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 Here is the start of  a new project  I am starting with the '65 Chevy pick up by Revell . I've lengthened the frame and cut some of the parts for the wrecker. I am using the wheels from Scenes unlimited the conversion kit from Rookie resin for the GMC parts.

Can someone tell me what a 3/4 ton GM truck frame looks like?  I need to modify the rear to make the leaf springs fit properly and not sure how to proceed.  This is the mess I have so far.

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Pretty tough to find pics of a 3/4 ton. Most are of updated setups. I’m not sure exactly what the photo is of? It came up when I googled GMC 3100 suspension. The schematic is off a spring supplier’s site. They only list leafs on 4x4’s, but I don’t think that is correct? They each show a different rear shackle setup. There is a discussion on this site about springs, but no pics. Maybe someone else has first hand knowledge?

https://talk.classicparts.com/threads/c10-c20-differances.8243/

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Edited by NOBLNG
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That looks like a nice project. First off, it would not be a 3/4 ton, but a 1 ton. The dual wheels in the rear are 1 ton only, unless it was modified. 

All 1 tons would have had leaf springs in the rear. Strange, but in the 1/2 ton-3/4 ton there seemed to be no pattern to the leaf spring vs. trailing arm that the kit has. BTW, this is also true of the 67-72, could have leaves or trailing arms with coils. I installed 3/4 ton coils in my dads 69 1/2 ton and it fix the bumper wanting to drag from the lightest of loads. As of 1973 ALL GM trucks had leaf springs. I have a 65 C10 that has coils. But as pictured above the books show 63-66 with leaves. It is as if they were converting over, but just pulled a number out of a hat to decide what to put on each truck. 

Also something to know, if it is a GMC, it would have had the big V6 in it. They were torque monsters and nearly all the 1 tons had them. The Chevy did not get the V6.

For the rear axle, it will be an Eaton. This will look just like the axle in the pictures above. The "pumpkin" will be perfectly round like a ball with a ring of bolts around the edge. The axle you have is a half ton Dana 44 or Corporate 12 bolt. 

The frame you have narrows after the coil buckets, this would be straight on a leaf sprung truck. 

Have fun, this will be cool. 

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2 hours ago, Oldmopars said:

Also something to know, if it is a GMC, it would have had the big V6 in it. They were torque monsters and nearly all the 1 tons had them. The Chevy did not get the V6.

Rookie Resin makes the V6. He is a member of this board

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Thanks for  the help guys, now I need to get to work. My info tells me Canadian trucks did not have the 305 V6 so I will be going with the smc in the kit.  Thanks for all the info though , because of it  I will be building a 1 ton truck. Frame is near done.

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  • 3 weeks later...

In the united states they had the big V6 in the GMC only,the chevys got the straight 6s,the GMC also had leaf springs on the rear,chevys had the coil springs with the two ladder bars?.I have never seen a 305 V6 here in canada,did have 3 of them when i was younger,had a 65 GMC it had the 250 6 in it,the chevys had 283 and 1 had a 235 6.The GMC had the coils in the rear as it was a canadian truck.The american GMC was more of a work truck then the chevys were. All the 3/4 tons had leafs in the rear. Harvey

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  • 4 weeks later...

 Here is the mock up of the frame . Finally got that part done! I am wondering if the rear is a little too high?  The diff is not the one I will be using nor is the wrecker. They are just to see how things are coming together. The springs are 1 ton springs from Rookie resin. 

 Comments welcome.

 

Jerry

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 Here is some small progress on the wrecker. There is some tweaking to be done but I think I'm getting close to how I want it to be. I am not sure of colors yet . I am trying to build it as a truck I would have seen in my childhood. I do not remember many details as this would have been in the late 60's. I think the pic in the background might have been similar to the ones we had locally . Enjoy.

 

Jerry

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On 7/10/2020 at 2:34 PM, dodgefever said:

The other thing everyone gets wrong with 1ton/wrecker conversions is the wheelbase.   It was 133" for the 1 ton chassis, so in scale, 0.72" longer than the shortbed pickup.

Good point, this is true for all the tow truck kits, racers wedge and open road camper kits. The bodies and wheelbases always need to be modified to get things right.

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On 7/13/2020 at 9:02 PM, Nazz said:

 Here is some small progress on the wrecker. There is some tweaking to be done but I think I'm getting close to how I want it to be. I am not sure of colors yet . I am trying to build it as a truck I would have seen in my childhood. I do not remember many details as this would have been in the late 60's. I think the pic in the background might have been similar to the ones we had locally . Enjoy.

 

Jerry

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FYI, that wrecker body looks A LOT like the tow rig in the "Midnight Cowboy" kit.

If you want to save time scratch building all that!

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 8/22/2020 at 1:48 PM, misterNNL said:

Those one tonner pix are real world grunge for sure. No sneaking up on anyone with those chains! No one builds any this type of detail into their model trucks that I have ever seen.

You should see this guy’s uni....Uhh, well it started out life as a Unimog.?

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