Swapping a dually axle into a '79 C10 Stepside

[Jory]

First of all, Hi. I'm new to the forum.

I have '79 C10 Stepside that I picked up about a year ago. It currently has a worn out 250ci straight 6 with a 3 speed manual. I'm building a 6.2 diesel with a turbo and am planning to put an nv3500 behind it.

I love the look of dual rear wheels and happen to have a dana 80 4.10 limited slip sitting around from my '97 dodge 3500. Has anybody tried stuffing dual rear wheels under a stepside? I have a feeling I'd have to widen the fenders to accommodate the width of the dana 80.

I don't plan on hauling a whole lot with the truck, but I'd probably up the suspension to 3/4 ton specs.

anyone have advice to offer?

here's the truck in question:

[beastie_3]

Yes, the fenders are not wide enough. You would have to get a fleetside bed and add dully fenders. Otherwise, it would not look good.

[slammed79]

I have my doubts that the Dana 80 would fit without surgery,  and Beastie is right, a fleetside bed would be the easiest way about the bed. Third: the NV3500 most likely won't hold up to the torque of the 6.2.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but you can prolly trade the Dodge rear for Chevy ready D70, and also trade your stepside bed for a short fleetside. Dually fenders can be had on Craigslist, I see them being parted out all the time around my area.

[Mr Diesel]

If you want to beef atruck up I recommend starting with a different truck: 3/4 or 1 ton. You will find it less headache and be happier with the end result if you start with something closer to what you want to end up with. 1/2 tons are great, but trying to make them heavy duty is kind of futile, especially when there are still a lot of 3/4 and 1 tons out there to be found.

I too love the look of dual wheels. So I bought a 1 ton.

A 6.2 will probably do very well it that light truck. If you don't plan to do much towing the 3500 will probably be fine if you don't go crazy on the boost.

[Jory]

Thanks for the input guys.
For the record, this idea can be blamed on lack of sleep and a few beers

I don't plan to haul much with the truck. From what I've researched, an NV3500 should hold up behind a turbo 6.2 diesel.
I'm planning to widen the stock steelies and run a meatier tire to give the truck a little wider stance in the rear. 

[fitz]

For the record, this idea can be blamed on lack of sleep and a few beers

I say grab a keg and have at it.
I always thought that the outer lip on a stepside fender was even with the outer lip on a fleetside bed (I never measured them, but they sure look close). I can measure my trucks if need be.
That being said I've seen several homemade trucks where someone stuffed a dually rear end under a fleetside bed. Some trucks had a small rubber fender flare because the rims stuck out an inch or two. Other trucks seemed to nail it with the right offset rime and it looked great.
I know these pictures are bad (taken at in intersection, no time to zoom in) but you get the idea. This truck looked great.
Like I said, I can measure the width of the fleetside/stepside beds if you need the measurements.