Thats it, I am DONE...The RUST HAS WON

[fortcollinsram]

I had a revelation today and threw in the white towel to the rust demons...

it is time to junk the K5 tub in favor of a cab.

Now it is time to get amped about this so I can do it SOON.

anyone have any pics of pickup cabs on K5 chassis?

Better yet, what is the lowdown on the body mounts...I would assume the ones under the footwell are the same from the Blazer to the truck cab...What about the rear cab mounts for the truck cab? will they work with the stock mounts on the blazer frame???


Thanks for the input...

 

[beater_k20]

search for "trazer", that should lead you to plenty of Blazers with truck cabs on them.

 

[tRustyK5]

If it's trail only I'd go with an S-dime extended cab and tube the rear...tapered and lengthened hood. If I ever fubar my truck this will be the way I end up going.

How bad is the rust though, is it salt belt bad or do you just not feel like repairing it?

Rene

 

[fortcollinsram]

No I am in Colorado but my truck was a plow truck for year. I have already replace the cab floor and cab supports but it still needs a new tailpan, rear 2/3 of the bed floor, rockers and some misc stuff...Plus 5 years of wheeling with the rust slowly getting worse has just thrashed the parts of the body that were still intact. When I flex out, the roof oil-cans in and I can't open the doors..

 

[tRustyK5]

The roof oil canning is pretty common, but it does sound like it needs a ton more repair. I did all of what you just described and then some...some of it got done twice. I'll admit i was ready to chuck a pick-up cab on it before finding a mint back half of a K5. Even grafting that on was a boatload of work I'd hesitate to do again...

Good luck with it and keep us all posted!!

Rene

 

[B_to_C]

Hey Chris,don't see you on this board much (or out on the trails with the CO Crew at all! ) good call on the new cab, it was certainly one of the better decisions I ever made during the build-up of my truck. I spent so much effort into repairing rust on the blazer that it was incredibly hard to come to the decision to ditch the body, but with some persuasion from the crew here I made that decision just over a year ago...

Going from this:

To this:

Unfortunately it seems I'm too tuff on my junk and half-ton frames just can't handle it, so after all the work to make this...

...it ended up like this

So now I have moved onto a '79 one ton frame with a conglomeration of parts from every vehicle so far...

Oh yea...and good luck with the project!


P.S. that mini flat bed is for sale

 

[fortcollinsram]

Hey Chris,don't see you on this board much (or out on the trails with the CO Crew at all! ) good call on the new cab, it was certainly one of the better decisions I ever made during the build-up of my truck. I spent so much effort into repairing rust on the blazer that it was incredibly hard to come to the decision to ditch the body, but with some persuasion from the crew here I made that decision just over a year ago...

Yeah I have been sparse on the boards and in the hills lately...I have been trying to line up a new job and get out of the auto parts industry. Additionally, I have been working on my "other" truck that is not going to be offroad worthly...It will be sitting in the weeds so to speak. Keep me updated on any wheeling trips you guys go on...I'd be down to take some time off and go rage in the hills a bit...

Also, if you know of any cabs for sale, let me know. The catch is I would like it to be rust free... (go figure)

time to get back to work...

Later

 

[mrdrinksalil]

trazer

I am building a trazer right now. I posted the same question you did a while back. I have a 85 k5 frame with a 82 cab. The front cab mounts are the same but you are going to have to build a rear cab crossmember to support the rear of the cab. The truck frame crossmember cab be modified and used and this gives a nice stock look. mine is built of c- channel and then I had to cut it in half to fit it inside the frame rails. I'm still waiting for someone from my club to help me weld it in. I think when I get the cage built I will tie the rear cab supports into the main hoop. This pic shows half the crossmember before it was cut and raised higher. The cab is siting level in the pic.