4x4 (here we go again)

[rigsboo]

ok I know this has been brought up a few times but I was thinkin about buyin another el camino (5th gen) and making it 4x4 what drivetrain and fram would I need? ive heard s10 blazer and a few others anyone have some more info?

[archerm3]

make me one while your at it will ya?
lol

[rigsboo]

lol I found someone that says he charges $2500 plus parts to make one and it takes 8 months to build im tryin to get ahold of him to find his location

[zach01s]

ive seen people build 4x4 5th gen elkies two ways: Frame swap, or mounting the elkie body on a frame using a full size blazer or shortbed truck frame which may need to be shortened to match the wheelbase or using the existing elkie frame.......... and doing a straight axle conversion using a set of straight axle toyota differentials and building your own 4-link bars so the rear diff sits where it needs to be at the suspension height youre after. ...doing the latter seems like less work but it actually opens up a whole can of worms, most people dont want to get into. one being most people dont know how to attack the geometry involved in suspension fabbing and the 5th gen floor pan isnt shaped to clear a transfer case of any type. plus, the 5th gen frame itself isnt rigid enough to stand up to abusing it off road and twisting it repeaditly articulating the suspension 4wheeling will very quickly crack a-pillars, tear glue holding the front and rear glass in, if it doesent just push the glass out of the hole the first time you go over some really uneven terrain, point is, the frame would need to really beefed up to make it rigid and the work to do that is more than just setting the body up on another frame.

Now the former, setting the elkie body on some sort of already 4x4 frame is more popular and ive seen it done with a few different make and model vehicle frame. 70s-late 80s full size blazer is one, another is late 80s toyota pickup or 4-runner frame (if you want to maintain an IFS front end, ive also seen 90s tahoe frames set up for stuff like this to keep ifs as well) all youde need to do to do it this way is build body mount pads off the frame where the elkie body needs them and mount normally. other than adding a hold to the floorboard to accomidate the transfer case shifter theres not much else you need to do to the car onece its sitting on the frame. id suggest mounting the body on the frame before installing the engine, ive seen people build wierd stuff by setting whatever body they want to build on the frame with the engine in place already and find out they cant tear the engine back out of it without getting the body back off first. its just something to keep in mind when building oddball stuff.

also, try to keep in mind if youre swapping frames, work from the front to the back when measuring, what i mean is try to allign the front tires up to the front wheel wells and do whatever frame shortening you need to match up with the rear to move the back forward, most engine bays whether theyre 4 cyl, v6 or v6 are pretty close in length from the firewall to the steering box, so when youre setting up your rig keep in mind you want as straight a shot to the box you can get with the steering shaft otherwise youll end up having to fab up something creative (which translates into not as strong for your application)

[MikesElco94]

Have you looked for one done up already? There was one for 2 grand someone posted not too long ago.

[87next2last1]

http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/3541059409.html

[The Dad]

I wonder if a Chevy Colorado or GMC Canyon extended cab frame would work?

[87next2last1]

How bought building a 4X4 Like this one ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevr...c104f949#v4-43