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Greetings! Sold my 41 Chevy 1/2 ton on a 92 Nissan frame about 13 years ago now and can't stop thinking about another build. Current plan, is an S10 frame swap with an EV drivetrain. In trying to select the correct motor and gear ratios, I need to determine the weight of the unit. While the builders manual is great for cab, bed, accessory and overall weight, it doesn't tell me the following so hoping y'all can help me out.

Engine w/ transmission - ~617 lbf?

Front fenders - ?

Rear fenders - ?

I've found rear fiberglass fenders listed at about 10 lbf, but nothing about the fronts. I'd def. consider keeping the fenders if they only added 50-100lbf but I remember the OEM fronts being really heavy!

Goal will be lightweight without going full rat rod. I want to keep the cab (chopped top), hood w/ side louvers and grill. Bed will be custom fitted to the new frame and potentially shortened. I'm not sold on keeping the stock wheelbase so might go for an S10 w/ regular cab and short bed (11" shorter?)

Thanks for any information you can provide!

Have you thought about a Trailblazer running gear?

Ed

All the fenders together likely weigh 100 lbs. I’d keep them if it were me. They’re not heavy...they’re awkward! 😉

Engine with transmission- 780lbs...ish. That transmission is a lot heavier than it looks. Just ask my back. Be sure to lift with sharp, jerky motions! 😬

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/58t108.htm

For a ‘58 261 big truck, but close enough.

If you mean Trailblazer frame, initial numbers seen not too crazy but still not a great fit

Wheelbase 113 in (S-10 118 in, 41-46 115")
Length 191.8 in (41-46 199 3/16)
Track width 63-61 in (S-10 55-59 in, can't find an exact number for the total width of a 46 or the track width)
Frame width Quick search didn't show anything regarding this info

If you're saying the running gear, then that's a waste of time since I'd be getting rid of the engine, accessories, radiator, transmission and altering the driveshaft to fit the electric motor.

100 lb isn't too bad, it is 5% of my final weight goal though. I'm hoping to measure someone's truck in person to determine exactly how much I can trim from the front of the rear fender to the front of the bed (and correspondingly, wheelbase), and how much room that leaves for batteries since there need to be 3 compartments. Behind axle, and to either side of the driveshaft.

If you are think EV ( electric vehicle ) the weight of all four fenders is about what one battery weighs, at least the batteries our electric trucks use at work. Will a short frame S10 won't have the room for enough battery storage?

'1 Battery' is pretty arbitrary in that statement. If I end up using the entire battery pack from a single Chevy Volt, that's 487 lbf. Electric motor will end up being about 150lbs. In order to get the range I'm hoping for, might be looking at closer to 550 lbf.

Once I get a basic CAD model of the frame with accurate cab, driveshaft and differential locations, I'll be able to calculate the trade off in range & weight vs wheelbase (currently looks like 9-11" is the distance). I'm also not opposed to a very shallow bed depth in order to get the right capacity.

Good grief... I totally missed the EV part. 🤦🏼‍♂️

No worries Fox, very very unusual request but I know I'm at the right place to get the answers I need to make a smart decision. The Nissan frame I put the first one on was during my college years and had a 4 cylinder, chopped/channeled/narrowed and shortened body. Suicide doors, air ride, blah blah blah. And that was all before I knew what I was doing. I've since spent my time as a Mechanical Engineer, who has designed hybrid diesel generators for the military, run vehicles off of over a dozen fuels (same vehicle...), and built 500+ hp 4 cylinders only to find I don't want boost, I want instant torque. Love my current Hybrid EV and time to combine my original passion with my current knowledge. Thanks for any input you can provide.

I said one battery because our trucks ( Smith Electric ) were five ton rated delivery trucks, each truck had 48 batteries, 24 per pod, and each battery had 96 cells in each one. They are sized like a big pickup or HD truck battery and very heavy. Cost wise, $90,000 was just for the batteries when the trucks were new. Fully loaded, they had 60 mile ranges with top speed of 55 on level ground. Not the best thats for sure.

Stripping a working EV to adapt to your truck is neat idea, helps keep them on road and cut down on pollution, ( not counting the generation of electricity which is another whole can of worms ).

joe

Wish I had some CAD models for a Leaf or BMW i3 motor to see how hard it'd be to adapt to the rear subframe on one of our trucks. Not quite willing to just buy all the parts right now and 'make it fit'. Would probably completely lose the bed doing this method though. All the batteries would end up in the engine bay as well and really mess with the weight balance.

Fuelverine,

Very interesting project. I considered the electric route for my '46 but balked at the cost.
How much do the batteries weigh?

Steve

that sounds like an interesting endeavor. We must embrace the "coal powered" electric vehicles in Colorado.

If I were to pursue an endeavor such as this one, my first consideration would be the total weight of a vehicle currently being built (like a Chevy Volt) and aim for that weight as a goal for the build.
In order for EV to be feasible,weight/power ratio needs to match. The engineers who designed the Volt already did that for you.
A light frame is where you will save the most weight. An S-10 frame likely will not fit that bill.

In order to go about 60 miles, the equivalent Volt battery pack would be about 700 lbs. Motor weighs about 150. Assumed weight for the EV components is currently 950 lbs.

Wish I had a better electricity source, but you're right about where it comes from. Looked into solar panels and the cost/benefit just wasn't there. I currently drive my Volt for $0.02-0.03/mile with our electricity rates. My Avalanche is closer to $0.22/mi

Volt weighs around 3600 lb and puts out 114kW (~152hp). In order to have a 'fast' EV Pickup. I'd need to get the weight down to around 2100-2500 lbs and be putting about 150kW into it. Just the motors/controllers are looking at around $7-9k; however, Colorado has a $4k tax credit for EV conversions which will help drive that down. Used Volt battery packs would cost around $1500-2500 depending on sourcing.

You are going to have to do some serious weight cutting to get down to 2100 pound with you on board. My 41 has a fiberglass front clip, running boards and rear fenders, no interior other than a pair of buckets, no carpet, no headliner, no door panels, no side glass, stock boxed frame from back of cab forward, mustang ll front suspension, 2x4 steel frame back half with coil overs and ladder bars, wheelbase shortened 8 inches, drivetrain consists of big block Chevy with aluminum heads and a blower, th400, narrowed 9 inch, lightweight Weld wheels, aluminum radiator, aluminum fuel cell with a full 15 gallons and it weighed 2860 pounds.