Project: Doitall Dodge

[ntsqd]

Maybe build the cots to be part of the shell, so that they come on and off with it?

I used indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowes in the bed of my '84 Mini. I've had to replace it once in 15 years, but more due to some 90wt. finding it's way into it than anything else. Highly suggest painting/sealing the plywood underlay. Then the 90wt. spill won't seep into that too......

I leave the rear of the carpet loose so that it can be pushed/folded back out of the way when something grimy or full of 90wt. needs to be hauled.

 

[92 red cummins]

Mine has a sway bar but my dads (just like mine) doesnt.

 

[DEEZLPWR]

i took both sway bars off my cummins and i dont feel much difference, it flexes nicely and it smoothed out the ride a bit too.

 

[Metcalf]

Micro update....

I finally re-cut the passenger side fender so it would match the drivers fender. I also started on the inner fenders. This is by far the hardest thing I have done on the truck this far. I got the front passenger side done so I could build a new air cleaner system. The old stock system will not work with the new larger inner fender and outer fender. I am leaning toward doing one of the new Volant Powercore air cleaners. They are expensive, but are suppose to last 100K and are suppose to flow really well while filtering out all the little stuff.

http://www.volantpowercore.com/powercore_filter_detail.asp?ID=7

This is the one I am going to order this week. I think they are around $90 or so. Ouch. They are suppose to last a really long time however. You can also clean them by lightly tapping or blowing low pressure air back through the filter. Building a bracket to hold it in will be easy enough.

On the daily driving front.

I really like this concept in a truck. The low center of gravity and super large tires really makes for a neat truck. By keeping the suspension stock and making room for the tires it really does drive much like stock. Even with the 3.55 gears and 39s its returning 20mpg on average on my daily commute back and forth to town/work.

I really want to get the body on the truck straightened out a bit, sand it down, primer it, and spray it one color. That seems to be the project I just can't bring myself to do. My excuse is that it is monsoon season here and I don't have much good weather after work......excuses excuses. I don't really even care if the body is perfectly straight, I just want it one color. Anyone want to have a body work party

I could never run out of things to do on this truck.....

 

[BlueBomber]

cool filter. do you think a pre-filter would extend its life?

 

[toyrunner95]

That looks alot like the Dodges the Air Force used in the 50s and 60s for the b-52 bomber crews. It could haul all 6 guys and their gear to the plane on a scramble.

 

[Metcalf]

The truck has 'air force' doors on it that supposedly came off a six-pack dodge truck on a base in new mexico. Then the dodge went to a fire station after that. There are stickers over the air force logo in the paint. Funny.

 

[DWitcher]

Fantastic build man!:beer: Just went through the post and found myself finally deciding on what to do with all this junk laying around. I've got a 92 D250 with a Cummins and a D60 from a 86 GMC. Guess what:smiley_drive: Its 4x4 time. Any more up dates?

 

[pint]

Keep up the great work. This truck is insane! My head is spinning with ideas...

 

[Metcalf]

Hi everyone!

Sorry I slowed down so much. Don't think I don't use the truck! I just got back from a 1500 mile thanksgiving road warrior trip. The truck keeps going and going and going! I have been doing some little stuff as time allows. I sealed up part of the inner fenders and made a new air cleaner mount. Hopefully I will have some more stuff to post soon....

 

[Scott39]

I understand that, I haven't been able to do anything to my truck right now either.

Yep, these Cummins just keep going, I wouldn't trade mine for any other truck out there.

 

[Rot Box]

Funny, I went for a bit of a cruise the other day in my 92 and started thinking about your build. Do you still run the large tires daily? Good to hear it is still getting used :coffeedrink:

 

[Metcalf]

yup, every day cruising around on the 39s

 

[Scott39]

Hi everyone!

Sorry I slowed down so much. Don't think I don't use the truck! I just got back from a 1500 mile thanksgiving road warrior trip. The truck keeps going and going and going! I have been doing some little stuff as time allows. I sealed up part of the inner fenders and made a new air cleaner mount. Hopefully I will have some more stuff to post soon....

Do you know what kind of mpg's you got with them 39's? And what gears are you running?

 

[Metcalf]

I'm still running the stock 3.55s with the 38.5" true height tires.

I got an average of 18.X on the entire trip with a best of 21.2mpg and a worst of 17.4mpg.

In general if I drive under 63 I get 20+, if I drive 75-80 on the interstate I get in the 17-18 range.

I think the perfect gearing will be 3.73 gears with the 5-spd manual transmission. I will be changing the rear axle to a slightly wider 14-bolt GM axle when I get an opportunity. 4.10s would work just fine also at the expense of speed on the highway. When I was running 35s and 3.55s I felt like the truck needed more legs on the interstate. The big tires fixed that no problem

My engine is also basically stock, just an open element air cleaner and a 3" straight pipe. Living in colorado I REALLY need to install a smaller exhaust housing or change the turbo out. I have my eye out for a 04.5-06 he351cw Dodge turbo but haven't come across a good enough deal yet. That turbo should spool MUCH better and support all the power I can get out of the VE pump.