Split Chassis (commercial)?

Disco Dave · November 21, 2010

So I have just purchased this tow truck (hopefully pictured below if I did things right). The back half of the truck is all together, but the cab forward has been stripped out due to a fire. I have everything, but it may be a long time before I am able to assemble it. The guy I bought it off of pointed out to me the circled area that is supposed to be where the frame can be seperated behind the cab, and the entire front of another truck can be brought in. If this is true, I would like to explore this possibility to get the truck mobile far quicker, and rebuild the rest I have for a later point in time.

So, assuming he knew what he was talking about, how do I go about looking for another front half? Is this something GM exclusive, or do all of the big three make this? I have tried every possible word combination I could think of on google to find this with no luck. My thoughts were to look for a 1 ton dump truck chassis, as it would hopefully have the PTO on it as well (which I may not have at all for my truck at the moment.

Sorry for the not so detailed pic, it is off the ad for the truck and I do not have it here yet to take better pictures.

cwalcz · November 21, 2010

I'm not sure about splitting the frame but it's kinda hard to believe a tow truck without a pto...how would you run the winch on the bed?

revrnd · November 21, 2010

The guy I bought it off of pointed out to me the circled area that is supposed to be where the frame can be seperated behind the cab, and the entire front of another truck can be brought in. If this is true, I would like to explore this possibility to get the truck mobile far quicker, and rebuild the rest I have for a later point in time.

So, assuming he knew what he was talking about, how do I go about looking for another front half? Is this something GM exclusive, or do all of the big three make this?

AFAIK, the frames for the C/K trucks were 1 piece. The C35 chassis cabs may have had longer wheelbases than trucks built w/ boxes.

I'm thinking all you can do is find a 1 ton that runs take some measurements & cut the frame behind the cab. I don't know of any "kits" from GM that include the front portion of the cab. Unless the guy was thinking of glider kits CLICK I think GM may have offered these back in the 80s. for HD & HD trucks.

Disco Dave · November 21, 2010

I'm not sure about splitting the frame but it's kinda hard to believe a tow truck without a pto...how would you run the winch on the bed?

The truck did originally have a PTO, but he was replacing what the truck originally had with a low mileage 6.2 and automatic transmission (ugh) out of a passenger truck. He says amongst the pile of stuff that will be coming with the truck is the original tranny and part of the PTO (I assume the bell housing and drive maybe?) but the pump is most likely gone, either was damaged or used elsewhere. I think his plans were to set up an electric pump to run the bed. I may see if I can do that as it sits just to see if it will move.

The guy I bought it off of pointed out to me the circled area that is supposed to be where the frame can be seperated behind the cab, and the entire front of another truck can be brought in. If this is true, I would like to explore this possibility to get the truck mobile far quicker, and rebuild the rest I have for a later point in time.

So, assuming he knew what he was talking about, how do I go about looking for another front half? Is this something GM exclusive, or do all of the big three make this?

AFAIK, the frames for the C/K trucks were 1 piece. The C35 chassis cabs may have had longer wheelbases than trucks built w/ boxes.

I'm thinking all you can do is find a 1 ton that runs take some measurements & cut the frame behind the cab. I don't know of any "kits" from GM that include the front portion of the cab. Unless the guy was thinking of glider kits CLICK I think GM may have offered these back in the 80s. for HD & HD trucks.

I will take better pictures when the truck is delivered (Next weekend probably) and we'll have to see what we can figure out. Are the frames from older and / or newer vintage trucks the same width? I am remembering that the coffee truck that used to come to our factory had the front half of his truck replaced at one point. It was a mid 80's vintage and he went to a mid 90's vintage, and I seem to remember him saying something about replacing the entire front half of the truck as one unit as well. However I suppose that in his case it is just as possible that he had the back half taken off and put on another chassis.

revrnd · November 22, 2010

The C/K trucks had a narrow frame w/ the gas tanks outboard. The GMT400s had a wider frame & the gas tank was mounted between the frame rail & drive shaft.

Disco Dave · November 22, 2010

Cool, thanks for the info.

On a chance viewing on Ebay, I come across a similar truck on Ebay and may have found out what that circled area of the frame is for, and it has absolutely nothing to do with taking the truck apart. It is the hinge point for the truck to fold in half to tilt the bed to the ground. The Ebay ad had this handy-dandy youtube video to accompany it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqs03McUClU

EDIT - Further investigation tells me that my truck is what is referred to as a Landoll Centerfold. Sweet! I finally figured out what it is! I'm still going to investigate the possibility of putting a different vintage cab on it somewhere down the line. I've seen people put cabs from a 50s vintage truck on a modern bed and it makes a really interesting conversation piece.