CUCV 1028 Dual Rear Wheel conversion

[dieselcrawler]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but I'll give it a shot. I want to convert my single rear wheel K-30 to dual rear wheels, and put a utility bed on it. My truck has the 13" rear drum brakes, and I've been told I may have problems with the stock dual rims fitting over them. Have any of you done this, and what problems have you found? Did you have to use spacers? Did you find the smaller drums from a stock dual wheel truck? Would a disk brake conversions solve the problem, or make it worse? For the front, I plan to just use the stock standard rims for now, but what kind of adaptor is used on the dual wheel trucks on the front?
Thanks for any input...
Greg

[Dezman125]

Hi
I am going to convert my 90 srw to duals. For the front all you need is the hubs and rotors from a dual wheel front end,It took me a few years to find some up here.Not much for junk yards around here.For the back,you will need smaller drums for the wheels to clear,the smaller drums are a little wider to make up for the smaller diameter.Most daully rear ends are a little wider so you can still get a 4'peice of plywood between the wheelwells on a pickup.On mine i plan on using my narrow housing,and keeping my box on the truck,so i'll cut the wells out and make room for the inside duals.Then the truck will stay about the same width,the narower the beter for 4 wheeling,i'v seen trees jump out and attack the fiberglass fenders.
You could try some 17" duals from a dodge,they might clear the stock drums.
good luck in your search for parts

[dieselcrawler]

Quote:
Most daully rear ends are a little wider so you can still get a 4'peice of plywood between the wheelwells on a pickup.On mine i plan on using my narrow housing,and keeping my box on the truck,so i'll cut the wells out and make room for the inside duals.Then the truck will stay about the same width,the narower the beter for 4 wheeling,i'v seen trees jump out and attack the fiberglass fenders.

Hey there...
Are the houseings diffrent, or are the brake backing plates just dished out more to accomodate the wider brake shoes? They may be diffrent on the newer ones, but I was under the impression that the width stayed the same over all for the housing, the diffrence is made up in the rims. The rearend I'm working with is a corp 14 bolt.

It's gotten to the point that the old diesel truck is now needed as a work truck. I've got some straight sheet metal for it, and a utility bed from a dually, so I gotta make this work some how. Just hope it doesnt' run in to a lot of money.

Anyone else have any input? Thanks...
Greg

[EWC]

The cab and chassis has a rear that has the backing plates almost up against the rear spring while the dually has almost 4 inches of clearance . I have seen the 14 bolt used in the regular width bed by widening the inner fenderwells . Are you looking for parts ?

[dieselcrawler]

"Looking for parts?" as in.... ? you have some? I might be looking for parts if: It comes down to just having to change the brake backing plates, drums and small hardware on the exsisting housing I have under the truck, or if I can find the whole rearend w/4.10 gears, and the proper size drums. Then the cost factor comes into play. At this time, I might just run some tires I have that are on rims with lots of offset, to get a wider wheel track in the rear, and leave it single wheel, with the dually utility bed on it for the time being. Then over the next few months look for a ton truck needing a bed and drivetrain (for cheap), and swap to the chassis with the factory dually setup front and rear, and that will mostlikly come with all the wheels and tires! And maybe if I dream long enough, it will come with a crew cab too...
However, at this point, anything can happen.

Greg

[EWC]

I have a lot of the stuff you just mentioned , 83 crew cab dually that is better off as a work truck , 87 crew cab dually ( shorter dually rear 14 bolt ) stake body , HD 70 that is rusty but all there and 2 complete front ends ( cross member to rotors ) . All were 6.2 diesel and the 83 could be put back together . I also have a dually bed and 89 crew cab dually bare frame . Have some more stuff , that's off the top of my head for now . So , do you need any parts ?

[dieselcrawler]

LOL... that's a nice little list you've got there! What kinda $ are you talkin', and for what... I assume all the stuff you've got is 2wd? Not that it's all bad, but I want to stay with the 4wd if I can... but I can convert what I have. If I convert to a CC, I think I would try to buy just what I need, and move my drivetrain, bed, and front clip over to: CC frame, rear suspention, and cab. I can use cross members and my 4wd suspention and hangers on the front. What kinda $ would you want for: crew cab with back doors and back seat, frame, and rear suspention with dually rearend, and a total of 6 rims. If it is a rolling 2wd chassis, that works, just want you to know the front susp. need not be all there or in good shape... if it makes it cheaper! I also wouldn't care if the cab was gutted... I'll use my own dash/wiring harness.
FYI: I might also concider the same type of swap if I found a reg. cab dually rolling chassis... no body needed.
Then comes the problem of hauling this... how far from Morgantown WV are you? Hope you're close enough that we can work something out. Thanks!

Greg

[EWC]

Greg , I'm down by Wash DC . Do you have an e-mail address ? The 83 might be better for you as the 87 is more of a parts truck ( bad floors ) . I could send you some pics .

[dieselcrawler]

Hmm, that's quite a haul... 4-6 hour drive. But, if you wanna send some pictures, I'm sure I can find a way if I have to. Pictures to g h u g h e s A T r c v i d e o D O T c o m . Thanks for taking the time...

Greg

[NH2112]

EWC,

You wouldn't happen to have a complete 2WD 2500 or 3500 front end you'd be willing to part with, would you? I need to beef up my C1500!

[EWC]

Yes I do but what about shipping ? I have a couple of sets from mid 80's 2wd 3500 trucks that are complete from the crossmember out to the rotors .

[NH2112]

Shipping? Heck, MD is just a decent day's drive away! smile.gif

Are they from SRW or dually trucks? I'm assuming the dually front ends use spacers similar to the 4WD models, as opposed to completely different spindles.

[EWC]

Don't know about the spindles but the rotors are 1 piece with the offset cast in and they are heavy . There are 2 types of lower control arm shafts ; one with u bolts that hold them to the crossmember and the other with cast in bolt holes . Mine are the u bolt style . At one time I had 6 or 7 of these trucks and still have one left for parts so I have some stuff hanging around .

[EWC]

Opps , all the parts are from 2wd dually's .

[dieselcrawler]

Posted back a msg or 2, something was mentioned about 'spacers used on 4wd trucks' for dual wheels on the front. Is this all that's needed to stick the dually rims on the front, once I solve my rear axle problems? And speaking of spacers, I've heared of useing a spacer on the rear, alowing the use of the larger 13" brake drums, and standard rims... with no mods, and it's all bolt on. Just makes the rear track width a little wider. Anyone know about this?
Greg

[NH2112]

3/4-tons and 1-tons have both used 13" brakes since at least the early 80s, and possibly earlier, so 16" wheels will fit over them in all cases. I believe the duallies used 13" x 3 1/2" shoes, with SRW shoes being 2 1/2" wide, but I'm not 100% certain. Dually shoes are wider, though. I'm not 100% certain about this either, but I think there are 3 different 14-bolts, all with different hub-flange to hub-flange measurements: SRW, DRW cab & chassis, and DRW pickup (many DRW pickups used the Dana 70, though), so I don't think you can just put dual tires on a SRW axle and be good. I'm not one for trusting spacers, either, especially in a truck that'll be loaded down a lot of the time. Spring perch widths may be different as well. DRW C&C axles have the backing plates almost up against the springs which makes for a bit of swearing when it's time to change wheel cylinders, and you usually have to take the wheels off to gain clearance to bleed the brakes.

[mdapperdan]

I would like to jump in here and ask if someone has a single 1-ton rear, backing plates and all the hardware for the 13" brakes. That is For Sale. and would be willing to ship?
Thanks Dan

[NH2112]

Dan,

Go to the salvage yard and find a 3/4-ton with 9.5" semi-floating 14-bolt rear. They have 13" brakes and the backing plates will bolt right up to a FF 14-bolt, if you're looking to get rid of 11" brakes.

[dieselcrawler]

I just did some looking... I have 11" brakes on a 4.10 geared 14 bolt rear axle... the only thing stoping me from just sliding that under the ol' diesel truck is the width of the spring perches. The K-30 Diesel truck with the 13" brakes has a narrower spring width, and the one with the 11" brakes is wider, standard 3/4 ton spring width. I guess I could cut and move them, but I may just swap out the parts on the housings them selves. Hate to mess with a factory welded spring perch.
I had the chance to pick up a few rims from a friend of mine... one is off a newer chevy ton w/6.5 TD, the rim seemed to fit over the 11" brakes, only the center hole seemed just a shade too small. Did the older trucks (mid-80's) have a larger center?
I think I can get away with just buying 4 rims for the time being, and swap the brakes.
Thanks...
Greg

[dieselcrawler]

Update:
I swaped the 3/4 ton 11" brakes, and am in the process of swaping the 4.10 gears... the rearend, springs and hangers have all been moved back 6" to fit the longer utility bed, and a new driveshaft has been made. It all seems like it will work, I'm just not that crazy about the smaller brakes from the lighter-duty truck. Guess they will have to work for the time being.
Greg

[Dieselboy]

I know what you mean about small brakes. I used to have the very same 11" weenie brakes, but I found that it was possible to swap to 13x3.5 1 ton brakes with minimal effort. Aside from the new brake hardware, only a new set of parking brake cables designed for 13x2.5 3/4 ton brakes was needed. I'm told that they clear dually wheels, but I have no first hand knowledge.

I salvaged a set of backing plates, bought the cables from LMC, and everything else was brand new.

I wrote an article:
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/tech/1tonbrakes.htm

I've had the brakes for over a year now, and the stopping power of these new drums is just awesome and most noticable when towing. It's easy to lock up the rears if the slack adjusters aren't dialed in just right. I thought about discs, but since the truck spends most of the time on the street, I needed a DOT approved parking brake.

EDIT: spelling, more details

[ 06-24-2004, 07:08 PM: Message edited by: Dieselboy ]