1996 Chevrolet c3500HD CrewCab BEAST - Junkyard Rescue Take II

[cool_as_crap]

As much as I'd like to have one of these, I'd rather find a newer topkick/Kodiak 4x4 duramax with Monroe truck bed conversion. I'll just finance it instead of having to restore

 

[GarrettGmc]

If you have to ask. . .

Ya ya I kno, but once my 94 is done ill need another project and you guys have got my wanting one of these hd's

 

[GarrettGmc]

Well looking for one of these I found some info, cnt remember if it's been posted or not but here ya go.
"In 1991, GM introduced (under the Chevrolet and GMC nameplates) a truck that bridged the gap between pickups and medium duty trucks, the C3500HD. The C3500HD was a 15,000 pound GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) truck that was later replaced with the 4500 series. The C3500HD was only offered as a commercial chassis cab. The C3500HD came with regular cab as the only cab option until 1996, when the crew cab was also offered, it is not clear if the crew cab could only be ordered for fleets only, or if all consumers could order it as well. The extended cab was never offered on the C3500HD. All cabs came standard with upper marker/clearance lights. All but the most deluxe cab options were offered in the C3500HD, as well as all paint colors.

GM never offered the C3500HD in four wheel drive off of the assembly line, however several aftermarket conversion companies offered them in a 4x4 version with either a Dana 60 or Dana 70 front axle. At least one company, Monroe Truck, was offered as a ship-through 4WD upfit using the RPO code VCB.

Engine offerings for the C3500HD included the 5.7L (until 1995, when it was dropped for the 96 model year) the 7.4L, and the 6.5L turbo diesel (the 6.2L diesel was never offered for the C3500HD, no diesel was offered for 1991, 1992 brought the 6.5L turbo diesel. The L65 code 6.5L turbo diesel was the only diesel offered in this truck). Transmission offerings were the 4L80E 4spd OD automatic, and the NV4500 5spd OD manual, these were the only two transmissions ever offered for the C3500HD. The common drive axle used on the C3500HD was the Dana 80, an 85.8" wide full floating axle with an 11 inch ring gear. There have also been reports of Corporate 14 Bolt (a full floating axle with 10.5 inch ring gear) axles with upgraded axle tubes and hubs being installed. The front axle was a solid I-beam drop axle, similar to the axles of medium and heavy duty trucks. The GVWR of these trucks was 15,000 pounds. Both axles were suspended by leaf springs, and both axles had disc brakes. The wheelbases available were: 135.5", 159.5", and 183.5". The frames on these trucks were similar in design to the C3500 cab and chassis, but were heavily upgraded. The C3500HD, as well as the C3500 Cab and Chassis, featured rear frame rails spaced at 34", the industry standard for easy upfit of bodies."

 

[dave_erald]

When you people are done down there not buying or fixing all these crew HD's that are suddenly popping up, send one or two up to your friendly Canadian neighbour, he (me dammit me) would really like one

 

[BowtieBrody]

There's two of these 3500HD crew cabs for sale on craigslist around me; if only I had money and space for more GMT400s...

 

[gstubbz]

Peekaboo! Thank god the rod isn't bent

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Ahhhh the goods. I need to change the lock cylinders and paint these things black. But I've never held one in person and these things are 100% metal and are solid.

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Thinking a bit more about it, I have access to a tow truck bed and have like three to pick from off of other wreckers out in the yard, my HD may become my personal tow truck! I'm going scouting tomorrow and see what I can do. Might have to go with an electric winch since the 4L80e in the truck doesn't have a PTO.

 

[someotherguy]

Well looking for one of these I found some info, cnt remember if it's been posted or not but here ya go.
"In 1991, GM introduced (under the Chevrolet and GMC nameplates) a truck that bridged the gap between pickups and medium duty trucks, the C3500HD. The C3500HD was a 15,000 pound GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) truck that was later replaced with the 4500 series. The C3500HD was only offered as a commercial chassis cab. The C3500HD came with regular cab as the only cab option until 1996, when the crew cab was also offered, it is not clear if the crew cab could only be ordered for fleets only, or if all consumers could order it as well. The extended cab was never offered on the C3500HD. All cabs came standard with upper marker/clearance lights. All but the most deluxe cab options were offered in the C3500HD, as well as all paint colors.

GM never offered the C3500HD in four wheel drive off of the assembly line, however several aftermarket conversion companies offered them in a 4x4 version with either a Dana 60 or Dana 70 front axle. At least one company, Monroe Truck, was offered as a ship-through 4WD upfit using the RPO code VCB.

Engine offerings for the C3500HD included the 5.7L (until 1995, when it was dropped for the 96 model year) the 7.4L, and the 6.5L turbo diesel (the 6.2L diesel was never offered for the C3500HD, no diesel was offered for 1991, 1992 brought the 6.5L turbo diesel. The L65 code 6.5L turbo diesel was the only diesel offered in this truck). Transmission offerings were the 4L80E 4spd OD automatic, and the NV4500 5spd OD manual, these were the only two transmissions ever offered for the C3500HD. The common drive axle used on the C3500HD was the Dana 80, an 85.8" wide full floating axle with an 11 inch ring gear. There have also been reports of Corporate 14 Bolt (a full floating axle with 10.5 inch ring gear) axles with upgraded axle tubes and hubs being installed. The front axle was a solid I-beam drop axle, similar to the axles of medium and heavy duty trucks. The GVWR of these trucks was 15,000 pounds. Both axles were suspended by leaf springs, and both axles had disc brakes. The wheelbases available were: 135.5", 159.5", and 183.5". The frames on these trucks were similar in design to the C3500 cab and chassis, but were heavily upgraded. The C3500HD, as well as the C3500 Cab and Chassis, featured rear frame rails spaced at 34", the industry standard for easy upfit of bodies."

Looks like wikipedia "info" - drives me nuts they keep calling it C3500HD when no such thing exists. It's a 3500HD and that's that. No C, no K. In GM's internal literature they refer to it as the 3500HD.

Anyway I tried a few times adding correct, useful info to the 3500HD section of the wiki page for the C/K trucks, and some editor(s) pulled it, so whatever..

I keep finding 3500HD crew cabs all around TX, some of them decent deals, some not. Wish I still had my old shop space, I woulda stocked up on them.

Richard

 

[someotherguy]

Thinking a bit more about it, I have access to a tow truck bed and have like three to pick from off of other wreckers out in the yard, my HD may become my personal tow truck! I'm going scouting tomorrow and see what I can do. Might have to go with an electric winch since the 4L80e in the truck doesn't have a PTO.

Check local regulations about operating a tow truck. Even if it's "not for hire" many places do not allow you to operate an unlicensed tow truck, even for your personal use, because too many people try to get by without registering them and still do for-hire work on the sly.

As far as not having a spot for a PTO, the slick way to set up your hydraulic pump is to bail on PTO's completely. Get a hydraulic pump with a clutch on it. They work essentially the same as an A/C compressor; it hangs off the engine and doesn't run until you engage the clutch on it (done with the wrecker controls.) They can be pricey to buy new but if you have access to some wrecker beds, you may find what you need lurking around that same place.

This is one hanging off a Vortec 454 just prior to me pulling it to put on another truck. The kit is from Deweze with a Parker pump, but Muncie makes them as well.

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For a seriously low-buck setup that is still useful, there are electric/hydraulic setups that use a large starter style motor to run the pump. They're usually around 1-1.5GPM vs. the other setup usually being near 6GPM but they will still get the job done, just much slower.

Richard

 

[gstubbz]

Thank you for the info Richard! I'll see what is out there for beds and the local laws. Cali is pretty picky so I may not get away without a motor carrier permit but I'll do some research in my downtime this weekend.

I don't know if I like the sling idea very much, I'd probably rather have a sneaker lift or something but then again I don't know hardly a thing about tow trucks. Might take the bed off this Ford if that's the case.

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So since I'm not doing my 4x4 conversion anytime soon, I really need 10 lug 19.5 rims so I don't need to look like a tard running a single ford 10 lug 16" in the rear.

I found the story on the rims/tires and they were exchanged for some vehicles a few years back; guy had to get rid of 4 junk trucks but needed 19.5 tires for some other truck, but didn't need the wheels just the tires. So tonight I was able to track the guy down, and he still had the rims and tires, so I worked out a deal where I can just have the rims as long as I give him the tires after I dismount them. So that's sweet! I'm glad to find the originals. I even called 6 auto wreckers between Klamath Falls and Reno and half of them had no idea what a 3500HD is even after I explained that they were 10 lug with 19.5s. I won't have the spare but when the time comes I'm cool with ordering one from ebay since that's much more reasonable than ordering five. I'll just keep the 10 lug 16" in the meantime.

Found out some more history on the truck too, it has less than 100k on it and when it came in there was absolutely nothing wrong with the truck, the guy who owned it got a fat CHP ticket for being overweight with the type of service box that was mounted, so Ken (junkyard owner) helped him out with a house moving job or something and got the truck as the deal.

The engine that came out of it is now living in some 1995 6.5 truck up in Idaho now and if I need sensors or whatever I can pull them off the core 6.5 the guy brought back. This was years ago.

So that gives me hope the 4L80e in it is okay, and as long as the 6.5 in my 94 is solid, I can put it all together and make it work. So it might be less work than I thought, and it's all starting to come together. When I first got the truck I really had no set in stone plan but now I have a rough idea and I've been ordering parts. It'll probably be ready to go sooner than I think!

I'm probably not going to haul it out to Doyle to work with it since I'm over in Chester pretty often, I'm thinking I'll drive it the 78 miles there. That'll be a good shakedown test and I can use a "dealer" plate for that so I'm good.

Probably going to take the rear windows out of this 93 suburban for the HD, and when I do that I'll take the door handles off and paint them so they look new.

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So there's my update. Not going to mess with the truck until the 26th, I've got some holiday stuff to do and I also need to get the 94 6.5 going so I know it's good enough to drop in the HD.

 

[skylark]

Just a heads up. As I recall the injection pump on a 94 is a one year only part. It may not be compatible with your current computer.