How to switch from a DRW to a SRW in a 1981 K30 / 350 engine / 3 speed manual / 4x4

[Bogdan Petrescu]

How can I go from a dually to a SRW on my K30?

Do I have to swap out the rear axle? Can I just run 1 tire instead of 2 ?

Please tell me as much as you know as I am completely new to this!

Thank you

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[idahovette]

WHY?????

 

[SquareRoot]

Remove one wheel. It gets more involved from there depending on your goal.

 

[Scott91370]

Remove one wheel. It gets more involved from there depending on your goal.

Beat me to it.

 

[SquareRoot]

WHY?????

He's Canadian. That's how they roll in the 51st state.

 

[Strick]

Welcome from a much warmer Central NC. You should be able to source the single wheel Dana 60 outers and rotors to make the front differential a single. The C&C rear may pose a few more problems in that a single wheel may be very close to the rear leaf springs and hangers. The dually wheels are already close. You may be able to run a spacer and get by though.

HS

 

[Strick]

He's Canadian.

EH?

 

[Grit dog]

First, welcome and nice truck!
Second, that’s a really open ended question since you provided no context.
If you’re simply looking for more traction while plowing, put an eco block on the flatbed and air the tires down. Or lose the inside tire and run a single outer wheel. Plowed plenty with 1 ton dooleys and they are fine with weight in back.
If you’re wanting to actually turn it into a full on srw truck,
Different rear axle if yours is a C&C truck. It will be narrow otherwise. If it’s a pickup with a flat bed the axle will be slightly wider than a srw which generally is fine.
Front, new srw hubs (and brakes?).
New wheels all the way around.
And a pickup bed if it’s a pickup and not a c&c or it will look silly with the narrow srw rear under the wide flatbed. (This is cosmetic only).

Provide some more info on what you’re wanting to accomplish.

 

[Ricko1966]

Remove one wheel. It gets more involved from there depending on your goal.

It's going to look funny with 3 wheels on the back.

 

[nvrenuf]

The front is easy -

Buy some single wheel bearing hubs and install them. The rotors are technically different part numbers but the different is the size of the stud holes, you can use the DRW rotors on an SRW hubs but you'll need to drill out the stud holes appropriately (likely an unusual size to fit tight on the SRW studs but NOT a press fit).

The outer stub axles, spindles, calipers & brackets and locking hubs - everything except the bearing hub - are all the same and interchange.

You can buy bare bearings hubs or the same completely assembled with rotors, studs, etc. I just saw somewhere that hillbillywizard.com has them on sale.

The rear -

As stated, this is where it could get more complicated.

Are you keeping the flat bed or wanting to use a pick up bed?

The truck looks like it's probably a C&C (cab & chassis - originally sold without a bed AND available in different wheelbases than pick ups). You need to identify the rear axle to know what you'll need to do (post a clear pick of the cover if you don't know).

Fyi -
SRW pick up rear axles = 67" WMS (side to side Wheel Mounting Surface dimension)
DRW pick up rear axles = 74" WMS
DRW C&C rear axles = 63"

A narrow C&C axle typically looks "off" as an SRW set up under a pick up bed, the rear tires will be noticeably tucked under the bed. A wheel spacer may fix this BUT beware of cheap spacers, research and buy quality if you go that route.

SRW 14 bolt rear axles are common and somewhat cheap if you need to swap out yours.

 

[Bogdan Petrescu]

Thanks to all! Great pointers

I simply do not like the look of the dually. I'd like to run it SRW with the least amount of work done to it.

I will be keeping the flat bed on as it's a farm truck that i'm using to haul hay, feed, firewood, etc.

So to my understanding, If i remove a wheel in the back (which one should i remove inner or outter?), I should use spacers to offset the ''funny look'' the truck will have otherwise ? Will it cause any issues in handling, oerformance, etc?

This is basically my inspo

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[nvrenuf]

To accomplish your goal you’ll get rid of all 6 current wheels and replace them with 4 SRW wheels.

The wheel offset is dramatically different between SRW and DRW.

 

[Bogdan Petrescu]

Any recommendations wheel wise ? What should i get ? Do I still get the spacers for the back wheels ?