81 Longbed 2wd to 4wd Conversion/ Frame off Restoration!

[STxMunky]

Just came across your thread. I like a lot of what I see and hear! I'm planning on going in a similar direction once I get around to restoring mine.

I can sympathize with your plight: my truck also came from my dad, and he welded on the front grille guard, as well as a rear tow hitch. We build them so they can run through anything they can't go over! I also had a crack in my frame, a vertical tear from the bottom that went about halfway up. I drove it for 2 & 1/2 years like that. I'm glad you're going through yours, pulling the body off, cleaning it up. In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

As far as painting the frame, silver sounds good with your blue. I'm probably going to do black with my frame, as the truck will be silver.

I've also considered a 6.0 LS swap. It's uncanny how similar your build is to where I want to go with mine. All that said, sounds like you have a good plan going forward, the right people helping you, and a large amount of patience and determination.

Have you considered the NP 205 for your t-case?

[ToreyC]

Just came across your thread. I like a lot of what I see and hear! I'm planning on going in a similar direction once I get around to restoring mine.

I can sympathize with your plight: my truck also came from my dad, and he welded on the front grille guard, as well as a rear tow hitch. We build them so they can run through anything they can't go over! I also had a crack in my frame, a vertical tear from the bottom that went about halfway up. I drove it for 2 & 1/2 years like that. I'm glad you're going through yours, pulling the body off, cleaning it up. In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

As far as painting the frame, silver sounds good with your blue. I'm probably going to do black with my frame, as the truck will be silver.

I've also considered a 6.0 LS swap. It's uncanny how similar your build is to where I want to go with mine. All that said, sounds like you have a good plan going forward, the right people helping you, and a large amount of patience and determination.

Have you considered the NP 205 for your t-case?

That is pretty crazy how close the story line is on our trucks. Good luck to you on your build. I started tearing this truck down in 2007 and am just now making some decent progress on it. It is very time consuming...unless you have an unlimited budget. The NP 205 was my first thought for the t-case, but if I am understanding everything correct, the adapter I would need to make that t-case work with a 4l80E tranny cost over $1300. So if this is true and there were a better t-case for close to that price range, I would rather do that. I'm just trying to get some ideas on what would be the best bang for my buck. Thanks for the input.

[bake74]

     Considering you only have so much of wheel well opening to work with, that tire looks fine if that is going to be the ride height.

[STxMunky]

Only thing I can think of for your t-case, is get a 2wd 4l80E, and mate it to a divorced NP 205. If not, then perhaps an Atlas is your best bet.

[ToreyC]

     Considering you only have so much of wheel well opening to work with, that tire looks fine if that is going to be the ride height.

I think I agree with you. I don't feel that this tire would look too small on the truck. I'm hoping to get them ordered next week!

[ToreyC]

Only thing I can think of for your t-case, is get a 2wd 4l80E, and mate it to a divorced NP 205. If not, then perhaps an Atlas is your best bet.

So is a 2wd 4l80E the only way that the NP 205 would work? The 4l80e that I got came out of an all wheel drive Yukon.

[pholliday1]

I've got 40's with 11" lift with a lot of articulation and I can get the front tires to just barely rub on certain off camber situations, with that being said that's without bump stops in place. Not sure if this helps you.

[Captkaos]

The 1991 1 tons came with 4L80E/NP205's so the adapter is out there, just not sure how easy it is to find or how much it will cost. 

[ToreyC]

Well, once again the project has stalled for quite some time. I am finally getting a little more done on it, so here's the latest updates. Finished the suspension and finally got my rims and tires. Hopefully this picture uploads prioerly.

[Irish_Alley]

what you find out about the 4l80e? i been doing some research and just trying to get all facts straightened out. from what i understand you can make the 4x4 4l80e work and you can also make the 2wd work. just each one takes a different adapter and maybe a spacer

[ToreyC]

what you find out about the 4l80e? i been doing some research and just trying to get all facts straightened out. from what i understand you can make the 4x4 4l80e work and you can also make the 2wd work. just each one takes a different adapter and maybe a spacer

Best of my knowledge (there are definatly more qualified people to answer this) you can use the 4x4 4L80E wit the proper adapter that is very expensive, or you can use the 2wd tranny and a divorced transfer case. I actually went with the Atlus t-case due to the fact that it cost about the same as a 205 with the proper adapters would have cost. It should be arriving any day now and i can marry it to the transmission that i had fully rebuilt.

[ToreyC]

after getting the lift and axles installed, the  end sat way lower than the front, so i took the shackle front shackle hangers off of a 4wd rear end parts truck i have and mounted them on my 2wd frame. Then we i bought a shackle flip kit and mounted that as well to get the truck to sit more level. Here is a side view of the stance with suspension and new wheels and tires in place. (notice that is a 6' ladder beside the truck bed)

[Irish_Alley]

the front might of been sitting higher due to no motor and springs not settling

[ToreyC]

the front might of been sitting higher due to no motor and springs not settling

we actually had the motor and tranny installed during the process of trying to get the most accurate ride height.

[Irish_Alley]

ok, was going off the picture