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Old 06-09-2020, 06:48 PM   #2
mr48chev
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Toppenish, WA
Posts: 15,287
Re: S10 Frame Swap on 47-53 - Would you do it again?

There is a place for swapping an S-10 frame and that is when you don't have a decent correct size original frame to start with.

It's 90's tech just as subframe swaps were 80's Tech. I subframed my truck in 1980 and it drove great but I had to hack a lot of inner sheet metal to install the nose. I wouldn't do it again as there are just far better ways to do it.



Too many guys go S-10 because they think it is what the cool guys do or because the guys down at the local hangout tell them that is what they have to do.
It used to be the cheap way when you could drag a dead S-10 out of someone's yard for anything from free to a couple hundred bucks., Now I see guys pay up to 3 K for one off a car lot and then pay the 1500 for the kit plus added money for the extras for the kit plus the money to swap the rear axle and then convert to a 4 link because they want to bag it. They could have got the same results with the stock frame and the right suspension kits for half of what they spent.

One thing that bugs me is that I see a number of S-10 frames for sale on the FB marketplace and Craigslist but always wonder if the seller came by the truck legally. I'd hate to be the guy who spent several k on his build only to have the law show up and impound the truck because they tracked the frame down as stolen.
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My ongoing truck projects:
48 Chev 3100 that will run a 292 Six.
71 GMC 2500 that is getting a Cad 500 transplant.
77 C 30 dualie, 454, 4 speed with a 10 foot flatbed and hoist. It does the heavy work and hauls the projects around.
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