I have been researching as much as I can before I begin. Too much research according to my wife. It certainly seems that the vast majority of COE builders use a donor frame of some sort. Chevy 1 tons seem to be quite popular. Why? It seems it would be easier to swap rear axles, add IFS or more modern I beam, and add whatever motor/trans mounts than it would be to move the whole body to another frame. I may be missing something obvious but as often as it seems to be done, I cannot help but wonder what Im missing.
That will work just fine . I know the front of my 75f350 unbolt sand will be easy to mount , but since used trucks or so cheap it's just easier to swap hole frame as rear end ,front end , gas tank and lines ,plus you get a lot of parts .
I probably could have used my original frame, but felt that dragging it a thousand miles was not the best choice. My project wouldn't have benefited from a pick-up frame, as I wanted a slightly bigger, heavier truck.
In my case the truck with the frame was twice the cost of the body only. They where asking 2200 for the complete truck, I talked them down to 1000 for just the body. The shipping for the complete truck was 2500+. I was able to rent a U-haul box van plus gas plus hotel for the night for 1400. Now even if the the truck would have been local I would have went with a late model donor. Its hard to beat 50 years of technology. I spent 5000 on my donor, with that I get a know good drive train, fuel system, suspension and many other parts which can be adapted. I drove my donor for 300 miles before the tear down. After its on the road I will have a complete undamaged 2003 Silverado body and interior for sale. If I get just 2000 for those parts(on the low side) then I've got only 3000 in the major parts. I know from experience if I was updating the original ch***is and drive train I could not buy all those parts for anywhere close to that. So that being said, in most cases there is not a lot of reason to reuse the original stuff unless you want a restoration piece which is not practical for regular use. Just my 2 cents worth (I just saved 1) Rob
I picked up a fairly low mile 99 P30 step van with IFS that drives great for mine. Easy steering set up and it was cheap to buy. Current plans have changed and I'll probably keep the P30 for farm use and drop the cab on a ram 2500 ch***is with a ***mins. For leg room the turbo and fuel filter will need to be relocated, but I believe it will work -- and be a good work truck to boot.
I often wondered the same question. Especially when it comes to straight axles like some motorhome ch***is.
i didnt have the option of reusing the stock frame ... all i got was the cab & front of the frame. but even if i had the frame i would have tossed it , mainly for the already mentioned 50 years of advantage in braking and suspension technology. i dropped the cab on a complete MDT ch***is with HSS frame rails, factory air suspension and huge 4 wheel disc brakes ... i drive the truck a lot, so now i have the "vintage" look, but with fairly "modern" technology under it (as well as modern 22.5 rims & tires ... i could not imagine driving around with the stock 20" split rims)
I totally understand the technology upgrades. Suspension and brakes I plan on upgrading regardless. Other than that there doe snot seem to be a huge technology upgrade for most donor frames. And certainly if I only had the tins. Now like the above u-haul ch***is is a different animal. If I had one of those I imagine I would utilize it. In fact after looking at the rear suspension in the picture, I may have to look around. I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something.
I started with just the cab as well, so little option. A stock frame might have been easier in my case as I plan to keep mine as a usable truck. Many COE's end up as pickups/cruisers and don't need the heavy frame.
Victorsam yes, the rear susp design was actually the reason why i went with the U-haul IH it is basically a "medium duty" version of the excellent Peterbilt "Air Trac" suspension the rear axle is located with two track links (and a panhard bar)... so the Z-airleaf only needs to carry the weight. and the Bendix brakes are huge ... on top of that the tapered "low profile" frame rails are actually made of high strength steel so imho the cheap U-haul IH trucks are a bargain for the excellent parts you get
I am doing all the different ways on each of mine. My 55 lcf is going on a complete running IH ch***is, the Dodge is staying on the original frame but getting new drivetrain, axles and steering box, the Diamond T is staying completely stock. The 55 is going to be the shop big work truck with app 20 ft flat bed to make deliveries and get materials etc. The Dodge is getting the ***mins and 9 spd with a 14 bolt, I am thinking it will have a wrecker style bed with the round bars on top the bed rails and rounded rear down to the bumper. Tall sides to be proportional to the height of the cab. Primary intention is to pull my car trailer and whatever I can get in the bed. The DT is a 14 ft hyd dump bed, pretty handy for unloading. I think it depends on what a person wants to do with the vehicle and what they have on hand. If it is going to be a family cruiser it makes more sense to go with a late model ch***is with the comforts that go with it. If it is going to work for a living then it may make more sense to keep the bigger hardware, but then it still might be better to get new big hardware like Stephan did. My 55 is going this specific route because my buddy gave me both the truck and the bus so I need/want to keep it a cheap as possible and still make a good reliable usable work truck out of it. I think I can do it for a very minimal investment.
Thanks for asking such a simple question, victorsam. And thanks for all the replies. My '56 Ford Coe body came dropped on a '98 Chevy C30 ch***is. Not a terrible plan but not exactly a good one either. I, too, love that 50 spartanette uhaul setup. What was the gvwr/gcwr tagged on that?
vintage i "think" it was originally tagged by U-haul for 18k gvwr / 26k gcwr (to be under CDL weight in all states) however, iirc the front axle is actually rated for 7500 lbs and the rear for 14500 lbs edit; my <T> conversion is fairly light compared to the 26' box U-haul i actually have the truck now rated for only 12k gvwr ... (i cant haul much on that little bed anyway) so i pay only about $ 144 / year for it
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