Early '70s 1-ton 4wd trucks

[GMCJason]

Anybody know anything about these? A buddy of mine and I have been hunting for a Dana 60 for his Blazer and heard about a '74 dually that is, supposedly, a 1-ton 4x4. From what I saw in the brochure and what we heard from a local, long-time GM parts guy GM didn't make 1-ton 4x4 trucks in the early '70s.

Is this true? We were told that there were a couple of companies that did aftermarket conversions; I'm not exactly sure from what to what. Maybe a 3/4-ton 4x4 to 1-ton 4x4? Or 1-ton 4x2 to 1-ton 4x4?

Anybody familiar with this? I'm kinda curious. I know GM didn't start the Dana 60 in their 1-ton trucks until '79 so what would an aftermarket company have used?

 

[tRustyK5]

I'm pretty sure the earlier years used a dually D44 up front. '77 was the intro year for the D60 front in GM trucks.

Rene

 

[b454rat]

They might have made 1 tons, but they didn't have the 60. I found a 4wd crew cab with a 454 4 speed, 10" slots and thought for sure it would be a 60. Looked underneath and saw a 44HD. Prior to 73, 1 ton GMs were made by NAPCO, supposedly the 67-72s had a div case. But still had the 44s.

 

[GMCJason]

Thanks Guys. I was assuming that it would be a Dana 44. Seems like somebody said just the other day that there was a dually 44. This must be where they came from.

 

[atho]

There were Napco trucks made well after 1973. The Napco's used their own axle, which has the center section of an Eaton (14 bolt predecessor) with their own outers.

Of course, I have seen multiple 1976 K30's that do in fact have a D60. I think they are just very early 77's, or perhaps the D60's just slipped thru. Best bet is to just check. People can very easily see a 78 and think its a 74 because they used to have a 74 that looked just like it.

 

[onetonbb74]

just find one from an 80 or newer, they have the non neck down axleshafts in the 60f.