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CK5
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The Chicken Truck
- Thread starter Chickntrk
- Start date
Well I figure I might as well start a build thread so I can keep tabs on my progress 
I bought this truck in June of 2020 in the midst of the shutdown with the intentions of making it my winter driver so I could park my Jeep in the winter......Fast forward and I came around to fact that instead of swapping one ton axle into my Jeep I could just build and wheel what the factory gave me...
The chicken truck (previous owner must have had a smokey and the bandit obsession because there was a huge chicken on the hood and dash when I got it), is a 1978 K20 camper special, when I got it it ran on 7 cylinders and had I believe one working brake. Drove it two hours home and got a new set of wheels and tires on it....
I bought this truck in June of 2020 in the midst of the shutdown with the intentions of making it my winter driver so I could park my Jeep in the winter......Fast forward and I came around to fact that instead of swapping one ton axle into my Jeep I could just build and wheel what the factory gave me...
The chicken truck (previous owner must have had a smokey and the bandit obsession because there was a huge chicken on the hood and dash when I got it), is a 1978 K20 camper special, when I got it it ran on 7 cylinders and had I believe one working brake. Drove it two hours home and got a new set of wheels and tires on it....
Got rid of the dry rotted tires on Dodge wheels and the cap...
I like it!
Thanks Guys.....well it was a long bed...
Fender replacment, deciding on a color:
Did the drivers side rocker while the fender was off
Decided to address the coolant leak and that lead to replacing the water pump, radiator and anything else that looked like it was still from 78....along with washing all the grime off
This is when things took a turn and I decided that since I wanted a flatbed anyway and I had bed rot to deal with:
After that I threw a 2" lift under it and got a set of 33" Patagonias, drove it that way all last year, after cleaning, priming and painting the frame.....
As it sat before the winter:
Last Month the GF and I were on one of our Saturday pick-a-part dates and my buddy who works at the yard says "I don't know if you'd be interested but the boot camp brought in an old plow squarebody and a guy that was here this morning said its got an axle everyone wants".....I thinks to myself surely I haven't stumbled upon a Dana 60 front...so we take a walk to the Chevy section and what do we find.....A CUCV, well whats left of a CUCV (the bed, transmission, t case and most of the interior was gone, but the 60/14bff combo remained, the GF stood watch while I ran home to grab the sawzall and tools.....
Got the axles home and torn down to confirm that I had 4.56s and a detroit rear, all looked well so I got to cutting the brackets and perches off the rear and installing new u joints and bearings in the front.
That's about where I am right now. I have rear disc brackets coming from sky mfg. and a a shock inboarding kit coming from diy4x, which eliminates the rear shock mounting that I never cared for anyway. Just picked up a set of 35" Cooper STT Pros this past weekend and figure while I wait on the UPS man I can install my new master cyl and extended brake lines in preparation for the axle swap. Our closest off road park has a ride for $5 day coming up on May 15th so that's my loose goal for a shakedown run with the new hardware. I have a TH400/208 from a CUCV sitting in the garage that Ive been debating swapping in to get rid of the 203 and get a better low range but I dont know if I want a slip yoke transfer and I need to build up the funds to get the TW SYE, so if anyone has any thoughts or opinions on that feel free to throw them out there. Im also debating crossover steering since I have the 60 now (didn't want to throw money at the 10 bolt)
That's about where I am right now. I have rear disc brackets coming from sky mfg. and a a shock inboarding kit coming from diy4x, which eliminates the rear shock mounting that I never cared for anyway. Just picked up a set of 35" Cooper STT Pros this past weekend and figure while I wait on the UPS man I can install my new master cyl and extended brake lines in preparation for the axle swap. Our closest off road park has a ride for $5 day coming up on May 15th so that's my loose goal for a shakedown run with the new hardware. I have a TH400/208 from a CUCV sitting in the garage that Ive been debating swapping in to get rid of the 203 and get a better low range but I dont know if I want a slip yoke transfer and I need to build up the funds to get the TW SYE, so if anyone has any thoughts or opinions on that feel free to throw them out there. Im also debating crossover steering since I have the 60 now (didn't want to throw money at the 10 bolt)
Run the 203 and collect parts for a 203/205 doubler since you have the big 2 pieces.
Wheel it and see if you like the push pull steering offroad. Or until it needs a new steering box.
Wheel it and see if you like the push pull steering offroad. Or until it needs a new steering box.
I like the original ideas applied to the bed, very nice.
I agree. I have never seen that done before. But with no fender wells, are you going to have tire contact while wheeling? I ask because my stock 1/2 ton I did a flat bed on, contacted in a steep driveway.
I've got the factory NP208 in my K10 with the slip yoke and I run a 4-in lift with the factory rear drive shaft that has 1350s and a FF14 bolt. It works well with no problems to report.
And he wheeled the crap out of it in Moab.
Thanks guys, i didn’t have any issues with the 33s but I may need to do wheelwells with the 35s. My initial plan was to add wheelwells and I basically built it so they would be easy to add at a later date if needed, the 33s would just kiss the bed if it was flexed.
I have no issue with the 203, in fact I don’t mind it at all, I’m just more versed in the 208 type cases and I have 3 of them laying around, so I just wanted to get some opinions. I did chat with the guys at ORD about a doubler so that is a consideration.
I have no issue with the 203, in fact I don’t mind it at all, I’m just more versed in the 208 type cases and I have 3 of them laying around, so I just wanted to get some opinions. I did chat with the guys at ORD about a doubler so that is a consideration.
