1991 Cummins Suburban
- Thread starter Spur
- Start date
Cody1771
Explorer
i wouldnt worry to much about it, yes it is a crucial point but TN diesel has alot of experience with these swaps and he is a very tallented man. i am sure that the issue is beening looked into and will be rectified so that the frame is just as strong (if not stronger) than it was before the cut.
Spur
Adventurer
Just for clarification, Scott from TN Diesel isn't doing this swap. Krawltex in Austin has done all of the work. Scott provided a lot of parts and expertise. He's generously talked to both me and my mechanics for hours on the phone, but he's in Tennessee and the truck is in Austin.
I went by the shop today and saw what they are doing for the frame. I'm happy with it. The picture above is just the rough cut. Everything is getting gussetted and reinforced. That combined with the front bumper they are building will add a lot of extra structural strength. I imagine something else would break before I bent the frame. I don't think it will be a weak link.
Just an idea about the winch. We were having problems with having permanently mounted winches at work and came up with this plan. We mounted a 2" receiver hitch front and rear then mounted the winch to a mounting plate with a 2" extension for the hitch. Now the winch lives in the bed of the truck attached to a mount we made out of 2" tube, much like a bed mounted spare tire. We can now winch form both the front and rear with one winch and the winch isn't constantly taking a beating.
Shawn
Shawn
Cody1771
Explorer
with a heavy truck like that, unless your doing straight pulls you are likely going to bed the reciever hitch. i know alot of guys that do this so they can lock there winch up when not in use, but ive seen more than a few fail or bend under full load, especially with ther 12k winch's
leverett
Observer
mine wieghs 165lbs
Scott39
Adventurer
I had an 12k that I never used, it was new in the box but way to heavy. I traded it for a 9500 Ramsey, and I will carry two snatch blocks with an extra 150' cable.
Should work just fine.
We are not aloud to modify the trucks in any major way. So no suspension, no lockers or anything like that. I work for the government so they are all about resale. So our trucks are all stock mechanically. We had after market bumpers with winches in them which proved to be too much weight for the front stock shocks to handle. Almost all of the driving we do is off road and it was breaking shocks and pushing the shocks through the shock tower at the top over a few months time. We were going through shocks at about a pair every three months or so.
That is when we bed mounted the winches and have not had any where the issues we used to have. And we have 12K warn winches and they are not that bad to move around with one person and a breeze if you have some one to help. You shouldn't be wheeling alone anyway:safari-rig:
Shawn
