New to the forums, any other full size Diesel heads out there?

[pratty85]

Hi all! I am originally from South Dakota, I am currently stationed in NC. I have been admiring a lot of the other rides on here so I thought I would make a post with my plans. I have been searching for the last 8 months or so for the perfect long distance expeditionary vehicle, that was full size, get good gas mileage, and make it a minimum of a 1000miles without refueling. Well this is what I came up with.....1992 Dodge Power Ram W250, Extended Cab, Cummins Turbo Diesel! It took me a couple of months to find this exact truck, but I found it!

My reasoning for buying this truck was the fact that I can achieve 18mpg around town and 20 on the highway. It has plenty of space, very durable, leaf springs all the way around, all mechanical engine (NO COMPUTERS!!).

Here is a picture of the truck when I bought it a month ago:

Future plans involve:
Factory exit 4" exhaust
6" Skyjacker lift(going on next week!)
Gem Top Steel Outfitter camper shell W/custom roof rack that extends over cab
Front and rear Ranch Hand Bumpers
4:10 gears with Yukon gears and axles
ARB air lockers
Dual fuel tanks by AEROTANKS.COM
and much more little details.

The only disadvantage is my turning radius!! It turns like a school bus!!

I will post more pics with progress, but I am curious to see how many other full size Diesel rigs are out there! Post pics and specs!!

 

[Rot Box]

Nice truck! I love the Cummins with the VE pump. Here is my old one with the 5speed manual and a hybrid Turbo. I loved it a lot but I needed 4 doors so a Ford with a mechanical IDI was what I ended up going with.

Keep us posted with your upgrades as they come :coffeedrink:

 

[TRACTION]

Full size here too.

 

[bronconut]

Not my expo rig but it is a full size:Wow1: I use it to tow my rock crawler or as a base camp for Bronco events I go to. Where at in SD I used to live in Spearfish before I moved to New Mexico.

 

[SFROMAN]

Im on Bragg, here in NC as well. I am building up my ford also. Mine is will moslty be used for towing and base camp ops when I go wheel my FJ40.
If your on Bragg I would love to take a closer look at that nice rig.

 

[charlieaarons]

pratty85:
Very very nice truck. Does it have a 5spd?
May I recommend a Detroit Soflocker for the rear diff, they are very civilized and very unbreakable.

Charlie

 

[Sean VHA #60013]

Aye, 1st Gen Dodge Cummins are great! I own a '89 W250 that I am in the process of rebuilding as I go: Just had the 3sp 727 TF transmission rebuilt with new Torque Converter for $1350.00, and am going to address new suspension spings as well as a few new guages in the next several months :coffeedrink:

 

[Metcalf]

Check out the Dodge project in my sig...

I do love these old dodge trucks.

 

[Overdrive]

Great choice (as long as you can live with the turning radius!!!!)

My best mpg with my '93, essentially the same as yours, was 26.5. That was cruising around Yellowstone park for 450 miles at 35-45 mph.

With my Aerotank in place of the underbed spare tire--38 gals-- my realistic cruising range was over 1200 miles :Wow1: .

Have fun with the build!

 

[pratty85]

Not my expo rig but it is a full size:Wow1: I use it to tow my rock crawler or as a base camp for Bronco events I go to. Where at in SD I used to live in Spearfish before I moved to New Mexico.

Nice! I am from the Eastern end of SD, DeSmet, an hour South of Aberdeen

 

[pratty85]

Im on Bragg, here in NC as well. I am building up my ford also. Mine is will moslty be used for towing and base camp ops when I go wheel my FJ40.
If your on Bragg I would love to take a closer look at that nice rig.

Nice man, I am on Bragg, shoot me a PM

 

[pratty85]

pratty85:
Very very nice truck. Does it have a 5spd?
May I recommend a Detroit Soflocker for the rear diff, they are very civilized and very unbreakable.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie! That is the other downfall, it doesn't have a manual, but it was hard enough just to find a w250 extended cab in this year, so I settled for the Auto. Once everything else is done on the truck I plan on swapping out the A518 thats in it with a Getrag 360, and put a different input shaft on my 205 transfer case so it will mate up. I will check out that locker!

Thanks

 

[pratty85]

Sean, Thats a clean Looking W250! My 518 was rebuilt about 8k miles ago just before I bought it! I was pretty happy about not having to deal with that right away.

 

[pratty85]

Check out the Dodge project in my sig...

I do love these old dodge trucks.

Nice Rig! I like the work you did on the fenders! Did you ever paint it?

 

[pratty85]

I installed a new Borgeson steering shaft yesterday, WOW It made a huge difference! Total cost of $225.00 and it was well worth it, I suggest it to any of the 1st gen dodge owners!