73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks > Members Rides
'82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!
bluevan:
Don't get me wrong - I love yard plows, especially crazy oddball ones. For around a grand or so you can get a non-roadworthy bone that pushes snow and beautifies your property at the same time. It beats snowblowing or paying someone to do it. The biggest problem with having a yard plow is lack of use. Mine sits around for 8 months and then every thanksgiving I need clean all the rodent filth out and give it mouth to mouth before it will run. Been doing this for too many years and decided its time for a change.
My latest yard truck is an 89 K5 Blazer - its been a good soldier for ten years at least, but now it is totally wrung out. The brakes are gone, the engine burns as much oils as gas, and the seats are falling through the floor.
The plan is to build a truck that will plow snow like a beast in the winter and be a fun toy the rest of the year. I liked the short wheelbase of the K5 but decided that a pickup bodystyle would be more useful.
I decided to go with a shortbed 1982 GMC K10 that I found locally. Yes, I know - why am I buying someone else's rotted out yard truck? Actually I drove it home so its not technically a "yard truck" - and it was cheap. It had a plow on it already, but I will probably use the one I already have so I sold it. Also sold the bed, since I plan on putting on a steel flatbed in the end.
The truck came with a decent running 350/TH350/NP208 combo with 10 bolt axles. Pretty much what you'd expect in one of these.
Let the fun begin.. I have had this truck about a year now, but only really started working on it in the last few months. I will try and get everyone caught up. I appreciate any input.
Bluevan
bluevan:
As I tore the truck apart the condition was worse than expected. There was a ton of rust and I ended up doing as much cutting as unbolting. After stripping everything off the frame behind the cab the rear 10 bolt was taken out. Many hours were then spent grinding, scraping, and scrubbing the rear frame rails, brackets, and crossmembers. All the rust and crap had to come off.
The undercoating was the worst part - it was stuck on like cement in some areas. Used heat to soften it up, then scrape or wheel. Once most the crud was off I switched to a scrub pad, wire brush, spray bottle filled with paint thinner, and lots of rags. The thinner did a good job breaking up what was left and mad it easier to clean.
bluevan:
Craigslist got the best of me one night and I soon found myself driving down to RI to buy some CUCV axles. The junkyard had two M1008s they were parting out, so I ended up buying both sets of axles because they were selling them at a decent price.
bluevan:
I chopped all the brackets off the 14 bolt and ordered up some new ones. I also got a set of 2200# springs. Here is the rear end under the frame when it was being test fitted. This process would have been a little bit easier if I replaced the spring perches one at a time. Then I could have found the new bracket orientation by simply matching the angle of the other one. I wasted a bunch of time measuring the old axle. Once it was all tacked and bolted in it was pretty easy to find the locations of the shock brackets and tack them in too.
bluevan:
All the new brackets were burned in for good and the housing cleaned. I am probably going to regret it, but I ditched the giant drums and got some disc brake brackets. Took the hubs off and put them on some K20 front rotors. I will worry about a parking brake later. I reused everything in the axle with exception of the hub seals, axle flange gaskets, and cover gasket. The bearings seemed good - they got repacked and it got new fluid.
The rear frame section and rear end were painted with POR-15 and top coated with rustoleum semi-gloss black.
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