"Dirty Deb" My 95 Dodge Cummins Build & Adventures

t.Sparks

Observer
Hello all,

I have been waiting till I started the build of my truck to post anything, wanted to have something for you all to read.

Little background on myself and what the truck will turn out to be in the next year or so.

I'm a CNC Machinist for a medical device company, and yes they let me use the machines after hours. Its nice that I'm in this profession as I have access to Solid works(a program to draw and design in 3D) and a CNC mill and CNC lathe at my finger tips. I'm super hands on so I personally do all the design work and work on my truck, big or small.


As for the truck, I looking at having a capable rig that can go most places. End goal is to have a rig that can get me off the beaten path and do it efficiently. Thats the sole reason why a 12 valve Cummins was the best idea for a rig in my mind. The Cummins can still get good mileage while having tons of room for gear and sleeping space. Since my truck is a long bed Sam(my girlfriend) and I sleep in the back. This makes it super stealthy so we can sleep in a random parking lot without and problems. That way on long road trips we dont have to find a campground every night. An added plus to this is we can pull up anywhere and camp is already made. No tents to setup, just open the back and sleep.

Name of the truck, "Diry Deb", came from this build "trying" to be done dirt cheap. That being said this will be no basic truck when I'm done.

Enough of that, onto the build!

I got the truck from a friend that flips dodges for a living. Specs: 95 dodge 12 valve, auto trans, 4x4, 4.10 gears, extended cab, long bed. I got a killer price as it needed some little work and a guarantee that if a part on the engine breaks to call him and he would send one no charge. AWESOME!!!This is the first photo I got of her.
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I flew up to medford OR, where he lives and we started to look a little close at her. Main thing I wanted to fix asap was the killer dowel pin. Never having own a diesel I did lots of research to find out the problems of the 12 valve and this was the main one. Unfortunately we opened her up to this....
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So for the time being we put some jb weld on it(I know, I know... Its ganky as ********). Plus I had to drive home and get back to work and college classes. This want the only thing I was slightly worried about, but that will be for a latter photo(trust me, you'll know when you see it).

One the way home I had my girlfriend look on criagslist for me to see if there was any campershells for sell in the path of home. There was one so I stopped and got it. It wasnt meant for my truck and it looked beat, but for $80 I couldnt pass on it.
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Once I got it home it was time to do maintenance stuff. The driver front break was squeaking a little and I was told I need to do a break job soon. I took the wheel off to find this...
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Yep, that scared the crap out of me. So While I was replacing the pads and rotors I decided it would be best to do wheel bearings, axle u-joints and axle seals. It was a good weekend worth of work but did it all.
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Once I got the truck registered it was on to the exhaust. Thankfully I got a truck that is pre-diesel smog here in California. So out came the saws-all.
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Now remember when I said "that will be for a latter photo(trust me, you'll know when you see it)", well here is where it gets interesting. When my friend bought the truck originally it needed a water pump and a the turbo was done. He showed me the bad turbo. The compressor wheel hit the housing and was chewed up. I then flipped it over to see the exhaust turbine.... and it was missing... I asked "here is it?" My friend said "probably in front of the cat." Well guess what... he wasnt lying.
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That came out along with a good bit of oil. I called my buddy to tell him and he starts laughing hysterically. "I've never seen that before! Oh and I have already drained 4 quarts of oil from that exhaust." I instantly fell in love with this truck as on the drive home with oil and an exhaust turbine in front of the cat, tires too small for the 4.10 gears, I got 18mpg. I was happy about that as all my friends that have toyota's say they get under 15mpg in adventure mode. That sucks! So now its straight piped and also put the huge air filter that all the cummins guys do. I have been getting 17mpg going to and from work which I'm happy about.

Now that the truck was safe and running good it was on to making the camper sheel look nice. sanded and ready for paint.
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After paint and back on the truck. So much better!
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After the outside the inside needed some attention. The carpet was looking funky so we took it out and painted over the fiberglass. 2 coats later it was nice looking. Then to top it off we put a Mexican blanket on the roof of the camper to give it some character.
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To just start and get us out and camping we put a full queen size air mattress in the back with sheets and all. This is just for the time being while I design can build the drawer system for the back. More on that later.
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More to come over the next few days as I post more. I'm going to try to make this a regular thing. Thanks all for reading!
 
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chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Hey Tylor welcome to the site and thanks for posting pics of your truck. You have an excellent platform for an expo rig as lots of guys here have used a truck just like yours. I am sure you will find lots of helpfull people here that will give you the advice you need and seek. Once you get through all the maintenace that everyone has to do when they get a new used rig I am sure you are going to be really happy with your rig. Cheers, Chilli..:)
 

t.Sparks

Observer
Now that the camper is done, its time go get out and explore! Being really new to the overland mind set and never been 4x4 in my own vehicle I started looking for a local club. Found a group called Southern California Overland Trail Association(SCOTA). First trip out was with them to Laurel Lake, Mammoth, Ca. What a awesome trip!
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We both really enjoyed our time with this group and will be doing many more trips with them. I asked many questions and got ideas from other peoples rigs. Also they gave me ideas for trips.

After this trip we went to Monache Meadows, this time just Sam and I. Saw 2 black bears and did some fishing.

Started to really sit down and think about the drawer system. The trip in Monache meadows got cold and the air mattress beneath us was the same air temperature as outside. This trip was done in the end of September... Time for a better solution.

There are many out on the market but they are expensive and dont serve my purpose! I wanted two drawers, one would be the camping gear drawer and the other the kitchen. Kitchen drawer will hold the frig in front of it and originally the stove in the drawer. i have now moved the stove to underneath the frig on sliders. Then there would be a large compartment at the back of the drawer system to put cloths and other items. Sleeping would be on top of the drawers. Photo below is the drawer system in the bed of the truck drawn to full scale.
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Mid October, another trip with SCOTA! This time 4 days in death valley and a planned 200 miles of dirt. The racetrack, lippincott mining road, cerro gordo ghost town, and saline valley hot springs where the main attractions. It was a fantastic trip, weather was perfect! Here are just a few photos of dirty deb doing here thing.
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All the "white walkers"
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Truck did awesome on this trip, yet again making me realize that this was the right choice of rig.
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t.Sparks

Observer
Shortly after the death valley trip I got a phone call from my friend I bought the truck from. "Dude your not going to believe me, I have the perfect camper shell for your truck, and I happen to be coming to ventura this weekend." The fuse was lit....

The white camper shell was just something to get me started. Originally the plan was to make my own camper of camper shell. I just could justify spending $2000 plus on a camper shell when I could make my own for less then $1000. However, this shell was perfect. it was A: built for my truck. B: was in great shape. C: was inexpensive compared to the rest and was delivered to my door for free.

What I got is a A.R.E. mx series camper shell. Has the high top version for a little more head room.
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Best part is the glass door that opens for access to the bed, but then the whole back hatch opens up. This was a better idea then designing, fabricating, and spending more money then I did buying this shell.
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Shelter from elements and a warm place to sleep... Check that off the list. More to come tomorrow.
 

t.Sparks

Observer
Hey Tylor welcome to the site and thanks for posting pics of your truck. You have an excellent platform for an expo rig as lots of guys here have used a truck just like yours. I am sure you will find lots of helpfull people here that will give you the advice you need and seek. Once you get through all the maintenace that everyone has to do when they get a new used rig I am sure you are going to be really happy with your rig. Cheers, Chilli..:)

Chilliwak,

Thanks man! Its nice to hear from other people that also have the same rig say its perfect for an expedition truck.
 

Teh_VIking

New member
Nice rig you picked up, its nice to see someone giving some love to an older truck, The long bed will give you plenty of room for sure, Im running the same sleeper setup in my shortbed f350, still plenty of room for me and my wife to sleep in. Im with you on the no setup when you get to the place for the night. I thought I recognized that house across the street where you were tearing apart the front end :) then I saw you are from Ventura as well :), Looking forward to more pics
 

Yroundrdn

Observer
Very nice set up. Look forward to seeing it progress. Want to check out the socalota.org but looks like the web page expired. If you have a fresh link let me know.
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Chilliwak,

Thanks man! Its nice to hear from other people that also have the same rig say its perfect for an expedition truck.

That new camper shell looks great Tyler. I cant say that I have the same truck as yours but there are many people here on the site that do. I am sure you are going to do big things with tha rig. If you want to se my camper build then check out my build thread in my signiature. We all look forward to seeing what you do with your fine rig. Cheers, Chilli..:wings:
 

t.Sparks

Observer
Nice rig you picked up, its nice to see someone giving some love to an older truck, The long bed will give you plenty of room for sure, Im running the same sleeper setup in my shortbed f350, still plenty of room for me and my wife to sleep in. Im with you on the no setup when you get to the place for the night. I thought I recognized that house across the street where you were tearing apart the front end :) then I saw you are from Ventura as well :), Looking forward to more pics

Teh_VIking, Thanks man! I would love to have a newer truck but there are just no funds for that right now. Rent is to damn expensive! Good to hear your rig is similar. And wow its a small world! HAHA, Thats awesome your are a local venturan as well. Definitly have to meet up some time or just stop by if im working on the truck! Always am!

Nice truck!! 35s fit no problems!

toastyjosh, Thanks man! 35's bolted right up

Very nice set up. Look forward to seeing it progress. Want to check out the socalota.org but looks like the web page expired. If you have a fresh link let me know.

yroundrdn, Thanks man! Always nice to hear other people are interested in my build. And as for the link I'll get back to you on that one. I havent been to the sight for some time now. Will let the president of the club know. For the mean time go and look for them on facebook. Here is the link to the facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/SCOTA/

That new camper shell looks great Tyler. I cant say that I have the same truck as yours but there are many people here on the site that do. I am sure you are going to do big things with tha rig. If you want to se my camper build then check out my build thread in my signiature. We all look forward to seeing what you do with your fine rig. Cheers, Chilli..:wings:

Chilliwak, will definitely have to check your build out! And thanks!
 

t.Sparks

Observer
I was going to post more tonight but I have hit a wall. I will leave you with a cool thing though.

My dad's last day of work is thursday. He has been working for the same company for 33 years as a maintenance guy. He gave me all his tools that has has been using over the years and... ooooo it just makes me happy writing about it... All the tools in his Kennedy tool box/cart! Can you say $5,000 worth of stuff! I cant wait to use this for the next 30+ years
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More of the build tomorrow. Cheers.
 

t.Sparks

Observer
Back to the build.

First real thing I wanted to make for the truck was a roof rack over the cab. Originally I was going to just do a simple square tubing box, 4 post coming down to the roof, and rivnuts so I can put eye polts along the cross bars and have a modular tie down points.... Then I saw something way better on a different forum.
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Now the above is an insane project if you couldnt tell, but I really like his idea with the roof rack. Also, the front bumper(but that isnt happening any time soon). Nice and low profile and really easy to make! I also took some ideas from the front runner racks and how they have the slotted material that a bolt will slip right in and have an infanitlly modular tie down points. Way better then a hand full of rivnuts! First I wanted to find my "crossbar" material. A little searching on the interwebs and I found a company that makes just the stuff I was looking for. They make lots of different buts that fit the slots, ends holes that extruded are the perfect size for a 5/16 tap. Only down fall is for the material I need it'll be about $200. Not the end of the world though.
https://8020.net/shop/40-8020.html

So it was on to getting some measurements of the roof.
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Got the curve of the roof and a better idea of the finished product from that. Then cut out what I wanted from the card board.
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From that I went to work on a solidworks part. Thie is what I came up with.
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This came to work one day. It was like Christmas came early!
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That Night I reilized I didnt have enough room in my storage area... Time to put stuff on the truck!
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Also had a friend with a plasma table cut out the roof rack sides. They looked good at first but they wont work... While cutting them the water in the tank was low and the parts are warped. The top line is supposed to be straight and its no where close. Oh well, Ill try one of the local water jetters.
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ooooooooo...... BLLLLLAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKK!!!!
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These should work better right? 35x12.5x17 KM2
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