A Dude I Know Has this REALLY Kool Silverado with a Trailer where the rear of the Truck Should Be. It runs around on the Front drive and the whole driveshaft and rear end is Gone , Just a trailer frame grafted in Place. of course it's Heavy duty and the rear wheels even Fold away from the Car when the air ride lowers it to exit the car !!!!. All I want is the front half of a 4WD truck to do a Basic Build. What do you all recommend.
Pics, or it didn't happen.
Sounds a bit like the car camel, but bigger.
Twenty years ago I used to see pickups converted similarly with Olds Toronado/Caddy El Dorado drivetrains.
This lumina was converted for launching a drag boat
How much are you trying to tow, and how far? If you're going a decent distance i'd definitely avoid single cabs, because recline reasons (depends on height, depends on truck, blah blah).
I've seen one of these too. Any chance it was in Oklahoma? We had a guy show up to our autocross event with a Rossion on the back. The tow vehicle had the turning circle of a moon with its stretched wheelbase.
In reply to sparkymcfearsome :
what a Great Idea for the Olds caddy Trans. That sounds more reliable in the 70's and 80's but more work than I want to do. I was thinking a bit newer with this Day's Transfer Cases might be better than old school,
Vigo, the trailer I have is a HD Landscape trailer with HD Axles aka 10,000lb. The car will be lighter than the trailer(Almost). that Van Look Isn't me But In A Full Size Could be useful, I think a 3500 series 3/4 ton truck would be nice for my needs. Loong Miles to and fro to race tracks around the South
Is There One More Reliable than another.
Something like this?
^^^ That's cool!
Yeah the one I saw was exactly like that just with a Chevy a couple model generations older. Even had the tilt bed.
my buddy's company runs a 'book bus' for local schools. He was looking at it one day and realized it was just front wheel drive. its an E350 bus (might be a 450 or 550, but was atleast a 350) with a 7.3 powerstroke. it had the transfer case with just the front driveshaft going to the solid front axle, rear axle was more-or-less a trailer axle under the 'bus' portion. it was really odd and he couldnt find much info about any other buses like it.
I’m going to bring up a van again, sorry. Following one the other day, I realized the Ram Promaster is fwd. It’s available in 3500 chassis cab. Depending on budget, probably a bit new, but solid start.
Unfortunately, it isn’t one of those ‘so ugly it’s cute’ situations.
FIYAPOWA said:
Something like this?
Yes like that. Pete's actually Squat's as the wheels tip Outward and that lowers the rear to the ground. Looking for a cheap Idea.
Are the t-cases in the trucks reliable over the long haul? I think they're plenty strong, but not really "designed" for full time use. Maybe I'm wrong and that's really not an issue. Just something that I'd be concerned about.
How hard is it to find a V-drive to put in place of the transfer case?
With this I think it’s obvious ramp truck is the solution 
A ramp truck can be home built for not much more than DIY building a trailer, but you have to start with the right size/wheelbase of truck or you end up doing a whole bunch of extra work just to make the truck itself suitable, i'd think. Compare that to incorporating a trailer you already have onto the end of a 4wd truck that you're mostly just removing stuff from. I think the ramp truck takes some particular circumstances to end up being easier or cheaper.
3500 dollar ramp wedge truck
https://greensboro.craigslist.org/ctd/d/1984-dodge-ram-d300-wedge/6574166561.html
Seen quite a few more in the 5-6k range
Here is a 20ft box crew cab hauler for 4k
I just think you are wasting your time on the fwd idea if cost is a factor. You are going to spend more money to do something weird that you could get done the normal way cheap
Some of the handicapped equipped airport buses (Ford E350/450?) units are front wheel drive only. Should be easy enough to score one of those cheaply.
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