1988 chevy K-30 Crew Cab on 2.5T military axles

[350TacoZilla]

didnt know where to put this but here goes

started life as lowly 2wd 1ton work truck with 350tbi and 4spd manual, previous owner converted to 4wd with axles,tranny and transfer case from 1/2 ton meaning weaker axles 3.08 ratios and a 700r4 AUTO.

first day I had truck I swapped the axles for a set I had laying around (dana 44hd front and 14bolt FF rear with 3.73 gears) and lifted truck 4" with used lift I also had laying around...along with 5 35x14.50x16.5 STA trailbreaker tires bringing truck to this point

[350TacoZilla]

drove truck for about a week and got bored with the gutless 700r4 3.73ratio and 35" tall tire combo (truck is really heavy)

so out came front axle,trans and transfer case,and springs

in went 52" chevy rear springs with AAL's, 2.5ton GMC front axle (with 6.17 gears), 5spd manual NV3500 trans and np241 transfer from newer body style 89 chevy truck... for now has 39" tall stock military 9.00-20 tires

2nd pic is with stock 4wd 2500 gmc so you can tell how much lift is on it

[350TacoZilla]

truck beside it is a 6.2L diesel truck that I am pulling motor from for this swap... I have hummer headers and a M90 eaton supercharger that i am fabbing intake for on top of 6.2... was going to turbo but with engines low rpm manners I thought the turbo would only be useful for very small rpm band...so super charged it will make boost at idle and top out at about 8psi perfect for slow revving diesel

also here is picture of tires I have for truck... they are 425/65/22.5 super singles from front of cement trucks

equal out to be about 43" tall 14" wide AT tire


using gear ratio calc program should be running around 2288 RPM @65mph PERFECT!! campared to a stock military chevy's 3288rpm @65 (th400.4.56 gears and 32" tires stock)

[Whitfield]

MMMMM Nice!!!!    Tell me more...    I dig V-3500 PORN


here is mine....   Unfortunatly ~ I have not turned a wrench on it in 2 yrs. 

Fresh Cadillac 500 (built as bad as the stock valve train would allow).   New 8" lift ready to install ~ like new 200 miles TSL SX's on NEW alu wheels.





I need to finish it...  Only need to connect the acessories and pull the pan / rework the dipstick location.

before pic ~  I've been parting out Suburbans and collecting sheet metal for a few years.

[350TacoZilla]

wow nice looking I got lucky on the body of mine since it was owned by the county rd dept before so body was decent, needed rockers... you have a sweet truck though man you should really get that thing together lol I am working on mine starting again tommorow

also I have had some fun with the big caddy motors 500 and 429

you will probably like this

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0609em_cadillac_performance_parts_engine/index.html

[Whitfield]

you will probably like this

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0609em_cadillac_performance_parts_engine/index.html

Thanks,
    I followed potters build thread on line / live on the Cadillac power site.  I was building my engine at the same time.  Good stuff.

Tell me more about the 2.5 tons.   Where did they come from, how do they compare width wise over all & spring spacing.  What kind of brakes.  Cement truck wheels?

[350TacoZilla]

the 2.5 axles are from a 1950's GMC military truck.. they are normal faceload style instead of "toploader" like rockwells.. one wierd fact about them is they are setup passenger side high pinion reverse rotation front, low pinion standard rotation rear using the exact same carriers.. all you have to do up front to be able to run a standard transfer case (instead of the huge heavy military one) is either flip the front around from  high pinion to low pinion staying passenger side OR flip axle front to rear and stick the carrier in the spot where cover used to be, making it a driver side low pinion standard rotation.

if you want to keep it passenger side pinion you have to notch the housing for the ring gear and shorten one inner axle shaft, if you flip it over to the driver side you dont have to do either but requires different transfercase (which I already had along with newer 5spd from a IFS equipped chevy)

there are few different ones

10 spline set with 6.67 axle gears (weaker axles)

10 spline set with 7.20 axle gears (weakest axles and VERY RARE 2yrs only I think)

27 spline set with 6.17 axle gears (strongest set)

by comparison the 10 spline axles are about as strong as stock rockwell axles, the 27's are little stronger, but people like rockwells because of the top loader design and there are aftermarket parts for them... onlything available for gm's are stock replacement bearings,seals and a detroit locker

I went with them to try and keep my truck all gm and because they have a better gear ratio for the street unless you are running super tall tires (rockwells come with 6.72 gears .)


spring spacing up front was the exact same as stock rear didnt have spring pads like standard truck (was tandem axle) so i am welding a set on.  rims are the cement truck shells with the military centers welded in (obviously not on there yet)

[350TacoZilla]

also drum brakes with 2 wheel cylinders per drum, I am working on a disk setup right now though 

here is pic of the inner axle at the splines

[350TacoZilla]

no new pics but I did get old rear out today and got the gas tankand exhaust out of the way for the new diesel stuff. Also had noticed the springs were sitting little funny making the pinion point down in rear so I fabbed up a front crossmember and spring hangers.

also got my military brush guard mounted on my sanded and painted flat block bumper lol.. i hate chrome

[Whitfield]

No pics?   
 

I've gotta finish up the boat first as the truck sits behind it.

[350TacoZilla]

no lol I will get some this weekend though.. just got my v8 tacoma on rd today for first time in about 3 years... few bugs to be worked out of it though

[A-Town Zuk]

Wow! very cool build. Subscribed.

[350TacoZilla]

lol ty I love the crew cabs, mainly chevy guy but I like any older trucks really. I wanted something different than all the guys around here with brand new superduty's with 6" lift and 35's (there are TONS here) oh and the stacks I have will be arranged little different than normal


here is a cell pic from this weekend you can see bumper is flat blacked but ran out on brush guard so i will have to finish it up later

[350TacoZilla]

got the rear all mounted up today still have to paint bars but it was raining on and off so I just did all the wleding and painted over the welds for now

[A-Town Zuk]

Lookin good! That thing is going to be a real beast. Here are a couple shots of my Chevy shenanagins:
 The white duelly is the only one I still have

[350TacoZilla]

thanks man, I have had a ton of chevys  trucks,blazers,burbs etc

[350TacoZilla]

project is still alive, still on stands in driveway though. work picked up and holidays making it hard to get time to drive to truck and work on it (truck is at my parents house not mine)

[350TacoZilla]

new pics... got 1 front flare installed

its actually a rear bushwacker flare for the same truck... they are longer and lower then the front flares so I wanted them all to match, so its driver side rear flipped to passenger front

also rolled one of my tire/wheel combos up to it for some measurements so took a pic, this is not a tire I will be using its a junkyard one with the rim I will use same size though

[350TacoZilla]

paint it chop and spray of moto metal 909 knock offs on truck and the actual wheels

[Whitfield]

Holey Carp     Them their are HUGE!


I pulled my 3+3 around front and have been steady wrenching the last month in-between the rain and early night fall.   

I now need to save up for a new 6.2L 4-core radiator. 

Once that is in hand most of my (cadillac 500 engine install) hurdles will be completed.

Ran the part #'s on my Super lift springs and they are 8" lift 

[350TacoZilla]

cool that your working on it again, I inspired you didnt i LOL

yeah I been working sun up to sun down so havent had alot of time to mess with truck, had to save up to buy the flares ($200 per pair!!) got them at 4wheelparts.com 10% off and free shipping.

tires are huge I will agree lol funny to see the stock 39" military tire there next to it...also funny how the junkyard tire is same size as what I plan on running (425/65/22.5) but it is 1 inch taller and 1inch narrower than my new tires, I can see air making it taller but narrower I guess its just different brand thing (bridgestoneVSgoodyear)

also funny to think about is since my truck was a 2wd originally the body mounts are 2" lower than 4wds so it would sit higher if it was factory 4wd

[Whitfield]

Also funny that you are in the communist state of Maryland....   

Will they actually let you drive it?

VA isn't gonna like mine as it sits before the 8" lift.

I say this cause they were hasteling Zukigirl's Cherokee on 32's for inspection and another guys sammy on 31's.

[350TacoZilla]

the md height law is 28" to the highest point on frame behind rear axle center line....meaning most stock 3/4-1tons are over the height law already and you are not allowed to modify the suspension or body mounting by more than 3" and no combination of the 2 may be used (no susp.and body lift another words even if they were both 1")

and yes I used to get hassled all the time in toyotas with 35's-44's but with this I dont really care I am putting historic plates on it and it will just be a weekend cruiser to car shows truck pulls etc

I see superduties lifted with 35's-40s everyday of the week so if they are getting by without hassle then i dont think they will bother me too much, but for inspection yes stock height stock size tires etc no mods to supension

[Whitfield]

Military Aircraft tug built by Chevrolet

I've never seen one of these before     

Cool rig for sure!  I'm trying to resist the perceived need to own it.

Powered by a 6.2 diesel with an automatic transmission. It is four wheel drive and puts the power the ground via a set of ZF axles with gear reduction hubs. The truck has full hydro steering and a selector lever to run two wheel front steer, oblique, or four wheel steering. It has multiple towing points and pulls very strong.




And it is forsale on the Steel Solderers forum

[350TacoZilla]

ha ha yeah they are cool the tranny/transfer case is a standard th400/208 combo with the transfer case locked in low range (since it is only used as a tug) those axles are about 10ton rating I believe and just the planets on the ends weigh about 300lbs a piece

[Whitfield]

Would make a ringer competiton pulling truck.

Do you know of any good source for a old body style 6.2L DIESEL radiator.  I'm searching and it not as easy as I'd thought.

So far $325 for a big diesel size 3 row is the best I can find.

[ecoast]

Would make a ringer competiton pulling truck.

Do you know of any good source for a old body style 6.2L DIESEL radiator.  I'm searching and it not as easy as I'd thought.

So far $325 for a big diesel size 3 row is the best I can find.

searched 84, 6.2D @ rockauto =$268.79
SPECTRA PREMIUM Part # CU850 #432098

still pricey.

[350TacoZilla]

buddy of mine had one made 4 row aluminum made to fit truck (larger than stock went from headlight to headlight almost) for 400 now I know thats more but you get alot more for the money I can check where he got it but it was an online site you took measurements and told them where you needed outlets..came with universal bolt on brackets

[Whitfield]

I have the one above on the way!   Thanks.


I researched aluminum radiators and found lots of cool info.  Most Ebay deals had detracting factors involved (Smaller core tubes / alternate mounting) + I wish to avoid extra custom mounting and fan shroud work.  I've still got plenty of other BIG fish to fry in this build. 


I wished I could find a modern 1" Tube 2-row core (High efficiency) aluminum radiator with stock saddle mounting and stock fan shroud mounting.  BUT no luck....   This will get me running and I can improve from their if necessary.

[350TacoZilla]

what are you thinking of running for a fan? I can tell you I have had great luck with the electric fan from a v8 ford taraus...its a huge 2 stage fan and moves more air than any aftermarket one I have ever seen+ junk yards are full of taruas's so they are super cheap fans....the v6 one may be same not sure

[t0nKaTrAcKeR]

The Taurus only had a V8 in the 1996-1998 SHO models so finding one in a junkyard probably isn't that easy....The standard Taurus (V6) uses a different fan

[350TacoZilla]

our one junkyard has 5-6 taurus v8's all wrecked not in there due to old age or something lol...

[t0nKaTrAcKeR]

our one junkyard has 5-6 taurus v8's all wrecked not in there due to old age or something lol...

You could make some money by re selling some of the parts from that yard, Like I said the V8 only came in the SHO (Super High Output) and only for those three years.  There are plenty of SHO-specific parts that bring good money

[Whitfield]

what are you thinking of running for a fan?

Stock but incorperating a later modle GM fan clutch where as the OE caddy was direct drive.

I've got a 94 Chrysler LHS on the trailer that I'm pating out / scrapping this week.  It has a similar dual fan with shroud that would work, but I'm partial to the stock mechanical fan.

[350TacoZilla]

good to know about sho's buddy of mine had one before but his was a v6.. like I said all the ones in yard are wrecked so I didnt see the sho in rear bumpers (i had seen his)


back to fans lol... yeah i prefer electric due to mpg and hp increase and if you ever need to do a water crossing or want to let motor warm up quicker you can shut them off for bit.

[350TacoZilla]

small update, in between being off work for 2 months and ripping muscle in my back I did get the coil buckets made up for the rear so it can sit on its own weight


now if i can dig the 30" of snow off and the 5' drift out from the side of it I can get back to work

[Whitfield]

Laying on cardboard in the snow SUX   


I've got my radiator but have been waiting on the weather to clear. 

Our snow has melted and we are getting our first string of 50 deg days ~ but now I'm committed to an engine swap for my XL-7 (complete with borrowed garage time.)


Any pics of the snow bound crew cab in the 5' drift ?


I caught this cool pic of mine (pre 2nd snow) a few weeks before the city tagged it and made me move it back behind the fence again.

[350TacoZilla]

no on pics with it at my parents house I have only drove down there a few times... luckily its getting warmer so it will be melted soon (not to mention my dad has been using 4wd tractor and loader to try and dig it out)

worse part is I had started calling around to get the concrete slab poured at my place so i could get my garage started then bam 3 feet of snow fall LOL

[350TacoZilla]

well so far I've pulled the 350-swapped in the 2wd steering box for the crossover steering, got my huge disk brakes dropped off at machine shop to get modded to fit the 2.5T spindles and pulled auto steering column out of truck to put in my straight stick column

[Whitfield]

Nice progress

I finished my GV XL-7 engine swap + shake down (starter drive / T-case rear  seal / throttle cable). 

Yesterday I made a deal to buy a frame for my 99 Taco TRD.  This meanes complete frame swap coming up starting next week.   

Pushing my 1-ton project back yet again.

[350TacoZilla]

diesel is in truck as of today, hydro boost is on and working

got all my old tires dismounted and dropped the rims off to fab shop to get centers welded in (stock 2.5T centers in the 22.5 wheels nothing fancy)

currently need to order radiator, find clutch pedal for hydro clutch chevy and get brake lines/steering addressed

oh and put my other 3 bushwhackers on