Picked up another truck

[WHC-125 4]

Well guys today I picked up another truck, its a 1987 Chevy K-10 stepside. It has a fuel injected small block 350 w/ headers and dual exhaust all the way back that is brand new. A 4 speed transmission(3 speed with granny gear). The whole frame was recently sandblasted and then painted with automotive paint(was down to bare frame rails). It has alot of new parts such as rear brakes, gas tank, sending unit, 6 inch spring lift(no blocks), front ball joints, head gaskets, intake gaskets, valve guids,altenator, starter, passenger side rear fender, train horns, and so much more....It came with alot of extra parts as well, yeah she needs some minor work but is a great truck overall and am very happy with my purchase.

I am going to try to get some pictures up tomorrow of it. But as of now I am glad I kept the GMC I picked up a few months ago because it is gonna be a great parts truck and I already made most of my money back of it and still have the complete truck :thumbs:

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,527]

So that is where you have been spending your $$$ Now you just need to get your DL Good luck with it. Looking forward to pics.

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,138]

Hmmm......truck #3 eh? Will this one get a license plate pal . Lookin forward to the pics.

Mike..........

[WHC-125 4]

I have always been here and yeah Steve by the time summer comes around I will have my liscense and it will be on the road "legally"

And Mike it will soon dont worry :ROTF:

[WHC-125 4]

Here are some pictures from earlier before we got it off of the trailer

[Ken B 3,189]

Sweet truck. :banghead:

[clintonnut 126]

You are tied with me! I have three right now but only 1 runs at the moment and i just traded it to my friend David!

Put some nice meats on that thing! Look at goodyear 37-12.50-16.5 mt military tires and if they dont clear put some bfg all terrains on it. Rollin high on them :banghead:

[Coadster32 793]

Nice truck. I agree w/ Charlie, needs some meats. I'd go with the BF Goodrich A/T also. Great tire for on road-and off. (Save your pennies though) :thumbs:

[WHC-125 4]

Thanks guys And I plan on putting bigger tires on it as soon as possible. It came with a set of 4 35s on rims but they came off of a tahoe and have a different offset so I was thinking about trying wheel spacers, if not I found a set of BFG mud terrians on rims two towns over.

Charlie, I got you beat though because I have 2 out of 3 that run and drive great :banghead:

[Rollerman 290]

Always liked the looks of the straight axled GM step sides.

So Chris did you happen to watch "Top Gear" this week?

[WHC-125 4]

Stephen, I always did too and no I didnt but I wish I did :banghead:

[VinsRJ 723]

Nice looking truck Chris.

IMO wheel spacers are a no, no...... I had nothing but problems with them.

Keep in mind the bigger the tire the lower the gas milage........ predictions are $4 a gallon

Good luck with her!

[rickv1957 74]

Looking good there Chris!!!

[fireman 1,022]

I would leave the tires that are on it for now. Remember you still have to put gas in that thing! At an average of $3.30 a gallon you'll drive over anything but a gas station.

[6wheeler 669]

That could be a real sweet truck Chris, I am a Ford guy myself and have built some nasty off- roaders in my day. The corporate monobeam axle is almost indestuctable. They do however wear bad in the crosspin, so check it out good. Blowin the carrier under load sucks. Also, being its a 87, I am guessing automatic/ NP208 tranfer case. If so, just a tip. Find a scrap GMC or Chevy 3/4t 4spd and swap out the axles and T-case. Make sure it has corporate parts if you can, cuz they are beefier than Dana parts. And, if you are gonna run bigger tires, you can change the gearing relatively easy. Plus in a 3/4 ton or 1 ton axle . More than likely you will probably have 4:10 gears and you can run 37's without much power loss. The real secret to building a very capable daily driver/weekend mudder, is to NOT try to copy whatever is in the off-road magazines. Some of the stuff sounds cool, looks cool. BUT, is not functional. There is a virtual plethora of parts out there but the object is to be able to drive it to school/work, Haul stuff with it. And still be able to do a little BOONEY-BASHIN with your buddies on the weekend. And still be able to use it on monday. The reason for the T-case swap is, most 4spd trucks at the time used a NP205 case. It is a gear to gear case(no chain) BULLETPROOF. It can be mated to an auto but you would have to change the tail shaft so the case is "divorced" with a short shaft, extra work but well worth it. And, my personal favorites on rubber are radial Buckshots, they are tall and skinny(they are a sweet mud tire) and not real noisy. They handle rain and snow pretty well. Remember the wider the tire the worse they are on wet surfaces. Especially if they are wide and flat with alot of solid contact(hydroplaning). My current ride is 94 F-250 with a 2" lift and 305/16.5 Kelly's on it. Funny, as I get older my lifts get lower . Stay on the trails or where you have permission to be . Or maybe join a local 4X4 club. It can be alot of fun... Pat

[WHC-125 4]

Thanks guys, and yeah I wasnt really for wheel spacers but the guy I got the truck from was into them for some reason Anyways I know the bigger the tires the worse the gas mileage but it just doesnt look right at all with stock tires on it. Also, I know gas prices are going to be rising but I dont plan on going anywhere really crazy far and if I do I will probably end up buying a small good gas mileage car to put on the side.

Pat, yes I am aware of everything you said but no it is not an automatic. It is a 3 speed with granny low. As far as different axles and suspension I have no need for any of that because I am not going to be doing any serious off roading so it is just more weight for then reducing the gas mileage. You are right about the buckshots as I found a set for my brother in law to put on his truck and he loved them. I only plan to put on 35s so with the stock axles and transmission it will be perfectly fine. I wasnt planning on putting wide tires on it either. I plan on putting 10.50s or 12.50s because then this way it will be able to dig through the mud, snow, and other terrain I put it through.

[truckin88 104]

Chris,

While I understand everyone concern for gas mileage, if you were concerned you would have not bought that truck, it needs 33's - 35's. Also what Rear is in it? Are you going to move your plow over to it? Wondering with the 6" lift. How is the T-Case and drive shaft angles with that big of a lift? Any major vibration?

Good starting point, can't beat a step side for looks.

Good luck,

Will

[6wheeler 669]

Chris, thats great. You seem to be pretty good with that stuff and your ideas are good. My last off-roader was a 83 Jeep J-10 stepside. It was way cool. It had an 8" superlift in and I put 4:56's in a Dana 60 front & 70 rear. It was a 401/auto with a 205 in her with 42" super swampers. "NASTY" I just sold it 2 months ago. Here in Mn. we are always getting ridden about bumper height, so there aren't alot of lifted trucks on the road any more. Now we just trailer them. But, as I am approaching 50, I probably won't make another one. However, I do have an 87 Dodge Raider that will probably be made into a rock crawler for one of my boys. I am thinking Mitsubishi Diesel and a set of narrowed 44's... Who knows Have Fun Pat

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,138]

Keep those small skins handy in case you need to take it for a long trip(like the Wheeel Horse Show) .

Mike.......

[VinsRJ 723]

(like the Wheeel Horse Show) .

Mike.......

Exactly! :banghead:

[WHC-125 4]

Will, yes your right but I bought exactly what I wanted. And no I sold the plow off of the GMC and if I end up plowing with a truck next year I will buy another one not beat on a good truck with the plow on the front of it. And as far as the drive shaft anlges its really not too bad and going down the road its nice and straight, true, and decently smooth for a 6 inch lifted truck. Also, you really cant beat it for looks because they just look awesome no matter what condition.

Pat, yes I know a fair share on these trucks and have been learning more as I go along. No one knows everything even though some people think they do, they dont because you learn something new everyday no matter who you are. And jeeps are pretty cool as well, a friend of mine has a commanche and for a small truck its really not bad for a daily driver or off roader.

Mike, I am keeping a set of stock wheels and tires but probably not the ones that are on it because the ones on the GMC have better tread on them.

[d180man 5]

Hi nice truck ! :thumbs:

[WHC-125 4]

Thank you Curtis I cant wait to get started on doing it up as my own :banghead:

[Don1977 605]

Did a little work on your pictures.

[WHC-125 4]

Thanks Don but it was really that dark when we got back And I checked out those other tires that came with it and come to find out there only 33s <_< but I found a set of 35s and hopefully gonna pick them up if I sell the 33s soon