Project Frankensquare

[n8in8or]

One more pic.

 

[ak diesel driver]

Any particular reason your not going to use a regular dually axle?

 

[n8in8or]

Any particular reason your not going to use a regular dually axle?

I don’t want the truck to be that wide in the rear. I am thinking about using a regular SRW pickup axle though….that should only make me 2” wider on each side and then I wouldn’t need the inner spacer. If I could find a CUCV axle that would be perfect because it would also have 4.56 gears to match the front axle and it would have a Detroit locker in it.

 

[Will L.]

Primary use is a question.
With those tires this looks to me like an off roader or working in dirt/muddy area.

If offroading and in tight areas like fitting past trees or boulder ridden trails, slightly narrower helps fit past thing. But if not fighting tight areas frequently, I would go for pushing them out more. Wider stance is more stability and imo looks better.

Also- if you ever do one for off roading adding some hmmwv “geared hubs” aka portals makes for some fun. 1.92:1 ratio jump, and easy central tire inflation on the fly...

 

[Rockabillyrat]

There are a few guys I know of one here in Ohio and the other in PA that sell rest free Square body parts. That where I got my roller from for my project. I'm sure you can find someone in Michigan that does the same thing. If not I can give you the contact information for the guy here in Ohio and see if he has any cabs. He had a TON of parts and a few cabs last time i was there, alot of K30 stuff.

 

[n8in8or]

Primary use is a question.
With those tires this looks to me like an off roader or working in dirt/muddy area.

If offroading and in tight areas like fitting past trees or boulder ridden trails, slightly narrower helps fit past thing. But if not fighting tight areas frequently, I would go for pushing them out more. Wider stance is more stability and imo looks better.

Also- if you ever do one for off roading adding some hmmwv “geared hubs” aka portals makes for some fun. 1.92:1 ratio jump, and easy central tire inflation on the fly...

My primary design parameters are first, clearance around objects like trees and then second is looks (to me, narrower is better visually, cuz you know…..beauty is in the eye of the beerholder), plus the bed frame I have that I’m planning to use as of now is 92” wide, so that is about the width I’d like to stick to. That mockup was 90” wide overall, so I’m pretty much there already. Now having said that, this project is somewhat fluid and if I find a premade flat/dump bed that looks good and is a little wider, then a dually axle may be the route forward.

 

[n8in8or]

There are a few guys I know of one here in Ohio and the other in PA that sell rest free Square body parts. That where I got my roller from for my project. I'm sure you can find someone in Michigan that does the same thing. If not I can give you the contact information for the guy here in Ohio and see if he has any cabs. He had a TON of parts and a few cabs last time i was there, alot of K30 stuff.

Oh yeah! I forgot about that guy you went to…..and he has K30 parts? Nice! I’ll be in touch to get his info, sounds like I might have to take a run down there with a trailer.

 

[n8in8or]

I don’t want the truck to be that wide in the rear. I am thinking about using a regular SRW pickup axle though….that should only make me 2” wider on each side and then I wouldn’t need the inner spacer. If I could find a CUCV axle that would be perfect because it would also have 4.56 gears to match the front axle and it would have a Detroit locker in it.

Never mind, this plan won’t work because you can’t fit an inner dually wheel over a SRW drum.

 

[Will L.]

Disk brake mod?

 

[n8in8or]

Disk brake mod?

Ah yes. Maybe that’s the answer.

 

[Will L.]

See him well I can spend your money?

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Air bags would free up all that wasted spring stuff room.....

 

[n8in8or]

Air bags would free up all that wasted spring stuff room.....

That it would. I was also thinking about moving the springs inboard a little since I’ll likely be fabbing my own mounts….I was just concerned about narrowing things too much. I suppose half an inch per side isn’t that bad, especially if I add an anti-sway bar.

 

[ak diesel driver]

might consider multi link with coilover

 

[J_dude]

Air bag rear would be really awesome, never have to jack up a trailer again haha.

 

[n8in8or]

might consider multi link with coilover

Another person spending my money for me!

 

[MrMarty51]

And here I had a beautiful 1986 K3500 one ton dually, crew cab, long box setting in the yard. Not a spot of rust and near perfect body.
Friend hauled it over to me to put the components back onto the engine, get it fired up and sell it for Him. $2500.00, I found a buyer and did not have to mess with it. Oh yeah, it is a fou fitty fou truck too. It went to Rapid City.

 

[Husker6.5]

This was free, so no matter what I found I was money ahead.

Free is always good for the project budget!

 

[n8in8or]

Free is always good for the project budget!

Yup!! That was exactly what I had socked away in my “next project” fund!

 

[n8in8or]

Finally getting back to this. Today I got the K20 and C30 frames pulled in. I used the core support mount and rear cab mounts as my datums and bolted them to some steel tubes. With the frames aligned to each other I was able to compare differences…. The K20 frame has a higher arch in the front, plus the frame rail cross section is taller. The taller rail doesn’t surprise me, but the higher arch does. I’m still working on my plan, but I think what’s going to happen is I’ll leave the C30 arch (height from the floor) alone and alter the top of the rail to match the height of the K20 rail. The K20 rail is about 3/4” higher off the floor and the rail itself is about 1/2” taller, plus the overall profile at front is a bit more pronounced on the K20 frame. The reason this is important to me is because when I make the turbo kit for this that clears the AC I want to be able to use this as a pattern if it turns out well, so I want the frame to be representative of what a factory frame would be.



I have removed the crossmembers from the frames. Tomorrow I’ll get the core support mounts and leaf spring mounts removed and then start planning my next moves.