Project: Doitall Dodge

[trasko]

I’d watch your thread again. ;-)

 

[huntsonora]

Should I do it again?

Absolutely

 

[givemethewillys]

I'd give it an enthusiastic yes, however I miss reading about this one. That old iron had so much soul!

 

[Metcalf]

I'd give it an enthusiastic yes, however I miss reading about this one. That old iron had so much soul!

Thanks. I done used up the Dodge pretty much ( and it was pretty used up before I got it ). It just wasn't worth it to rebuild everything to me. It went to a new home, it didn't owe me anything. I got a LOT of use out of it for what I had invested.

This new truck is about as close as you can get in a semi-modern truck. It is a 2007 Ford F350 with the V10 and 6spd Manual...manual shift transfer case, manual hubs, manual windows, manual door locks, bench seat, vinyl floors, and 4wd. You don't see too many 'basic' trucks like this anymore! I knew I would kick myself later for not chasing it.

The general build is going to be pretty similar to the ol' Dodge I think. I'm not looking for a full time live in camper truck, I just want a good all-around truck truck. I need something that I can do everything in, but I don't want to be having to take large chunks of the truck on-off-on like the camper shell. That ended up being really annoying on the Dodge. I want to design and build a tube frame hard side modular topper system that will transform into a few different configurations to accommodate different rolls the truck will serve.

 

[UHAULER]

It's hard finding a manual trans. truck. I was looking for a truck just like that but ended up finding an 04 supercab, shortbed, v10, 6 speed last month. Drove over 500 miles to Oregon to get it.

 

[Metcalf]

It's hard finding a manual trans. truck. I was looking for a truck just like that but ended up finding an 04 supercab, shortbed, v10, 6 speed last month. Drove over 500 miles to Oregon to get it.

Yup, totally stumbled on this one. It is a few hours north of me. I think it is about as close to what I wanted as I will find without getting crazy. I started out looking for an 06-07 Dodge Diesel along the same lines.....manual, regular cab, lower miles, as much manual stuff as possible, and not costing 20K+. Yeah....right. The more I thought about it, the more I just got tired of 'wanting' a diesel. I just don't think for my use these days, especially with diesel fuel prices, it is worth it. They are neat....make great power.....and 'can' last a long time, but you pay such a premium for it. My daily commute is so short these days that fuel cost just doesn't really matter. In the grand scheme of things, I can buy a lot of fuel for the price difference between the diesel and gas trucks in the used market. I don't think that is the popular answer but.....

 

[UHAULER]

I had an 02 f350 7.3 with an automatic. Sold it 3 years ago for good money. I don't have to drive much , no commute, only for fun. The 04 truck seems to drive better than the 02, maybe it's less weight on the front end.

 

[Metcalf]

I had an 02 f350 7.3 with an automatic. Sold it 3 years ago for good money. I don't have to drive much , no commute, only for fun. The 04 truck seems to drive better than the 02, maybe it's less weight on the front end.

I'm really interested to see how the round springs work out on this one. I was really impressed with how well my LX45 worked out with the custom valved Fox 2.0 shocks from Accutune. I think this truck will end up getting some nice shocks and stuff in the suspension department. I want to keep it as close to stock height ( maybe leveled basically ) as possible. It would be nice if the truck was a really good dirt road warrior.