'55 Chevy Dually

[Racker]

Here is a teaser, will post more details when I get time:

[Racker]

Got a few minutes here so I will explain the build. It started as a '74 Chevy crew cab dually with plans on being fully bagged out. When I bought this truck I was looking for a '55 Chevy truck since that was my dads FAVORITE truck (yes another tribute truck but it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be building) but couldn't afford one. Found the crew cab sitting at a buddies place and after a few adult beverages we came to a price. So the build started from there, got it running, added a bed, chopped the front springs, took out 12 leafs out of the back and raised the spring hangers fro that lowered looked.
Life was good, drove it a few years that way while gathering parts. I say gathering parts but they were not the usual parts for a square body truck, they were Tri-five parts. Rear fenders for starters were cut and trimmed down to be added to the box to cover the dually wheels. Liked the look but they needed some work so I found another set to rework them and then take the wheel opening and rework the front fenders so the wheel openings would match. Found a couple dashes I was going to graft in for different look inside the cab. Even gathered up a '55 hood that the corners were rotted but it was ok since all I wanted was the center of if for a cowl hood after I Z'ed the frame 3 3/4".
Everybody kept asking me," If you want a '55-'57 so bad, why don't you just build one?" I would tell them," NO MONEY for the right donor rig."
Well as luck would have it, time was a virtue, the right rig should its head. It should up across the street from my shop. The PO was going to build but found another one in better shape. The part about this truck was it came with 2 extra cabs, 9 doors total, another step side bed and more misaligns parts that just keep showing up as he finds them. OH YEA, TWO titles !!!!!!!!!
So know that we are all up to date, let the NEW build begin........
Right now plans are to get it up and running on the '74 dually frame and ENJOY the HELL out of it. Future plans is to start on a new cab build for the frame. Yup, you guest it, a CREW CAB will be in the works over the next few years.
SORRY for the long drawn out second post but this way you all know the story behind this build. Well off to work but will post more as progress continues.

[Racker]

Here is a picture of the '74 that I started with:

[dubie]

this should be an interesting build to watch. It's nice to see something different once in a while

[Luther Grimace]

Awesome looking project. I love the look you have with the 55 Fenders on the dually bed. Will you run the single cab with the gap between the cab and bed for a while?

[Kim57]

This should be a cool build.
Kim

[Racker]

Grimace: plans are to get the cab mounted and then tear off the '74 bed. Since I got 2 short box step side in the deal, I'm going to mount the first one over the duals then with the other bed I will fill in the gap. Looks like I will end up with a 11' step for time being as I build the crew cab. Oh yay, going to widen the box to the width of the cab so the stock fenders will cover the duals.

Thanks for the welcomes.

[meter swinger]

I saw your thread in the 73-87 section. Nice to see a build thread herre too. Are you going run a C&C rear end for clearance or is that not needed? How will the front end width come in? I've seen some guys using 3/4T hubs to narrow the front end.
Other than the gas usage i like driving my dually more than anything else.
Very nice build you have going. Look forward to seeing more.
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[Racker]

Originally Posted by meter swinger

I saw your thread in the 73-87 section. Nice to see a build thread herre too. Are you going run a C&C rear end for clearance or is that not needed? How will the front end width come in? I've seen some guys using 3/4T hubs to narrow the front end.
Other than the gas usage i like driving my dually more than anything else.
Very nice build you have going. Look forward to seeing more.
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Got a couple ideas for the rear end. First is to run the one I have which is a cab/chassis rear end. Second is to run a 14 bolt that is from a school bus if I want the extra width. Leaning really hard toward the bus rear end cuz I like the looks of the WIDE hips.
The front is another story, need to narrow if up a couple inches on each side for tire clearance. Can't run the 3/4t hubs because I will not get rid of my dually style front wheels. Maybe when I get rich I can finally afford my semi rims but that isn't going to happen any time soon. First option is to find a set of 2 ton fenders (they bulge out about 2" over stock) and rework the wheel opening to make them smaller Second option is to narrow the A-arms a couple inches to tuck the wheels in further. Probably going to short the A-arms since the bigger fenders are hard to find.

I would have to agree with about enjoying cruising in a dually. My little guy really loved the idea of having the back seat ALL to himself. Hoping to have it up and running by august even thou it will be just the single cab for a few years.

[meter swinger]

Originally Posted by Racker

Maybe when I get rich I can finally afford my semi rims but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

Very true, they look awesome but hard to justify the coin spent. You never know, maybe some bread truck wheels will turn up cheap somewhere.
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[Truck Guy99]

This is a sweet build! Keep us posted!

[THEDOORMAN]

I hope he gets this thing back together since its like 40' long!!! Then we can build the new service truck!

[Racker]

Well made a little progress this weekend. Made and tact welded the cab mounts to the frame. Cab is sitting on bushings, decided to use the '74 style since I had them (might make it ride better) and bolted down. Started on mounting the front end but couldn't get the drivers door to align so it wouldn't tear up the fender, ended up finding that someone had used coarse thread bolts in the bottom door hinge. So off to grab one of the spares I had. Got it close to being right but close enough to sit the front back on and bolt it to the cab. YEP, going to have to do something with the front end, the tires hit the inside of the fender, anybody know of some used tubed control arms laying around for cheap?

Will get some pictures up this week of the progress.

[Racker]

Made some progress over this week with it being slow at work. After searching and looking for info on shorting the control arms, Comegetsome said his hits the steering box with only a 1 1/2" taken out, I needed 2". So new game plan, lets tub the front 4", out came the marker, tape measure and ALOT of bump scratching, AND NOW the front is narrowed up and sitting back on the rollers,,(no springs thou, wanted to see how low it would go). Here is the new slammed ride height.

[Kim57]

Looks real slick.
Kim

[rambler]

subscribed,, looking forward to more pics.

[98layinframe]

Interested to see how it turns out, i love crew cab builds.
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[Luther Grimace]

Looking sick. That long bed is gonna look awesome. I connected to a 73-87 steering box with some late model astro van steering shafts.
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[Truck Guy99]

Any updates? I have been waitnig in the fetal position rocking........

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by Racker

The front is another story, need to narrow if up a couple inches on each side for tire clearance. Can't run the 3/4t hubs because I will not get rid of my dually style front wheels. Maybe when I get rich I can finally afford my semi rims but that isn't going to happen any time soon. First option is to find a set of 2 ton fenders (they bulge out about 2" over stock) and rework the wheel opening to make them smaller Second option is to narrow the A-arms a couple inches to tuck the wheels in further. Probably going to short the A-arms since the bigger fenders are hard to find.
.

What if you run 3/4 ton hubs and then wheel spacers of whatever thickness you need to still run the dually rims? Fords used wheel spacers from the factory on Super Dutys, so they're plenty safe.

[THEDOORMAN]

Damn work got in his way this week! No progress but the companys check book is better! LOL

[Racker]

Well boys and girls, I'm back from the dead. Haven't made a lot of progress over the last few months. The old girl had to spend some time outside as I worked on a few other projects (converted our tongue pull trailer into a tilt deck, boss's '65 impala and then there is just plain work) but she is back in the shop for the winter so progress will commence as time will allow.
As you all know, I ended up narrowing up the front end by 4" by cutting it out of the center of the cross member. Never added pictures of it so here they are:



Looks like I will have to relax the ball joint a little to get full drop but that will have to wait for later date:

[Racker]

Started work on fitting the motor in the frame rails when I realized I don't have enough room for radiator/fans. Time to cut the firewall to be able to slide the motor back:


Now comes the part where the million and half spot welds starts to add up. Ended up resetting the firewall 4", when I was cutting out the original I said to myself, "Self, why don't you take the original indent and move it up some to be able to get the dist. in and out easier?" So that is where the top of the reset came from.


Then decided to go ahead and smooth out the rest of the firewall also while I was right there.


I have all day tomorrow also so hoping to finish up the firewall, then move to tying in the floor board and cutting the arc out for the transmission.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[Racker]

Oh yay, forgot one more update last night, picked up (well bought, waiting for the weather to change) a '58 panel for the future build of the crew cab part of this project. Will post pictures as soon as I get it home, hopefully this coming up weekend.