The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop The s10 Frame Swap

Sorry if this is addressed somewhere else but I could not find it in a search.

I have a 1954 GMC 1 ton or 3/4 ton (not sure) but it has the long box on it. I am wondering wich s10 frame I would use for it since I can't find what the original frame length is. Thanks

Darren

You know, if you put an S10 frame under your truck, it won't have 3/4 ton or 1 ton hauling/towing capabilities anymore?
Scott

Measure the wheelbase to determine if its a 3/4- or 1-ton.

GMC offered 1/2-ton trucks in both short and long wheelbase. So a 1/2-ton GMC could have either 116 or 125 inch wheelbase. Chevy did not sell long wheelbase 1/2-tons, but GMC did.

A 3/4-ton or 1-ton will have 8-lug hubs while the 1/2-ton will have 6-lug.

So if it has 8 lugs and a 125 inch wheelbase, its a 3/4-ton. If it has 8 lugs and a 137 inch wheelbase its a 1-ton.

If it really is a 1-ton you might want to trade it off on another because lots of people want that long box 1-ton pickup.

Once you know the wheelbase you can look for an S-10 that is close to a match.

Scott is right, you are giving up your load rating if you swap to a S-10 frame and suspension.

Darren,
I talked to a fellow just last night at a local car meet who has a '52 chev one ton.
He put it on a '75 1/2 ton 2wd chev lwb frame, bagged it and put a 383 stroker in it. It was long and low.
His front wheels stuck out maybe an inch as the full size crossmember is to wide. Didn't look bad though.
Might be worth checking into more.
Good Luck.

I don't think there was an S-10 that long. Don't they say the regular cab longbed is just right for a 1/2 ton AD (116"). DForbes, there are lots of post on this forum about the S10 swap and a link somewhere to the AD Engineering website. Could be some useful info there. And I suppose there are some S-10 websites out there that might have info about all wheelbases offered. Good luck!

S-10s were offered in the following wheelbases-regular cab short box-108.3-regular cab long box-117.9-extnded cab short box-122.9. There was no long box option for the extended cab.

Most people seem to think the original AD 1/2-ton wheel base is about 1" too short for the body: the rear tire crowds the front edge of the fender. That S-10 wheelbase of 117.9 is about 2" longer. I guess a little fudging both ways could make that set pretty good, or add about an inch between cab and bed??
DForbes if you have a 1-ton with 137" WB the bed is 9' long and I think is so cool. In high demand, too. Have you verified which it is?

I'm not sure about the 4wd, but my 91 S10 2WD frame had lots of straight frame rail under the cab, which made it *very* easy to lengthen using 5 inch wide heavy steel channel. The channel fit so nice & snug in the S10 rails, that I could extend and retract it while fitting up my 1-ton long wheelbase panel body. There are pics on my page. For my 46, the full size newer truck frames put the tires out too far. I'd much rather have them in the wells, to be able to lower it if needed. The 4WD rear end is a little (4inches) wider than the 2WD unit and bolts right in. The 2WD rear rubbed the inside of the tires on the body. I did sort of a step-by-step on the page in my sig line. I will be adding more soon. I am hooked on the idea of transplanting S10 frames now. Cheers, MV

I am in the middle of the swap, i have a 1951 chevy 3600 long bed wb. 125" and I am using a 1992 extended cab short bed S10 wb 122".
the differnet is the least with this set up, I plan to just move the rear fenders forward a bit to compinsate for the difference, i also plan to move it a bit more forward to make up the already forwaard offset from the factory. If you have the long bed 3600 it should have 3 stake supports, you will need to remove the center support to move the fenders forward. you will have to cut the running boards down also.

I plan to do this for my 48. Is there a tech paper written? Any shared experience on this would be helpful.

After exploring the options, I think this will be the easiest and most cost effective. Brakes, suspension, steering, it's already there. The only major problems I can forsee is to make the brackets, find a place for the power brake booster, and the rad support. I have a 48 3600, but I will find a 3100 box.

heres a nice step by step...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8491&highlight=chevy+swap

the big deal I got is the front fenders and getting all the gauges and heat/ AC controls looking good inside the AD