K30 build, frame clean up

[Pusher]

Good morning fellas, new member here looking for some advice. I acquired a 1984 K30 CC last spring, went to change all the fluids in the driveway, one thing led to another, now it's torn down to almost nothing. I decided to swap in a '90 SRW 10.5" 14b, instead of running duals. The axle is stripped, and I have new antiwrap spring perches, shock mounts, disc brake conversion, and K30 spring packs. I can see rust behind the rear spring hangers and overload pads, that needs to be cleaned out. I'm contemplating either cutting everything off the rails, cleaning, painting, and installing ORD's 3/4 ton spring hangers and shackle flip kit ($500), or having the chassis sandblasted ($500) and running all the factory brackets. I'm not running overload springs, so those tabs would be left off. I'm just not sure which direction to go. Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm also doing a 31 gallon Suburban fuel tank conversion, and am considering doing Unimog/GMT400/800 tubular crossmembers, if anyone has any experience with that.

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[Grit dog]

Sweet rig!!
Buddy, I’d leave that thing a dually. Or ideally a narrow dually! (But I’m weird like that…)
PS whatever rust on the frame you’re talking about doesn’t seem like an issue based on that one pic.

 

[Pusher]

Sweet rig!!
Buddy, I’d leave that thing a dually. Or ideally a narrow dually! (But I’m weird like that…)
PS whatever rust on the frame you’re talking about doesn’t seem like an issue based on that one pic.

Thanks pardner. The dually is nice, I'm leaning towards SRW, for cost and tire size. I found a local shop that would M&B 255/85r16's (33") on the factory 6" rims, but 6.5" wide is considered the minimum. I think those tires, being 10.5" wide may rub each other, the u bolts, or both, meaning spacers and longer wheel studs. SRW, I can slap on 35x10.50r17's and call it a day. If I keep the factory spring hangers, and mount the perches @ 40.5", I could always just swap back in a narrow dually down the road if I decided.

 

[Pusher]

If I left it a dually, I'd want to swap over my C/50 cab.

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[aasleson]

Welcome! X2 on the rust not looking bad enough to be worried about. The wallered out mount bolt needs to be addressed though. I just did the same on my cucv, 31 gallon burb tank and the 2 inch ORD shackle flip

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[83K31003]

Very nice Cab Chassis - I’m a fan of them !

Years ago I ran some 12.50 wide tires on the skinny OEM “Bud” type wheels with good results - as in no bead issues.
I did however use an Arrow Craft spacer between the DRW back wheels on each side just to avoid the sidewall bulge rubbing together and heating up with some weight in the back.
W/o any weight in the bed ( or tongue weight ) the tire gap ( w/o the spacers ) was enough to get by as is but I wanted a little extra insurance so I used the spacers all the time.

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[Grit dog]

If I left it a dually, I'd want to swap over my C/50 cab.

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Beautiful German puppers too!

 

[ali_c20]

Welcome from Austria. Nice rig.
I fix wallered out shock/spring mounts with a custom "washer" . I make the washer with the right material, drill the hole to repair with a stepped drill to the size of the washer, weld it in, done.
You can do it nicer but as it's under the truck I don't care that much.

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[Pusher]

Thank you to everyone, I did repair that anchor hanger hole, and am currently cutting off the overload tabs and E-brake brackets to clean up the rails. Still trying to decide on the shackle flip hanger, if anyone knows anything about the pros and cons of tension vs compression shackles? I think this SRW axle will allow me enough room to mount my shocks outside the frame rails, which would be nice. I'm having some trouble locating rear u bolt anchor plates, if you gents have a source I'd sure appreciate it.

 

[83K31003]

The lack of space between the frame rail and spring is the issue on 1-Ton frames - the spring hangers locate the spring packs closer to the rails.

A SRW axle will give enough room for shocks ( between the brake backing plate and springs ) but your brackets will have to compensate for the real estate the spring positions are using - probably not an ideal situation for the upper frame mounted bracket.


The downward u-bolt hardware was a C/K/R/V -30 series thing only on the squares but similar hardware was used on the ‘72 and older GM trucks as well as the GMT-400’s - might be able to match up your axle tube diameter with hardware from older/newer GM offerings.

 

[Pusher]

The lack of space between the frame rail and spring is the issue on 1-Ton frames - the spring hangers locate the spring packs closer to the rails.

A SRW axle will give enough room for shocks ( between the brake backing plate and springs ) but your brackets will have to compensate for the real estate the spring positions are using - probably not an ideal situation for the upper frame mounted bracket.


The downward u-bolt hardware was a C/K/R/V -30 series thing only on the squares but similar hardware was used on the ‘72 and older GM trucks as well as the GMT-400’s - might be able to match up your axle tube diameter with hardware from older/newer GM offerings.

I think the ORD 3/4 ton spring hangers position the leaf packs out far enough to mount the shocks right up against the outside frame rails. I think they'll also allow me to run the u bolt flip kit, with anchor plate on top of the spring pack for greater ground clearance, but all four hangers are like $500. The SRW axle I'm using is a 3.5" tube GMT400 out of a '90, I believe. The factory '84 narrow dually axle has 3.38" tubes. Decisions, decisions...........

 

[Pusher]

Very nice Cab Chassis - I’m a fan of them !

Years ago I ran some 12.50 wide tires on the skinny OEM “Bud” type wheels with good results - as in no bead issues.
I did however use an Arrow Craft spacer between the DRW back wheels on each side just to avoid the sidewall bulge rubbing together and heating up with some weight in the back.
W/o any weight in the bed ( or tongue weight ) the tire gap ( w/o the spacers ) was enough to get by as is but I wanted a little extra insurance so I used the spacers all the time.

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Do you recall what the overall diameter of those tires were? That thing is sweet!!!

 

[83K31003]

I didn’t realize that you were planning on switching out both front & rear hangers - then you’re all set with plenty of room !

Those tires were 38x12.50x16.5 Super Swamper TSL’s - I was in my twenties when I built that truck ( ‘83 GMC K-3500 Crew Cab ) and let my youth and testosterone guide my tire size choices. It was a fun truck though!
I wish I would’ve went with a 33”~35” tall tire and about a third of the suspension lift height instead of treating the truck like it was an off road toy. Live-n-learn…

We need more pics and details of yours !
I’m building a ‘83 K-30 135.5” Cab Chassis and adding a LWB step-side bed now that will end up being much more tame than my old K-30.

 

[Pusher]

Just finished cutting off the rest of the brackets, all that's left is hangers and cross members. Haven't decided on hangers yet. Got my Disc brake parts in too.

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[Pusher]

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