3 way body swap

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smithy316

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I'm looking to buy my first truck and have been looking for 4x4 diesel squares. They're fairly difficult to find without too much rust. I have found some 4x2 diesel squares with good bodies. My dad already has a 4x2 square with a fair bit of rust on it that just sits. The only reason I'm not fixing up that one is its a 305 gasser. How difficult would it be to buy a 4x2 diesel with a good body and a 4x4 diesel with a bad body and swap them? Then have a good body 4x4 and mix and match the front clip cab and bed off of my dads gasser and the bad body now 4x2 diesel and have a second diesel with a decent body just 4x2. So ultimately I'd be going from 3 trucks to 2 trucks with decent bodies.
 

marks86

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have you considered traveling? I have the same problem you do with all this rust ****, but if I travel 6 hours south I would be able to find the truck of my dreams
 

Boone83K10

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How difficult would it be to buy a 4x2 diesel with a good body and a 4x4 diesel with a bad body and swap them?


the floor pan is different on a 2wd truck, it is missing the "high hump" for the 4x4 clearance. 2wd floor is flat.
 

smithy316

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have you considered traveling? I have the same problem you do with all this rust ****, but if I travel 6 hours south I would be able to find the truck of my dreams

I don't want to go too far but I've been searching the whole state of MI, most of OH, IN, IL, and WI. Most are rusty or out of price range or 2wd or gassers.

the floor pan is different on a 2wd truck, it is missing the "high hump" for the 4x4 clearance. 2wd floor is flat.

I could cut the floor pan from the 4x4 and weld it into the 2wd though right?
 

Boone83K10

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that or find a manual 2wd... they have the high hump
 

firebane

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Find a 4wd with a bolt in hump and drill some holes and bolt it in.
 

smithy316

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So other than the 4x4 hump, this is a pretty straightforward easy/inexpensive project? What kind of time frame? A weekend? A week?
 
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marks86

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I don't want to go too far but I've been searching the whole state of MI, most of OH, IN, IL, and WI. Most are rusty or out of price range or 2wd or gassers.

South look south
 

MadOgre

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Yep very doable. Ive done it a couple times myself. The biggest problem I found is that when you start taking it all a part its very hard to resist fixing up all the hidden rust you find. And then your 2 week project turns into 6 months LOL
 

HotRodPC

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Find a 4wd with a bolt in hump and drill some holes and bolt it in.

That's what I'd like to do. If anyone has a bolt in 4x4 hump for cheap keep me informed. I'd rather not cut out the old one out of the K10 since that cab is only in need of cab corners and not in real bad shape. So the 85 C20 Th400 hump cab that's going on the K10 will need a hump change. If I can find a bolt in hump then I can keep that other cab or maybe sell it.
 

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