Chevrolet C/K

Chevrolet C/K at a glance

C and K, 10, 20, 30: what the names mean

The C/K names follow a simple code. C stood for a two-wheel-drive truck, K for four-wheel drive, which Chevrolet offered from the factory for the first time with this range. The number gave the payload class, so a C10 was a half-ton two-wheel-drive pickup and a K20 a three-quarter-ton four-by-four. From the 1988 GMT400 trucks onward, the numbers changed to 1500, 2500 and 3500. Between 1987 and 1991 the older square-body trucks that stayed in production were renamed R (two-wheel drive) and V (four-wheel drive) so they could be sold beside the new C/K.

Bed styles also had names. Fleetside meant straight sides, while Stepside had separate rear fenders and a step behind the cab; the GMT400 version of the latter was called Sportside.

Timeline

First generation (1960–1966): torsion bars and factory 4×4

The first C/K trucks had a drop-centre ladder frame and independent front suspension: torsion bars up to 1962, coil springs from 1963 on two-wheel-drive trucks. At the rear most light trucks had a coil-sprung axle with trailing arms. Three wheelbases were offered: 2,921 mm (115 in) for the short half-ton, 3,226 mm (127 in) for the long-bed and three-quarter-ton, and 3,378 mm (133 in) for the one-ton.

English Wikipedia's text gives 130 kW (175 hp) for the 283 from 1963, while its table keeps 119 kW (160 hp). The trucks were built in more than a dozen plants, from Flint and Baltimore to Oakland, Oshawa in Canada and Buenos Aires.

Second generation (1967–1972): Action Line

The 1967 redesign brought a new body on the same drop-centre frame and coil-sprung rear axle. Automatic gearboxes and an AM/FM radio were on the option list, and a big-block V8 arrived in 1968. From 1969 Chevrolet used only its own engines in these trucks. Trim levels climbed from Custom and Custom Deluxe to the CST and, from 1971, the Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super.

In 1969 Chevrolet also launched the related K5 Blazer SUV, and the later full-size Chevrolet SUVs are covered in our Chevrolet Tahoe guide.

Third generation (1973–1991): the square body

The 1973 trucks, officially the "Rounded Line", were the first Chevrolet pickups designed with computers and wind-tunnel tests. Owners call them "square body" because of the flat, rectangular front. This generation lasted 18 model years, longer than any other C/K. It introduced the four-door crew cab, a "Bonus Cab" crew cab without a rear seat, and the dual-rear-wheel "Big Dooley". The Scottsdale and Silverado trims arrived in 1975, and shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive came for 1981.

The fuel tanks sat outside the frame rails. A 1992 NBC Dateline report claimed they could explode in side impacts; NBC was later found to have staged the explosion shown, and GM sued the network. In April 1994 GM declined a government request to recall the 1973–1987 trucks and instead settled with NHTSA, paying US$51 million towards safety programmes and offering owners US$1,000 trade-in coupons.

Fourth generation (1988–2002): GMT400

Introduced in April 1987 as a 1988 model, the GMT400 brought a new cab design, an extended cab (a first for GM full-size pickups) and, from 1992, a crew cab. Chevrolet kept the C/K name while GMC switched to Sierra; our GMC Sierra guide follows that side of the family. Packages included the W/T 1500 work truck of 1990, the Z71 off-road package of 1989 and the 454 SS sport truck of 1990–1993, of which about 16,953 were built.

A regular cab with the 6.5 ft bed had a 2,984 mm (117.5 in) wheelbase and a length of 4,940 mm; the longest crew cab reached 6,353 mm. A driver's airbag arrived in 1995, a rear-hinged third door in 1996 and dual airbags in 1997. When the GMT800 Silverado arrived for 1999, the old pickups were sold as Silverado Classic for one more year; heavy C3500HD chassis cabs, with an 8.1-litre V8 of 254 kW (340 hp) in 2001–2002, ran until 2002.

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