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Old 05-06-2021, 08:15 AM   #26
LT7A
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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Almost a year! It has a 400 sbc and TH400. I think it's a 208 transfer case. Rear axle is a Dana 70 with a posi. Front axle is a Dana 44. Or was. I'm just finishing up the Dana 60 swap. It had 4.56 gears but I'm changing to 4.10s.
That's a stack of good stuff. That truck is set up to get the work done but will be cool to drive whenever for whatever.
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Old 05-07-2021, 06:26 PM   #27
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

After a couple days on the road I got back on it. New brake line, both new hoses on, new shocks and steering stabilizer. Brakes bled, oil in the diff. Time for a test drive! No issues there. I checked bearing temps after. Might need to bleed the brakes again but they work fine. Just not as hard a peddle as before, which was a bit stiff anyway.

I'm still doing a couple more things to spiff it up but the axle swap is DONE!: The front is about 2" taller than before. Actually a little higher than the back now. The ride is stiff but not noticably harder than before. It looks so much better now.
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Old 05-08-2021, 08:41 PM   #28
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Next step mechanically is to get the rear axle regeared. I bought another posi carrier and set of 4.10 gears.

For now though I don't need 4wd. Instead I did a couple cosmetic things. A friend gave me a drop hitch bumper. It was bent/twisted because some welds broke and the weight of the load twisted it. The welds were crap. Half inch plate that had a tiny little fillet welds. No penetration. When I dropped off the wheels for powder coating I asked them about the cost of doing the bumper and if they could straighten it. They wanted to give it a shot. Their welding wasn't great looking either but it was substantial anyway. It came out pretty decent. I've never seen one that wasn't chrome. This one was too before coating. But I love the look matching the wheels.

And the other thing was getting a little paint on the sides of the truck where the stripe was. I just went over it with the random orbital and rattle canned it. Just got the driver side done so far. The silver tailgate definitely needed to change. It had a little rust hole on the bottom left so I did a patch on it first. Then rattle canned it too. I'll do regular automotive paint once rust repair is done, whenever that happens. It needs rockers, maybe cab corners, some patches behind the rear wheel wells, and at least 1 cab support.

I'm really happy with how it's looking now though. Black and white is always in style.
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Old 05-10-2021, 05:42 PM   #29
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

It's coming along nicely! Now ya gotta go find something big to hook it to and drag stuff around.
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Old 05-10-2021, 08:25 PM   #30
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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It's coming along nicely! Now ya gotta go find something big to hook it to and drag stuff around.
Hell yeah!!

Couple things to do first. Now the front axle is 4.10 ratio and the rear is 4.56. I have a set of gears and locker diff to get installed. When I took it out on the highway for the test drive it was lugging a bit. I've had problems with grit in the fuel clogging the jets so I put a filter on but there may still be a problem. It will need to be aligned. I put collector plates on it so to drive it anywhere I just have to contact the insurance company so it's legal.

The next upgrade I'm planning is exhaust. It has a tiny single exhaust that is choking the big 400. But that's going to wait a bit. I need to diagnose a problem with my 71 engine and get the crewcab back together. Finally done with working weekends for a while and it's warming up so that's what I'll be wrenching on.

Pic for attention...
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Old 08-16-2021, 09:24 PM   #31
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Since May it's mostly been parked while I work on the crewcab. That thread has been getting some updates. This last weekend I got the rear gears changed out. No real complications with that except I found out it had 4.10 gears in it. Apparently the tachometer was way off because the math worked out perfectly for 4.56 gears. Oh well, now it's got a locker. Or limited slip, whatever GM used in them in 1988, which is what the differential came out of.

First time doing a diff swap. Had a friend with some experience help me out and it's a good thing he was here because it didn't have a standard install. When I removed the inner pinion bearing race there were shims in behind it. We made a call to another guy who does these all the time and were told sometimes that was done during the set up and if the gears looked good it should be fine, just put them back in behind the new race. We did and then used the regular pinion shims according to the manual. It said to add .001 based on the numbers etched into the button on the pinion gears. We did that and it was close when we checked the gear mesh but we ended up putting the original shims back in and it looked good.

I sandblasted the diff cover because it was pretty crusty. Fresh paint, lube and got it all back together this morning. The test drive went fine. No weird noises or anything. Also I think the fuel problem I had was a weak fuel pump. It barely fills the filter up and it took forever to get it to pump after sitting a couple months. I'm thinking electric pump so it will fill the float bowl when I turn the key, then start cranking. Once there's gas in the carb it fires right up.

I also started getting things together to widen my plow. I cut 8" off each end of the donor. That will get me almost 9' wide. Still have a few months before the snow flies.
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Old 08-16-2021, 10:34 PM   #32
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Looking good. Going to be a great plow truck
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Old 08-17-2021, 09:05 AM   #33
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

That will be a big help if you guys get a lot of snow again. If this winter is like this summer, we won't see much moisture. It's been crazy dry.
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Old 09-16-2021, 10:16 PM   #34
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

I had an electric fuel pump from another project that still worked so I got that installed today. Seems to be working good. We'll see how it goes after it's sat for weeks. Took it down the highway way trying to get some speed out of it. Lol, not much success. It didn't start losing power like before under hard throttle. The new tires were balanced when I put them on but the rear inner inner were probably not. It shakes a bit around 60 mph.

Haven't done anything else with it. Still needs exhaust, still need to weld the plow extensions on. Still have time before the snow flies but the exhaust will probably wait. Unless the set up I pulled off the Jimmy would fit. Hmmm, just remembered that I have that in the back of the shed. Don't think I have an extra set of headers that will fit.
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:56 PM   #35
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Betterget movin'- snow in 5, 4,3,2,....
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:24 PM   #36
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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Betterget movin'- snow in 5, 4,3,2,....
Come on man, it's only September.

Got the extensions welded on. It looks bigger than I expected. Still some welding to do on the face of the blade. Maybe a couple rust patches ( there's a reason I got the spare plow so cheap). Going to pressure wash it once the welding is all done and smoothed out and make it pretty with some fresh paint. Gonna look good on the beast.
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Old 09-23-2021, 01:31 AM   #37
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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Come on man, it's only September.

It looks bigger than I expected.
That's what... never mind.
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Old 09-23-2021, 06:22 AM   #38
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Those extensions will definitely help. I always cringed driving from job to job with a 9' blade, but when using it compared to a 7'5" unit, it was so much better. You're not driving in your windrows as bad in the deep stuff.
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Old 09-23-2021, 10:01 PM   #39
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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That's what... never mind.
She said. Every time. I'm beginning to get self conscious.
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Those extensions will definitely help. I always cringed driving from job to job with a 9' blade, but when using it compared to a 7'5" unit, it was so much better. You're not driving in your windrows as bad in the deep stuff.
I rarely leave the yard with the plow on. And then it's only about 6 miles to the gas station. I'm a little concerned about the added stress on the rams, the mount, etc. Since I've done damage hitting the hard frozen stuff. And if we have another mild winter it won't bother me one bit.
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:04 PM   #40
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Was hoping to have the plow finished this weekend but there's a few things left. The welding is done, I got it cleaned up and sprayed some paint on it. Should have bought 3 cans instead of 2. It's going to flake and chip anyway but for a minute it'll look decent. The shock absorber is shot so I ordered a new one. Almost ready for winter.

And it started much better after sitting a week or so. Really happy about that.
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Old 10-01-2021, 11:32 PM   #41
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Mr. Plow, at your service! Gonna be chasin' the town contract now!
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Old 10-02-2021, 08:30 AM   #42
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

That old rug sure is coming around pretty nice! I'll probably still be shoveling before I get my plow rig ready enough to use.
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Old 10-25-2021, 07:13 PM   #43
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

The truck has been working well. It was running really rich just idling around the yard. Turned the idle mix screws in a half turn and it's much better. The new shock for the plow came. Swapping it should have been a piece of cake. Just 2 bolts right? Two bigass bolts with nyloc nuts that have been there for a few decades. Had to cut one off. The other one I should have cut but being as stubborn as I am I kept trying new things for a half hour instead. Eventually it was on with new bolts. I also wanted to tighten up the tension on the springs that pull the top back so it doesn't trip over quite so easy. Found out those nuts were stuck as bad as the shock bolts! But those HAVE to be saved otherwise I have to order replacements because they are special studs for holding the springs. I broke one but found one on the parts plow I scavenged the blade ends from. I also wanted to spay those parts with a little paint to pretty it up. Or at least not have it look so terrible next to all of the other painted parts.

I also wanted to rattle can the passenger side of the truck so it doesn't have the grey line where the stripe was. That turned out to be a small mistake due to the low temps. Lesson of the day: Don't rattle can spray when it's in the 40s outside. It was running with a really light coat. Probably the worst spray job I ever did. I'll let it dry, sand the worst of it out and touch it up. Still looks better than before though. I've included some pics of it after sanding down the stripe and rusty spots so you can see it is far from rust free, but still not terrible for a plow truck. Maybe next year I'll do more rust repair.
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Old 10-25-2021, 07:15 PM   #44
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

After pics. Still masked off until I touch it up.
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Old 10-26-2021, 01:39 AM   #45
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Looks ready for the January Plow Truck Show on Lake Winnepemahaskokie! Winner!
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Old 10-26-2021, 10:50 AM   #46
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

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Looks ready for the January Plow Truck Show on Lake Winnepemahaskokie! Winner!
I missed that one. They don't do the shows during the plow season. Maybe next year I can make the North American Snow Show in Pittsburgh!

BTW, where I grew up there's a plow manufacturer, which is where this screenshot is from. I lived a couple blocks away. They make the big blades for the dump trucks and heavy equipment. Maybe if they wanted to expand their product line I can offer my truck up as a show piece for them to display their wares and get a free plow out of it!
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Old 10-31-2021, 09:33 AM   #47
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Just a couple pictures after touching up my redneck respray.
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Old 11-01-2021, 10:54 PM   #48
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Looks great! I was just joking, who knew there was an actual snow show? I thought up the most north woods name I could off the top of my head.

On the other hand, they have those Ice drags on Wis., It'd be kinda neat to have a mid winter plow rig get together/rodeo. Cold weather fun! Imagine how quick it'd get outta hand.
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Old 11-06-2021, 09:15 PM   #49
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Having a really warm weekend for Minnesota in November so I decided to replace the rear slider. I actually refurbished a slider last winter. I took pics and plan on writing up a how-to for it. I've replaced rear glass a few times and never had much trouble. Today I had plenty of it. The rope tore through the gasket in the lower corner on the first try. $37 down the drain. Decided to try the lock strip gasket on attempt #2. Almost tore that also. My arms and shoulders are sore from working that gasket around. Still need to get the lock strip in but it can wait until tomorrow.
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Old 11-11-2021, 02:50 PM   #50
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Re: HG's Plow Truck, '78 GMC K35 Dually

Come to think of it, my rear slider in my 76 cab is 3/4's the way in because I couldn't get it all the way after numerous attempts and said to heck with it.
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1972 Chevy Longhorn K30 Cheyenne Super, 359 Inline 6 cylinder, Auto Trans, Tilt, Diesel Tach/Vach, Buckets, Rare Rear 4-link and air ride option Build Thread
1972 GMC Sierra Grande Longhorn 4x4
1972 Chevy Cheyenne Super K20 Long Step side tilt, tach, tow hooks, AC, 350 4 speed
1972 C10 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1969 Chevy milk truck
1971 Camaro RS 5.3 BTR STG3 Cam Super T10
1940 Ford 354 Hemi 46RH Ford 9" on air ride huge project


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