I bought a universal extra long wiring kit for the truck side and I'm using the Dodge factory wiring and computer for the engine and transmission. Its not complicated, just difficult finding the correct matching wiring diagrams. I may just strip the sheathing and that way I can remove any of the excess wires and trace it properly.
Almost had to do an impromptu roadtest yesterday. The town next to us got wiped out and the fire was headed our way. It turned west but we had a lot of evacuees come over. And on another note, these are the biggest wheel adapters I've ever seen. 22.5" semi wheels here I come! $1266 for 4 of them! Ouch!
Here we go! Shooting for a 16'6" bed with the last 18" a beaver tail. Using 2x2 1/4" for the cross pieces on 18" centers with a 2x4 1/4" perimeter. The deck will probably be 2x10 pressure treated at first. Ultimately I'd like to make it tilt but the scissor lift was another $1500 plus a bunch of fabrication. So for the first iteration it'll be a fixed deck. Our local suppliers didn't have everything I needed due to covid causing shortages. I got 80% of it.
Got a good start on the bed. The warn 12k winch is mounted and I've got a new motor for it coming. The rest of the bed metal should be here at the end of the week. Kinda hung up sourcing a set of 22.5" wheels and tires. I have a couple leads but most people want big money for junk. I need them mounted on the truck so I can figure out the rear wheel arch. Anyone close to Medford Oregon that has some rollers laying around? Also welded in some expanded steal for the grill. Starting to look like a real vehicle. Hard to see but you can just barely make out the flatbed peaking around the fender. Probably sticks out 1.5" on either side.
Picked up some rollers... 225/70/19.5's in the first picture which works out to be about 32" tall. Then the 255/70/22.5's which are about 37" tall. Probably could use a taller tire but I want to drive it and see what the rpm's are at first. Also the taller it is the worse the angle on the ramps will be.
Frame is definitely 2-3" taller. These wheels won't work on the front but i had to check it out, I still need a 0 offset wheel up there. My already bad turning radius has been reduced further!
Just wondering, is body work and paint in mind for this build or are you going to keep that rustic look? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Gonna keep it rustic, probably not much more than rattle can or leave it the color it is. Paint gets in the way of hot tire chunks and rocks from burnouts, winch line zip line shenanigans, tie down chains, the removable stripper pole that will be in the bed, hottub with generator thats bound to happen on the bed, etc. Basically I like to make a lot of bad decisions with my rigs and sometimes paint doesn't always stay attached to where it was sprayed, so there's no point in trying.
The bed and dovetail are coming along... its only 3/4 of the way welded at the moment. Nothing moved when I drove the 4runner onto it. These are just ramps from my car trailer. I'll need about twice the length to get any kind of reasonable angle on them.
I installed the 3rd iteration of the throttle cable. Finally found Pegasus custom cables and they accomodate custom ends and lengths. Bought half the wood for the bed and cut it up today. I did just enough to be able to drive on it, its not even bolted down yet. The 4runner went up no problem and I got the Nova surprisingly close considering how low it is and the short ramps I was using. The springs went down about 1.5" with the 4runner on there. I estimate its weight around 3500 pounds. I will probably have to run airbags to keep the bed off the wheels. Ramp testing is towards the end of the video, we have lift off!
Just need to make a 100 little brackets, drill 100 holes, bolt it down and stain it. Also have to pull the whole bed off to finish weld it, paint it and cap the ends. But it looks like a complete bed anyway!
Front wheels finally came in! Discovered that a 22.5x9 "flat face" dump truck wheel should fit. Really they aren't flat faced at all which is why it took so long to gamble on buying them. Manually mounted them with a tire iron and a little assistance from the front end of the White. Technically these tires are too narrow for these wheels by a half inch. I had a heck of a time seating the bead! Straps didn't work. 12k bed winch didn't work...well it worked but it still didn't seat. Just crushed the tire. Eventually tried the old ether and lighter trick! Meant to get it on video but forgot. It was exhilarating! Took 6 attempts but once I honed my method I did it no problem. Steering clearance at full lock is no problem with an inch to spare. Truck looks so much better now! Got a flapper for my exhaust stack too. If anyone has a suggestion for a quiet straight through muffler in a 3 or 4 inch diameter I'm looking for one. This Flowmaster works ok but its pretty ugly.
There was definitely a special technique to ether. I was skeptical it was going to work. One key is to have the compressor hose hooked up and at 25psi and blowing while you light it. Other than that it just needed a lot of ether and to get it as far inside the bead as possible. Then kaboom! The first explosion that worked I lost some arm hair and it crushed the tip of the bbq lighter because the bead came up so fast it pinched the tip of the lighter in the bead before I could remove it!
Might be able to wrap the muffler in a wire mesh and hide some of the ugly. Or a heat shield like the big rigs use.
Ether tip: When you spray it in the tire, spray a line just outside the rim onto the tire. Light the wet ether on the tire sidewall, it will ignite the ether in the tire. Sometimes it helps to have a sledgehammer or big tire hammer handy and whack the tire after you light it, it will cause the flame to ignite inside. Doing it that way, you aren’t standing over the tire and your hand with the lighter is away from the bead. I’ve mounted many truck tires this way. Shops have a tool called a cheetah, it’s basically a portable air tank with a nozzle and valve on it. You charge it up with air, put the nozzle close to the rim and tire and throw the valve open. The compressed air forces the beads out to seat. New wheels and tires look good on there, fill the wheel well out good. Lost that fat woman on a bicycle look.
I don't think a muffler is really necessary. I've run a turbo diesel without a muffler when the engine was just sitting on a stand. The turbo already reduces some of the exhaust sound.
Donaldson Truck muffler is your friend . Look on eBay there are plenty to choose from . They are welded , fabed diesel mufflers . They will last the life of the truck . I would drill a 3/16 hole at the lowest part of your exhaust to drain the trapped water out also . My old deuce and a half , would eat j pipes until I drilled the hole , problem solved . Your doing a great job . The cab brings back so many memories , when I started on the pipe mainline gang . That’s all we had were Whites with crew cabs and welders, air compressors on them . No heat in the back , but you didn’t get a lot of time to spend freezing in there anyway . Keep up the good work , it’s paying off .
Two miles of welding here we come! I found this metal at home depot, already had holes nicely spaced out for the brackets I needed to make for holding the boards down. Just had to cut them up into little 90 degree pieces. You can see how many I used here, I believe it was 96 brackets that i welded on. I'd rather use the chop saw and the grinder than drill that many holes.
Its freezing cold here right now... which got me to thinkin about a heater and a/c unit. I'm not really ready to pull the trigger on a/c yet but a heater is essential. After a beer or two my buddy asked, "What about using the original heater??" After a little dismantling and cleaning it might do the job! Fan on top for defrost maybe? Crusty but still spins. Cable operated fresh air or recirculate door here. Frozen up at the moment. A second giant fan inside the box for general circulation? Blows like a hurricane!
Think the small fan may be fresh air in. Recirculated air gets humid and redeposits the wet air back onto the windows where it condenses again. The heater in my 46 Plymouth is a great heater but a lousy defroster unless you drive with the passenger side vent window open to bring outside air in,. In 49 the extended an incoming air hole in the radiator support and that made a word of difference.
I decided not to reuse the original heater core so I found a transmission cooler with very similar dimensions and it came with its own fan on ebay. It uses -10 an fitting which are 5/8 and they come out the bottom just like the original. Test fitting, the input/ output are just a little narrower at the bottom. Rubber takes up the remaining gaps. A little trimming and a little paint and the core went in. Just had to drill 4 holes for the fan and routed it out the original holes under the dash. I removed and blocked off that 2nd snail fan on top, I still believe it was just used for the drivers side defrost duct. I'll just get a Y fitting and run both defrost off of the 1 hole on top. Still waiting on my -10 to 5/8" barb fittings. I'll need to get a switch with a resistor built in for different speeds but its mostly done for now.
The Jalopy Journal
