keep all the body mounts and wheelbase dimensions where they are supposed to be. The stock frame will be more than adequate for that use.