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K30 Crew cab wrecker

General purpose truck. Daily driver, medium trails, tow rig. Simple, capable, and reliable are the main factors.
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Plans to get the truck to the body shop were delayed so I've been slowly pushing along with the suspension and engine swap. The 56"s are installed up front along with the 7 1/4" shackles. At full droop the shackle is vertical, haven't gotten to full compression yet since the spring eye makes contact with the frame before it gets there. I'm leaning towards notching the frame where it makes contact then reinforce it. Axle is moved about 1 1/2 to 2in forward. Also upgraded to the stronger shackle hangers.

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Took care of the starter wiring which was a tight fit with the starter installed, then loosely bolted up the driver side fender well. Once it dries off in the next few days it'll get tightened up and the buss bars will go back on.

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Truckman4life said:
You going to stick with that tire size or did you figure out a bigger dually setup to go to?
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Excellent question, and still undecided hahaha. I have a trans lined up to eventually swap in, Eaton RTO-613. It's one of the smaller 13 speed manual trans so it's a bit easier to stuff in, has about a 14:1 1st gear and .8:1 overdrive with close enough gear ratios that the Isuzu can always be in it's torque band. Probably never hurt that trans hahaha. With the way I use the truck duals out back is necessary.

Problem is the 4.10's and the cost to regear the dana 70hd, vs the cost of quality wheel spacers for the rear. Going to 37"s puts the engine at 2085rpm doing 70mph which is towards the upper end of peak torque/fuel economy rpm range. Would probably run the humvee tires with the beadlocks up front and 3" spacers out back. Spacers are about $400-500 for good quality steel (that I've found).

Regear is about $1000 if I do it (between both axles). Going to 3.55's would make the current 235/85/16"s work great.

Option 3 would be the most unique but not sure if I want to deal with the labor right now. There is another dana 70hd rear axle sitting here in good condition. Could install it as a 3rd axle on the truck. Have to stretch the wheelbase some in the rear anyways for the wrecker bed which gives enough room for a middle axle. Swap the rear dually hubs for single wheel to match the front axle width (narrow the rear width doing this) and bolt up the humvee wheels/tires. If I went this route I wouldn't bother with a locker in either rear axle (about $1100 for selectable) so it might be the cheapest option haha.
 
Option 4 is to put single wheel hubs on the 60 front and some 2" spacers and run h2 wheels and good 37s.
 
Searched for the puking smiley because of the h2 wheels but didn't find it haha.

Option 4 creates a problem with spare tires due to the offset. Add to it cost and doesn't address the problem in the rear axle so just kinda throwing money for no reason with how this truck is used in my opinion.

You're right the 37" tires from the humvees are not great offroad and the 16.5" wheel is close to being a dead size.
 
red EOD said:
Excellent question, and still undecided hahaha. I have a trans lined up to eventually swap in, Eaton RTO-613. It's one of the smaller 13 speed manual trans so it's a bit easier to stuff in, has about a 14:1 1st gear and .8:1 overdrive with close enough gear ratios that the Isuzu can always be in it's torque band. Probably never hurt that trans hahaha. With the way I use the truck duals out back is necessary.

Problem is the 4.10's and the cost to regear the dana 70hd, vs the cost of quality wheel spacers for the rear. Going to 37"s puts the engine at 2085rpm doing 70mph which is towards the upper end of peak torque/fuel economy rpm range. Would probably run the humvee tires with the beadlocks up front and 3" spacers out back. Spacers are about $400-500 for good quality steel (that I've found).

Regear is about $1000 if I do it (between both axles). Going to 3.55's would make the current 235/85/16"s work great.

Option 3 would be the most unique but not sure if I want to deal with the labor right now. There is another dana 70hd rear axle sitting here in good condition. Could install it as a 3rd axle on the truck. Have to stretch the wheelbase some in the rear anyways for the wrecker bed which gives enough room for a middle axle. Swap the rear dually hubs for single wheel to match the front axle width (narrow the rear width doing this) and bolt up the humvee wheels/tires. If I went this route I wouldn't bother with a locker in either rear axle (about $1100 for selectable) so it might be the cheapest option haha.
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:popcorn:
 
I meant just four wheels and not a drw app at all.

If not h2 what about 03 and up dodge wheels?
 
I put Rickson 19.5's on my 2500HD and loved them. Very very heavy made, the wheels themselves weighed what the old PYO and 265's weighed
 
19.5"s Are a good bolt on option. This truck doesn't need the absolute best offroad tires (part of why I'm considering the humvee tires), but I haven't found any tires larger than 34" on the 19.5"s. Would rather not do all 3 trans/gears/tires. Have to swap the trans for some overdrive, leaves either larger tires (37"s) or 3.55 gears.

The stock 16"s, 16.5"s, 17"s, 19.5"s all have the current roughly 32" tire available at reasonable prices which works with the option of regearing to 3.55's. 19.5" is the only one I don't know of a 37" tire option. All of those have the correct weight rating as well. Plain black steel wheels are what I prefer.



Explanation for why single rears (if only 2 axles) doesn't work for this truck is simply weight as Luke stated. If lucky the truck will be down to about 8,000 lbs with the wrecker bed. More tires in the rear shares the weight making for longer tire life, better stability, and helps prevent the back end from sinking when offroad. Having a trailer attached is where it's even more apparent and is part of the plan with this truck.
 
red EOD said:
19.5"s Are a good bolt on option. This truck doesn't need the absolute best offroad tires (part of why I'm considering the humvee tires), but I haven't found any tires larger than 34" on the 19.5"s. Would rather not do all 3 trans/gears/tires. Have to swap the trans for some overdrive, leaves either larger tires (37"s) or 3.55 gears.

The stock 16"s, 16.5"s, 17"s, 19.5"s all have the current roughly 32" tire available at reasonable prices which works with the option of regearing to 3.55's. 19.5" is the only one I don't know of a 37" tire option. All of those have the correct weight rating as well. Plain black steel wheels are what I prefer.



Explanation for why single rears (if only 2 axles) doesn't work for this truck is simply weight as Luke stated. If lucky the truck will be down to about 8,000 lbs with the wrecker bed. More tires in the rear shares the weight making for longer tire life, better stability, and helps prevent the back end from sinking when offroad. Having a trailer attached is where it's even more apparent and is part of the plan with this truck.
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I am in the same boat trying to find a tire size bigger than 34" on dually rims so I don't regear.
I already have 3.73 dually axle and got a 0.74 od with the nv4500 I acquired.
 
imiceman44 said:
I am in the same boat trying to find a tire size bigger than 34" on dually rims so I don't regear.
I already have 3.73 dually axle and got a 0.74 od with the nv4500 I acquired.
Click to expand...

Yea, only option I've found with larger tires in the rear is to run a spacer between the duals. If they still made the tall/skinny tires that would make it easier but the quality of the handful of brands that make those seems to be questionable.

Didn't realize that my nutsert tool lacks the bit needed for the small sized screws I'm using to secure the wiring harness/plumbing so just spent today drilling holes in the sheetmetal in prep for that. New bit should be here wednesday and will secure the wiring harness then. Spent most of the day pulling parts off of the blue donor truck and going over the wrecker bed since I'm expecting to be working on the bed swap in about 2 months. The main parts of the bed have surface rust underneath but the exterior sheet metal has rusted through in a few spots (knew about it when I bought it).

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Nothing really picture worthy this weekend regarding progress but things are really in motion again finally. Wiring that runs to the engine and AC are now secured to the firewall, washer sprayer plumbing is secured, all that wiring is now organized. Front light harness had to be re routed along the core support to make room for the intercooler plumbing which turned out well and didn't require any new holes to be drilled. That's secured as well as the driver side battery tray.

Going with Amsoil 5w-40 with the engine oil and a propylene glycol based coolant. Longer lifespan with the oil and a bit thinner weight will help with the cold starts, the different coolant mainly because of potential leaks down the road (not as bad if it leaks) while cooling better. New hoses for the transmission cooler/filter should be ready on monday, then it's time to order the silicone hoses for the cooling system followed by the plumbing for the power steering system.

Just remembered the steering block needs to be ordered as well. Crossover steering is better but that's gonna have to wait.
 
Capt Ron said:
Is your truck 60" cab to axle?
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No it was the typical 56". When swapping in the 64" springs last year it moved the axle back about 1-2", and looks like the bed can be moved forward close enough to make it work.

Spent time today moving the front axle shackle mounts back a few inches, took care of the spring/frame contact. 56" springs with 7 1/4" shackles.

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Chopped the rear frame off the donor truck next. Going to use the rear springs/hangers for another trailer project and cutting the frame made everything more compact.

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