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Home k5 body removal?

1976Blazer76

1/2 ton status
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
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Location
Ridgefield, WA
Any of you out there take your k5 totally off its frame? I'm gonna be doing it in my shop with plenty of room. Just wondering if anyone has some direction they can send me in to do this safe.

I want to go from this
Cab.jpg


To this






Any suggestions will help
PaintedFrame002.jpg
 
I cut mine up into 7 pieces...:D

Seriously though, I bet you could get it off with an engine hoist and a bit of cussing if you took the doors and tailgate off.
 
mikey_d05 said:
I cut mine up into 7 pieces...:D

Seriously though, I bet you could get it off with an engine hoist and a bit of cussing if you took the doors and tailgate off.

I'm just wondering where the heck to hook it at. My body is in real good shape and I don't wanna tweak anything.
 
I'd run a strap through the doors (lifting by the roof) and one around and under the tub through the wheel wells. That shouldn't tweak anything. Although, it might be pretty heavy for a hoist. I had mine cut down to the firewall and floor and it was still a bastard to manuever.
 
One thing I have seen people on the web site do is get about 6-guys, and lift it off by hand. Something you absolutly do not want to do is put straps under the roof, and try to lift it. This will bend the roof.
 
1-ton said:
One thing I have seen people on the web site do is get about 6-guys, and lift it off by hand.

Ditto on this one. Did it a month or so ago and I bought some beer, or your favorite beverage, to assist in the accomplishment.

Hopefully putting it back on in a few weeks and will do the same way.
 
best way...

The ideal set up is to have a gantry crane--looks like a kids swingset,only heavier duty--(and no swings!)..it has an I beam across the top,and two "A" shaped legs that are wide enough apart to drive under it..most use a chain falls to do the lifting,some have manual or power winches..

I have one made from 3" pipe that has proved indispenable for loading heavy stuff in my trucks bed..I use it a lot to put in and take out engines,and load things like my riding mower in the truck..It has an old hand crank winch off a junk boat trailer..(not the ideal kind,a worm gear winch is much safer,cant spin out of control when lowering a load--but I get by with it,being careful)..its nice to be able to load an ATV or mower by simply cranking it up,and backing under it with the truck..

You'll have to find the "balance point" as far as where to hook the straps to lift the body..I'd guess a K5 tub with doors weighs at least 1000 lbs,probably more!..I've scrapped many pickup cabs,they weigh about 400+ pounds,and an 8' bed weighs at least 300,so they aint lightweight!..

A blazer tub is pretty heavy,if it has seats and interior still in it..it COULD buckle the roof,but we lifted some off the frame at the boneyard with a forkloader carefully,and no damage occoured..we used 2 boards (2x12"s nailed together) as a "load spreader" ,and wrapped it with a heavy movers blanket to protect the doors --left the doors closed to help prevent flexing,and put the boards under the roof--they stuck out 8" from the doors,and we used some big 3/4"eye bolts on each side to hook the straps on..had to use another strap bolted to the rear quarters to keep it level as we lifted it,and to help carry the weight,so it wasn't all on the roof itself..as long as you dont "jerk" on the straps while picking it up,the roof should live..

We've done this in a shop by using a chain falls chained to one of the steel beams (rafters)..if you try it in your garage,I'd be sure it can handle the weight!..I've had to hastily nail 2x4's to my friends garage ceiling joists to the floor,to help hold them up while we pulled an engine once!--it was halfway out,and we started hearing creaky cracking noises!..:eek1:


Another way is to use a couple of 4x6 "beams",wider than the tub by a foot or more on each side..after taking out the body mount bolts,bolt the beams to the body mounts just before the rear wheels,and the front ones under the floor,using long bolts, or threaded rods as studs,and wood blocks to make them lower than the sheet metal--some guys dont bother bolting them on,but I prefer too..

(You'll have to jack the body up some to do this of course--an engine hoist would be best,as it wont be in the way--using chain bolted to the rear body mounts will let you lift it without damage if your careful..a floor jack works,but is slower and clumsier)..if you only have a floor jack, just jack it up one side at a time,about 4" each,so it wont tip and slide off,and keep adding "cribbing" blocks or similar supports to hold the beams and the tub up..then you can roll the chassis out from under it..it'll take a better part of a day to do all of this,especially if your working alone (not a good idea,when doing this type of work!)..I've done it alone..hope I never have to again,alone or otherwise!..:crazy:
 
When I did mine I just unbolted the body bolts, put a 4x4 under the body at the rear wheel well area and another at the front of the doors, then jacked the truck as high as I could get it, put cinder blocks under the 4x4's and let the truck down allowing the body to seperate from the frame. Once I did that I place a block at each corner of the frame taking up the space between the body and frame and lifted it as high as I could again, placed more blocks under the 4x4's and let the frame down again until it was high enough to roll the frame out from under the body and roll the new one in. Worked great for me twice with 1 person once and 2 people the other time.
 
i did mine with wood and 2 floor jacks. I had the front clip off. Jacked up and up then slid 2 planks under the body and rolled the frame out.
 
K5MONSTERCHEV said:
i did mine with wood and 2 floor jacks. I had the front clip off. Jacked up and up then slid 2 planks under the body and rolled the frame out.

I did the this the first time I took it off. Worked well. Think I'm gonna take the bunch of guys approach. Not a bad idea to get all my friends off their butts anyways.
 
JEBSR said:
When I did mine I just unbolted the body bolts, put a 4x4 under the body at the rear wheel well area and another at the front of the doors, then jacked the truck as high as I could get it, put cinder blocks under the 4x4's and let the truck down allowing the body to seperate from the frame. Once I did that I place a block at each corner of the frame taking up the space between the body and frame and lifted it as high as I could again, placed more blocks under the 4x4's and let the frame down again until it was high enough to roll the frame out from under the body and roll the new one in. Worked great for me twice with 1 person once and 2 people the other time.

i did mine the same way (except with a pickup cab) i built a 2wd truck too, with that, i just layed the cab on its back on the frame (where the bed would be) on a piece of plywood, rotated it 90* and then slid it off the side of the frame onto the ground. i've never had any help during a cab swap, always done them myself.
 
1976Blazer76 said:
I did the this the first time I took it off. Worked well. Think I'm gonna take the bunch of guys approach. Not a bad idea to get all my friends off their butts anyways.

I never liked that idea. If someone trips or something as simple as hurting their back, your pretty straight tub aint so much no more. Of what I've read I would put long boards under the floor, where it is meant to be supported, and then (you could use the "man" approach to this) lift it up and onto something, roll frame out and roll frame in.
 
hawkeye649 said:
I never liked that idea. If someone trips or something as simple as hurting their back, your pretty straight tub aint so much no more. Of what I've read I would put long boards under the floor, where it is meant to be supported, and then (you could use the "man" approach to this) lift it up and onto something, roll frame out and roll frame in.

That's our possible approach. Straight pickup, then slide frame in, and slide frame out. I'm planning on pulling the tires off my good frame though, because the top of the frame is too far off the ground. I don't have any 7' tall friends.
 
B_to_C said:
This is how I did it...although it might not help you much...

BodyOff3.jpg

Well,
I do have access to a large skytrack which could do that without a problem, it's just I dont wanna put that much pressure on the room and deffinitally no chain on the rear fenders, Body is in real good shape and don't want any dents yet, I know they will come eventually though.
 
For what it's worth, as far as I could tell the roof did not bucle at all but the chain definitely dented the quarter panels
 
When I did mine I just unbolted the body bolts, put a 4x4 under the body at the rear wheel well area and another at the front of the doors, then jacked the truck as high as I could get it, put cinder blocks under the 4x4's and let the truck down allowing the body to seperate from the frame. Once I did that I place a block at each corner of the frame taking up the space between the body and frame and lifted it as high as I could again, placed more blocks under the 4x4's and let the frame down again until it was high enough to roll the frame out from under the body and roll the new one in. Worked great for me twice with 1 person once and 2 people the other time.
I know this post has age but do you happen to have any images?
 
Click on his username. He hasn't been on here in 5 years.
 
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