77 3/4 ton 4x4 longfleets, radiator and rear leaf spring sizes

[R72K5]

im just reflecting on the 77 3/4 ton longfleet truck i cut up a couple weeks ago

there are a few oddities that i still wonder about in regards to the truck other htan the 77 style yellow side trims and such that it wore being a 77 sierra classic

it had the 52" short rear springs but with the HD 3 leaf front packs and sway bar setup, and it had the 6 cyl shorty radiator with the top radiator panel that bolted ot the backface side of the rad support(instead of att eh top for the v8 engines) even though it was a factory 350 truck

does anyone know anything i am not realizing or seeing, or anything ?


thanks

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

Some 3/4 tons had 52s. Some had 56s. Same for 1/2 tons. Some had 52, some the 56s. The three leaf pack is a HD option. 56" springs are not necessarily heavier, they are simply longer.

Factory heavy duty cooling options were really weird. If it was an AC truck and had a 6 cyl radiator that'd be one really weird, but a non-AC truck doesn't really need a huge radiator and it can keep that 350 plenty cool, especially since a 3/4 ton has low gears and without overdrive is typically turning about 2800-3000 RPM anyway.

 

[R72K5]

yep it was factory, not dealer, a/c

so i dunno..

i wasnt trying to say that 56' are technically considered HD, but you would think....

i knew about the 52 and 56 1/2 ton stuff, but i think that wasa over before 81-up years, at least ive never seen any 1/2 ton above 79 with 56", but most all 1/2 ton i have ever come up with always have 8 leaf 56" packs. extremely common, and thats what the big 10's got and such along with the larger brakes they got.


the 77 K25 was just an oddball, had to of been a factory screw up or they ran out of larger radiators in 77, or something, which im sure wasnt impossible with mass production.

 

[mike reeh]

in 77 unless it was a 400sbc or a bbc, it would have the smaller radiator. The one with the short cap