Will an ext. cab from a 1992 work on a 1995?

Steve Higgins · Oct 11, 2016

I have a chance to buy a southern 1992 2WD extended cab for my 1995 4WD that is rusted beyond repair but I see the dashes are different. I am willing to change over my dash and wiring from my 1995 to the 1992, I'm just wondering if everything will fit correctly and if the holes going thru the firewall will be the same? I realize I will have to cut the hole in the floor for the 4 wheel drive shifter.

Any advice would be appreciated?

Thanks, Steve

someotherguy · Oct 11, 2016

Pretty close. You'll need to swap out the steering column support which isn't too hard; you will have to drill a few spot welds and weld it back in or use bolts with lock nuts. The pre-95 cab won't have the oval hole in the floor for the shifter cable grommet, so that'll take some careful cutting to get it just right. Make sure you have good extended cab windows in the replacement cab because mid-94 they changed mounting design and your 95 windows will not swap over.

The firewall holes should be pretty close; the passenger side hole for the engine harness is rectangular from 91-95, driver side should be similar...you may need to drill a couple extra holes for the SRS module which is a one-year placement for 95 up on the firewall.

Can't remember if 95 gets the passenger A-pillar grab handle yet or if that's a 96 thing, but I think 95 does have it. Moving the bracket over requires drilling out the welds and you can't get to half of them with the windshield in place. To do these I just sawzall that section out of the pillar so I can put it on the drill press and get the bracket loose; easy enough to weld it into your replacement cab with windshield in place, just cover it so you don't damage it with weld spatter. Make a good template first before chopping it out so you get it back in the right place.

May be some other things I'm forgetting but you're in fairly good shape.

Richard

1500z71 · Oct 11, 2016

someotherguy said:
Pretty close. You'll need to swap out the steering column support which isn't too hard; you will have to drill a few spot welds and weld it back in or use bolts with lock nuts. The pre-95 cab won't have the oval hole in the floor for the shifter cable grommet, so that'll take some careful cutting to get it just right. Make sure you have good extended cab windows in the replacement cab because mid-94 they changed mounting design and your 95 windows will not swap over.

The firewall holes should be pretty close; the passenger side hole for the engine harness is rectangular from 91-95, driver side should be similar...you may need to drill a couple extra holes for the SRS module which is a one-year placement for 95 up on the firewall.

Can't remember if 95 gets the passenger A-pillar grab handle yet or if that's a 96 thing, but I think 95 does have it. Moving the bracket over requires drilling out the welds and you can't get to half of them with the windshield in place. To do these I just sawzall that section out of the pillar so I can put it on the drill press and get the bracket loose; easy enough to weld it into your replacement cab with windshield in place, just cover it so you don't damage it with weld spatter. Make a good template first before chopping it out so you get it back in the right place.

May be some other things I'm forgetting but you're in fairly good shape.

Richard

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all extended cab windows swap? I know some are glued to the cab, then some screwed shut, but most have the same option to open them? Reason I say this is because I have both a 96 and a 98 ext window on my 93 and they fit with no hassle. Found plenty more that would work as well.

someotherguy · Oct 12, 2016

Yeah, if you take it down to the bare glass itself, the glass is the same - other than the color of it. I find that even down here in Houston where stuff really doesn't rust, the hardware almost always seizes and you often find yourself fighting the screws and rounding out the heads.

Addtionally if the replacement cab doesn't have extended cab windows still intact, then the hardware likely isn't intact either, and the stuff from the 95 cab won't readily swap over.

So it's not really a dealbreaker if the replacement cab needs glass, just way easier IMO if it doesn't.

One potential drawback as I mentioned being the color, if it matters. Prior to mid-94, the tinted extended cab glass was the bronze mirror-ish tint; from mid-94 with the glue-on they went to a smoke tint. Every once in a great while I've seen completely clear, like on a 95 C2500 base model. Would be perfect for doing a 100% tint match to the door glass.

Richard

1500z71 · Oct 14, 2016

someotherguy said:
Yeah, if you take it down to the bare glass itself, the glass is the same - other than the color of it. I find that even down here in Houston where stuff really doesn't rust, the hardware almost always seizes and you often find yourself fighting the screws and rounding out the heads. Addtionally if the replacement cab doesn't have extended cab windows still intact, then the hardware likely isn't intact either, and the stuff from the 95 cab won't readily swap over.

So it's not really a dealbreaker if the replacement cab needs glass, just way easier IMO if it doesn't.

One potential drawback as I mentioned being the color, if it matters. Prior to mid-94, the tinted extended cab glass was the bronze mirror-ish tint; from mid-94 with the glue-on they went to a smoke tint. Every once in a great while I've seen completely clear, like on a 95 C2500 base model. Would be perfect for doing a 100% tint match to the door glass.

Richard

Okay yeah we're on the same page. The screws were the biggest pain I ended up going to lowes and got all new replacements because they were all stripping. For the OP, here's the difference. Top is '93 stocks with 15%, bottom is '98 stocks with 10%