Granny geared 71' K10, I need to go faster...

[bobbylong]

Fellow Chevy truck lovers

I have a ’71 K10 that I will be using as a daily driver (in the DC area) for about 18 months. It’s a 4 speed with a 350, nothing special, just a good old truck. I’ve had it stored in Oregon for the past couple years and have only driven it a handful of times, but enough to know that it simply wasn’t made for today’s highway driving. I will be driving it form Oregon to DC early this summer and as I said before it will be my daily driver for about 18 months until I transfer overseas.

I’m considering a transmission swap, gear change or something to help it get down the road at a quicker pace without putting so much stress and high RPMs on the engine. I’ve built several cars in the past and one 2WD truck, but I’m ignorant as hell about 4WDs. I’m looking to you (the experts) for ideas. Please don’t say, “just drive it the way it is” or “if you want comfort, get a new truck.” I would like some real advice. After all, working on this truck is almost as cool as driving it.

One thing I’m thinking about is pulling the front drive shaft and changing the gears in the rear, or maybe pulling the transmission and transfer case and putting in a cheap 5 speed or something. Whatever I do, is only going to be temporary until I return from my next deployment (of 2 freaken years!) when I plan to do a frame off rebuild.

Any good ideas?