dually box

[85pumpkinhaulr]

im new here......and i have a question.  i have an 85 c-10....nothing fancy...2wd.  changed the carb, manifold, put headers in, nothing crazy.  i'd like to put a dually box on it, but i dont know if it will fit.  what will i have to change to make this work?  i saw a rig today with a dually box on it, and it wasnt a crew cab.  i thought it looked pretty sharp.

thanks
scott

[85pumpkinhaulr]

is the chasis the same on a dually rig as it is on the c-10?

[85pumpkinhaulr]

anyone???

[R2R]

There probley not the same. You did say you had a C10,that means half ton. Most dually are 1 ton. There a heaveyer frame.
   Maybe look around and see if you can get the fenders off of a dually bed and put them on your bed.
    Are you going to put dual axle on your truck ??? If not that will look kind of dumb with an extra wide bed and single wheels under it.
     What ever you like though, let me know how it works out for you.
    Jim

[73K20]

The dually bed will fit on your truck (provided that they are both long beds).  If you are going to do this then i assume that you are going to want the dually rear also.  You can usually pick up 14 bolt full floaters with a dually set up pretty cheap at local junkyards.

1973 K20 - 350/350/205

[85pumpkinhaulr]

i am definately going to use that axle as well.....im not doing it for the look, i'm actually doing it out of necessity.  i haul alot of heavy stuff....ive beefed up my suspension with heavier duty springs......but i'm still getting some bulging in the tires under load.  not much, but enough to make me think i made need something stronger.  ive seen a couple of non-crew cab trucks with a dually box, but not many.  
so, one vote for it will work, and one vote for it wont work......which is it ?  

thanks again
scott

[R2R]

Scott;
    Before you do some thing drastic, look under a dually and see what the spring shackles and frame looks like. If it looks like it will work on your frame that should be the tie breaking vote.
     The price shouldn't be that much I'll agree to that.$200 for the bed and anoughter $400 for the rear end. If you do alot of heavy load carring it would be well worth the piece of mind.
      The yoke on the transmission might have to be changed too. Or a spiecal drive shaft made. The 1 ton probley uses a bigger universal joint.
       What are you going to do for a transmission ???
       Please let me know how it comes out,,,
                Jim    

[85pumpkinhaulr]

Jim,
looking at a dually rig is a good idea.....i'll start there before i get to far ahead of myself.  i blew the original 700 tranny that was in it, and i put a t400 in its place.  actually its technically a t375, which i believe is a 400 with a 350 yoke.  thanks for the advice........now off to find that dually!

scott

[R2R]

Scott;
    Sounds like you did your home work on the transmission already.
     If you need any parts for this swap that you cann't find let me know I have a couple good places around here to look for you.
     Keep me informed on how it goes, I'm really interested in how this one comes out. My e-mail is,,,,,,,
                   sawdustyone@aol
                    Have fun,,,,,,Jim

[85pumpkinhaulr]

Jim,  i will definately keep you posted.  actually i found a dually in my neighborhood,  now to talk to the guy before i start crawling under it!....the tranny swap worked out really well.  cross member had to be moved back a bit, but nothing terrible.  the only problem is the gearing.....the rear end is a 2.73 non posi, and i have 31's on it.  its a dog out of the hole.  the 700 was geared better to the truck, which i guess why it was in there in the first place!  if i end up doing the dually box and swap out the axle, it wont be a big deal, but if i keep it the way it is, i have to change the gear set.  do you think 3.73's would be over kill? maybe something like a 3.42 would be better?  what do you think?

scott

[R2R]

Scott,,,, I don't really know for sure about how that gearing would work for you. I would suggest stepping it up a little bit and see if you like it. 3.73 are pretty low ended, ain't they ???? If your going to do alot of pulling you would need them, to get the load moving. Youv'e got big tires on,,, it might compensate for it.
            But,,like I said I just don't know that much about gearing. Let me know what you find out I might have a need to know something more about it later.
   Jim

[73K20]

If your pulling much load then you will need at least 3.73's.  I would recommend somewhere more along the lines of 4.11's.  Something to consider is that dually rears were put in trucks that were intended to haul heavier loads and will therefore be geared accordingly.  This means that you may have a hard time finding one that has gears lower than 3.73's.  Mine has 4.11's and 60-65 mph is about top end.  You will get a bit more top end with 3.73's but lose some lower end.

1973 K20 - 350/350/205

Edited by: 73K20 at: 8/5/02 7:15:59 pm

[85pumpkinhaulr]

okay here's an opinion question.  as you guys know i was thinking about trying to get ahold of a dually box and axle, and swap them into my c-10.  well i came accross an add for an 86 c-30 dually. (my c-10 is an 85)  i havent seen it yet, but the guy is asking like $4k, so im guessing its pretty nice.  my c10 is no show truck, it needs a rocker, cab corners and a drivers side fender.  other then that its in good shape!  i do a fair amount of heavy hauling.....do you think its worth it (providing the rig is nice) to get the c30, or try and do the swap into my c10?  i seriously doubt i could get more then like 1500 bucks for my truck, although i have alot of good stuff in it, as a whole, the big picture tells me its not worth all that much.  what do you guys think?

scott

[R2R]

Scott,,,,,could you aford $4000.00 for the other one???You all ready know whats wrong with your truck,how about the other one??? It would take some time to fix your truck up, but probley not $4000.00...Whats easer for you to come by the money or time ???
       One of the places I get alot of my stuff from has got a 1981-1987 not sure of the year,its a NON - runner.Long wheel base 3/4 or 1 ton step side bed in good to great shape. I don't know what he would take for it. If you are located here on the west cost and would be interested I'll ask the guy and see what I could get it for. It would be cheeper than the other one your thinking about. You could put your transmision and engine in it easy and you would know what you got mechaically. Plus you would get the heavy chassy.You could part out your C-10 the stuff you wouldn't use
       I was just pointing out anouther option. I know its better to think them all through before you wright the check,haha.
Jim

[85pumpkinhaulr]

option 2 is very interesting.....and i was thinking along similar lines.....i know mechanically my rig is in good shape, and i wouldnt know what i'd be getting until i had it for a while.  unfortunatly i'm on the east coast, but, i can still try and locate an east coast option two.....hmm.......time for some good old fashioned thinking........