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73 K20....crossmember time

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In talking to some guys who have done this (one actaully did a square body) and it seems fool proof with the right title.

If its been out of the system for 7 years or its out of state then you have to get an inspection, which isnt the end of the world but things could go wrong depending on how close they look.

As long as the title is in state and current then im good to go, even if its non oped.

The guy who has done it bought a 72' title and swapped vins onto his 83, non oped his 83 and obviously didnt need to smog the 72 so its just another running vehicle to the dmv system. Now obviously the 72 is a different body style....id like to get at least into the square body look so its not a totally different looking vehicle.

Im going to look around and see what i can find out there. It would save me $60 a year and i could do whatever i please with a motor/tranny set up. It would really open up the engine bay getting rid of all the spaghetti.
 
It "could" work. Don't forget where we live. Also, this is all theoretical, once you decide something, don't let us know on here.

All in all though, yeah it sounds about right. The biggest thing I always heard about it the trouble with the rivets. I understand that the stock GM rivets are "rose" shaped and are not easy/legal to get, not really sure.

I've got a buddy who just swaps registrations and license plates between his trucks depending on what he wants to drive that day. He has a collection of 73-79 Ford trucks.
 
izzy1776 said:
It "could" work. Don't forget where we live. Also, this is all theoretical, once you decide something, don't let us know on here.

All in all though, yeah it sounds about right. The biggest thing I always heard about it the trouble with the rivets. I understand that the stock GM rivets are "rose" shaped and are not easy/legal to get, not really sure.

I've got a buddy who just swaps registrations and license plates between his trucks depending on what he wants to drive that day. He has a collection of 73-79 Ford trucks.
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Exactly! Youre on my level! Its "theoretical" for now lol :thumb:

Yeah i hear the rivets are some one off thing as described. The guy at my work took that whole portion out so he never touched the vin rivets and replaced it with the other one he had.

Haha sweet! Its not too hard to fool the system unless you get stupid or have a completely different body style.
 
izzy1776 said:
Just build a custom dash and be "forced" to replace the tag.
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Haha exactly!

I read up a bunch more last night. Interesting how much the dmv wants to know. I didnt know you have to tell DMV that you put a different motor in your vehicle if the vin doesn't match. I read some dumb mistakes people made that almost got them a felony. One guy had a toyota with a million different parts....as most wheeling trucks have and he got pulled over and sent to CHP. He made a big mistake in the first place by swapping stuff over to a smogger. He would have been flagged at a smog station at some point unless his smog guy didnt care.

Being that i theoretically wouldnt have to do smog, it would never get flagged unless i got pulled over and there was something clearly wrong.

Im slightly worried that the frame would have to have some work to it, where ever that vin is. I wonder if they just blow it off if you had the frame boxed in?

You really have to have know where every vin or serial is on the truck as i guess they can relate a serial to a vin. I dont think this truck of mine has a serial numbers though.
 
What I sometimes wonder is if you have one truck made out of many, which part do they go off of for legality. I would like to drop a diesel c20 cab on the frame of the K5 I've got and go wild. I think 99% of the time its the VIN on the dash that counts.
 
izzy1776 said:
What I sometimes wonder is if you have one truck made out of many, which part do they go off of for legality. I would like to drop a diesel c20 cab on the frame of the K5 I've got and go wild. I think 99% of the time its the VIN on the dash that counts.
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Its by the engine and frame vin from my understanding but If you dont have a frame vin im not sure what happens...i think its off the cab and motor at that point.
 
Busted ass to get this thing ready for tomorrow! Good to go. Hopefully ill get some sweet shots and vids of this thing wheeling at hollister! For anyone those who are out of state thats where top truck challenge is held. Should be interesting! :D

 
ll it was an awesome wheeling trip. The truck just wont give up. Whatever I throw at it, it takes and asks more please! My buddy Rick made it down with his ford Clydesdale thatt well built so that was awesome and the whether wasnt too bad, just a little muggy. No mechanical issues other then leaking front shaft seals and some over heating for me, ricks truck decided it didnt want his front driveshaft so it spit it out and he had a loose lug nut but that was it! Beast of a truck!




Get it!



Up up and away



He almost had it but the damn drive shaft came out when the front unloaded. He asked me if I was gonna try :shrug: I did and made it over the first time. I assured him it was beginners luck lol.



These logs were no joke. One was like a 2 ft wall. We met a guy whose a member on here...cant remember his name...



Smoke dust bang driveshaft!



He pulled the shaft and was back down in no time!



Rick under truck...note to self...bring tarp or cardboard to keep you from laying in the dirt. Luckily he had a towel.



Talked to the 4wp guys, apparently you had to register? They were so **** faced they didnt care.



We went and hit some trails after rick was fixed, he even busted out the sawzall for some fender trimming. It was hilarious because he was getting ready to cut in the campground and a couple pulled up in a new jeep with a sleeping new born so we got out of there for their sanity.



More pics to come. Im waiting to recieve more action pics of me...
 
skunked said:
57's in the rear, not up front. Another member on here had them up front, I can't imagine the lack of stability with that combo.
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Right. I would think you'd need a panhard bar but there's a lot of confusion if that would help or hurt. Bronco guy only tows his so handling is no issue but I did watch him haul ass and it looked fine.
 
View from the top



Found some cool little play areas





Came down this...it was pretty steep and at one point i felt like it was roll over time.











Found a sweet little trail with a gnarly one running through the middle of it...lets hit it :saweet: It started out easy and got harder and harder.









Getting close to the walls... got my mirror folded in a few times but no damage.



 
Didnt have much clearance under this tree!



Crossed up! Im pretty happy with my springs now.



We were thinking about taking this other route but it was too off kilter and it would have destroyed the cabs.







This part was just before the 3 wheel motion!



We really wanted to take this trail but there was a good sized tree in the way. Im thinking about asking if i can go cut the tree up since it looks fresh and not purposely there.



This was the middle trail. It was way steeper than it looks but it was a good boost of confidence when i got up!



She waits patiently...trying to cool down.



That hood gap lol



Right after we got up. Sick trail!

 
After we got up that we went through this steep gully. Another fun one to get up.



Checking out some of the man made stuff. It was part of the top truck challenge last month.



Heading into the tube!







Then Rick got crazy and went down this rock section. My lack of sliders kept me from doing it but there were some 4 foot drops. It was cool watching him do it though!









Wishing i could go down it lol.





Beast!



 
GWeakland620 said:
Why didn't you go down it?
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I havent put my sliders on yet. Im slacking. If i had sliders i could have done it no problem but ive been luck so far keeping my rockers clean. So i chickened out lol.

I need to get my ass in gear and get the sliders on, battery relocated, coolant return tank in, electric fans before the next wheeling trip.
 
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