Inliners International Forums General Discussion Truck Talk Redundant?????

this may seem redundant to some degree but I was told by someone who does car/truck restoration "projects" that I could put my 56 chevy short bed step side on like a 60's or a 70's frame and chassis no problem very easily, is this guy just smoking crack or what, because didnt the frames change in like 64 or something? and are completely different i.e.-narrower? and wouldnt this require massive fabbing to adaptors to make this happen, this is the guy I am getting ready to do my body work, and now I am seriously nervous, help me out here guys!!!!

Aside from the urge to destroy two good trucks, producing a monster that would make Frankenstein appear handsome, i can't see why someone would do that.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

don 1450, Purty much sums up my initial response. What the "someone" in the business considers EASY is not the same for the enthusiast. There was a frame change between 62 to 63, and 67 to 68. About the only advantage I can see would be independent front suspension. There are some that would advocate putting another front clip on the 56 as they do with the ADs. Another thought would be to put the body on a S10 chassis, but if you have to modify the body to any degree that you couldn't put it back on the original chassis, as don says then you have a monster. A complete rebuild of the front end and maybe mono springs, disks, sway bars, shocks, would serve you better. This year the ADs are popular, last year it was 67-72s, ten years ago it was the 60s, 20 years ago it was Task force trucks along with a myriad modifications. An original is always that. Now if you have decided you don't like driving old trucks buy a new one. If you want to modify because ????, do it, but there maybe a price to pay. My thoughts

Larry

thanks guys, you just confirmed what I already suspected

I know that some ford guys will do that with older pick-ups if they want a 4x4. Not sure about other makes.
Edwin

As the other guys said, that particular frame swap would be a mess for most guys to attempt.

I can't see using an S-10 under a Tri 5 truck either. the tread width is way narrower on the S-10.
It might work if you intended to run extremely wide and deep wheels.
Some guys have stuck them under Advanced Design trucks and there is even a kit out but they are using wheel spacers a couple of inches thick to make it work. The S-10 may be a better fit under a 47 and earlier though.
After having a Camaro stub under the 48 I would say go with one of the aftermarket crossmembers with your choice of A arms and spindles.
The biggest problem besides paying for it is having to trim the inner fender wells in a clean manner.
The big problem I had with the subframe job was making the sheet metal line up to suit me.
The truck handled like a slot car, rode great, sat perfect and I drove it 100K miles like that in 5 years.
I think the reason that the Ford guys get away with their frame swaps is that Ford didn't make wholesale changes in the dimensions of their frames.
If you were to put rolling chassis from 55/59, 60/66, 67/72 and 73/87 trucks side by side with out any sheetmetal you would see large differences in the different series. Those differences are in direct relation to the problems you would have with a frame swap.