Project: Doitall Dodge

[Metcalf]

I finally fixed the clutch linkage! It should last another few hundred thousand miles now.

First you have to take the clutch pedal out. There is a little 3/8" bolt on the passenger side of the pedal pack. This holds the pivot shaft in the pedal assembly. I used a stubby 1/4" drive 3/8 socket on the nut side and a 3/8" end wrench on the bolt side which is hidden kinda up behind the pushrod to the brake master cylinder.

You need to disconnect the clutch master cylinder push rod from the clutch pedal pin. Mine was being held on with some duct tape....so that didn't take me too long.

I used my finger to get the pivot shaft started from the drivers side of the pedal pack. You don't need to completely remove the pivot shaft, you only need to move it back far enough to get the clutch pedal to drop out. Mine came out pretty dang easy. Make sure to keep track of the two nylon bushings for the clutch pedal.

I think my pivot pin was a little worn....

Once the pedal was out I attacked it with a .040 cut off wheel on the the grinder. In about 2-3 minutes I had it cut apart. The original pin just dropped right out. The hole was just slightly bigger than 1/2". I used a 1/2" shoulder bolt to replace the factory pin, I think it was 1.25" long.

I rigged up a clamp to keep the shoulder bolt perpendicular to the pedal. I did this with a c-clamp, a big socket, and a nut for some working space.

Next I used the MIG welder to goober up some weld on the backside of the pin mounting surface. The clamp was successful at holding everything in place while I welded.

While I waited for the clutch pedal to cool I chopped off the old worn out end of the clutch pushrod with a small hacksaw under the dash. You could remove the clutch master cylinder but then you have to bleed the system again. It took like 5-10 minutes one you squiggle into position under the dash.

Buy that time the pedal was pretty cool so I reinstalled it. Make sure to put the pivot bushings back in.

I then used a 1/2" female rod end to make the new pivot. This slides right on the shoulder bolt with a pretty good .010 fit. I inserted a 1/2" set screw into the bottom of the rod end. This allowed me to set the position of the pedal and account for the change in length of the hacked off push rod.

This is what it looks like assembled.

Once I got everything mocked up like I wanted, I disassembled it and filled the female rod end with epoxy.

Then I reassembled everything using a paper towel to keep most of the epoxy in the rod end when the clutch push-rod was inserted. I kept everything in the right position and counted to 600, that gave the epoxy time to set up enough it wouldn't run.

Then I assembled everything like this. I used a small spring, a washer, and a 3/8 nut on the end. I will replace the regular nut with a locknut if everything holds up for a few months. I may replace the spring with wave washers or a bushing if thing move around at all.

Here is what it looks like under the dash all finished up!

 

[Metcalf]

Truck looks awesome! We should have gotten some pictures with my truck next to it for scale the other day. I had all my camera equipment and never even thought about it. It was nice to meet you and thanks again for the hospitality!

Dude, do the 3200 spring already!! There is your .5 gears. It took my truck from too much gap to no problem what so ever. I even like the low 1st gear now too.

yeah, it would have been interesting to get some pics, next time for sure!

I did measure Istzephyr's front springs compared to mine. His springs (2.5" skyjackers? ) sit 1/2" taller than mine, measured from the fender edge to the the hub. So, with my big thick springs and their packaging limitations. I am effectively running my crossover steering conversion in the same packaging as factory springs...or REALLY close to it.

Its funny, my truck has less lift but WAY bigger tires! Istzrphyr was visiting before I got the new tires on. He was also loaded with gear so I don't think its a fair comparison

 

[Metcalf]

yup, I'd gear for your targeted top cruising speed. Your going to be into it some serious $$$ when you start swapping gears and transmissions. I guess I dont really know how it drives though, cuz I have the slushy auto. I think it has .6? overdrive, but a nonlocking TC so I'm always loosing a little to that too.

I'm going to try and start with the 3200rm spring.

The transmission swap would definitely be expensive. That is probably down the road a bit. I will try and keep an eye out for some cheap parts, but it will probably be a bit for sure.

Now gearing on the other hand. My rear brakes are getting pretty spent and I have had my eye on using a 2003ish GM 2500 rear axle. They are the last of the old style 14-bolts BUT they come with factory rear disc brakes from GM. The width is suppose to be 67" would would add 1" per side over my Dana 70. This would make the rear axle match the front axle almost perfectly. The problem is that they only offered 3.73 or 4.10 gears in that axle. They also don't make 3.54 aftermarket 14-bolt gears.

The front gears are not a super big deal. 4.10 D60 gears are dime a dozen in most PNP yards. I have been toying with the idea of using Dana 70 gears in the font Dana 60. This could also allow me to use my existing rear Dana 70 powr-lok if I rebuilt it with 35 spline side gears in the front axle. That would be a nice little traction bonus for not much money....

I'd love to do something like ARB lockers front and rear but I don't know if I can justify the money.

 

[lstzephyr]

Yep, my springs are 2.5 skyjackers. The surprising thing to me was that both of our trucks hoods were even in the parking lot. I did have a little bit of gear in it though, about 1500-2000 lbs, so my front end may have been getting pushed up a bit. 31s compared to 38s too.

That is a cool idea about the power-lok. I would be very interested in how to put a dana 70 lsd in the front dana 60.

 

[Metcalf]

Yep, my springs are 2.5 skyjackers. The surprising thing to me was that both of our trucks hoods were even in the parking lot. I did have a little bit of gear in it though, about 1500-2000 lbs, so my front end may have been getting pushed up a bit. 31s compared to 38s too.

That is a cool idea about the power-lok. I would be very interested in how to put a dana 70 lsd in the front dana 60.

Jantz engineering makes a set of adapter bearings that let you use a Dana 70 ring and pinion on a D70 carrier in a low pinion Dana 60.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=914583

If you start with a 1st gen powr-lok you have to convert it from 32 to 35 spline. The parts to do this are fairly common. Its basically just side gears and a clutch kit.

I had about 500-600lbs in the back of mine that day too with the tires and wheels.

 

[lstzephyr]

At some point or another I really want to put a detroit locker in the back axle, or add a powr-lok to the front. Either one, or both would be good. I'm a fan of traction aids, I don't think I can ever have too much traction!

Here are those pictures I was talking about the other day for gauge setups. I'm not sure who did this, they are just some pictures I downloaded from somewhere.

I think this is the way to go with door panels too. Flat sheet of aluminum or steel, with some felt and voila, better door panels. Mine are constantly falling off, the old clips are just too worn out.

I need to find some mirrors like you have too. Silly old dodge parts keep falling off cause some crazy kid takes it off into bfe.

 

[Metcalf]

I agree, more traction is better than less traction. I don't really buy into the school of thought where people say automatic lockers will get in you in trouble. It takes a different driving style sometimes, and perhaps paying more attention, but its not going to cause you to burst into a ball of fire and die.

I love my rear powr-lok. I think they would make a GREAT front and rear setup.

Detroit lockers front and rear WITH a twin stock conversion on the NP205 would be another really good setup. Being able to run front wheel drive or rear wheel drive only, especially in low would be really handy.

ARBs would be great too, but boy are they expensive! You can almost install two detroit ( or other automatic lockers ) for the price of ONE ARB locker.

I have thought about making a set of door panels for sure. I kinda like having the arm rest though. I was thinking about making a set out of some marine plywood and having them coated in bedliner! My 1985 door panels are ok. I replaced most of the clips or modified them with some pliers to hold a little better. I also added some dense foam weatherstrip around the edges to keep rattles down.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

I don't really buy into the school of thought where people say automatic lockers will get in you in trouble. It takes a different driving style sometimes, and perhaps paying more attention, but its not going to cause you to burst into a ball of fire and die.

LOL! You couldn't be more right! Internet myth always make me laugh. I'm glad I put my lock-rites in my YJ before the internet jeep sites were up and running. I would have been scared to death!

I definitely got used to it and autolockers front and rear never caused any trouble beyond driving on icy roads. That was a 2wd-only proposition if I wanted to steer. Rear locker only always made it easily in those situations though.

That said, after I switched to ARBs the first time, I was totally spoiled! I'm on my second vehicle with ARBs front and rear.

 

[gahi]

When I replaced the rear axle in my W250 (after one of the axles came out the side from a bearing failure) I ended up losing my limited slip. I was actually glad, at the time I was still up in Winter Park and driving on the icy roads was way better. But thats the only time I'm glad to have open diffs. I think if I were to put anything in, I would want selectable. But I'm spoiled now with the Land Cruiser and its Magic Switch. Then about a year ago, I had one of the carrier bearings go out and ruined the carrier. By the time I was done with that I was about $400 in to it. Kind of wish now that I had spent a little more and locked it.

For your potential gear swap, have you researched where the carrier break is for the 70? That might come into consideration if your jumping across it. It would be sweet to have the rear disks though.

 

[Metcalf]

I love my powr-lok in the snow! It's very predictable and progressive in the ice and snow. I think the big tires make it work even better? I don't use 4wd as much as I thought I would with this truck. I generally leave the hubs in for the snowy months, but don't grab the lever that much.....

The carrier jump is 4.10/4.56 so no worries there. The deepest I would go is 4.10's.

I'm pretty sure I won't keep the Dana 70 in the long run....

I usually wait till I stumble upon parts for good prices. I'm not in a big hurry.

If people have axle problems on a 1st gen its usually with the Dana 70 rear. The 14-bolt with the 3rd pinion bearing seems to hold up to about anything. The factory rear discs on the later model axle is the most attractive part....

 

[gahi]

I love my powr-lok in the snow! It's very predictable and progressive in the ice and snow. I think the big tires make it work even better? I don't use 4wd as much as I thought I would with this truck. I generally leave the hubs in for the snowy months, but don't grab the lever that much.....

I agree on it being very predictable, for me it was worst when I was trying to merge into or pass traffic. I would start fishtailing unless I was super light on the throttle. But I was running around pretty empty most of the time. 285/75/16 tires. It was better slow speed as long as the tires didn't break traction.

 

[Metcalf]

Well I broke down and ordered a '366' 3200rpm governor spring and a VE seal kit this morning.....

Who's coming over to help me install it? :sombrero:

I think I should have some other fun boxes showing up this week too!

 

[Metcalf]

Sand, sand, paint, paint.......

Then I installed a new shell, insert, turn signals, painted some more, tried to find all the screws to put it back together, and installed the bumper at like 6am before I went to work....

Boy....that is shinny!

It looks like 100% better I think. I am slowing loosing my satan truck misnomer at work. My truck doesn't stick out, I don't know what your talking about!!

 

[Metcalf]

All the little things......

I was missing some hardware on my grille install last night. These little mounts hold the bottom corners of the grille from rattling. I have no idea what the factory hardware looked like so I made my own.

I raided the bolt bin and made these little contraptions for each side. With the double nut at each connection point (shell and steel tab) you can set the position of the grille shell however you want without a rattle. I also used some blue loc-tite to keep things from coming loose. I set mine about 1/16 off the sheet metal so that it wouldn't rub off the cheap paintjob....

 

[Steinbruchsoldat]

That truck is simply amazing...