ok well i searched the forum and i couldn't find anything on this. i might have just searched it wrong but any help would be great.

Ok so i have a 1989 Chevy Silverado 2500 2wd with a 350 and 4L60 trans. Now i'm buying my uncles 1995 GMC K1500 4wd with a 350 and I think a 4L60E trans.

now im wondering how hard would it be to do conversion what all parts would i have to change, would i have to weld any parts or anything like that. i know i would have to get a new drive shaft because my 2500 is a long bed and the 1500 is a short bed. any help would be great thanks.

 

i'm doing the same thing on my truck except 4wd parts from an 83 suburban. you need to swap over rear axle, take your control arms off and have to swap over those parts, preferably the whole front axle assembly as one and swap transmissions. parts you need to cut off and weld onto the 2wd chassis is the crossmember for the torsion bars

 

Can it be done? YES

Is it cost effective to do so? NO!

If you want a 4WD, then buy a 4WD truck.

 

And you better make sure the gear ratio is the same on both, just to add. I also would buy a 4x4 instead.

 

aside from yours being 2500 and uncles is 1500, what is difference in trucks? it would be alot easier to just swap rear leaf springs from your truck to uncles. voila. 2500 now. i do agree tho that it is far far far from cost effective, time effective, smart effective to swap everything. by time you get done, you'll have more money into it than it would cost to just buy a 4wd. plus, with all the work involved, you do run the risk of losing interest, which would leave you with at least one, if not two trucks tore up.

 

ok well i dont see what would really cost me that much i already have both trucks and all the 4x4 parts are on the truck already. all i would have to do theoretically is swap 4x4 parts over.

well the 1500 is a short bed and mines got a full sized bed. im not a fan of the short beds.

also i dont think im going to be using the k1500 anytime soon though a tree fell on the cab of the truck and crashed it. so it has become nothing more then a parts truck.

time isn't a big problem right now since neither are in driving condition, im waiting on parts and the other one the engine needs a rebuild. i have another vehicle to drive though. so its basically a project car.

 

swap your body and bed onto that chassis