The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs COE fit to Suburban body

Hello all. I have a '52 GMC F352 COE. I want to mount it on a one ton dually chassis, then cut the back of the cab off and grow on the rear door sections of a suburban, to make a crew cab four door. Can anyone verify what year suburbans would match the proportions/lines of the COE? I want to make a fifth wheel travel trailer hauler out of it. Thanks in advance for the help.
Perley

I think a '47-'54 burb body should match pretty well. I've seen more than one done that way, it was pretty neat.

What do you mean by rear door sections? It was not until the '67 to '72 body that Suburbans were more than two door trucks.

The '47 to '54 body Suburbans and panels are all two door trucks, but they are also the only one that really matches the look of a '52 GMC.

Somebody is going to pop in and describe one they've seen, but if its not a recent custom its a coach built custom, not a factory truck.

I'm not suggesting you can't use Suburban parts to accomplish what you want, but its more complicated than simply grafting the back of the Suburban body to the COE cab. Making it a four door means figuring out how to add that second set of doors, and custom building doors that look like as that second set.

Another thing to think about is wheel base. The shortest 1-ton dually I've seen had a wheelbase of about 125 inches. The stock Suburban has a wheelbase of 116 inches. Using a COE cab instead of the original front clip shortens the body's wheelbase to under 100 inches.

Since most duallys are extended cab, or crew cab, most have 133 or 155 inch wheelbase or something similar and even longer.

This is a case where measuring twice or twenty times makes a lot of sense before you start cutting on things.

As of today I've cut up one COE and two panel trucks, and I have one more COE, a 1-ton panel (137 inch wheelbase) and a Suburban, all as part of my project to build what I'm calling a COE Suburban Cargo. I don't want to discourage you from your project, but rather to suggest you spend some serious time thinking and measuring before starting.

And post pictures once the work begins.

hey Old Sub:
Your project sound interesting. How many doors will it have? and how long will the wheelbase be?
Do you have some pictures posted?
Ter

Well there are elements of my project that I keep changing my mind about. One of those is the number of doors, another is the wheelbase.

I have two frames I'm considering using. One has wheelbase of 155 inches the other is about 165. The shorter is a 1-ton four wheel drive, the longer a 1-ton dually. I change my mind frequently which I'll use.

That decision is tied to the decision on doors too. The longer the frame, the more I need to stretch the body, and the more likely adding doors makes sense.

Another choice I have yet to make is what power plant. I have both a Cadillac 500 and a Chevy 454 on hand and could use either. While I tend to prefer gasoline over Diesel, current fuel prices have me wondering if I should consider a motor I don't currently own.

The only pictures I have are of the parts trucks, and they aren't collected and posted anywhere. This is a long term project and really I'm still collecting parts more then anything else on this one.

Steve,
When are you going to collect that motorhome at the end of your street...the one that does not belong to you? Wasn't that a diesel?

The one down the street is a big gas, the 8 liter big block.

I don't remember what team it was, but I've seen pics of a '60s drag crew truck that was the big 2-ton or heavier chassis, with a Suburban body on it. I don't remember if the body was shortened or not, but it had barn doors on the back of it, to access the cargo area. The chassis was long enough that it was a ramp truck, and they towed their car on it.
-Brad

Try this site for ideas and info.

http://www.classiccoe.com/oldcoetrucks/Custom.htm