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1978 Chevy Crew Cab Ultimate Offroad Build

Chevy1TonFun

Chevy1TonFun

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Fresno, CA
Finally found the truck I've been looking for my next project. I picked up this fully loaded 1978 K30 Silverado dually: 467BBC, 400, 203, D60, D70HD. Its going to be a slow build, unless I sell my 72' then it will pick up.

Ok so here is the to do list:

-Shorten frame to short bed length
-Build custom bed or find a short bed (which ever ends up to be less $$)
-Strip interior to install full cage and custom dash and center console
-Relocate radiator and battery to behind cab
-Install fuel cell
-Remove and replace all new wiring
-Swap D70HD for 14bolt with 5.13 gears and spool or locker
-Build build D60 with 5.13 and spool
-203/205 double case setup
-Swap in my 486 BBC race motor
-Trans has already been rebuilt
-Custom suspension 12" suspension
-Run 44" Boggers on 16" Steel wheels with beadlocks
-Lots more that will be figured out along the way

I'd love to run a 4 link, but its just not in the budget for now.
Ultimately I'd like a all around family offroad truck that is dominate in the CA mud, good on medium trails (not a big rockcrawler guy), and fun in the sand.

I welcome input and wisdom. I do have my mind set on a few things, but if you provide good facts or make a good point then I might make an adjustment if it within the vision. I can't wait to get started!!!
FYI: Lots of parts will be for sale.







 
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My advice comes from a rock crawler perspective but oddly enough much of it translates to a solid all around truck. As it is I have been planning my crew cab build for a while.

First question can you build it yourself?

Next one is about suspension. 12" springs if they are custom alcan or deaver are way spendy. It can get very close to links in cost. Do some figuring read about link suspensions out of the box ones are good to pay attention to.

Armor Armor Armor. Did I mention armor ? Sliders bumpers sliders. Did I mention sliders?

Frame beefing. That's important. Lots of twist in that frame. Being it's 60 feet long.

Ever hear of guys swapping 14 bolt hubs onto the 70 and leaving the front dually 60 with the dually hubs and running stock H1 rims? Big tires are gonna be around in 16.5 for a while I think and it gives you a double beadlock.

Another thing is keep everything as tucked up as possible. Even in mud if you have less stuff dragging it helps tons.

I would seriously look into linking it. Huge advantage. Not so much for articulation but axle control no wheel hop at all. You don't have to use coilovers Ford or Dodge springs can all be fitted. But that comes back to your being comfortable fabbing stuff.

You can get good lift and decent articulation out of leafs use lifted 52" springs up front and lifted 63" springs out back.

Looking forward to the build man
 
Looks like a clean rig, hate to see it hacked up but sub'd to watch the fab work....:thumb: Its going to be sweet!
 
blazinzuk said:
My advice comes from a rock crawler perspective but oddly enough much of it translates to a solid all around truck. As it is I have been planning my crew cab build for a while.

First question can you build it yourself?

Next one is about suspension. 12" springs if they are custom alcan or deaver are way spendy. It can get very close to links in cost. Do some figuring read about link suspensions out of the box ones are good to pay attention to.

Armor Armor Armor. Did I mention armor ? Sliders bumpers sliders. Did I mention sliders?

Frame beefing. That's important. Lots of twist in that frame. Being it's 60 feet long.

Ever hear of guys swapping 14 bolt hubs onto the 70 and leaving the front dually 60 with the dually hubs and running stock H1 rims? Big tires are gonna be around in 16.5 for a while I think and it gives you a double beadlock.

Another thing is keep everything as tucked up as possible. Even in mud if you have less stuff dragging it helps tons.

I would seriously look into linking it. Huge advantage. Not so much for articulation but axle control no wheel hop at all. You don't have to use coilovers Ford or Dodge springs can all be fitted. But that comes back to your being comfortable fabbing stuff.

You can get good lift and decent articulation out of leafs use lifted 52" springs up front and lifted 63" springs out back.

Looking forward to the build man
Click to expand...


First thank you for your input and wisdom!

I will fab'ing this truck myself and with the help of a buddy of mine. This is my second truck that I have build for myself, not to mention all the trucks I have helped friends with.
Here is the first truck:




As for the suspension, I am fab'ing the spring and shackle mounts 6" below the frame and then using procomp 6" (52"/63") springs.

I do plan on building bumpers and slider/steps. I'm also going to build aluminum panels for the under carriage for "Mud Proofing".

As for the axles, I already have a built 14bolt and D70HD parts can be expensive and 14b are a lot more common. I know because I have 2 70 and gave up on them.

As for the wheels, I have thought of H1 but I'm not sure its going to work, because of the wide tire I plan on running. I think it would easier to add beadlocks to some steel wheels. Please school me on this.

I totally agree with things being tucked inside of the frame. I like the look of only the tcase hanging down.

Please school me on the cheapman 4link. I'll see if I can fit it into the budget. We are going to be spending no more than a $1000 on suspension, so for now we may have to stay with leafs. But plan on linking in the future.

Again thanks for your input.
 
Chevy1TonFun said:
As for the suspension, I am fab'ing the spring and shackle mounts 6" below the frame and then using procomp 6" (52"/63") springs.
.
Click to expand...

52" front springs automatically give an additional 4" of lift so 6" drop hangers with 6" lift 52's will net 16" of lift.
 
nvrenuf said:
52" front springs automatically give an additional 4" of lift so 6" drop hangers with 6" lift 52's will net 16" of lift.
Click to expand...

Ok after doing some research this morning this is what I'm looking at for springs.

52" stock provide 4" of lift. So I am going to run a TC Ez Ride 2" or 3" lift spring depending on the how much weight I'm going to have up front. (i.e. BBC and offroad bumper)

63" stock provide 2" of lift. So I found some TC Ez Ride 5" lift springs. I am running a shackle flip in the rear which provides 4" of lift.

I'll use shackles to adjust ride height where its needed.

Man, I was just thinking this would be a lots easier if I just 4 linked it (in theory, but a LOT more work). I wish coil overs weren't so damn expensive!
 
I'm running 2.5" Superlift 52's and ended up with 6~6.5" of lift.
 
So continuing what I was talking about.

I didn't say anything about a cheap 4 link. I said it could be linked for relatively cheap.

Use radius arms. You need could springs. My favorite being the deaver 6" for broncos. You will need to build or use the stock upper to mount them. Need to build a lower. I have the spring machined flat on one end to make it easier. Radius arms are 2 bushings and 1 heim each. Plus you need a pahnard bar.

I would build the radius arms out of 2.5" .250 wall square tube and plate it in.

The rear plan is solid.

Also when I say everything on the belly tucked up I mean everything t case included. Break over angle on a crew cab short box is gonna be awful. Mine as well have a flat plate rather than a shovel down there.
 
This is going to be awesome! Although a little sad to see that sheet metal busted up.

Also, from having watching TTC religiously in the past I'm wondering if your projected ride height is going to have a COG that is too high. A low COG with big meats and good downtravel in the suspension seem to be the winning combo.

Get it done and you'll have my vote guaranteed.:waytogo:

Edit: I want your trailer...
 
Running the longer lift springs will deifnately help you reach your goals like you said.

63 rears, plus a shackle flip w/ longer shackles and a zero rate will get get 8-9 in alone.

52in fronts with a zero rate, longer shackle, and perhaps a 1in dropped front spring hanger will get you 6-8 inches.

Thats without even touching a lift spring. Which is good, because the huge arch to get a standard length 12in spring lift you might as well bolt the axle to the frame solid.


To touch on what blazin said about linking it. Sometimes you get so far along with your plans that you realize that perhaps you may have been wrong about the cost all along. I did it on my chassis. I insisted I didnt need coilovers like my buddy was pushing for me to do. Well guess what, by the time I bought coils, then still had to buy shocks, extra brackets, extra time to package because coils arent small, plus the headache I could have just bought a cheap pair of FOAs or Radflows and been done in half the time and probably the same amount of money.

Radius arms can be done really cheap. Plus when you factor in the you want to play in the sand even if you go leafs eventually you're going to want some nice shocks that could have went half way towards coilovers...
 
Ok so after spending some time at pismo, ca playing on the dunes and looking at some linked trucks, I'm trying to figure it out money wise. So I need recommendations for coil overs and reviews. I have the links, joints and brackets figured out.
 
FOA has a resonably priced coilover.. I think running links will net you much better performance. Especially if you are not after max articulation radius arms are fine for that. They have inhernet roll stiffness(read sway control) more so than a 4 link. remember though you must have at least 1 bushing on the axle side or you will rip the mounts off, ballistic was selling a prett large rubber control arm bushing that would work well for this.
 
So after really looking at my budget, I can't afford to go with a link setup. I am going with a 6" lift 56" front springs and 6" lift 63" springs in the rear. As the parts are piling up in the garage, I am taking a week off from work next week to hopefully get all or most of the frame and suspension work done. I have also decided to move the complete drivetrain in my 72 mud truck into this truck. I will pulling the 72 a part this weekend to pull the 468 stroker BBC, built 400, and divorced 205. I am going to order 5.38 gears with spool in the rear and still trying to figure out the front for the D60. I will post pictures are the end of the week so give you all idea of what we are really doing. I bought a set of new 44" boggers. Ouch that hurt, but worth every penny. Can't wait for next week!
 
What are you going to do with the rest of the 72 and the left over parts from the dually?
 
Izzy, the dually parts that aren't being used are for sale, but local pick up only. As for the 72' it is getting the drivetrain out of the 78. It will be for sale once I have cleaned everything up and working.
 
Big update!

Took this last week off to work on the build. My buddy joined me to help out. We extended the frame in the front to accept the longer front springs.



We wanted to build off the frame in order to keep the spring height lower to keep our ride and articulation good. So I added a 4" square tube to mount the spring hanger to.



We cut the back of the old frame off. We added 2x6x.250 wall steel to replace the frame. This allowed us to shorten the frame and didn't have to box it.




I bought DIY4X's Shackle Flip kit for the rear suspension. With 6" springs and shackle flip, this will get me around 10". I went down to see Stan and Mark at Early Classic Enterprises to pick up a used set of 1972 Rear spring hangers to give me an extra 3" of rear lift.





To get to the 15" lift mark, we decided to move the shackle hanger to under the frame. We still need to fab the phish(?) plate, but we need to make sure the suspension sits right before all finish welds are accomplished.



We have most of the frame boxing complete. I bought half go DIY4X 1 Ton boxing kit. It is a great kit, but each frame is a little different. So we have some gaps at the front of the frame that my buddy is going to work.



I bought a none welded DIY4X's 67-72 Chevy engine crossmember so I could build one to fit the 73+ frame. Built a simple, but strong trans crossmember. After a day and half of mocking up and welding, I was so excited to put the cab on that I forgot to take a picture of the transfer case crossmember. So I have to get that one to you all later.



Now for the picture you all have been waiting for.... The cab and over all height of the truck sitting on 44' Boggers. Holy crap this thing is taller than I expected!!!! Just for reference... I stand at 5'8".






After much thought, I have decided to run with just bedsides. It keeps the truck lighter and easier to clean after playing in the mud.



Overall I am so excited and can't wait to finished this truck even more now. We have a little adjusting to do with the suspension to level the truck out. I am very happy for the mock and fit test fit with all the heavy parts.
 
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