SRW to DRW

[SA Fan]

Hi folks. I'm sure this info is somewhere on this forum but I have no luck finding it. I'm lucky though to own a 78 K20 as well as a 85 K30. I'd like to do a DRW Dooley with the fat fender conversion on either one of them. I have a few questions.
1.Is the chassis on the DRW Dooley also narrower in the back like the chassis cab DRW or is it the same as a SRW?
2. Are the front hub spacers interchangeable between the K20 (Dana 44HD) and the K30 (Dana 60)?
3. Is the SRW rear diff the same width as the DRW Dooley, if not by how much?
4. Any other pitfalls I should watch out for?

Where can I find the following at good deals....
1. A set of the used front hub spacers
2. A set of used dually wheels
3. A set of the rear dually fenders
I'm located on the other side of the big pond in South Africa but do have a shipping guy in Florida who does monthly shipments for me of American car parts. He liaise, orders and pays for it on my behalf which eliminates all risk for the seller. Being this side unfortunately limits me to what one can find on the internet. I was hoping for someone who might have these parts lying around in a shed somewhere or can put me in contact with a local junkyard that you are familiar with. This conversion is particularly difficult to accomplish over here due to the fact that we never had the Dooleys available in SA, only the SRW.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[CSFJ]

1) no. They used a narrower spring spacing on the 1 ton trucks to get a little extra clearance for the duals
2) no.d44 and d60 are 2 entirely different animals. If you get them side by side and pull the front wheel from each, you'll understand the size difference
3) no. The rear axle that chevy put in the dually pickups was a dana70. It is considerably wider than the 14 bolt full floater that they used under the srw trucks. (Somewhere around 6-8" give or take, iirc). They did use some 14 bolt dual axles under the cab and chassis trucks, but those are a lot narrower.
4) you might need to adjust driveshaft length also

 

[87silveradok20]

1) no. They used a narrower spring pack on the 1 ton trucks to get a little extra clearance for the duals
2) no.d44 and d60 are 2 entirely different animals. If you get them side by side and pull the front wheel from each, you'll understand the size difference
3) no. The rear axle that chevy put in the dually pickups was a dana70. It is considerably wider than the 14 bolt full floater that they used under the srw trucks. (Somewhere around 6-8" give or take, iirc). They did use some 14 bolt dual axles under the cab and chassis trucks, but those are a lot narrower.
4) you might need to adjust driveshaft length also

It wasn’t a narrower spring pack wasn’t it just springs mounted closer to the frame


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[CSFJ]

It wasn’t a narrower spring pack wasn’t it just springs mounted closer to the frame


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You might be right. I've never sat down with a tape to figure out what exactly they moved around to fit the duals. I know the spacing is different when it comes to the axle perches, so that makes more sense. I probably shouldn't answer questions that early in the day, lol

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Spring hangers are closer to the frame. DRW hangers are different.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

In the 70's all 1 tons were narrow spring hanger dually and single. My crew cab is not a dually but it has the narrow hanger's.I am not sure about the 85 but a tape will tell you.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

In the 70's all 1 tons were narrow spring hanger dually and single. My crew cab is not a dually but it has the narrow hanger's.I am not sure about the 85 but a tape will tell you.

Correct, spring perches are inboard on 1 tons.

 

[CSFJ]

Correct, spring perches are inboard on 1 tons.

? Inboard of what? They're still outside the frame rails. They're closer to the frame, but still on the outside.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

? Inboard of what? They're still outside the frame rails. They're closer to the frame, but still on the outside.

Just inboard from the 1/2, 3/4 ton location.

 

[CSFJ]

Just inboard from the 1/2, 3/4 ton location.

Gotcha.

 

[Craig 85]

Here's a shot of my K30 when the bed was off. You can see the springs are closer to the frame and the shocks mount on the inside of the frame.

Also, here's a link to a company (Arrowcraft) that makes dually conversions. They've been around for over 30 years. Unfortunately, they don't make squarebody fenders anymore. Unlimited Products makes square body dually fenders. Part # GM-201R/L.

http://www.arrowcraft.com/products.php#fenders
http://www.up22.com/chevytruck.htm#GM-201R/L

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[ajd89]

Here's a shot of my K30 when the bed was off. You can see the springs are closer to the frame and the shocks mount on the inside of the frame.

Also, here's a link to a company (Arrowcraft) that makes dually conversions. They've been around for over 30 years. Unfortunately, they don't make squarebody fenders anymore. Unlimited Products makes square body dually fenders. Part # GM-201R/L.

http://www.arrowcraft.com/products.php#fenders
http://www.up22.com/chevytruck.htm#GM-201R/L

You must be registered for see images attach

Ive never seen those links before good stuff there!

 

[ajd89]

Just called 300 bucks for the front spacers for a k20. But My question is how are you gonna reach the lock out?

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Just called 300 bucks for the front spacers for a k20. But My question is how are you gonna reach the lock out?

Skinny fingers lol.

 

[ajd89]

Skinny fingers lol.

I geuss i wasnt really thinking the lockout sticks out quite a bit on a 10 bolt maybe it would be close to flush with the rim if you used adapters