1998 Dodge Ram 3500 build

[Rot Box]

The front axle may be taking a different direction, in the form of a '79 high pinion D60. After pricing inner "C's" and kingpin knuckles out, it may just be cheaper and easier to start with that axle from the start. Lockouts, 35 spline shafts, high pinion and kingpins really sold me on the deal. Even a rebuilt one at $1500 is still less than just the parts listed above. By about $700. I've got a buddy in PA that did the swap, so I'll have to contact him about welding the brackets/gussets on for me. Should have some pics by this afternoon showing the new parts. More to come...

Cool can't wait to see how it turns out :sombrero: Isn't the tube wall thicker on the 79 as well? The high pinion and 35spl inners is a bonus also. I have seen this swap in second gen Dodges many times, but most chose to go with leaf springs--I like your idea of keeping the coils. I guess there is no room for your links/coil on a 85.5-97 D60... These are going for less than 900bucks lately :Wow1:

 

[jason]

That's true frome what I can see. The 78-79's have more room on the driver's side tube for the coil buckets/control arm mounts.

I'm still trying to figure out the best plan on attack for the front. I had planned to use the HP60, but they are scarce (and $$$ at that). I may end up sticking with my axle for now, then figuring out that later. The main problem is the enormous front driveshaft drop on the 205, coupled with the high pinion on the 60. I can see it hitting the oil pan very quickly. I may re-think it later, but for now, I may just go ahead and get the gears set back up and working.

Sorry for the long delay, we just had a baby 3 weeks ago so time has been short. I did manage to get some new control arms from topguncustomz.com. I wanted some that were a little longer than stock to help keep the tires out of the wheel wells with as little lift as possible (about 2-3"). I was going to go with heim joints, but after thinking it over, poly bushings will be better on the road, offer more flex than the stamped steel control arms and hopefully last longer than a heim joint would.

I was also able to get my rebuild kit, twin stick rails machined and 3 1410 series 32 spline yokes from Off Road Design. Very stout, beefy parts. I haven't torn apart an np241, but I would imagine they are similar in strength (plus the addition of a cast iron case). Here's a snapshot of the case before, and now (still torn down, waiting on new parts to go in):

I hope to have the crossmember fabbed by a local shop within the next few weeks, as well as the case put back together. Right now I have my downpipe getting a flange welded on for an HE351 turbo from an '05 commonrail. Hopefully next week I can get the charge air pipe plumbed in for it, as well as mount the turbo. I figure with the smaller housing (9cm) and better flowing characteristics, it will give me better spool up than my hx35 can, plus give me good drive pressures up to 40 psi (I've seen one on a 24 valve that produced good results). Haven't seen one on a 12 valve yet, so only time will tell if it will work.

 

[blakeape]

I just finished swapping a 1979 Dana 60 into my 1997 Cummins and couldn't be happier. I did use leafs though. I was originally going to use coils and it would have been easier, but I am happy with the end result. I have a friend with an 01 dually that runs hummer H1 wheels with 37's as a single tire and 255's on his factory dually wheels when he hooks to something heavy. The extreme back spacing really tucks the singles into the fenders. Good luck and cool build.

 

[Jean-Seb]

Looks like you're making some progress, nice build !!! Keep it up ! Can't wait to see pics with the new goodies. :victory:

 

[1speed]

These look nice!

 

[jason]

For the price they do. I liked the fact that they custom-make arms to any height (the short arms top out at 8", I believe). Both upper and lower control arms on the driver's side are shot on mine. The lower one on that side is bent. So replacement bushings were out of the question. They are 3/4" longer than the stock ones, so even with stock springs, that should push my axle far enough forward to allow 315/75's to fit without rubbing (16x7, 4.5" backspacing).

I checked yours out, very nice. I like the I-beam design. Did those come from Don or DT?

 

[1speed]

Mine came from DT Profab, I think Thuren's are tubular like yours.

 

[angusdevil]

Good work so far, keep it up! As always, lots of pictures

Personally, I don't think I could ever go with a poly bushing in a vehicle that was going to be offroad alot. Plenty of ways to argue the pro's and con's of poly vs. heim joint. Here's what I have on my 2500.

 

[Deleted member 12023]

Does anyone know where to get heim joints like that? Or whatever that kind of joint is called (seems different than a heim)

I have considered making my own control arms. I like the idea of a heim on one end, but have not been able to find them like those.

Carli makes incredible stuff, but it also comes with an incredible price tag, so if I can save some money in places, it would be extra gas in the tank on a trip!

Sorry to hijack...

So with a 3" lift and control arms 3/4" longer, could you effectively run 37's? Or would the rear springs limit you. I know they don't run perfectly up and down, but kind of in a forward pattern.

 

[angusdevil]

Sorry to hijack...

So with a 3" lift and control arms 3/4" longer, could you effectively run 37's? Or would the rear springs limit you. I know they don't run perfectly up and down, but kind of in a forward pattern.

37's on a 3rd gen..... depends on how hard you offroad and how true of a 37" you have (Toyo MT's are 37.1" but Yokohama AT's are like 36.5), you might have a little fender rubbing. I'm running Toyo MT's and with Carli springs on all 4 corners with the arms, I had some rubbing on all the fenders.

I have considered making my own control arms. I like the idea of a heim on one end, but have not been able to find them like those.

Talk to Don Thuren, he sells just the heim joints.

 

[jason]

Those are very nice control arms. If I was going to go all-out, best-of-the-best, I would have gone with those for short arms. I want to eventually run long arms, but with 5" of suspension lift. With the length of this truck, I think the higher altitude will help me (hopefully) from getting high-centered. The only problem is, with the ******** Cepek arms, the body mount has to be notched. With only 5" of lift, I would have to run limiting straps to avoid arm-to-mount contact. But that's later on.

I would love to run 37's. I'm eyeing 315's right now, but if these arms push the axle forward, I may just bite the bullet and run 37's. The axles have 4.10's in them, so hopefully something in the 36.1-36.5" range will be okay.

I know this may not have a whole lot to do with "expedition vehicles", but these are some things that need to be addressed first. Eventually this will all be done and I can move onto other things that have to deal more with this site. I didn't think it would make sense to put the other stuff on if the drivetrain/suspension/steering isn't up to snuff.

 

[angusdevil]

The Carli arms are the correct length for a ~3" suspension. It's all about being able to cycle your tire from full droop to max compression without blowing out your fenders or bumper.

You're on the right track for sure, no need to doubt yourself on that. Drivetrain and suspension always come first in my book. So what if a vehicle has a house built on to it if it can't drive you out of the bush. On the flip side, you'll always be able to drive out of anything and make it back to a motel

Notching of the frame and upper arm axle mount is very common on 2nd gens. As always, reinforce whatever you cut. Limiting straps are a must, no reason to blow up nice new parts. Any thoughts to what springs/shocks/leafs you're going to run?

 

[Deleted member 12023]

I know this may not have a whole lot to do with "expedition vehicles", but these are some things that need to be addressed first. Eventually this will all be done and I can move onto other things that have to deal more with this site. I didn't think it would make sense to put the other stuff on if the drivetrain/suspension/steering isn't up to snuff.

IMO this definitely has to do with expedition vehicles. There is such a wealth of knowledge here, it is the place to be discussed. If your vehicle is not properly prepared, all of those expedition do-dads will be useless when you're broken in the middle of nowhere.

Keep up the posts! I have been racking my brain lately trying to decide which direction to go with my suspension, so seeing what others are doing helps!

 

[jason]

The Carli arms are the correct length for a ~3" suspension. It's all about being able to cycle your tire from full droop to max compression without blowing out your fenders or bumper.

You're on the right track for sure, no need to doubt yourself on that. Drivetrain and suspension always come first in my book. So what if a vehicle has a house built on to it if it can't drive you out of the bush. On the flip side, you'll always be able to drive out of anything and make it back to a motel

Notching of the frame and upper arm axle mount is very common on 2nd gens. As always, reinforce whatever you cut. Limiting straps are a must, no reason to blow up nice new parts. Any thoughts to what springs/shocks/leafs you're going to run?

The carli suspension setup seems to be geared towards high-speed, high-action movement. I find nothing wrong with that, but it does cost more to "effectively" utilize a vehicle's max and minimum suspension movement. I would love to have their dominator 3.0 system, as I bet it is like riding on a cloud at high speed over the rough stuff. Most of the bolt-on systems out there are geared for the soul purpose of lifting a vehicle to clear larger tires or provide more flex than what a factory system can offer. The carli system, on the other hand, goes a different way. Like chase trucks and mild racing applications.

I was planning on running a set of king coilovers or the skyjacker coilover system on a different set of arms. The part that's tricky, though, is getting a set of leaf springs to provide ample lift in the rear, while maintaining some flex characteristics and a somewhat smooth ride. I don't like the rear block, but to eliminate it causes a bigger "U" shape in the leaf springs. For now, I will probably run some fashion of a 3" coil spring, with a set of slightly larger leaf springs in the rear (atlas, deaver or the skyjacker DR76's). The suspension currently on the truck is worn out at best. 10 hard years as a construction vehicle is not nice on stock parts.

For shocks, I will most likely go with bilstein 5100's. Everyone that I've talked to that has ran them loves them. They are a little spendy, but that's one area I think I can live with in dropping some money into.

 

[angusdevil]

Definitely get a full set of leaves. No reason to skimp there. A new track bar, steering, 3" coils and some 5100's would be a killer setup! A steering brace would also be great if you plan on playing in the rocks alot so you're not twisting your steering box up on your frame. If you're a smart shopper, you could grab all of that for well under $1500 to your door. I rocked Kore coils with 5100's all around and it was a great setup for taking the trails. I grabbed that for.... lets just say REALLY cheap off of craigslist.