2wd to 4wd conversion

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bucket

bucket

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Jarrett Melvin said:
Okay so this is how it looks so far. Everything bolted in expect shocks and drag link. Did have clearance issues with the exhaust on drivers side and had to cut it out of the way but other then that everything went really smooth. Little tricky lining the holes for back side spring hangers. What do u guys think so far?

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I mean it could look a little nicer in some areas, but as far as a quick and dirty 4x4 conversion goes, you are making it look easy.
 
bucket

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Steve-o81 said:
I’m no expert on it, but all I know is the old saying how’s converting from 2wd to 4wd it won’t ever track down the road straight no matter what you do. I can’t recall who said that to me, but it was many years ago. I’d just get a true 4wd truck, save you troubles.
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Whoever said that must not know how to properly read a tape measure.
 
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Steve-o81 said:
I’m no expert on it, but all I know is the old saying how’s converting from 2wd to 4wd it won’t ever track down the road straight no matter what you do. I can’t recall who said that to me, but it was many years ago. I’d just get a true 4wd truck, save you troubles.
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I have converted more than a couple two wheel drives to 4x4. It’s not that hard. I have done leaf springs, 4 link and radius arms.
Make the front crossmember then measure off it to the rear brackets.
The real issue if uneven is the “crab walk” but it’ll still track strait, If aligned.
 
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Jarrett Melvin said:
That's true to, I've left as is for now until I got some feedback, but I'm mostly concerned about the crossmember clearance right now.

This is how everything sits right now, I'm not gunna be doing any offroad use really. Mostly gunna be a Sunday/weekend driver.

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I salute you my friend. I have a 1 ton dually 4x4 and its totally apart up front. The motor is out and I unbolted all the frame crossover brackets. That whole mass of 2 WD **** is non existent on mine. The cross frame brackets under the motor dont dip any lower than the frame rails. If you have question I’ll post any fotos you need for reference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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I understand that switching frames is probably the easiest way or just get a 4wd truck. But where I'm from trucks can be few and far between and the 1 tons are even more rear and the cab and chassis model to the point I only know of 2 besides my own, 4 1 ton trucks altogether, all of which were 2wd. So this conversion was probably my easiest cheapest bet.


Regards to the 2wd drive crossmember. I have another 350 engine there that I'm gunna rebuild to put in this truck. So when the time comes to swap, I'll probably address the cross member then. Until then I may just cut it down and clean it up a bit until then.

But al

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Raybob9289

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I'm converting a 77 C30 to K30 I'm using all stock brackets from a 79 K20. I had to get rear front spring hangars from a 82 K30 cab & chassis in the local junkyard.
Does anybody know about the transmission transfercase crossmember? Looks like the only thing I didn't think of...
 
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Well,the cross member is gonna depend on what transfercase you use?What year the case and adapter is.
 
Raybob9289

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Curt said:
Well,the cross member is gonna depend on what transfercase you use?What year the case and adapter is.
Click to expand...

SM465 & NP205
I have the cross member from the 79 K20 but since the frame is 2" taller it looks like it'll make the tranny & Tcase 2" lower??
 
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bucket

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Raybob9289 said:
SM465 & NP205
I have the crewmember from the 79 K30 but since the frame is 2" taller it looks like it'll make the tranny & Tcase 2" lower??
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You mean '79 K20? Yeah, you need a crossmember from a '77-'84 K30, but only if you are using a "figure 8" style 205 with the 10 spline arrangement. If you are using a later style "round pattern" 205 with 32 spline input, you will need a later style crossmember.
 
Raybob9289

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bucket said:
You mean '79 K20? Yeah, you need a crossmember from a '77-'84 K30, but only if you are using a "figure 8" style 205 with the 10 spline arrangement. If you are using a later style "round pattern" 205 with 32 spline input, you will need a later style crossmember.
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I do have the 79 K20 cross member. I also got my SM465/NP205 from a 76 K20 so I believe it's the figure 8 style?
I think the K30 c&c in my local junkyard was a TH400/NP205. I'm pretty sure the cross member is still under it with the NP205. I'll be there Saturday morning..
 
bucket

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Raybob9289 said:
I do have the 79 K20 cross member. I also got my SM465/NP205 from a 76 K20 so I believe it's the figure 8 style?
I think the K30 c&c in my local junkyard was a TH400/NP205. I'm pretty sure the cross member is still under it with the NP205. I'll be there Saturday morning..
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Well if you are there and have the time, you could probably make some money reselling that 400/205 combo.
 
Raybob9289

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Well I got the cross member off the K30 and sure enough its flat compared to the K10 & K20 cross member
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Raybob9289 said:
Well I got the cross member off the K30 and sure enough its flat compared to the K10 & K20 cross member
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That came for a th400 or a sm465?
 
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Raybob9289 said:
Well I got the cross member off the K30 and sure enough its flat compared to the K10 & K20 cross member
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And it had a skid plate lucky dog, that’s what my 80 k35 needs
 
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