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I am looking into buying a new toy, i want to purchase a 47-53 Chevy Half ton Pick-Up, and i want to put air bags on it. It would be easier to use an s10 frame to bag, but i am not sure how that will fit. I have seen it done, and one guy said there is no cutting required, but what about the wheelbases? The s10 he used seemed to be a smaller wheelbase because the wheels were closer together than the original frame. Any input would be great! Thanks, Mike
The initial cost might be less, but I doubt the final outcome with an S-10 frame would be near as nice as updating the suspension and brakes on the original frame. Don't forget the labor part of the swap, changing body mounts, rebuilding the box to accomodate the kickup on the S-10 frame, reconfiguring the front sheet metal and radiator support to work on the S-10 frame without having it look like a cobbled up mess, getting the inner fenders to fit the S-10 frame, altering the wheelbase and track width to make the wheels fit the wheel openings, and a multitude of other things to make it look and work right.
or, If you don't have the time and money to do it right, when are you going to find the time and money to do it over?
Just a side note to anyone looking at s-10 frames,a buddy of mine drives a 2dr geo tracker 2wd as a beater. These frames are simple and come with a decent looking 3-link in the rear. Although the strut front is something to contend with, it is simple.
I think a 4dr would be closer to the wheelbase anyone of us would use.
A plus is that the track width is narrow also.
Doug
I've seen a few old trucks on the S-10 frames. They look nice until you peek underneath. I wouldn't do it myself.
I am actually in the process now of swaping a 1950 chevy 3/4 ton truck onto a 123"WB (X cab 4wd)s10. So far everything is fitting like a dream. At the moment my truck has 3 inch lowering blocks and a pulled leaf in the rear for about 4 inches of drop and in the front i have 3 inches of drop from new torsion keys and am still figuring out how to get another few inches for that raked look.
Anyway, For the halfton AD truck i would go with the reg cab long box 2wd s10 frame. The WB on that is 118" and should be very very close to that of the original frame. The width of the 2wd is just a hair narrow. To compensate for this you can use a 4wd s10 rear axle (direct swap) which is about 5 inches wider or (what i am doing) a ford 8.8 rear from an explorer (basically bolts right up). In the front you can get some billet aluminum wheel spacers.
The hardest part about this swap is when you get to the radiator and radiator placement. What i did and what may others have done is to use the existing radiator core support from the AD truck and tilt it back slightly because the steering box is in the way.
All in all this swap is not very hard.
All the best,
Tyler
On the Explorer Forum http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=174298 there is a chap who is installing a 1951 Ford F1 onto an 2000 Explorer AWD chassis. He used a V-8 powered Explorer and it seems to be working very well for him. If you didn't want AWD, a 2 wheel drive version is available or the AWD can be converted to 2WD.
I haven't decided what i want to do yet, but the one guy that my uncle rods around with has a 47 chevy on an s10 frame, and he also has a 48 parts truck that is on the stock frame still, i am going on sunday to decide what i want to do and look at them and see what he thinks, thanks for all the help guys
My buddie put one under his 49 ford and it seems to be working out well,but he channeled the car ,soo mounts and floor issues were kinda nil.........
I forgot...If you don't want to fabricate your own body mounts and varous other parts they actually make a kit that will fit a 48 - 53 chevy truck to an s10 frame. Here is the website...http://www.ad-engineering.com/ ... they have a lot of great information on this swap and their kit is relativly inexpensive and doesn't look too hard to install.
Enjoy,
Tyler
My rusty/ratty 48 is on a S-10 frame. I think it is a worthwhie swap if you want to go low.
FYI....wheels are 20x8.5" and the rear axle is froma 79 camaro.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...8/HPIM0249.jpg
I also am going to use a s10 running gear.I am going to put it under a 45 dodge pickup.Numbers all seem to come together and am going to channel anyways so it shouldn't be to bad that way.Still in the measuring stage but everything seems like it is going to be a go.