What can I do with it?

[2hip]

Guys, new to the site. Bought a 2007 Chevy Silverado 3500 2 wheel drive that had set on the dealer's lot for almost 3.5 yrs. Had only 1500 miles on it. Has the Duramax diesel:Wow1: with Allison tranny. Sold the steel contractors setup for 3k and drove all the way to Florida to put on a beautiful aluminum bed...it is just tits. Got the truck for 26K. It is the Classic and have put in over 25k miles on this year and not even a hiccup.
My dream truck.
Now I want to fabricate a light weight structure. But not anything like the guy in Utah is doing...that is just gynormous, complex, and deep pocketed. He has the money, help, and place to fabricate...and way above average design intelligence.
So here is my question now that I have blathered myself into a corner on my first try...snicker...Is it possible(gearheads in the know-please speak plainly to the nice simple person in my brain) to make my dully into a 4wheel drive..that I can disconnect when I am not using it as an off road vehicle? Has anyone...and I have read Expedition articles for a week now...used a fiberglassing type of technique where you build a female mold...lay up the foam and glass and resin and bag it into a single structure (monoque...like Earthroamer) in their own garage? My bed is shy a couple of inches of 8 foot and the bed is approx 11 foot...any ideas or imput appreciated...
I just want to say what a pleasant surprise it was to find you guys...:wings:

 

[chilliwak]

Follow the link in my signiature and you can see an inexpensive and solid construction for a canopy/camper. If you have basic carpentry skills then you can build something like I did easily. Great for 4by4ing, light on the top, heavy on the bottom. The only thing I would change if I did it again is NOT using pressure treated lumber.

 

[bftank]

adding 4wd to your dually is fairly easy if you can fab and research.

for the axle a ford kingpin dually axle, or not, you could always convert it to dually later

for the transfer case use a ford divorced np205

for the steering crossover using existing steering box (i believe).

for the suspenion. ford leaf springs. superduty springs provide a better ride than the old ones did.

fabricate:
steering linkage
tcase mounts
driveshafts
suspension mounts
track bar mounts

i believe offroad unlimited sells a kit to put in the front axle if you don't want to fabricate that stuff.

 

[bdbecker]

I've got a bunch of fiberglass expirence, however, I've never built something that large before. You'll probably have to either go really thick with your glass, which could make your setup heavier than if you used sheet aluminum over a sub-structure, or use some sort of reinforcement structure embedded within the glass to give it the necessary strength, which can get very expensive and is easy to screw up if you don't have your loads figured out correctly. Not saying it can't be done, just saying that you'll have to do some engineering to get it right. PM me and I can give you a basic how-to on creating molds.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Seems like finding a similar truck but 4 x 4 to use for doner parts would be ideal. Or you could add good tires, toss a locker in the back then technically you woudl have four wheel drive...lol