Posted by Caleb in Manhattan KS [70.184.232.53] on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 13:50:34 :
All the talk of slapping an old body on a new(er) frame has got me going again...I know....this pushes back the Carryall, but hey, life priorities change. Once again, I'm just putting feelers out but the wife and I have been talking about getting me a newer crew cab truck. Here's the rub...As nice as they are, the new stuff really doesn't do it for me. Mo powa means mo problems, mo money and less mileage. Which brings me back around to the fact that I really do like my '01 despite the steering and rust. Here is what I'm thinking:
'01 Cummins 4x4 2500 SWB Q cab...which is 100% paid for, has a $5000 tranny with only 20k on it, and crappy steering (gotta be the control arm bushings now) It is just too small with a carseat in the back and planning on adding another one.
Ditch entire body...
Swap on a 61-71 crew cab body, stretch the frame, and add a flatbed. I am not afraid of a frame stretch at all really....except for the fact that I needed a pull pal to get the cross member out of a friends truck. Is the frame somehow sprung from the factory for strength here? Or would I be ok getting a couple chunks of frame rail in the appropriate lengths from a junkyard frame....or would I be better off finding a LWB chassis (like from a chassis-cab) all together? I have seen a few whole trucks with the longer wheelbase 3500 chassis cab 2wd for under $2k.
I should probably make the Carryall a priority before it deteriorates more....What do you all think?
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