1987 Stepside Frame Swap - w/ tons of pictures!

[Bucs34]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member here and a new owner of a 1987 4x4 stepside. 



I really like the truck and was very excited when I got it.  Me and my dad drove 2.5hrs each way to pick it up.  My plan originally was to put a 6" lift kit on the truck and throw on some 35's and be done with it.  However, even the best laid plans sometimes fail.  In the course of prepping for the lift kit install I took the bed of the truck to clean up some surface rust and repair a crossmember.  However, what I found was some serious rot on the drives side of the fram behind the cab that was actually covered up with bondo.



Needless to say I wasn't pleased when I found this but I like the truck too much to just get rid of it so I decided to swap the frame.  The plus side of this is that the frame I hunted down already has a 6" all spring lift kit on it so that works out.  Here's a few pictures of the donor frame.









There are a few blemishes on the new frame that need to be addressed and welded but for New England it is in pretty darn good shape.




This is the first project of this magnitude that I have ever attempted.  Plus I have no garage so all of this will being done in my back yard with the help of my father and brother.  Here's a picture of our work space and the homemade engine/cab hoist frame we constructed off of our shed. 




Although this project does seem like a daunting task I am excited to get underway and get the truck back on the road.  I'm sure I will be asking you folks tons of questions and greatly appreciate any and all input from anyone who has any experience or tips or tricks about pulling this swap off.  I already have tons of parts stockpiled for it such as stainless steel brake lines, almost all new brake hardware, and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting.  Other things I plan to replace are cab mount bushings, shocks, fuel pump and sending unit, and of course anything else that the great members of this forum recommend. 

Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check back for updates.

-Todd

[flatford39]

Nice looking stepside. That's a pretty bad crack in that crossmember. I don't think I would try to mig weld that thing. Your going to need some pretty good penetration and I would stick weld it.

[Bucs34]

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to tackle that just yet.  I'll leave that call up to my brother, he's the welder in the family.  On the other hand I do have two trucks so hopefully the corssmember on my current truck is in good shape and then I can probably swap them out. 

[pholliday1]

Nope just v grind it and weld it. It will be fine, nice truck make you replace ALL your spring bushings with poly (rubber just degrades) new bolts with never seize. This will go along way in keeping the suspension flexible. How are you upgrading the axles?

[Bucs34]

I'm not sure about the axles yet.  Maybe swap them out for 3/4 tons if the budget allows and I can find axles in good shape.  Right now they have 3.73 gears in them so running 35's on that probably won't be too fun but I might have to do it for awhile while I save for the gear swap. Around me a gear change runs about $1,800!!!

[pholliday1]

Much cheaper if you can find donor axles. Bigger axles mean bigger brakes++++++. You can have alota go but you gotta have WHOA!

[Bucs34]

Bigger axles would definitely be best. I'll have to shop around on craigslist and see what I can find. Would 3.73 gears with 35's and a 700r4 be doable or is it really gonna be completely terrible?

[pholliday1]

Depending on your hp of your engine you won't be able to run in overdrive unless your on pretty flat ground. If your drive in OD with 3.73s your tranny will be hunting between 3 rd and OD leading to premature failure. You can always leave it in third without damaging the tranny. It's kinda what a turbo 350 is, 1 2 3 no overdrive.

[Bucs34]

Thanks pholiday1. I'll probably try it out with the 3.73's without usind O/D and see if I can stand it.


My next question is shock recommendations.  I was planning to grab some Tuff Country SX8000's in the 4-6" length. Any other opinions on brands/models of shocks. The truck is really only going to be driven on road so I don't want to waste money on overkill shocks.

[duramaxman06]

I had a truck jus like that I sold it years ago and been sick ever since. You didn't happen buy that in ky did you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pholliday1]

Are they a nitrogen shock or a hydraulic shock?

[Bucs34]

Duramaxman - I bought this truck in Cape cod.  Sorry to hear that you've been sick.


Pholliday1 - They are a nitro gas shock. 

[pholliday1]

That shock should be fine however make sure to measure your shock length before ordering get the suspension at full articulation and at full compression

[Bucs34]

Hello again everyone!  It's been awhile but this weekend I made some progress on the truck.

First off I took off the covers from both axles to change the fluid and check the gears for chips and missing teeth.  Everything seems to look good to me. 

Here's the front



And the rear



Can anyone identify this rear end for me.  Is it the factory GM locker? If so are they any good?


Also got the front crossmemeber welded up and the steering box brace kit welded up, all thanks to my brother.





Also got all the rear brakes replaced with new hardware and installed new brake lines as well.



Hopefully the next few weekends will bring more progress on the donor frame so we can start the swapping!

[bake74]

     Your gear sets look good, no damage from the pics whatsoever.  That looks like a gov-lock to me, here is a pic, it looks like it from the pic.