Project: Doitall Dodge

[BlueBomber]

Michael,

Have you thought about a winch for your ol' 2wd ford? You can get yourself into a lot of trouble even in a 2wd ford, especially if you install a locker. Any thoughts of going with a pre-runner type suspension....that could make for a fun fire road type expedition truck.

winch? probably the cheapest one i can find on Craigslist. ive been thinking about making it mount into a hitch reciver, then add a hitch reciver on the front. that way ican use the same winch front or back. i dont think im going to install a serious lift for some time. it already has factory "long arm" suspension ( twin I-beams). i think some bending and a 3"-4" lift coil in the front would be enough.

 

[Metcalf]

I have my eye on a Leer camper shell. I don't really like the contractor style ones. The camper shell isn't going to be on the truck all the time so I kinda need the tailgate. I did get the new tailgate on, it fits MUCH better, opens, closes, and everything.

Michael,

The multi-mount idea is nice. I have done a few of those over the years. The downside is that the winch generally sticks out too far and its a much bigger pain than you think to move it front to back. I would vote for a winch before the locker. Those old fords don't need much for suspension. If you want to go really cheap you could just redrill the front coil bucket and drop it down an inch or two. I had an old 2wd ford in high school for a few months. It was a $400 truck and boy was it fun to beat on. With the fenders cut or replaced you could get 35s on it easy. I would also plan on finding some nice and deep gears for the rear axle to make up for the 2wd and no low range.



The dodge is coming along. I think I finally worked up the nerve to cut and lengthen the fenders front and back. Its going to be more work but it will let me run 37s without any lift.Its also something unique that I haven't seen anyone do so it makes the truck very unique. I also have a trailer project going on right now so I can shoot back to my parents ranch and get my Willys!

I have started rounding up the steel I need to make the bumpers and rockers. A 4x8 sheet of 3/16" is $200 delivered to my work so that isn't too bad. I hope that will give me enough plate to make my rear 3D effects and my front bumper. I will also have to buy some 2x2 and 2x4 box.

On the bumpers instead of a round hole for the hi-lift jack I think I am going to mill in a t-slot. I think this will stand out a little less. I like little stealthy mods.

Once I get this trailer out of the way and Easter Jeep is over I can concentrate more on the bodywork. I am going to do the body work one panel at a time at least to the primer sealer stage. I will most likely shoot the entire truck in paint at once, or at least the exterior.

I'm off to measure some stuff.

 

[BlueBomber]

Michael,

The multi-mount idea is nice. I have done a few of those over the years. The downside is that the winch generally sticks out too far and its a much bigger pain than you think to move it front to back.
how is it too big? is it too big to keep on the front or back, or is it too big to mount when i need it? i dont mind if its a pain to move. i just like the fact that i can use it front and back without buying two.
I would vote for a winch before the locker.
yeah, the locker would be nice, but a winch will be installed first. i will probably ned it more anyways.
Those old fords don't need much for suspension. If you want to go really cheap you could just redrill the front coil bucket and drop it down an inch or two.
i would go with a cheapo setup, but my truck needs new springs anyways.
I had an old 2wd ford in high school for a few months. It was a $400 truck and boy was it fun to beat on. With the fenders cut or replaced you could get 35s on it easy. I would also plan on finding some nice and deep gears for the rear axle to make up for the 2wd and no low range.
maybe at some point. i have some other projects that i want to get done before i put something on my truck that will let me get in MORE trouble

i really like my truck, but i have alot of work to do before i get it to where i'm ok with taking it more thatn a couple miles off road.

 

[benjamin]

Metcalf.....I had to do alot of spot repairs on my truck and found that a 4-41/2 inch knotted wire brush for an angle grinder worked great.
I had 3-4 paint jobs on mine and they cleaned down to bare metal fairly quick.
Try McMaster for the brushes they hold up better than what you'll find at HD etc..
If you go this route I can't stress enough the importance of good safety glasses/shield and be careful of anyone whatching nearby.
This looks like a great build.

Dennis

 

[Metcalf]

Thanks for the tip. I gave it a try with a non-knotted brush. It isn't really fast enough on the bedliner covered areas, that stuff sucks! I will have to do something on the cab though, maybe a combo of some stripper and some wire brush action. I don't want to take the entire thing apart to sandblast it.

I have to say I love living in the southwest. So far there is ZERO rust on the truck. That makes mods to the body so much easier!

Tonight was trailer night. I made a lot of progress on the trailer which is good because that will leave more time for the truck.

I measured up the front frame, grill, bumper area to see what I want to do. I think I can sneak a winch behind a pretty slim front bumper. I hate winch bumpers that stick way out. I think I can get the new front bumper to stick out a little less than the stock bumper. The ends will then be tapered to gain some more clearance at the tires. I will add a tight fitting grill guard to keep the dear out of the radiator. I also need some decent tow points and some hi-lift jack points.

 

[absolute]

hey for the bed liner... brush some brake fluid on it, let it soak then use a scraper or the knot brush to remove. One of the PO decided to go cheap on floor covering,its a PITA but a bit faster than just scraping. I just spent the last couple of weeks on and off doing the exact same thing on my CJ floors.

Do a trial area before you commit.


Nick

 

[Metcalf]

I will give the brake fluid a try on the roof area of the cab. That is the largest area that I have to do without the sandblaster.

 

[ntsqd]

Thanks for all the comments.

Any more pictures of the 'bent' front fenders on that ford?

The only other pics that I could find:

The reasoning behind the round Hi-Lift hole with the tube to locate against the hook on the end of the lifting spur was so that one could push the truck forwards or backwards off the jack if that was what was needed to get unstuck.

 

[Metcalf]

That is a good idea about being able to push the truck forwards or backwards off the jack.

My trailer side project is almost done. All I have left to do is screw the boards down after the girlfriend finishes staining them. I think they will be dry enough on Sunday. I'm off tomorrow to find some cheap trailer tires. Once the tires are on all I need to do is change the trailer wiring connector to the round style from the flat style. Then she is done.

So its back to the Doitall soon!

I need to order a stick of 2x4" box for the rear bumper. Instead of using 2x2 for the main rear crossmember I am going to lay the 2x4 down flat for the rear portion of the bumper and stand the side parts up. This should give me more strength for the rear hitch without needing a lot of extra bracing. I also think the 2x4" stuff will go deeper under the tailgate area sealing that off, or provide slightly more of a step depending on the position front to back.

The list on this truck is kinda piling up so I just have to keep working on it a little every time I can. Here is the short list....

-Bodywork and paint
*2nd fuel filler door
*lengthened fenders front and back
-Rear bumper ( with required bodywork on the bed corners )
-Front bumper with grill guard and winch
-Rocker guards with kick out tubes
-Camper shell
-folding bed system for two in the back with some kind of storage system
-On board air of some kind

The long term list is far far longer....

37x12.5x17s on 17x8" wheels of some flavor.
4.10 gearing
Most likely a 14-bolt rear axle to get said 4.10 gearing in the rear.
Crossover steering conversion with ram assist
Hydroboost brake system
Rear disc brakes
Transfer case mounted parking brake using the stock foot pedal
Twin stick cable shifter for the transfer case.
Hi-clearance transfer case cross member/belly pan
Some kind of locking diffs, front and rear
New seats for the cab
Custom front and rear springs ( after the truck is done )
Long travel rear airbags to allow me to have nice soft ride and carry weight
Nice shocks and bump stops

I am sure I am forgetting a lot of stuff I would like to do...

And I still scared myself.

 

[ntsqd]

What I laid out for the Sub:

Specific goal was to get a working surface as this Sub has barn doors. The bumper itself is all sheet stock except for the main tube and the diagonals parallel to the receiver socket.

 

[BlueBomber]

any updates????

 

[Metcalf]

I guess this really isn't an update on the truck project but the Doitall had to earn its keep this last weekend!

Since relocating to Colorado I have needed to go back to my parents ranch and pick up my old Willy's MB. Easter Jeep Safari was coming up soon so I decided to take a Friday off work and make the trip back to Idaho.

The drive up was easy. I split it into a long day and a short day. I drove until about 1am friday night and made it just north of Salt lake, Utah. The truck did really well on the ride up towing my new free trailer empty. I ended up getting 19.4,17.2, and 17.69 mpg on the way up, 90% of it at 70 or better. I didn't think that was too bad at all for this old truck. Its shaped like a brick and isn't the lightest truck on the road.

I left to go back home to Colorado and hit some of the worst weather I have ever driven in. Then throw in some tires without the most traction, snow, whiteouts, 40mph winds, freezing rain and more! It was a test of patience and fortitude for sure. I made sure to snap some pics....

This was the typical road for about the first 200 miles. It was as slick as anything I have ever seen. The truck did well. Sometimes the limited slip rear helped and sometimes it hurt. The Cummins, stock as it is, has more than enough torque to break the tires loose while lugging it in 4th. You also have to watch the compression braking on downshifts when its slick....the rear end likes to break loose and so does the trailer!

The new 'free' trailer tracked really nice and the light little Willys isn't hard to tow at all. I would think the total combo wasn't over 3500lbs. One thing this truck HAS to be able to do is tow this little guy around.

I pulled over to check over everything during a rare break in the weather on I-15. It was nice and sunny for all of about 15 minutes. Once I was on !-15 the snow cleared up but the wind also picked up. I was bucking about a 30-40mph head wind for a little over 200 miles. This combined with the fact that I was trying to keep up with traffic lead to my worst tank at 14.6 miles per gallon. The wind was so bad that the truck would not maintain 5th gear during the worst winds!

Can you say FREEZING RAIN!

The weather during day two from Spanish Fork to Moab and then home to soutwest colorado wasn't that bad....at least compared to day one of the return trip! I did have a major breakdown of sorts....

I came across some road construction on highway 6 just after I left in the morning. I slowed way down to navigate the bridge being build over some railroad tracks. Needless to say they might have wanted to warn people about the 12" ledge right across the lane! I didn't even see it coming. The hit almost knocked the wind out of me! Then I heard that sharp metallic sound behind me. My neck snapped up to see the nose of the jeep fall behind the truck! The trailer now disconnected from the truck skidded to the right and bounced off the barrier wall before crossing the other lane. I have to be the luckiest guy alive. There was not a soul in the other lane! The Willys and trailer slammed off the paved roadway which had to have been another 10" ledge. All I could do was watch in horror screaming 'Just don't Roll, JUST DON"T ROLL!!!!' The trailer came within about 10feet of going down a 15 tall embankment that would have caused the entire mess to roll FOR SURE! I yanked the truck off the side of the road after the trailer before everything came to a rest....

The large ledge in the middle of the road caused the pin that holds the stinger in the receiver hitch to shear. The safety chain also snapped and was never to be found again. I was able to jack and crib the front of the trailer up enough to get the truck reconnected. The trailer had skidded on the stinger so the tongue was unhurt. Once some of the construction guys had shown up I was able to bum a bolt and nut for a replacement stinger pin. They also had a come-along and I was able to straighten the trailer jack out a bit. All in all I was back up and running in about 30-45 minutes. I cautiously drove onto the next down to pick up a replacement safety chain. The entire thing rattled me a bit more than I would have liked.....every frost heave or bump in the road got my blood boiling. I tried not to yell at the construction workers right after everything happened but I know I came across pretty agitated!

The whole trip wore me out a bit more than I would have liked! I had planned to stop in Moab and unload the jeep for a little fun but I was just to dang tired by that point! That will have to wait till next week!

The truck did pretty good on the way home other than the one tank of fuel fighting the headwinds. The other tank was 17.4 mpg. I still haven't fueled up since moab but I suspect it will be the same or better.

The truck is far from done and perfect for sure.....here are some loose comments on modification ideas from the drive back. Sometimes its nice to have some time to just drive and think...

-The seats need upgraded. The old bench seat is on its last leg. Towards the end of the trip I found myself stuffing a sweatshirt behind my lower back for more support.

-The gearing in the truck is ok. I am running 3.54s and 315/75r16 tires with the factory 5 speed manual. It actually seems like 5th isn't high enough overall on the interstate at 75mph. I would also like a shorter split between most of the gears. I don't know what is going to be the best course to take with the planned 37" tires. I did a little math and the short ratio G56 6-speed out of a newer dodge cummins might work really well with the 3.54s and 37s.

-Power and mileage. I was pretty happy with the mileage overall. I didn't baby the truck at all and got fair mileage. I think the truck could use some more power to help the gearing...or different gearing to help the power. I have my eye on some engine mods! I would like to get a nice reliable 20mpg even while towing the Willys. I have to wonder if I lowered the Willys down on the trailer a bit and had a aerodynamic cover like some of the newer snowmobile trailers if I couldn't pick up a little bit?

Body work on the dodge is starting soon! First up is sandblasting and fender modifications....

 

[Tree]

I enjoyed reading that! Great pictures.... looks like you got a nice truck on your hands. Good luck with it! :costumed-smiley-007

 

[Metcalf]

You must be able to see the inner beauty.....

 

[Tree]

You must be able to see the inner beauty.....

LOL I seem to do that... but seriously it just looks like a strong, do everything with out complaining truck... lot better than todays pickups in my opinion.

:costumed-smiley-007