3/4 ton questions

[tiger9297]

My father in law has a late 80's/early 90's 3/4 ton extended cab long wheelbase pickup that he said I could have. Yes, its one of those trucks that looks like its a mile long and its 2wd, but its free. It doesnt' have an engine but I have a TBI350 that I could stroke out to a 383 and go with that. So, I've got the truck and the engine, but I'd like to make it a tow vehicle to pull my camper with. I'll have wife and daughters on board so I want to make it nice. I tow with my K5 now but one day I'd like to upgrade to a 5th wheel.

My questions:

1) It seems that many of the restoration catalogs/companies stop at '87. I know engine parts are no problem but how difficult is it to find interior parts like panels, carpet, etc. for this truck.

2) Being a 3/4 ton would this truck have come standard with the 4L80E? Trailer towing package?

3) How can I find out which gears it has in it?

 

[goldwing2000]

I don't think they used the 4L80E until after '94 but I could be wrong.

If the axle is original, you can determine the ratio by running the RPO code. It should be on the sticker inside the glove box. Some vehicles actually have the axle ratio printed right on the sticker. If none of that works, just jack it up, spin the tires (one revo for axles with posi or a locker, two revos for open diffs) and count the driveshaft revos. That'll get you in the ball park.

The RPO sticker will also tell you if it came with a trailer package.

 

[GMCJason]

Cool find!

LMC Truck has a catalog for the 88-98 Chevy/GMC trucks and you should be able to find the interior parts there, at least some of them. You can probably still get them from the dealer, too.

For the rest of it you'll want to check the RPO codes. It'll tell you what transmission and gears it has and whether or not it has a towing package. The 4L80E showed up in the 3/4 ton Suburbans in '91 so I would guess the pick-up was about the same time but can't say for sure.

 

[mostwanted]

I have a '91 Suburban with factory 4l80E. x2 on LMC

 

[tiger9297]

I haven't seen this truck in a while and they live about 3 hours from us, but IIRC I think it must be an 88 or 89. I probably wouldn't fool with it, but 2wd trucks make good TV's and the fact that it is so long would drastically reduce any "sway" that I might get when towing with the K5. Plus, I'd just like to have a pickup. Alot easier to run to Lowe's with a truck than having to hook up the trailer to the K5. He just wants it out of his way. I figure if someone wants to give you a truck you should take it.