Buddy just got a 77 K10 truck, things to check out...

[konigstigerii]

Hello new to the forum, my friend just got a 1977 K10 Chevy with the full time 4x4, 350, He traded the guy his car and is quite happy to finally have a truck. The person who had it before swapped in a '76 engine and transmission into it, claimed it had 80k miles on it at the time. Has lift, appearing to be just and axle flip. (now I have a S10 with the 8.5" 10 bolt (same?), when they flip the axle to below the leafs, do they turn the axle upside down? I noticed the fill/check plug was lower than on mine.) But besides the normal check up stuff like all the fluids and what not, is there anything particular for these trucks that is good to check out? We plan on getting in the garage tomorrow to go thru it and touch up some rust spots on the body until he has time/money to properly do the body and paint work.

The guy who had it seemed to take care of it mechanically very well, but we want to check ourselves.

Gas millage, won't these get about 10ish?

Thanks,
Sterling

[VileZambonie]

The axle is not flipped and no it is not upside down when you flip it. An axle flip would lower the truck. These are not the same as an S10. He can convert it from full time 4x4 using mile markers conversion kit. It's inexpensive and easy. Other things to check other than the obvious safety items is the area around the steering box for movement. Do a "dry park check" of the steering and suspension. Have one person rock the steering wheel back and forth while while the other observes all of the front end components.

As far as Fuel mileage, that depends on many factors. The conversion kit will help. A tune up, setting ignition timing etc

[yellowk20]

while this sight is awesome for ALL parts of these trucks you may want to check out CK5.com for your 4x4 specific questions ( some guys from there recommended me here for some of my body and interior questions)

[VileZambonie]

You have to pay to post on their site last time I checked.

[yellowk20]

for some areas you do but the general knowledge aka the "garage" is free and a good place to ask newb 4x4 questions with out fear of being flamed

I only suggest CK5 for the 4x4 specific stuff this site seems to be much better for the truck as a whole

[fitz]

do they turn the axle upside down? Thanks,
Sterling

If you were to flip the axle upside down the truck would drive backwards when the trans is in drive. I had a friend learn that the hard way in an old Dodge Powerwagon. It went like heck backwards (3 reverse gears).
When you here people talk of an axle flip they  move the spring perches top to bottom or bottom to top depending on if they want to lower or raise the vehicle.

[VileZambonie]

do they turn the axle upside down? Thanks,
Sterling

If you were to flip the axle upside down the truck would drive backwards when the trans is in drive. I had a friend learn that the hard way in an old Dodge Powerwagon. It went like heck backwards (3 reverse gears).
When you here people talk of an axle flip they  move the spring perches top to bottom or bottom to top depending on if they want to lower or raise the vehicle.

 

[konigstigerii]

Thanks guys, We had it in the garage tonight going thru most of it, between the rear, front and transfer case they all took total 2 quarts of gear oil... good thing we checked, then the radiator fluid was way way low, so topped that off too, about a gallon short. Some lose hose clamps as well. Some parts of the carburetor were missing, my dad called it the heat riser (for the choke) then the secondary choke disengagement actuator was bad too, so we got one of those on order. and a few other things. I don't know much about older trucks, especially carburetors, I know my S10 inside and out, but not everything I know there works for these, luckily my dad knows a lot. I read about the conversion kits for the 4wd, and he will do that soon as he has the money, right now were focused on getting it running correctly. Were kinda picking up where the last person left off.

Tomorrow we are going to continue, get some more parts, straighten the bumper, get a fan shroud (he drove over the old one doh!) and check the other stuff. I just know the S10s have little quarks about them to check out, like atf in the ashtray...so I wanted to see if there was any on these to be aware of.

But heres a pic, nothing much, needs some body work, and tlc:

[campcrf]

nice looking truck....  good thing to start with... love the ol school rims

[fitz]

  I should have explained this in more detail. When he blew up his rear end in the dodge he measured the distance between spring perches then hit the junkyard and dug through a pile of axles until he found one with the same distance between perches. When he got the junkyard axle home and placed it next to the original he noticed a problem. The orig. axle mounted under the leaf springs(perches on top) and the junkyard axle(no idea what it came out of) mounted on top of the springs(perches on bottom).
 Not having access to a welder and being of highschool age  the simple fix was to flip the axle over and bolt it in upside down. The first sign something was wrong was when the gear oil leaked out of the vent tube. This was solved with a longer hose.
 Everything seemed to be going good until it came time for a test drive. What a suprise he got.
 Keep in mind this was years ago before the internet and sites such as this one that are loaded with info to help people out.

[VileZambonie]

Well your friend must have felt like a moron! lol

[fitz]

He did, and still does whenever I remind him of it, I think I'll give him a call.

[konigstigerii]

Yep it in decent shape, has some bad rust underneath behind both front wheels on the body, driver side its rusted thru the floor, both U-shaped supports on the body are all rusted and need replacement. the bed has lots of rust underneath and a small rust hole in it. We painted the underside of the body tonight to slow any additional corrosion, but still needs work in the body area, just not now as mechanics are more important to him. Not as bad as some other trucks of this age I see around here. Salty roads is not metals best friend. We replaced the one end of the drag link, and the steering was improved greatly. The front end grease fitting were pretty dry, so we got it all greased up... though we could not find how to grease the upper ball joint (correct term?), is it sealed non-greasable unit?


couple more questions, are these trucks typically kinda gutless? Also were they meant to be run on leaded fuel (lubrication for valves and what not)? Engine is from '76 truck, stock except, 4bbl oldsmobile carb, dual exhaust and K&N air filter.

[Irish_Alley]

  I should have explained this in more detail. When he blew up his rear end in the dodge he measured the distance between spring perches then hit the junkyard and dug through a pile of axles until he found one with the same distance between perches. When he got the junkyard axle home and placed it next to the original he noticed a problem. The orig. axle mounted under the leaf springs(perches on top) and the junkyard axle(no idea what it came out of) mounted on top of the springs(perches on bottom).
 Not having access to a welder and being of highschool age  the simple fix was to flip the axle over and bolt it in upside down. The first sign something was wrong was when the gear oil leaked out of the vent tube. This was solved with a longer hose.
 Everything seemed to be going good until it came time for a test drive. What a suprise he got.
 Keep in mind this was years ago before the internet and sites such as this one that are loaded with info to help people out.

might be an ideal for the derby lol. the older heads i think were they make a lead substitute you can pick up a can a autozone, just a waist IMO