Is The Chevy K10 Square Body Pickup Cool or Crap? 

Manual transmission, transfer case, hubs, windows, locks, and tailgate means simpler, lighter, and less stuff to malfunction. It also means less service work for the dealers and replacement part sales for the manufacturers. In other words, we'll never see vehicles manufactured like that again.

I noticed it said that Chevy trucks were affordable in the old commercial. Things are out of hand these days. Love that old square body.

The bed of Big Green is called a fleet side not a flat side.

I have and 1986 GMC 4x4 square body with the original 350 gas engine. Always working and still saves many lives/ pulls many cars out of the deep water during hurricanes as we just had in North Carolina/ South Carolina region. When people see this truck coming to the rescue; they feel a sense of confidence and all will be OK.

Its a part of American history, which is cool in itself..

Best trucks ever made. If only Chevy of today would take some notes from the Chevy of yester years

Chevy was getting 30+ mpg with the 6.2 diesel back in the 80s. I don't understand fuel efficiency nowadays

Very cool. I'm honestly kinda sad that basically all pickups nowadays are massive, hulking crew cabs with luxurious interiors and run well north of $40k. It seems the true 'work truck' has been abandoned for luxury, and I do understand most people want every possible creature comfort and gadget they can get and manufacturers are simply filling that market, but nevertheless basic pickups are few and far between.

A very cool truck. Wish they still made a basic trick like this

I have a 1978 Chevy square body 4x4 done up like "The Fall Guy" truck...its been in the family since new...worked until 93 and was parked in a barn until 2006 when it went through a complete restoration/transformation in "The Fall Guy" truck and now has an easy life during the summer riding around looking pretty. Great trucks!

They cant use the old commercials because full size trucks are no where near "easy on the bucks."

Just put a 1976 K10 back on the road after 32 years, these trucks are amazing.

Its very cool. I say this being a 90s import guy. I love this style truck because you know what it is compared to today where most cars look all the same with just different badging.

I had an early 80s Scottsdale and freakin loved it. 1st was geared so low I rarely used it.

I think Big green is the best vehicle you guys test. It has ac and fuel injection, that is all you need in a truck.

I have a 1975 4x4 I bought in 1978 and now has 538000 trouble free miles on it and I'll still have it til i"m dead and the truck still looks new!! Absolutely the best most trustworthy truck I've ever owned, and If it could write a book It would be a best seller! From the plains of Minnesota to the Ozark mts., the california deserts to the high mountains of Idaho, and It never quit!! Now It's parked in my garage waiting for me to turn the key and take on a new adventure!! None better for almost 45 years!! Now who does that? own the same truck for almost 45 years?? I've gone through three wives, four dogs, several cats, moved three times and have finally slowed down and gotten old, but I still love to drive my truck!! Absolutely the finest truck period!!

At least they have the side saddles. Remember the gas tank in the cab behind the passenger seat?

This body style of truck was awesome, I had 2 blazers in this body style both with a small lift an 33" tall by12.50" wide, one was a 1976 and the other was a 1984, I opted for blazers so that I could take the top off which was awesome when cruising down the highway in the summer and also because they had a shorter wheelbase and had a back seat so I could take 4 people wheelin with me at once, they were fun as hell to take wheelin and at the time I had a 2 year old 1996 pickup that cost me a good amount of money and I used to take it wheelin and I got tired of beating up my nice almost new truck so that's why I decided to get the blazers and with the solid axle front end they were indestructible. I even took one in the tough truck race before the monster truck rally and took 3rd out of 24 challengers, I got to bring 2 friends to be my pit crew and it only cost me $50 to enter and after taking 3rd I ended up winning $150 plus then me and my 2 friends got free admission to watch the monster truck rally afterwards! Needles to say I had a ton of fun with those blazers!

Absolutely love the K10. My dad had one when I was a kid. I thought that truck was unstoppable. I looked at getting one a few years ago and was shocked at what people was asking for them missing transmissions, no engines, rusted out or just beat to hell.

Awesome video! I've been driving a 79 K10 for ten years now and just love it. I learned a lot from your video. Thanks!

“Nothing works like Chevy trucks”

Never cared for the styling .... but never could deny that it was an awesome truck. Double Cab dually was beasts .... now that it 2018, with more nostalgia in my heart ... she’s a beaut

This just IS a cool good looking truck. It drove well,...not great, but it did run well. I owned the GMC version of this one and I still miss it now that I've sold it some years ago.

Rust is normal on any vehicle don’t care what make Or model

Cool! I miss my old '85 C10 like crazy, but at least I know where it's at if I ever want it back since I sold it to a good friend that doesn't even use it. Short bed, fleet side with two tone paint and a 305 and a turbo 350. Dependable as all get out. Silverado package and everything. It was pretty rusty like you mention (that happens though when you live down by the Gulf of Mexico) but what can you complain about when the thing has 325,000 miles on it? Tough old truck that always got the job done and got you where you needed to go. Nothing more, nothing less.

Designed in a wind tunnel? Was the fan on?

Great video! I just bought a 1974 K10, and about to start working on it. Your video serves as motivation to get my truck going.

I'm so heartwarmed to see this video. Little backstory, my boss owned an 82' K10 Flatbed, it became at one point the only vehicle I drove and we worked it for many years. That truck was amazing, bumpy, powerful, and you looked like a total badass. We actually called it "Big Red" because he owned a smaller red chevy as well. We used and worked that truck even when it was the last vehicle we owned that worked. Sadly on Christmas Eve one year Big Red was rear ended since we didn't have the funds to really work on the carburetor issues. I stalled out in a right lane and its been totalled sitting in his friends yard ever since. That truck defined my youth even as someone who's only 30. They don't make trucks like they used to and my little S10 still brings me a lot of joy, but nothing compares to the K10 body and how amazingly simple and effective it is while having a style that I feel is so much better than modern cars.

Love the square bodies. Rust gets all of them where I live.

The key lock is only on manual transmission models. It was supposed to be a reminder to put it in gear or set the parking brake. Lots of vehicles had them back in the day. I loaned my 1988 Ford Ranger to a sibling about 20 years ago and she panicked when she couldn't figure out how to get the key out of the ignition. Luckily instead of leaving it with the key in the ignition in a busy parking lot she drove to a payphone and called and asked. There was a button underneath the steering wheel you had to push to get the key to unlock

I had one of these. It was a beast. Seemed quite light and was great in the mud. Felt like a tank.

My brother was an awesome mechanic. There wasn't anything he couldn't fix. ''Except CANCER''. After paying of my kid's schooling I saved up for a project just like that. He pick up a 69 Chevy 4x4 that needed A LOT of work, about a year before he found out. I'm good with paint and small details and like I said there wasn't a thing he couldn't make run. This truck was going to built in memory of our Dad. To make a long story short I wound up selling the truck, my 48 Fleetmaster and just about anything that wasn't nailed down to help cover the bills for his treatment. I watched a 270 pound biker looking dude melt down to around 150lbs. at the end. I didn't recognize the person he became .For me I love old cars especially old pickup trucks. It's bitter sweet to watch people build trucks like that. Sorry for story but I just wanted to say that I enjoy watching these builds ,nice job.........

The weak link, or rather links, are those 10 bolt axles. With 400hp and 33's it won't be long till they're turned into shrapnel. Easy fix though, a Dana 60 and a Corporate 14 bolt from a K30 will bolt right up. I'd also look into swapping out that NP208 chain-driven t-case for a gear-driven NP205.

COOL is what the Chevy is. My preferred configuration would be as follows: K30, 4 spd auto trans, dana front and 12-bolt rear, 400 cu engine w/ 4BBL, and I'm good to go! Whining about the door getting "heavy" and difficult to close is petty, that's called over-engineering in my opinion, and that's how a real man's truck should close. I'd give anything to go back to a real truck like that, my only preference would have been to have a crew cab, and I love bench seats! I absolutely HATE HATE HATE those disgusting ginormous garbage center consoles that keep getting bigger and bigger and wasting more and more space, they absolutely disgust me! Thanks for the review TFL Truck, well done! ;-)

I drive a 1980 square body myself stepside, 250, 3 speed on the floor conversion, owned plenty of cars. Even with the problems I’ve had with it. It still is my favorite vehicle to this day! Can’t wait to finally install my ls1 and 6 speed

Growing up, my parents had a '77 short box step regular cab. It was 2wd with a 454 and TH400. With the mods my dad made, it was one hell of a burnout machine. In retrospect, it may not have been the wisest piece of equipment to put into the hands of a high school kid, but I sure had a good time!

Without a doubt, a very cool truck! And I love the hokey ads from back in the 70s...they take me back to when I was young (before the "Nanny State" took a lot of the fun out of things).

Well it looks a hell of a lot better than that abortion of a truck Chevy just came out with..

I had an 85 c30 and that thing was my favorite toy after all the work I put into. Built 454 with the Muncie 465 and 2wd. Beating Corvettes up mountain xlombs with an ATV in the back was my greatest joy. Sure do miss that truck though. Wish I hadn't sold her.

I have a mostly original '79 Cheyenne K20. Second owner. California truck. No rust. 150,000 miles. Stored for many years. Even has an old self contained 8.5' Six Pac camper. I lifted the truck 4" thirty five years ago. It has had four tire changes over that time. Currently has 36"x13.5"x16.5" Swampers on 35 year old Eagle slotted 16.5" wheels. Original 350 with a TH400 transmission and NP205 TC. Soon to install, a new GM crate HT-383. Thanks for all the videos, guys. Love the Big Green project. I learned lots from watching. How are the Flowtech headers working out on the ZZ6? seems I remember you saying there was an exhaust leak.

Good vid love the old school Chevy trucks. @chevrolet please bring stuff like this back

I had a 87 C10 and can honestly say it is a total bad ass

My 1st truck was a 1978 K10 with the 350/4 speed set-up. Bought it 1980 with 12,500 miles on it, had a plow and 3" lift. Got rid of the plow and put a set of 14/36-15 Pro Trac High Rollers on 15x10" aluminum wagon wheels. Just a big brown monster, wish I still had that beast.

Cool truck! Fun video! “Nothing works like a Chevy Truck!” Oh, great nostalgia :) Fun way to start my day with this vid. Thanks TFL!!!

Love em we have a 85 K10 our selfs with the 350.

The "weird" ignition thing you mentioned is actually very common on vehicles with manual transmissions...

I own a 76 gmc high Sierra I've built it twice I'd never sell it and this kid needs some help before he goes out reviewing a truck before his time I've built a bunch others for buddies and family always hold a special place in my heart

I have a '82 c20 nothing to look at but i do love my truck. I have owned it for going on 10 years. 37 years old, made back when trucks were trucks.

Big Green is cool the way you have it set up. A stock 85 truck with the 305 that most of them came with, well thats not cool. The rusting issue is also really bad for all chevy trucks. One really cool feature of most of the "K" trucks, is that once the truck had a few miles on it, you could just pull the key out of the ignition when it was running. Really handy for cold morning coffee runs into the gas station.

*Fleetside, not "flatside" Also, there were two 3 speed autos. TH350 and TH400

I built a 1980 K25 WITH A BUILT 350 W/CAM AND CARTER AFB 625 CFM CARBM 205 TRANSFER CASE, 14 bolt 10.5 rear end and 2.5 ton spring pack front and rear and was a real work truck and hauled a lot of stone for stone walls LOVED IT IT WAS A BEAST

Awesome truck! I had an 84 c20 suburban with the 350 gas and same manual trans “rock crusher” they used it in many of their dump trucks and it is indestructible. One of the bast manual transmissions Chevy ever made!

Most definately cool. Arguably, the body style went until 91 though. GM kept the square body style on the Suburbans and the Crew Cabs, then in 92 updated those trucks to the next body style. I've had a couple of these trucks, I have a 76 GMC Jimmy, granted it's much shorter, and an 82 Suburban and my Dad has a 74 K2500 GMC. We never ran into any cracked frame issues so that's a new one on me. We hauled a lot of hay with the K2500. The only one of the 3 to have A/C is the Suburban, and it's the fancier A/C unit because it is the Silverado package. I do think GM should have come out with the 5 speed manual for these trucks much sooner. One can install them now, since adapters are available to put pretty much whatever into whatever. But true, the SM465 is pretty bulletproof, just not as efficient. I believe the 5.7L diesel was still available at this time yet, but may have been discontinued in 84. GM finally got all the bugs worked out of that engine, and the last few years it was a real good, powerful, efficient engine, but the previous issues with it gave everyone a bad taste for the engine so the 6.2L came out to replace it. It's too bad, because it ended up being a good engine. My dream truck in this body would be a Crew Cab K2500 4 speed with the 5.7L diesel in the last year offered. Only change I'd make would be to swap out the 4 speed with a newer 5 speed to increase mpg, or try to find an aftermarket over drive unit for it.

GM Square Body is beautiful. I'm a Ford Square Body owner and I approve of this truck.

Used to drive one of these in thr 80s. It was a company truck and it did whatever we needed. Twin gas tanks and a 350 ment it went on for, what seemed like forever. Miss that truck.

I bought a 78 k/10 Scottsdale yesterday! Long bed, 383 stroker, TH400, Army Transfer case, and way less body rust than that 85, and NO FRAME RUST. I LOVE EM!!

Cool it’s always gonna be a classic

Designed in a wind tunnel? Get the hell outta here! But seriously, love the old squarebody trucks.

very well done video. keep it up

That zz6 instal live stream is the best time I've had on RU-vid.

Cool I owned a 74 k-20,77K-20 84K-20 90 Blazer Silverado with the square body hell yes Cool my daughter has the 90 Blazer and works for Tesla hahaha

Absolutely cool!!! My first truck was a 1984 K20 wish I still had it!!!! But I'd still take my 2015 2500 HD LTZ also a square body but has way more luxury and comfort!

I would really like to see how you routed the dual exhaust. Especially on the passenger side.The gas lines for each side tank run in the frame rails, and in order to get the passenger tube to route around the transfer case it has to bend pretty close to those lines. When you posted the exhaust video I was disappointed when you didn't show the underside.

I actually like this young man reviewing the truck more than anyone I have yet to see. Great Job!

Awesome Truck!!!.

WHO THAAAA FOOOK IS THAT GUY!!? The more he complaines about this bad ass truck, the more I disliked him lol

FYI - The sbc 400 was offered in the k10 through 1979. I have one. Love it!

There were actually 7 difference transmissions offered in these trucks over their production run. A 3sp manual, the 4sp featured in Big Green, and a 4sp OD manual. Autos were the TH350, TH400, 700R4, and for the final 1991 model year the V3500s got the 4L80E.

Absolutely love the square bodies!!!

Love the truck and have a '87 TBI Chevy that is solid and reliable. My biggest beef with this video is the constant stating that GM "gave" the ZZ6 crate motor to TFL. Was it "given" or "sent" (with TFL paying)? Past videos allude to TFL paid for it but this video alludes to it being given. A bit misleading and needs clarification.

Had a 77 k10 silverado with the 400 sb. Loved it.

Nothing can beat those old squares on wheels, badass trucks and a timeless look

in the show "C.H.i.P.s." Actor "John" the Blonde cop, I forget his real name, He had the same truck only it was Blue. I always wonder What ever happened to that Truck...

Send it to the UK I will have it.

I would say that was a very fair review thanks I love em too I got a 76 k20 almost ready for a new big block but its got a tired 350 in it that for the time being is pretty loyal cold starts like champ

I miss my '76 C10....with the 250 and 3-spd stick. Very basic, very reliable. Never heard about the steering box and frame issues, but all the other issues were true....especially the hood early hoods with the coil springs. There was a refresh in '81, and they took metal out of the frame that year, added more plastic.

Chevy will always be the best!. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

K10 one of the best trucks ever made

Very cool! I’d love to have any 1970’s or 1980’ Chevy Truck 4*4! I’m on the lookout for one right now here in Harlan Ky! These trucks are great trucks no matter which motor it has in it!

I own a 78 Suburban! The body style was innovative at the time and continues to be a much sought after body. Mine originally came with a big block 400 and someone changed it to a small block 400 which had much less torque and ability. I will be restoring that big block performance and the 400 series transmission with the transfer case has been up to any job that I have needed. I have pulled trailers, other vehicles out of ditches and such with it. The one draw back I have seen with it is the shift on the fly transfer case. The person who owned it before me changed the auto locking axles to selectable lockers and that has solved the problem many people had with the first generation auto lockers freezing up and causing problems. Overall it has been a wonderful vehicle and I will gladly resto-mod it. I just have to do it on a VA disability budget which is not very much money.

The square body is a beautiful truck. It's a legend. But I will always be a dodge guy. I own a 73 w100 and I would never buy anything but a dodge for an old truck.

4x4 frames crack near stearing box ,the front differential spins backwards, low mounted motor suck water in easier than other brands,hoods bend in half when not lubed.

I have an 81 GMC k2500 complete stock and rusted but it still runs like a beast, these trucks are dope and last forever, the amount of people who talk to me about the square body's and their reliability and abuse the did to them amazed me when I got mine

My dad restored his 1976 GMC, it's a long bed step stepside that came from Canada. 9" lift, 35" tires. Other than the fact it still shifts like a dump truck its surprisingly well mannered & drives great. You just can't beat the good old American squarebody!

Chevy’s rock!

That is definitely cool

I had and 85 k2500 4x4, I loved it, great truck. Got lockers and spent many years being unstoppable in moab.

grew up, with that body style , dad, had 75 blazer, with manual trans 4x4, 350, our family put over 300k on it, loved that truck, also had, 83 suburban, 4x4, 350, had 700r4, but went out and had TH350 3speed , installed, they were great trucks,

Cut the music volume.

Its easier to get in the truck if you don't weigh 700 lbs...

Love me some square bodies! I currently have 2, 86 C10 and 82 K20. New trucks are nice as long as you don't have to work on them (or pay for them) but I like a truck that doesn't break down unless something is really broken. A truck you can swap parts on and not need to reprogram anything. Huge aftermarket? I'd say so, if you have a cab and a frame you can build one in your driveway, everything else is available down to correct nuts and bolts. And accessories out the yang.

I can't wait to get started on my 73' 1ton SWB.

Still cool

They ant for working men no more not for $70,000

Loved my k10 blazer 350 bored..030 over, and lots of other stuff. Very cool trucks

I had a 1986 Chevy C-20 in high school. I really liked it. It had a 305 with dual exhaust pipes but no air conditioning. It was a plain white truck. But it had an automatic transmission. My dad had a 85 Sierra with a 6.2 diesel. My truck did have a little rust. I would like to find one soon to drive and fix up. There are many still on the road here in Georgia. I always thought those trucks were cool.

The 10bolt rear axle is crap. It won't hold up with 33s..

Dont listen to this man he doesnt know much. At least 25% of this info is wrong.

I love those old trucks. All of em. But the K Body in particular is my favorite. I would love to get one someday and modernize it a bit. But yeh those trucks are totally cool.

I daily drive a 77 Chevy C10 Scottsdale 250 inline 6, 3sp manual on the column, manual steering, non AC, radio delete option. all original. I love it.