[MiraclePieCo]

Here's my specific issues with an S10 swap (keep in mind that I've it both ways - stock frame and S10 chassis swap):

1) The majority of them need to run wheel spacers because the S10 track width is too narrow. Sure spacers work, but they're a bandaid solution that annoys my sense of engineering.

2) The S10 steering box interferes with the AD radiator location, forcing one to run a smaller radiator (or run the radiator at an unnatural angle). I have lots more coolant capacity in my stock-frame truck with an original-style radiator than in my S10-frame truck with the typical 19x22 crossflow that most guys use. My S10 truck generally runs cool but will sometimes heat up on a hot day under load. My original radiator truck has trouble getting over 140 degrees!

3) The majority of S10 conversions I've seen (including some very expensive trucks) have an "underbite" appearance because the owner missed getting the wheel wells centered. When one has to figure out the locations for the cab mounts, bed mounts, running board mounts, etc. those little 1/8" mistakes (or failing to compensate for caster) can ultimately cascade into an ugly truck.

4) When one fabricates body mounts, bed mounts, running board mounts, etc the underside of many S10 trucks starts looking like a scrapyard. By the time one welds all those various body component mounts, I suspect the total amount of welding is actually much greater than just welding in an MII front cross-member or a late-model front clip.

5) Aargh, ya gotta cut the front valance sheet metal - a heinous act if yours is pristine! With my stock-frame truck I was very happy to leave all my sheet metal intact.

A local professional hotrod builder has probably done a couple hundred of these trucks. For him, time is money. His preferred way of building AD trucks is to clip the front end (I don't know what clip he prefers). Nowadays S10 frame swaps are trendy, but he tries to talk his customers out of them, due to the extra hours he has to charge for them. But as our OP in this case demonstrated by going against a 7-4 recommendation against S10 swaps, he is seldom successful.