My "New" Truck

[huntsonora]

I have seen a few Dodge diesels showing up on this forum. Ive been frequenting this website for quite a while now but havent had a reason to join until today.

I've been looking for a Dodge with the 12 valve cummins for quite a while now. Unfortunately most of the trucks I have looked at were either grossly overpriced, grossly overused or had way to many modifications for my liking. I've been looking so long that you will see that I joined this forum 2 years ago and this is my first post

Long story short, Last night I received a call from a friend who owns a dealership and he took in a trade that he thought I would like. I drove up this morning and bought the truck on the spot. Of all the trucks I have looked at this one was definately the cleanest. The 75 y.o. man that owned it has 8 dodges on the ranch and this is the truck that his wife drove back and forth to work in town. She wanted something smaller so he traded it in on a dakota. My friend took it in yesterday at 4 and I bought it at noon today, he did not clean or detail the truck, it was this clean when it was traded.

I am stoked! Its a great rig, 1994 Dodge single cab 4x4 with the 12 valve 5.9 cummins. It has the NV4500 5 speed and the dana 80 rear end and dana 60 front end. Truck started right up, sounded great and didnt smoke. There were no issues that I could see. The AC still blows cold, I had to turn it way down. I have an 07 Tundra that I'm going to sell and just use this truck as my daily driver.

Immediate plans include a valve adjustment, replace the fluids front to back with amsoil, BHAF, 2" leveling kit and I'm going to beef up the steering.

Here are the pics, let me know what you think and if you all have any suggestions as to what I should or shouldnt do

HS

 

[Finatic Angler]

Looks good. Not too many trucks drivn by "little old ladies". Nice find!

 

[ujoint]

Nice truck! I think you'll see a few miles before that Cummins quits!

 

[huntsonora]

Looks good. Not too many trucks drivn by "little old ladies". Nice find!

It was driven by the lady but it got used to pull as well. It has a goosneck ball in the bed which I would have normally been hesitant about but it was too clean to pass up. I like the fact that it pulled some, helps seat the valves when its breaking in. Also, a lot of the trucks that I had driven that had spent much time on a ranch had rattles and squeaks coming from every part of the interior and exterior, this truck had none.

I would love to build a flatbed similar to the one that 1speed built in this thread
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25237
But that will be down the road.

When I get it tomorrow I plan on pulling the interior and dynamatting the entire cab and doors. Has anybody ever done this and does it seem to help with the noise and temps in the cab?

I am also planning on a front end replacement bumper due to the fact that it will save my front end if I hit an elk and there are a ton of elk on the roads in some of the places I hunt.

When these tires need replacing I will go with a larger tire and a leveling kit as well.

Onboard air, onboard shower, a winch that fits in a receiver hitch so I can put it up front or on the back and auxillary lighting will all go on eventually but dont plan on a quick build.

I am taking a huge chance and leaving my current job, a job that a ton of people would like to have, to focus on my dream of becoming a career firefighter. My current career is to demanding to be able to aquire all of the proper certifications needed to get hired. I am going through "operation simplification" and selling my home, my 07 Tundra and my old FJ60 and will pay cash for a smaller place and still be able to put enough away where I can really focus on other things and not worry about mortgage payments. Hell, if I sell my place and simplify everything I can make less than half of what I make now and still put more money away. Lets just hope it all comes together

HS

 

[Metcalf]

First....I hate you.....nice find on the truck! That is a VERY clean truck that still has a LOT of miles left on it!

Second. The buildup sounds good. Amsoil has a great filter out now to replace the BHAF. Its a little more expensive up front but will last longer and is cleanable to a degree. This is now your typical washable filter. Amsoil worked with donaldson to use there Nanofiber technology.

Third. If you want to talk about what a professional fire life is like drop me a PM. I'm not going to talk you out of it, but I spent 10 years as a federal wild land firefighter doing all the crazy stuff so I have some pretty good incite.

 

[huntsonora]

First....I hate you.....nice find on the truck! That is a VERY clean truck that still has a LOT of miles left on it!

Second. The buildup sounds good. Amsoil has a great filter out now to replace the BHAF. Its a little more expensive up front but will last longer and is cleanable to a degree. This is now your typical washable filter. Amsoil worked with donaldson to use there Nanofiber technology.

Third. If you want to talk about what a professional fire life is like drop me a PM. I'm not going to talk you out of it, but I spent 10 years as a federal wild land firefighter doing all the crazy stuff so I have some pretty good incite.

You have a PM, thanks!

You'd really hate me if I told you what I paid for it :victory:

I am a HUGE fan of AMSOIL products and will look into that filter. Right now I am leaning towards this setup

http://www.uniquemetalproducts.com/cumminsflyer.pdf

Thanks again, hope to chat with you

HS

 

[milo12]

Nice find on a great truck.

Check if that year has the "killer dowel pin issue". I recommend Genosgarage.com They sell pretty much all the parts needed to upgrade the truck, steering etc.

 

[huntsonora]

Nice find on a great truck.

Check if that year has the "killer dowel pin issue". I recommend Genosgarage.com They sell pretty much all the parts needed to upgrade the truck, steering etc.

I'll check them out, I know that the KDP is a huge problem and I want to have it "fixed" so I dont do a lot of damage later

HS

 

[Scott39]

Nice Dodge. And yes these trucks have the killer dowel pin problem, not a real hard fix but time consuming.
Check all front end and steering parts aslo.
The shape of this truck, is alot like mine when I bought my truck.

 

[DEEZLPWR]

Excellent find man! Looks like it has been taken care of very well and you will see well over 300,000 miles before anything needs to be though of for overhaul... I highly reccomend doing this upgrade as i need to as well it will permanantly eliminate death wobble due to the trackbar wear. Or buy from somewhere that has this.

I will be buying from these guys and get the sector shaft brace and the adapter for a 2003+ track bar.

http://www.solidsteel.ca/Products.htm


Ive already wasted $200 on a moog trackbar and its already starting to wear and get slack only after 5 months of being on trails.

info for the dana80

http://dodgeram.org/tech/specs/axle/286RBI_specs.html

And if you need anything diesel i reccomend thoroughbred diesel as they have excellent cus service and great prices! I got a new vp44, raptor 150 lift pump plus edge juice with attitude for around $1300ish. (my vp failed due to stock lift pump)

they will treat you good. they also handle older diesels as well.

 

[Metcalf]

More advice....

Be careful with the front bumper. Its far too easy to add WAY too much weight to the front of the truck. The Cummins is already almost too heavy as is. Most aftermarket from bumper are too heavy in my opinion. I understand your want to protect the truck from deer and elk, but think long and hard about what you bolt to the front of the truck.

Power. How much do you want? The 175hp p-pump motor is fully capable of making about 700 hp before you run out of pump capacity. Garmon Diesel seems to have the best luck with clean efficient power on the 160/175hp pumps. Its pretty easy to make power....its just not easy to make clean power. Think of the p-pump as the holley 4bbl of the diesel world. It takes tuning to make it all work....lots of tuning.

Clutch. If you ever have to do one...or end up doing one...just go with a double disc. It seems like they are the only ones that hold up to boosted power levels in the long run.

Transmission. Look at having the 5th gear worked on with your nv4500. The nut eventually backs off the main shaft causing all kinds of problems.

Keep the suspension nice and low ( leveling the front max ) Look into pushing the axle forward a bit if you add larger tires. 35s are about the max before you need to get crazy. I think the is the one advantage to the 3rd gen trucks, you can run 37s with just springs and control arms. The sky is the limit with the 2nd and 3rd gen trucks for suspension. Carli, KORE, Lorenz, etc.

 

[sjester]

I've owned three 2nd generation 12 valves (98, 95, 96) including the vehicle I'm currently driving. Front end components have absorbed most time and money. For what I do (hunting, fishing, semi-improved road travel, some towing, some very long distance on road travel) they are very hard to beat from a range and reliability basis. The front ends are going to wear no matter what you do or do not hang off the front. I've run front end protection on all of mine, the front ends were beefed up with fixes, braces and heavier duty components as they wore out. The cummins equipped trucks are very nose heavy in stock trim and its necessary to keep this in mind during offroad travel. You have an excellent example of a truck that will likely give you years of enjoyment. As an added bonus when and if the rest of the truck rots down around the engine you can find something else to put it in.

 

[Scott39]

Have you done anything else to this Dodge lately?
Hows it running?

 

[Carl2500]

Nice find!
I'd recommend a cold air intake, and gauges to start with.
A boost gauge and pyrometer should be first. Since you have a manual you can stop there, or possibly add a fuel pressure gauge, which is handy when diagnosing power problems, or telling if your fuel filter is clogged.
For those with automatics I'd also recommend a trans temp gauge.

After a cold air intake, your best bang for your buck is a straight piped 4" exhaust, with 4" turbo downtube.

Also I thought the headlights were kind of lacking compared to other vehicles I've driven. I bought a pair of silverstar bulbs which seemed to help, but what really made the difference were a pair of KC 65 watt driving lights on the bumper.


Anyway good luck with your project, I'm sure I'll be following it!

 

[jmacjgm]

I have the same. Getting ready to completely rebuild and upgrade the front suspension (get ready for the "Death Wobble"). Besides that I love my 12 valve with the Bosch P-pump, I will keep this truck forever.

Check out DT Pro-Fab. They make awesome front suspension upgrades for the inevitable problem. They are located in my hometown of Prescott, AZ.