[buddhabelly]

Brand new to the site and looking for info about S-10 frames and lowering as well as narrowing. I am determined to put a 1960 Rambler American station wagon on an S-10 frame. The wagon is a unibody with a completely shot floor. Parts for steering and suspension are getting harder to find so I thought I would update to buy off the shelf parts. I have located the frame# on a totally bare rolling chassis, 122 inches long. Previous owner removed the rotors so I don't know if they are the thicker (1 1/4) rotor or not. I am hoping someone has a serial number source so I can determine what model and perhaps year of frame I have. Frame # 523737 Canadian model if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance.

 

[manbearpig]

Pictures of the frame would be beneficial.

 

[buddhabelly]

It looks like all the other S-10 frames to me.

 

[Rhotpursuit]

58 Chevy Wagon??

 

[buddhabelly]

I see you have a wandering eye. Stay focused. Yes it is a '58 yeoman station wagon(2dr) with Nomad trim.

 

[manbearpig]

It's a 1st gen extended cab frame.

 

[cerial]

How much do you want to narrow it. By narrow I am assume your taking area out of the middle of the crossmember.

Can you simply move the body mounts, run diffrent rim offset, or change the suspension to avoid cutting the frame down the middle?

 

[Xtreme clone]

Given that the American rambler has a 100 inch wheelbase and your frame has a 122 inch wheelbase I'm assuming you mean to shorten it not narrow it right? If it's anywhere near the same size as my Eagle wagon then you shouldn't have to narrow the frame just shorten it to fit the wheelbase, seeing as both have a similar track width.

 

[manbearpig]

I would get a 2 door Blazer frame. 100.5" wheelbase.

 

[bk2life]

for what your doing the s10 frame will be big and bulky under the rambler.
id go with a toyota/Nissan/mazda chassis as theyre built with a 2x3 frame rail, plenty of support with brakes/control arms/spindles, and would fit much nicer under the small rambler...if you ever figure out how to get it out of second gear.
beep beep.

 

[buddhabelly]

It's a 1st gen extended cab frame.

It's a 1st gen extended cab frame.

thank you for identifying generation. What specifically says it is a gen1?

 

[buddhabelly]

How much do you want to narrow it. By narrow I am assume your taking area out of the middle of the crossmember.

Can you simply move the body mounts, run diffrent rim offset, or change the suspension to avoid cutting the frame down the middle?

I was looking to narrow the frame by 4" in the rear so I can run wider tires. I believe they call it back-halfing.

 

[manbearpig]

The biggest giveaway are the front horns where the bumper attaches.

 

[buddhabelly]

for what your doing the s10 frame will be big and bulky under the rambler.
id go with a toyota/Nissan/mazda chassis as theyre built with a 2x3 frame rail, plenty of support with brakes/control arms/spindles, and would fit much nicer under the small rambler...if you ever figure out how to get it out of second gear.
beep beep.

I did not consider other makes chassis's. I know that I been struggling with ride heights due to the S-10 frame being 5 1/2" deep. Any websites that may steer me into better choices? Thanks.

 

[buddhabelly]

I would get a 2 door Blazer frame. 100.5" wheelbase.

I have read that the Blazer frame sits 6" higher than the S-10.

 

[buddhabelly]

Given that the American rambler has a 100 inch wheelbase and your frame has a 122 inch wheelbase I'm assuming you mean to shorten it not narrow it right? If it's anywhere near the same size as my Eagle wagon then you shouldn't have to narrow the frame just shorten it to fit the wheelbase, seeing as both have a similar track width.

Shortening the frame is not an issue, lots of help on Youtube where and how to make the cuts. The S-10 frame rails are too wide in the rear and infringe on the existing wheel tubs on the Rambler body.

 

[Innate]

Sounds like a good idea, good project! Especially that it's a wagon. I bet you can make the frame a good fit.

 

[Xtreme clone]

One thing you can do to make the body sit lower on the S10 frame is to build channels into the floor for the frame to sit in, the biggest downside to doing this is that you will lose foot space inside the car. It also requires a lot of fabrication to accomplish it.

 

[cerial]

Cool. So your not narrowing the engine crossmember which can cause issues.

Cutting behind the engine crossmember(A arms) and building back from there may fit your needs better.

Up front you can cut off the horns and good amount of frame in front of the engine crossmember. But you loose the sway bar and steering box/linkage and need to use a rack.

Now. I have slapped rusted unibodies on frames. But the thing is you need to think of a unibody like a cardboard box 📦. If you have one side of that box weak that will cause stresses to the other areas. This can lead to the body rippling or waving in areas under stress. How you eliminate this is by adding gussets that attach the unibody sides to the frame as if the floor was not there.

If you plan on running a cage of any sort then having gussets hitting the sides if the A, B,C pillars will greatly stiffen the body. Now when I say cage you dont need a full on roll cage. You could run tubing up inside the pillars then weld the tubing through access holes in the pillars.

This will give you 6 points that are gusseted to your floor/pillars to have body mounts with that tubing that could easily hidden under stock panels.


I had a big thing talking about my personal builds doing the above. But cut it out to stay on topic. I have done the above on unibodies and things where I have raised/built a floor. It works. With a wagon having 6 body attachment points under those pillars would not be a horrible idea. Spread out the stresses more and allow for the pillar to press against the body mount/frame in a crash/roll.

 

[bk2life]

Any websites that may steer me into better choices

google is the best