1ton Cab & chassis build

[kitimatdude]

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I'm in the thinking hard about it stage of building a C&C truck I have into a street legal, very capable truggy.

First the reason for building it...


I love my Blazer but its getting out of hand.

454 bored 20 over 11:1 C/R on Propane
Th400, 203/205 doubler triple sticked
Dana 60 410 Detroit / 14FF 411 Gov Bomb
19.5 X 44 X 16.5 boggers on 12" wide rims

4" spring lift front and rear
Double frame body lift.
Now I have taken a lot of heat online about having stacked frames. I've been told its weak, dangerous, structurally unsound, and several other choice things over the years. Anyone that has seen my videos can tell you I beat on it almost every weekend and the frame is among the parts I haven't broken. I broke a frame once, but it was a single frame.
Anyway, moving right along....

The big problem with my truck right now is weight... its too heavy
It weighed 7500lbs on a truck scale early this spring. that's too heavy for my liking.

My clever plan is to make a nice (short) truggy out of the C&C truck over the winter using my Blazer as the parts.
-I plan on using 4-6" of spring lift and that's it.
-No double frame, no body lift.
-I want to exo-cage the cab and use a similar protection for the hood as in the pic above.
-I plan on making a short flatbed at whatever height is required to clear the tires.
-I plan on reworking the fiberglass front clip to clear the tires and work without the 8" body lift. (I extended it last winter using a school bus front clip, I can do it.)
-I also want to boatside it as the rockers are shot on this truck, and I think they look cool!

I have a bit of a junkyard of my own going on so I have a bit of choice for springs etc. I want to keep my build cheap using mostly what I already have. Anyway! On to the pics.

The C&C truck:

It used to have a sander on the back. the very back of the frame is shot!



It has a stupid long wheelbase:

My blazer wheelbase measures approx 108 (9') so the axle would go around here or shorter:


The truck also has a really bad body lift, I'm not going to use it:



The rear springs on this truck are 55"
The rear springs on my blazer are 52" (4"lift)
The front springs my blazer are 47" and a bit (4"lift)
I have 3 rotten '88 chevys with approx 64" rear springs.

I'm not sure which springs are going where I have more springs but not all the measurements.

I'm in the position to use the best of what I have and choose my wheelbase. I just want it low (for 44s) and maybe a ton or more lighter.
If you have any constructive advice, I'd love to hear it!

[kitimatdude]

Step 1 is going to be stripping it to the bare frame and cleaning it up. The careful look for cracks and other damage. Then cut to length and POR15 it. I might link this up in the future, but it will be on leafs first.

Step 2 will be take a long hard look at the cab and make sure I want to use that one. It might be less work to get another cab if its too far gone.

I can do those 2 things and still wheel my rig this year.

[cbbr]

All I can say is remember all of the things that you would do differently and try to remember why you did them the way that you did the first time. My Burb is no lightweight, but to do the things I want to, I really can't make it much lighter.

[kitimatdude]

I got a lot more done today than I thought I would...
-I got the CNC truck into the shop
-unbolted and removed what was left of the front clip
-pulled out the 6.2 diesel
-pulled the cab off and slid it to the back of the frame.
-cleaned the top and sides of the front half of the frame
-cut off the rotten rear overhang of the frame (I need the space)
-inspected the frame for cracks and flaws
-removed rear dif cover and confirmed gear ratio and carrier
ok, I like the camera... here's some pics...








411 gears

open carrier

Its coming along nicely!

now some frame details:
I thought this was a patch... uh oh...

but it was just a reinforcement of some kind


steering box area looks great!




and the worst body lift i have ever seen....




I'm feeling upbeat about the frame, it looks great!

[smalltowncowboy]

if you are going to be reworking that frame, have you thought about making a new frame out of square tubing the same size as the original frame? (a buddy built a new frame for his 72 jimmy out of 1.75 DOM tubing. came out real nice)

it would help a ton with frame flex and frame week points.

you could put your crossmembers anywhere you wanted.

easier to link to.

no rust to remove.

running leafs you could move your spring hangers anywhere you wanted.

[James]

I think it's a great idea. There are far too many people that get shot down for being different. Long as your having fun with the build.

[kitimatdude]

First I tried photoshop, I don't get it.
then I tried gimp... well at least I got a picture of what I'm thinking of doing
I suck at gimp too...
source pictures:


gimped result:


body not narrowed but lowered 8" or so, fenders raised till they clear. this pic shows it on a blazer wheelbase but I might go shorter in the rear and push the front forward.

[kitimatdude]

I pulled out my rotten 1988 chev 2500 and pulled out the rear springs.
They measure out to approx 61"

I cleaned them up a bit with the grinder with wire wheel and they look ok.


I did a bunch of measuring on the frame, figuring out where the cab sits, how close my tires can get to it, where the axle should go and what the wheelbase will be. and then where the springs will mount.


It looks like my rear mount is right where the original front mount is! At this location with these springs I get my tires about 4-5" from the cab
I did a quick measurement and that gives me about a 103" wheelbase with the front in the stock location. I'm not sure but I think the front is going to move forward about 5-6" with the 52" spring swap
I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the thick overload leaf on the 61" springs, but I'll keep it for now. I think I have a set of 52" 4" lift springs, but they are underneath a pile of diffs in a pickup truck box... I'll try to get at it this week...

[kitimatdude]

About time I did an update...
I have a bit more room to work now. So I put the cab on the floor.

In front of it is a gm 10 bolt (that I am robbing the brakes from)
and a SRW 14ff that I plan on doing major surgery to.

It has 373 gears that I don't need but the carrier is the same for the 411 gears that I am using. so since it is an un-needed spare I welded myself up a locker. I figured that if I messed it all up, oh well I have another to get it right with.

I think it turned out alright.
I have lofty plans for this diff. Lincoln locked, I want to add a truss to the top, disk brakes, and I want to grind the bevel off the gear and plate the bottom to gain 2-2 1/2" of clearance... and then I will cast a 1" thick aluminum cover for it. (ambitious aren't I?)

I took a close look at the rear spring hangers.... way too rotten. I cut them off and the frame has a few holes


I think its fixable.

I cut off about 3 more feet of the frame so it is only about 6 inches longer than I need it to be now.
I just keep plugging away at it every day....