1970 C-50 Car Hauler

[Stained Soul]

Well my buddy Randall (aka: atvpro) @ RTech Fabrications finally talked me into doing a big truck build.

This Truck will haul my 66 Chevelle.

Here are a few Renderings of what we are working on:







Hauler will have a Turbo Cummins with Allison Transmission.
Will also be on airbags.

I picked up a truck & trailer load of parts:
C-50 cab, front body parts & a bed (won't use bed)









The C-50 extra long frame rails I got from Randall:



I picked up a 1978 dually one ton rolling chassis.
We removed the front suspension and started grafting it into the C-50 frame, as you can see we will have to add about 4" to the center section:



First mock up of the front suspension with zero weight on it:



We cut out 2 full wraps on the front suspension (4") trying to get this thing down low enough.
In the below pictures we finally got it low, but had to be creative and get some serious weight up front that would be similar to what all the body parts, engine, trans and what not.



It's actually sitting on the bump stops in these pictures:



This is where we are today. The rear end is just sitting under the frame rails for now to get some measurements.



The top of the frame rails to the ground is just under 24"



Needs to be lower.
I have 3" drop spindles, we will do a custom C-notch to the frame rails & my air bags showed up today.

Thats where we are as of today.

[Ken B]

I'll be following this thread for sure. looks like this is gonna be a beauty!

[flashed]

Im in to see a Biggun Build .

[57NAPCO]

I'm curious, will you be able to raise and lower the truck with the airbags? I had a rather low and long car hauler a few years back and it got hung up (high centered) on driveway approaches quite often.
Looks like a cool project!

[Stained Soul]

Thats the plan, to be able to adjust ride height for travel and maneuvering around.
The airbags have 12" of travel so hopefully we can drop it low for loading/unloading then put some air in the system to get out of Dodge.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Awesome build! I'm along for the ride.

[Advanced Design]

Cool build, tagging along.

[mongocanfly]

Wow..that's gonna be nice..

[Classic v6 GMC's]

This is going to be cool!! It's also nice when you get to start with rust free sheet metal.

[GR8-68]

Subbed Looks like a cool build

[rustytruck50]

I'm in for this one!

[rustytruck50]

I'm in for this one, too!

[suville]

awsum !

[Cash3481]

YES please!

[Swiftshifter68]

Woo-hoo! I KNEW it was a matter of time before you read my mind! If the interior's gonna' be Red, it's MINE. Definitely subscribing......

[Never enough]

...

[Never enough]

Originally Posted by Stained Soul

Thats the plan, to be able to adjust ride height for travel and maneuvering around.
The airbags have 12" of travel so hopefully we can drop it low for loading/unloading then put some air in the system to get out of Dodge.

Are you going to set it up with a leveling valve and dump valve ? With 12" of travel, I assume you are using the rolling piston style ? I guess they call it a "reversible sleeve" now, whatever that is supposed to mean.

[Stained Soul]

Never enough: honestly all this air bag $hit is new to me.
Your guess is as good as mine.
My guy at Slam Specialities is hooking me up with all the stuff I need.
Swiftshifter68: sorry, interior will be black, but the seat will be a factory one with Black/White hounds tooth. Those 2 color mesh perfectly and almost look silver like the exterior color.
Oh ya... the exterior color: 1970 Cortez Silver from a 1970 Chevelle.

Here are a couple of pictures taken today of the donor engine/trans that Randall from RTech sent me:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Also forgot to post up the air bags so here they are.
I purchased 4-8" bags and 2-7" bags.
Will run the largest possible up front and return what we don't use:

[IMG][/IMG]

[Never enough]

Those are convoluted bags. In my experience, they don't ride as nice as a rolling bag, but they are what they are. With the air compressor on the engine, you will have plenty of volume for the bags and can rig up leveling valves for front and rear with electric dump solenoids to drop it for loading.
Not sure what you are planning for the front...placing the bags in the original spring locations ?
On the rear, you may have enough room to mount the air spring outside the frame rail and get it to drop right on the axle.
With that long frame extending past the axle, are you going to pie cut the bottom and slope it down for the beaver tail ? That would allow the main deck to sit on or very near the rest of the frame.

Super singles on polished aluminum wheels on the back would be killer too.

I just bought an '89 1 ton rollback that I want to swap my '52 cab/clip onto. You have any experience with a swap like that ?

[Stained Soul]

NE: your way more up to speed on the air stuff than me Sir.
I like what your describing, maybe I should just call you to get me dialed in on the air set up. :-)
Yes we are going to try and put the biggest bag in the front A arms, either 7" or 8".
Rear: we are going to be running a 2" bar four link with a watts link and 1/2" plate stuff made by Jason @ ThorBros.
I believe the rear bags will sit behind the axle.
We are talking about doing a simple C-notch in the farm so we can get it about 3" lower.
I do believe we will do like you said and make some sort of "pie" cut, just need to measure out a pile of stuff this weekend.
We have 18'-1" of flat frame rail behind the cab. We will hopefully confirm this on Sat. and start making some drawings of how we are going to be setting up the car deck.
So far it looks like I'll be using the American Force Classics in 19.5" for rims.
No Sir on your 52 cab project, this is the first one like this that I have personally ever done.

[Never enough]

Cool plan for the rear. With a 4 link the bags CAN sit behind the axle on mounting plates inside the rails. No clutter outside them. Basically the same design as my Pete was. 28 years owner/operator and I've played with the air ride systems plenty over that time.

The Budd mount 19.5 wheels will be nice. Are you staying with juice brakes ? With the air compressor you could go to a later model class 5-6 rear axle with the combo air application/spring park brake.

I believe that C50 cab came with a dog house inside to cover the part of the engine in the cab with you ? Any plans to convert the front end to tilt, like the big rigs ? Access to the engine will be very limited with just the hood opening and the tilt front on electric actuators would be cool too.

The Cortez silver is a nice choice. Personally, I don't find black interiors appealing anymore and would follow the '70 Chevelle theme further with the Pearlescent White seat and door panel upholstery. I'm kind of a Chevelle nut too. I have a '70 SS and 2 '66's, 1 SS and a Malibu.

super single wheel/tire...

[Stained Soul]

We will be using the factory style C-50 front as designed.
Those super singles are very cool, but I have not found a direct bolt on for the 8 on 6.5 old school Chevy dually.
Here's my in the process of LS swap 66 Malibu that will be sitting on the Hauler:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Little all aluminum 5.3 with a pile of Texas Speed parts.

[Never enough]

NICE !! Love the color too.

[Stained Soul]

Been slow going but I have a couple updates:

Got the engine/trans all cleaned up, man that thing was dirty.
Before:
[IMG][/IMG]

After:
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Started to put the cab together for fitment onto the frame.
This is the most it's been together in years:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Also got all the factory brackets from the rear end torched off and all cleaned up for new brackets.
Don't have pictures of it though, spaced it off.

Thanks for checking in,
Stu

[rustytruck50]

Looking forward to more....looks great!