The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 2wd to 4wd

is there away to change a 64 chevy from 2wd to 4wd and if so how much work is involved

You will need at the least a front axil, with the same ratio as the rear, and a compatable transfer case. After that its all hooking things up and aligning them. You will have to work out the brakes, steering, and driveshafts. Probally wont be cheap, or quick or easy.

Very doable and not overly difficult. It will however require a lot of work and depending on your choice of compnents it could get expensive. You will need a front axle, a new tranny (maybe), a transfer case, 2 new drivelines, and the hardware to attatch all of them. What engine do you have? What transmission do you have?

Now the important part. What kind of truck are you building? Do you want a daily driver 4wd? Do you want a mild off-roader? Do you want an extreme mud machine? Do you want a rock crawler? You need to sit down and decide what you want your truck to be capable of, because this will determine the components that you will need to use in the build.

I will check back on your post to see what you are after and offer more advice, 4x4's have a special place in my automotive heart. My advice would be to sit down with a beverage of your choice and a piece of paper and decide what you want to be able to do and then you can begin piecing together the truck on paper and then do the fun part of putting it together for real. Good Luck.

Kyle

The only thing remotely simular between a 2 wheel drive and a 4 is the body. The frames are different because the 4X4's use leaf springs and the 2WD's use coil. Even the shape is different, making fab work of the crossmembers and such more difficult. In my opinion, it would be easier to swap your body to a later model 4WD chassis,
Scott

i am in the process of doing the same swap using a 64 chevy that i picked up for 50 bucks and using the frame from my first vehicle 1978 Chevy K10 suburban i am at the point where i'm gona start sand blasting the suburbans frame and put fresh paint on its a 1/2 ton frame so nothing to extrem Dana 44 front GM corp 12 bolt rear 4.11 gears 350 v-8 SM465 4spd and NP205 t-case its already got a 4 in. suspension lift and i'm adding a homemade 2 in. bodly lift, definately going to take some time keep in touch and we can help each other out i'm stumped on the part of hooking up the steering and attaching the power brakes and that wonderful stuff might have some complications with the clutch linkage too but i'm not sure
Nate

Fort Knox

I want a mild offroad truck,I have a chevy 350 with a stock 4 speed

i just changed my 66 1/2 ton over to 4x4,iused a 78 3/4 ton4x4 as a doaner ,ground all rivits off 78 frame and used leaf springs,spingbrackets ,and axles,350 /350,make sure you mark everything before you remove your axles,measure twice cut once,i used my 66 frame ,every thing worked good
i will post pictures as soon as i figure out how,have pictures start to present
mark

I am not sure what the fram looks like under the 64, but I bet that a 4x4 setup could be put under it. You could, if you wanted to, use coil springs with a solid axle. To do this you would need to build yourself a multi-link suspension. If you want an idea of what that would look like look under a jeep wrangler next time you see one, or a dodge 1/2 ton pickup from the body style previous to the current one. Essentially you would have two lower "links" and two upper "links" it would be pretty trick, and they are awesome in off raod conditions.

For the mild off roader you would probably want to get yourself a Dana 44 front axle, these were made in both 6 and 8 lug patterns. A good transfer case to look for is the NP-205 which was a GM factory piece on many 4x4's and shouldn't be too hard to find. You said that you have a 4speed, is it one for a 4x4? If not I would suggest the SM465, a good tough 4spd.

You can look around online for info on building a custom 4 link front suspension. You could also look at your local magazine store and find a couple of 4x4 magazines to leaf through for ideas and parts.

I am in agreement with the other guys when they say that it will be easier to drop your truck body on a different chassis. I just realized that your rear suspension will probably need some drastic modification to. You could definitely make your truck and its chassis into a 4x4, but I wonder if you would rather just change it over and have the benefits of the newer chassis.

As far as lift I would go with a 6" lift and a 35" or 36" tire. This will give you a good all around ability off the road while keeping the truck reasonably streetable. It is also a great looking size for a pickup.

Keep posting and I will keep talkin your ear off!

Kyle

youre really better off just finding a cheap beater 4x4 and putting oyu 64 body on it

really

unless youve got some money and lots of time squirreled away
you can buy a cheap beater 4x4 for cheap, yesterday i just picked up a really good running 77 longfleet k-10 with sbc400 and th350 and 203 and 12 bolt and 44 axles for 700 bucks, drives runs great, good solid truck, only thing wrong with it was it needs a new drag link it is sloppy, just like most all of them are, and it had a loose power steering belt and it needs a driver side door glass some kids broke it out

other than that its fine and has some 33's and nice 15x10 aluminum rims and is totally stock factory original, the numbers on the 400 engine match the truck even


theyre out there, ask around,

you would be surprised what you can find

it would be lots easier and better to swap bodies than go about converting a 2wd chassis to a 4x4,

theres so much different its not funny

If I was to change my chassis what 4x4 beater should I look for I have a 64 chevy short fleetside?

look for a 73-87 body style 4x4 shotbed or blazer to use. These will allow the easiest fitment, length is closest. One may be better than the other, I am willing to bet the blazer will be a better fit, but ask around. If you look hard enough you can find a nice one. Unless you want a "full time" 4x4 you want to get one that does not have the NP203 transfer case. It is a full time 60 rear 40 front, they get a little bit worse gas mileage and they run through front end parts a little faster. The full time 4x4 ended during the 73-87 body style and I think it was around 79 or 80 that it ended. Check on it. The Ideal transfer case is the NP205. The easiest way to know if one of these trucks is a sull time 4x4 is to look at the transfer case shift knob. If it is a full time there will be no "2H" (2wd high) option.

Another thing, if you end up getting a NP205 truck I have a front dirveshaft that has been lengthened for a truck with a 3-6" lift. I will sell it to you cheap cause it is just taking up space. Let me know. It is in great shape.

So things to look for. In this body style watch out for cracks in the frame by the steering box, espescially if they have bigger tires or have been lifted. This is a weakpoint in the frame, but many places sell reinforcement plates for people who plan on lifting their trucks. This all but alleviates the problem.

Since you are just gonna use the chassis the condition of the body is unimportant. But make sure that the frame is solid with no bad rust or cracks. Also beware of trucks that are already lifted. People lift trucks to make them more fun to smash on, so watch out for a cheap truck that is already lifted.

I am sure that there is more too look out for. You may want to post a new topic and call it "73-87 4x4 under a 64" or something like that. I have seen people discuss this swap on the page before so search it and a new post will draw some more focused discussion on your topic. Good luck.

Kyle

one thing that i have noticed is that you look at a 64 chevy pickup frame its just like the 67-72 frames the part between the rear end and front end is flat frame no curves that raise up or go down on a 73-87 chevy pickup the frame is kinda straight for a while but when it hits the back of the cab it goes down (the 79 GMC i have is like this and if i remember my 85 chevy is same way also) so you'd have to make a body lift to make the 64 body sit right like no body lift in back of cab and 2 in body lift in front now a suburban frame is flat all the way across from front spring hanger on the rear to the rear spring hanger on the front with in the next week i'm going to be sand blasting my frame and painting it then i will mount my cab and i'll post how that turned out when i finish but problem is that'll be a week or 2 weeks before i know so ya....
Nate

thanks for all the info everybody