1991 Dodge W250 Overland Tourer Build and Adventures

Recon1342

Member
Been awhile since I posted. It's impressive how fast life can run away on you. Don't worry! It's all fun stuff. An update on those pilot hole injectors, it took a bit of work to really get them dialled in well but now that they are, I'm impressed even more. Smooth, quiet and the fuel mileage in town seems to be pretty stable at around 12L/Hundred or 19mpg.


It's always a pleasure to run into another 1st gen Dodge fan. My first rig in high school was a '77 W200 Power Wagon; and I am currently chipping away at a new project- Towpar, the '76 Power Wagon tow pig/adventure rig. It is also a flat bed, and I am totally borrowing (outright stealing) your lower bed rail idea, it's brilliant!

Fuel tanks- Is yours located along the driver's side frame rail? The 42-gallon tank out of a 6.2L diesel suburban (82-93) will fit between the frame rails behind the axle with some crossmember shuffling. My '76 will be getting the same treatment, but with a gas fuel tank instead (I have a 440 big block). That will center the weight and simplify fuel delivery without too much effect on handling.

Getrag 5-speed- Unless you're really in love with the overdrive, an NP435 four speed would be a good alternative transmission. They're pretty difficult to destroy...

Looking forward to more shenanigans!
 

1stgenoverland

Adventurer
It's always a pleasure to run into another 1st gen Dodge fan. My first rig in high school was a '77 W200 Power Wagon; and I am currently chipping away at a new project- Towpar, the '76 Power Wagon tow pig/adventure rig. It is also a flat bed, and I am totally borrowing (outright stealing) your lower bed rail idea, it's brilliant!

Fuel tanks- Is yours located along the driver's side frame rail? The 42-gallon tank out of a 6.2L diesel suburban (82-93) will fit between the frame rails behind the axle with some crossmember shuffling. My '76 will be getting the same treatment, but with a gas fuel tank instead (I have a 440 big block). That will center the weight and simplify fuel delivery without too much effect on handling.

Getrag 5-speed- Unless you're really in love with the overdrive, an NP435 four speed would be a good alternative transmission. They're pretty difficult to destroy...

Looking forward to more shenanigans!
Sorry it's taken a bit for me to get back on here. Road trips and off-roading and stuff, has kept me pretty busy. Not to mention, trying to get the back log of work done, so that I could have that two week road trip and not have anyone left behind at work. I really look forward to seeing your build. Sounds like its going to be epic.

My fuel tank is located on the drivers side along the frame rail. Its 130 litre tank and with my average fuel mileage at 12.5L/Hundred with the camper, that gives me a range of 1000kms. I love that.

Im actually pretty happy with my 5 speed getrag. Even when I have those super steep BC hill climbs, I just drop it down into 4th gear, which is direct drive in the old girl. This keeps the transmission pretty cool.

Also, Which lower bed rail were you talking about?
 

1stgenoverland

Adventurer
IMG_3570.jpeg


Well Its been a good while since I've posted anything on here. Lets see, where do I begin?

Turbo? I had one built for me by a guy in the interior of BC. I was having a few problems with the HX35 I had installed in the new year. For many reasons, Its just not a good turbo for my application. There's some real nerdy reasons why, but mainly, the twin scroll turbo has a wastegate that only releases the exhaust pressure from one scroll. Anyway, I bought and HY35 turbo that had been worked over. What a revelation. Much smoother power, spools fast and pushes a lot more air through the engine then before. It also flows better through the turbine and exhaust. This doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but when you have a balanced turbo, you can build less boost, but have more CFM going into the engine, which means you have more power. Boost pressure is actually just a measurement of restriction. Mine was in the turbine housing and outlet. And yes, pressure found in the exhaust manifold, will back up through the engine into the intake.

I also had the injection pump rebuilt and reset back to stock because I was sick of the smoke out the tail pipe. I also wanted to install the appropriate fuel pin, to match the injectors I had installed. The rebuild and the new pin has left me virtually smokeless and a scary amount of power. Camper? what camper, it doesn't even feel it. Also, going up hills is an absolute laugh. I know there's still a little more tuning to do but at this point, it's just fine tuning.

I also went to the BC overland rally. I highly suggest getting out to the overland rallies. They are an excellent source of inspiration for how to do things better, build things better, and what equipment is out there to solve problems you didn't know you had. haha

The overland rally was surrounded by a 2800 km road trip. Some of it on some really fun roads, and the rest on highways. Though I do like to take the smaller ones when I can.




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This was the day me and my girlfriend left, after picking fresh raspberries out of her parents garden for our breakfasts on our road trip. They had a bumper crop this year.

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Catching the ferry off Vancouver island and heading to the mainland. I have a tendency to never reserve the ferry. I just know roughly what the busy times are, and because of the camper, get put into the bottom of the ship. I often make the ferry when a lot of cars are left waiting. It pays being tall.



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This is an old mine road. I don't like giving locations for iconic places because I don't want to see them overrun but broverlanders in their Tacomas and Wranglers. Fighting words? Yes. Stereotypes? 100%.



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We got to the overland rally early because we were volunteering the following morning. My girlfriend held with the vehicles checking in and I helped the venders park in their spots.



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We visited a National Historic sight called Bar U ranch. I stumbled upon this beauty, the original Overland travel of the 1800's. This was actually the kitchen wagon, used by those on the cattle round up.





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The Beautiful Seton Ranges. With in a day of us leaving this valley, there was a bunch of lightening strikes. This valley is now smoke filled waiting for cooler weather and rain.
 

Recon1342

Member
Sorry it's taken a bit for me to get back on here. Road trips and off-roading and stuff, has kept me pretty busy. Not to mention, trying to get the back log of work done, so that I could have that two week road trip and not have anyone left behind at work. I really look forward to seeing your build. Sounds like its going to be epic.

My fuel tank is located on the drivers side along the frame rail. Its 130 litre tank and with my average fuel mileage at 12.5L/Hundred with the camper, that gives me a range of 1000kms. I love that.

Im actually pretty happy with my 5 speed getrag. Even when I have those super steep BC hill climbs, I just drop it down into 4th gear, which is direct drive in the old girl. This keeps the transmission pretty cool.

Also, Which lower bed rail were you talking about?

The drop rail you fabricated beneath the bed on the sides.
 

1stgenoverland

Adventurer
The drop rail you fabricated beneath the bed on the sides.
Yeah, That was one bit of design I really wanted to get right. I have my opinions on how extreme most overlanding companies want to make that angle. It has to be right. Not sure if you know the company called "Bowen Customs". The product from that company is unreal, and generally the designs are pretty good, but my one complaint would be how everything is angled on the back. I like things to be more subtle generally. Also, a good number of people never drive their vehicle in places that require that much angle. I get it though, style wise, we are entitled to the things we like, or the things the world says we should like. I often think the latter is the case, which is why so many people drive around the same looking tacoma.
 

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