4wd C20, 4.11 to 3.42?

[Stepperado]

I know almost nothing about transfer cases or 4wd trucks. Never had one or worked on one.

With that said, I have an opportunity to possibly pick up a 4wd C20 camper special with a 4.11 drive. I can only justify buying it if I can afford to drive it, so I have a question.

Will the carrier in the existing transfer case and rear differential accept a 3.23 or 3.42 gear? Also, this is a 3 speed auto. Can an overdrive trans be swapped in or does the 4wd kill that idea.

Thanks a lot guys.

Stepperado

 

[87scotty]

K20?

 

[yevgenievich]

Gears an od transmission can be installed, but not cheap. 4l80e + stand alone controller, 241c transfer case, and a regear

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

It'll accept a 3.42, 3.08, and 2.73 ring and pinion. Remember that what you do to the rear differential has to be done to the front one. It might have a 700r4, but considering that it's a K20, it'll probably have a three speed. You can swap that in there, but you might consider installing a gear vendor so you can retain the more solid transmission, add gears, and not have to modify anything or add the stand alone computer if you had a 4l80e in mind. Bear in mind that if you swap in those types of gears, it does improve the economy, but it won't tow anything, and it renders those beefier 3/4 ton axles pointless. Unless the truck is pristine, you might consider a K10 that already has a 700R4, smaller axles, and four wheel drive. Then you can swap the gears on both ends and potentially save money. Just my two cents.

 

[Stepperado]

That's some really good input guys, thanks so much for that.

And yes, this truck is not exactly what I would look for if I were in the market to buy one, but it's a pristine, low mileage, one owner, garage kept from new, original paint survivor that is blowing my mind from the pic's I saw on his phone.

I can either tailor it to get better mileage and use it myself (the heaviest thing I do or tow is local Home Depot runs), or flip it and make some money. I'm just trying to figure it out.

I'm going to offer him $7500 for it today. Not sure how that will go over, but it's what I'm putting out there. Wish me luck.

Thanks again,
Stepperado

 

[likesoldtrucks]

Gas is cheap... drive it
Flip it?
In ten years you'll be wishing you had that truck.

 

[bucket]

Gas is cheap... drive it
Flip it?
In ten years you'll be wishing you had that truck.

Exactly. The current gas prices make this the perfect time to buy whatever you want and drive the wheels off of it.

 

[Stepperado]

OK, he was going to call his dad last night. I have my fingers crossed that he will deliver good news when he shows up for work this morning. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Stepperado]

I hate to sound like a teenage girl, but OMG!

He just stopped by my office and said his dad initially said he could not sell it for $7500, but after a little discussion he softened up. It's my co-workers opinion that his dad will end up selling the truck to me for that price, but his dad wants a couple more days to think about it.

Guess I'm still on stand by.

Come on Pappy, part with that beast

 

[Georgeb]

I hate to sound like a teenage girl, but OMG!

He just stopped by my office and said his dad initially said he could not sell it for $7500, but after a little discussion he softened up. It's my co-workers opinion that his dad will end up selling the truck to me for that price, but his dad wants a couple more days to think about it.

Guess I'm still on stand by.

Come on Pappy, part with that beast

Cash talks! I always like to pull the *** of bills out right when I make the offer. It adds a bit of motivation....

 

[Stepperado]

Yes, I'd love to flash some green, but the truck/owner are 3 1/2 hrs away.

I'm trying to negotiate a price before I spend a day going there and back. I'm just not willing to go on a 7 hr round trip to find out he wants 15k for it.

 

[Georgeb]

Yes, I'd love to flash some green, but the truck/owner are 3 1/2 hrs away.

I'm trying to negotiate a price before I spend a day going there and back. I'm just not willing to go on a 7 hr round trip to find out he wants 15k for it.

yup, don't blame you there.

 

[glockholiday]

I know a guy that put a gear vendor overdrive in his late 80's 2500 with a TBI 454 which made his 3.73's an effective 2.91 final drive ratio and it went from 11.5mpg to 12.5mpg. That's not worth the money to me since they're almost $3000.

My point though is even if you change gear ratios you aren't going to make this thing a gas sipper.

I think the reason you're buying this is because you WANT it. If you can't afford to put fuel in it then you can't afford to buy it either.

Buy it and have fun!

 

[Stepperado]

Wooohooo!!!!

The owner has decided to sell the truck and has accepted my offer of $7500. I've only seen it in pictures, but it's absolutely stunning from what I can tell. I will speak with him on the phone tonight to make arrangements to come look at it in person. With any luck, it will look as good up close as it does in the pic's and I will drive it home.

He sounds pretty picky, so I have high hopes. My buddy said the camper shell has been on it since new and the floor of the bed has been covered with a piece of felt. The interior has a giant clear floor mat that covers the entire carpet except for the hole he had to cut in it for the shifter. He also would not let me look at it until he changed the oil. My buddy said that although it's perfectly clean, his Dad also wants to clean it some more before I come up. He said the truck has been in the basement and it has some dust on it!

Sounds like this 50k mi survivor has really been babied. I promised that if I bought it I would name it "Bob" in honor of his Dad.

 

[Stepperado]

Got it!

I posted a couple of pic's in the Tech section under "I may have a huge cherry on the way".