Kingsize24
Well-known member
So very jealous of the atlas. And your modification to get them in the current location is very nice. So much more room for activities behind it. I see many front digs in your future. 😉
1998.5 Dodge Ram CTD - Sally
- Thread starter frojoe
- Start date
frojoe
Adventurer
The final mods needed to get the Atlas setup running, were new driveshafts. The Atlas inputs and output were about 2" towards the front of the truck, meaning the rear driveshaft needed to "get longer" and front shaft (and spare front) needed to get shorter.
Luckily in the process of going from the OEM rear shaft tube with slip yoke, to an Atlas-required 1410 u-joint on either end and a slip yoke in the rear shaft, the actual 4" shaft tube ended up needing to be shorter, so a local driveshaft shop could re-use the vast majority of the OEM rear driveshaft. For the front shafts, they just shortened the tube and re-welded and balanced.
The last outlier was mounting the front shaft to the Atlas front output. Having taken the front shaft in an out a bunch of times, I really liked the method of bolts into a threaded flange, vs messing around with u-joint straps & bolts, or u-bolts and nuts.. all up in/above the transmission cross member. However some work was needed to be done to get the "Chrysler 1350 CV flange" style to the Atlas "1300 series flange output".
The Dodge transfercase front flange is a somewhat-standard 4" square pattern, with 7/16"-UNF bolts, and a 3.120" register nub. The Atlas front output flange is has dual mounting patterns, one of which is 1/2"-UNC threads also on a 4" square pattern, but only a 2.0" register. So I had to make press-in rings to center the Dodge driveshaft CV assembly to the Alas output flange, and then drill out the holes on the Dodge CV flange to 1/2".
Two for me (installed front shaft, and spare shaft) and two for my friend's matching-ish Dodge...
Luckily in the process of going from the OEM rear shaft tube with slip yoke, to an Atlas-required 1410 u-joint on either end and a slip yoke in the rear shaft, the actual 4" shaft tube ended up needing to be shorter, so a local driveshaft shop could re-use the vast majority of the OEM rear driveshaft. For the front shafts, they just shortened the tube and re-welded and balanced.
The last outlier was mounting the front shaft to the Atlas front output. Having taken the front shaft in an out a bunch of times, I really liked the method of bolts into a threaded flange, vs messing around with u-joint straps & bolts, or u-bolts and nuts.. all up in/above the transmission cross member. However some work was needed to be done to get the "Chrysler 1350 CV flange" style to the Atlas "1300 series flange output".
The Dodge transfercase front flange is a somewhat-standard 4" square pattern, with 7/16"-UNF bolts, and a 3.120" register nub. The Atlas front output flange is has dual mounting patterns, one of which is 1/2"-UNC threads also on a 4" square pattern, but only a 2.0" register. So I had to make press-in rings to center the Dodge driveshaft CV assembly to the Alas output flange, and then drill out the holes on the Dodge CV flange to 1/2".
Two for me (installed front shaft, and spare shaft) and two for my friend's matching-ish Dodge...
frojoe
Adventurer
Another thing that has been on The List since going to 40's, and even going to 37's.. was a spare tire hold-down mount. A Trail Gear universal weld-on kit with 1" threaded rod and handle was a good starting point.
Thinking about it for a while.. I wanted something that could be easily removable without tools to go to a flat bed if I need to put anything in it to haul. I also wanted the rod to secure in so that it couldn't free-spin with the handle once locked, and be easily removable.
What I came up with is something I don't think I've seen done before. The Trail Gear threaded rod welded to a 1" bolt I had...
I made a bracket that bolts underneath the bed, that has a hole for a quick-pin. The 1" rod has a plate and a housing the also hold the quick pin, so once the rod threads into the bed bracket, the quick pin holds it from rotating and coming out.
Thinking about it for a while.. I wanted something that could be easily removable without tools to go to a flat bed if I need to put anything in it to haul. I also wanted the rod to secure in so that it couldn't free-spin with the handle once locked, and be easily removable.
What I came up with is something I don't think I've seen done before. The Trail Gear threaded rod welded to a 1" bolt I had...
I made a bracket that bolts underneath the bed, that has a hole for a quick-pin. The 1" rod has a plate and a housing the also hold the quick pin, so once the rod threads into the bed bracket, the quick pin holds it from rotating and coming out.
frojoe
Adventurer
Thanks! I have a small trip to post (Walker Valley in WA) but the trails were pretty tight and rocky, so really only have some videos from friends.. will try and take a few stills from those vids and post here.
The Mustang is JUST resuming.... I've been crazy busy with work so it's kinda been sitting.............. since Oct 2022 I'm pretty sure. Just cut out the factory strut tower tops and cut+welded in 3/16" plate that will adapt to SN95 strut bolt pattern. I currently don't have a build thread for it.... because so little work has been done on it so far, but I've posted about it a bit on my IG.
The Mustang is JUST resuming.... I've been crazy busy with work so it's kinda been sitting.............. since Oct 2022 I'm pretty sure. Just cut out the factory strut tower tops and cut+welded in 3/16" plate that will adapt to SN95 strut bolt pattern. I currently don't have a build thread for it.... because so little work has been done on it so far, but I've posted about it a bit on my IG.
frojoe
Adventurer
Oh thank you, that's very kind of ya! No build thread for the gasser, what exists in pics are all from myself as I'm helping or doing the work. However I do have more pics of various bits if you have any specific questions!
frojoe
Adventurer
He was on 37's for a little while and is 40's now. It being a heavy GVWR 2500 but with a gas engine, I'm almost certain his truck came with 4.10 gears, which he switched out almost immediately to the 5.13 gears (even before spending any real time on the 37's).. so I don't recall how his truck drove on the highway with the 37"/4.10 combo. With 40's now and 5.13 gears, his speedo reads almost exactly correct in comparison to GPS.
My other friend with a 2001 longbed dually has ~50% tread 35's (so probably measure 34.25" OD) and 4.10's, and his 24V is maintaining I believe around 2200-2300rpm on the highway in 5th for about 65-70mph.
My other friend with a 2001 longbed dually has ~50% tread 35's (so probably measure 34.25" OD) and 4.10's, and his 24V is maintaining I believe around 2200-2300rpm on the highway in 5th for about 65-70mph.