TOW RIG OVERHAUL! 2nd time... diesel swap

[Van Gui1d3r #838]

Will do. Actually saw a couple on Craigslist last week. I'll see if I can find and post them

yea pm them to me. there was one that was multi-colored and it turned out the frame had been cut and welded. I try to stay away from stuff like that unless I know who did it

 

[deejaaa]

yes, they are hard compound. used a lot in the past on motor homes. that's what was used on the rear of the truck you linked.

 

[deejaaa]

here's a few:
https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5976126234.html
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/ctd/5971212507.html
https://glensfalls.craigslist.org/cto/5949834716.html

 

[Van Gui1d3r #838]

here's a few:
https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5976126234.html
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/ctd/5971212507.html
https://glensfalls.craigslist.org/cto/5949834716.html

they are good options but they are longer than the short wheelbase i'm looking for. I suppose I could have the frame cut down and welded but i'd like to just find one with the single cab 8 foot bed wheelbase. I think it's 130" wheelbase. those ones I think are the 150-154 wheel bases for the 10 or 12 foot beds.

 

[shovelbill]

Staying tuned for updates

I'm also in upstate ny

i lived just southeast of you, Sidney Center...Delaware County from '94-'02. place had it's own weather system.

 

[shovelbill]

https://oneonta.craigslist.org/cto/5966434559.html

 

[deejaaa]

https://oneonta.craigslist.org/cto/5966434559.html

.... there was one that was multi-colored and it turned out the frame had been cut and welded. I try to stay away from stuff like that unless I know who did it

i saw that and figured it was the one he was referring to.
i've never seen the short frame. might all be custom.

 

[shovelbill]

i saw that and figured it was the one he was referring to.
i've never seen the short frame. might all be custom.

we used these in the towing industry....was GM's answer to the first Ford F-450 Superduty...think 1990ish.

 

[someotherguy]

Shortest wheelbase on a 3500HD is 135.5" which is 4" longer than a normal regular cab longbed (typical for a chassis cab type arrangement.) Leaf sprung straight front axle, Dana 80 rear, 4 wheel disc brakes, 19.5" 10 lug wheels (only 5 used in front), transmission-mounted drum parking brake.

3500HD's were made from 1991-2002 and were never referred to as a C3500HD, just 3500HD, likely because a factory 4WD was never made (though aftermarket ones were made by a few companies.)

I'd agree they were surely GM's answer to the F-series Super Duty which came out in 1987, but they'd never officially acknowledge it. The whole design premise behind the 3500HD was to build a 15K GVWR truck that would still have a low ingress/egress height so that you could use it as conveniently/comfortably as a lighter duty truck, and to make it primarily out of already existing parts - the GMT400 series bodywork, and many chassis parts from the P30 type RV's from years before.

The one in that ad just looks funny because the multicolor bodywork and the apparently homemade wrecker bed is really stubby.

Richard

 

[someotherguy]

they are good options but they are longer than the short wheelbase i'm looking for. I suppose I could have the frame cut down and welded but i'd like to just find one with the single cab 8 foot bed wheelbase. I think it's 130" wheelbase. those ones I think are the 150-154 wheel bases for the 10 or 12 foot beds.

A longer wheelbase HD than what you need does not mean you would have to cut the frame and weld it back together. Once the frame kicks up behind the rear cab wall, it is perfectly ladder straight with parallel rails. To shorten it you cut/drill all the rivets for mounting the spring brackets and any crossmembers and other brackets that may need to move, re-drill the holes and bolt all that stuff back in, then chop off the remaining frame rails towards the rear.

Not a small job by any means, with all that rivet cutting and re-drilling, but it's been done to quite a few of 'em.

Richard