73-87 Square Body Chevy & GMC C/K Truck Buyers Guide (Design, Options, Engines, Common Problems)

hi youtube family welcome to another episode of stick shift stories in today's episode we're going to be taking a deep look at the 1973 through 1987 gmc and chevrolet ck series pickup trucks and we want to have three questions answered are they any good should you get one and are they worth your money stay tuned because this is gonna be a super interesting episode to begin we're going to start with a little bit of history and that comes in the form of the second generation ck pickup built from 1967 through 1972. with the introduction of the second generation ck general motors transition the trucks to be more comfortable aligning the pickup to a larger consumer base instead of focusing solely on clients using trucks for work known as the action line or glamour pickups these trucks charmed consumers with their stunning good looks nice selection of options and gm's push to make them more comfortable and easy to live with on a day-to-day basis the exterior design of this generation is super clean the iconic grille designs the almost integrated fender and hood and the subdued line running throughout the profile of the pickup are still awe-inspiring today this is a seriously good-looking pickup truck there were several engines available from inline 6-cylinder engines to v8s as well as an optional automatic transmission or 4x4 the interior while a little bit spartan was really well designed had a nice set of gauges and some really cool color combinations overall the 1967 through 72 pickups are certainly sweethearts and the price of a brand new 1967 c10 was 2 408 pretty interesting gm debuted the brand new pickup trucks for the 1973 model year development of the trucks took more than four years and gm was determined that the third generation ck wasn't just going to be another truck these pickups were a clean sheet design and many of their components were tested on computer simulations to ensure reliability and long life afterwards they were tested for thousands of miles to ensure that all of the components worked in harmony when on the road all assembly plants were also trained on new quality control programs and computers were used to monitor the production during assembly to ensure that a high quality product was made through and through the roof doors sills towel assembly and upper rear panel were all made from double walled steel the hood was made from two pieces of steel welded together to improve torsional rigidity the engineers managed to provide an additional 528 square inches of tempered safety glass giving the driver an excellent field of vision the design of the cab sheet metal the front windshield and the side windows were designed to reduce wind resistance and noise the wraparound taillights were made from lexan resin which was a material that was developed for and used on the moon a revolutionary design for the early 1970s the third generation ck was designed by bill mitchell gm coined the term rounded line exterior for this generation of pickup due to the rounded windshield corners rounded corners of the cab roof rounded corner doors slanted front fenders and rounded pickup box corners however because of the blunt front end and overall square look most owners and enthusiasts refer to these trucks as square bodies or box bodies the trucks were only available with a regular cap configuration except for the crew cab variant on the 20 and 30 series that offered four full doors for three more passengers or more cargo inside the cab there were two different styles of pickup beds available the smooth beds were called the fleet side by chevrolet and the white side by gmc they were available in a six and a half foot and eight foot long length and depending on year both wood and steel beds were available the step side by chevrolet and the fender side by gmc was a narrow width fender flare pickup box featuring steps along with stand-alone tail lights initially only wood floors were available but later models received steel floors some other nice exterior elements include the wide front grilles full doors that extended to almost the roof line and the wonderful collection of different paint colors and finishes available by now you should have noticed all of the amazing color combinations and paint styles that these trucks were originally finished in no truck today comes close to giving you all the nice paint jobs that were available on the 3rd gen ck pickups the look feel and fit and finish of the exterior on the third generation ck pickup was top notch and when combined with all the different configurations available it truly made it a unique and special pickup truck that was highly desirable and is still fresh looking and desirable today having all of this variation allowed the third generation ck to be sold for over 15 years and truly become a sales success there were over 10 million units sold and due to this there's a lot of great used pickup trucks on the market today the interior of this generation of ck reflected gm's past progressive attitude towards pickups they knew that more and more owners were using their trucks as daily drivers so they intended to make the trucks easier to use and more comfortable to live with on a day by day basis this progressive attitude led to gm fitting this generation with some wonderful comfort features that weren't usually available in pickups during the 3rd gen ck production time frame these included soft touch materials used throughout including on the dashboard steering wheel armrests and shift levers high quality grained interior panels and bright metal work was also used to make the interior feel really rich there was custom vinyl or soft custom cloth and velour seating surfaces used throughout additionally a fabric headliner door inserts and deep plush carpeting was available depending on the trim level the gmc and the chevrolet were generally available with four different types of interior trim with the gmc's top of the line model in the high sierra the top of the line model for the chevrolet was the silverado trim the high trim levels were more plush and had an emphasis on comfort and luxury higher trim levels also used sound deadening materials for quieter more comfortable ride there was a standard flow-through power ventilation system that provided fresh air to the interior of the cabin at all times the wrap-around dashboard had a full complement of gauges there was an optional all-weather hvac system with air conditioning that had the vents integrated into the dashboard and owners could option an am or an am fm radio with the antenna integrated into the windshield for a sleek look the cab had weather stripping to try to reduce as much road noise as possible and maintain the comfort of all passengers when driving like the exterior the interior was offered with some really nice color combinations that are hard to find today and with general motors emphasis on making this truck a comfortable one it's no wonder why it was so popular the third generation ck pickup truck was available with a wide variety of engine choices for the six cylinder engines you have the option of a 250 or 292 cubic inch engine then for the eight cylinders you had an available 305 a 350 a 400 and a 454 cubic inch v8 there were also two different diesel variants available a 5.7 liter oldsmobile diesel and a 6.2 liter detroit diesel that made 140 horsepower and 246 pound-feet of torque for the 1985 through 1987 model years with the 6.2 liter diesel engine a two-wheel drive pickup could get up to 31 miles per gallon on the freeway which is very impressive for a pickup truck looking at the data you can see that the horsepower and torque figures are pretty low when compared to today's pickup trucks this is due to the fact that there was an oil crisis as well as a strong push to get lower emissions by any means possible these factors contributed to create an era of low-powered vehicles across most manufacturers being an older pickup truck the third generation ck series have plenty of space in the engine bay this allows you to repair and maintain the engines pretty easily and most of their systems are not complicated allowing most mechanics at home to get the job done the square body gm trucks received a new high tensile strength carbon steel ladder type frame with drop center design this allowed engineers to mount the cab lower allowing for easier entry and exit of the truck there was new salisbury rear axles with larger ring gears and tapered roller bearings to provide a strong design the two-wheel drive c-series pickups featured an independent girder beam front suspension with contoured lower control a-arms and coil springs the dual stage vari-rate multi-leaf springs combined with the rear shock absorbers that were mounted in a staggered setup were designed to reduce brake and acceleration hop there was a variable ratio recirculating ball steering gear with optional hydraulic power assist the front brakes were self-adjusting disc units while the rear drum brakes were thin there was an optional four-wheel hydraulic hydro boost or vacuum boost power assist the four-wheel drive k-series pickups were available with three different systems a conventional a permanent or a shift on the move four-wheel drive system that was introduced for 1981 all k series pickups featured four corner vari-rate multi-leaf springs front live axles with symmetrical shock absorber geometry and the load control rear suspension system the four-wheel drive pickups featured a transfer case that was bolted directly to the transmission and driveline components were installed as high as possible to reduce the chances of the undercarriage hitting obstacles and to achieve optimal ground clearance steel wrapped brake lines and an optional underbody skid plate were available the conventional k-series pickups featured manual locking hubs and a two-speed np205 transfer case with four drive modes two high four high neutral and four low too high gave a zero to one hundred torque split while four high provided a locked 50 50 torque split four low applied reduction gearing the front and rear propeller shafts were locked at all times in four high and four low neutral allowed for flat towing or for the use of the power takeoff the full-time four-wheel drive k-series pickups featured a two-speed np203 transfer case with center differential and lock this system had five settings high lock high neutral low and low lock in height the center differential was unlocked and allowed the front and rear propeller shafts to slip as needed for full-time operation the system could be manually shifted into high lock which locked the center differential for a locked 50 50 torque split low and low lock applied reduction gearing with or without lock depending on the mode selected the eaton adl or automatic differential lock was introduced in 1973 as an option for the rear high floyd differential this new differential was offered under the g86 code which replaced the eaton no slip differential and eventually replaced the old posi traction limited slip in 1974. for towing a half ton c series could tow up to 8 000 pounds of brake trailer if properly equipped while the three quarter ton or one ton could tow up to 12 000 pounds of brake trailer a properly equipped four wheel drive half ton or three quarter ton could go up to 6 500 pounds of brake trailer while the one ton could tow up to 7 000 pounds of braked trailer one really great thing about the third generation ck series pickup trucks was that they were available with a wide variety of really great optional extras that you could get to make the truck as comfortable or custom as possible they included things like below eye line mirrors power windows and locks a tilt steering wheel different combinations of am fm stereos a sliding rear window a fuel tank shield rally or styled wheels a cv radio cruise control and deluxe or special two-tone paint finishes additionally there were things like a heavy-duty trailering package available but all of these things combined to create a vehicle that was customizable and you could install the options from the factory that would make this truck as comfortable or appealing to you as possible like many used vehicles there are some common problems that you should be aware of with the third generation ck series pickup trucks the first is frame cracks around the steering box area now this is more prevalent on the 4x4 models but it does happen on the two wheel drive models as well there are a lot of manufacturers out there that make reinforcement kits but make sure to check the steering box first before purchasing to ensure that it's in good condition it's also a good idea to check the other parts of the frame to ensure there's no cracks in any other parts this can sometimes happen if the vehicle has been lifted or if it has really big tires on it another place to look is the rear upper shock mounts to make sure that they're in good condition they haven't broken and they haven't rusted off these are common places on the frame to look to ensure that the vehicle is in good condition if you see that the doors are sagging a little bit you can replace the door hinges to have a nice tight feel if you attempt to open the hood and the hinges are frozen or seized it can cause the hood to buckle there is a hood reinforcement kit like the one shown here that you can purchase to ensure that this doesn't happen to your vehicle make sure that you're checking the body very closely for rust especially if it's an early 1973 to around 1976 model the early models are more prone to rust but being an old truck all these trucks are prone to rust at this time take a good hard look at the body and account for any damage that you might need to take care of and repair check to make sure that the power steering gear isn't leaking if it is there's rebuild kits that you can purchase online to alleviate the problem due to age in the sun the dashboard top can crack if that's the case you might need to repair it or replace it with a replacement item do you own one of these trucks or have you owned one in the past what are some common problems that you ran into leave me a comment below and let me know after all of this information what's my verdict on the 73 through 87 pickup trucks well i give them a 9.5 out of 10 burnouts they look good they're available with some great options they're easy to work on and over 10 million of them were made so parts are readily available this generation was built up to 1989 and had a facelift in 1981. with all of this information and all of these cool pictures that we have here i can easily say that it's so easy to understand why this truck was popular it offered a lot of utility it had a lot of comfort and convenience options it had a great selection of engines and transmissions and there was a lot of 4x4 centric trucks made overall these are some great trucks they're becoming highly collectible and they're super cool thanks so much for watching please have a wonderful day hit that like and subscribe button and we'll see you for the next video

Channel: Useful Vids

Views: 247,019

Keywords: square body chevy, square body truck, square body GMC, square body build, Square body C10, Square body Dually, square body restoration, 73-87 chevy truck, 73-87 gmc truck, 73-87 c10 short bed pickup, 73-87 truck common problems, 73-87 GMC truck build, 73-87 gmc truck common problems

Id: 78oolTruPdQ

Length: 17min 41sec (1061 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 30 2020