hey whats up,

I got a buddy at school who has the dodge mentioned in the title. He hasnt got a lift, its all stock, but he got a deal on some 39 inch swampers. Dodge wheelwells seem huge, i told him we could probably just hack the fenderwells out round so the tires fit, has anyone else done this? All he really hits is the mud, he dont care about any flex or anything, and its already got a beefy drivetrain, so i figure we sawzall the fenderwells and he should be good to fit the tires. does anyone beg to differ, because i have NO experience with dodge trucks and i have just looked at the fenders a few times after school.

thanks for any help, later.

With no lift and 39's by the time you cut enough you would be into the front of the door by several inches.

Yup, you'll have to hack the door, and probabally part of the door hinge, and alot of the firewall and floor boards.

Hope you guys are good at sheetmetal work and making suicide doors.

There isnt alot of material on the rear part of the front fender to trim. He wont clear those unless he trims the fender and pushes the forward a bit. Drivetrain is pretty beefy, but he will go through hub assemblies on it also. Im running only 37's and Ive gone through of them already

ok, cool, at least i got a fast answer. would a 3 in body lift and 2 in front spacer lift with matching back blocks get it high enough for some fender hacking without going into the doors?

If you cut, I've seen pretty good results with a plazma cutter.

I'd bet 2" plus a BL would keep you out of the doors with a little bit of margin. It would depend entirely on the backspacing of the rims though.

I say try it out!

Either that, or I'll trade you my RC for the Cummins. You could trim to fit 39s without lifting it!

The body lift would help, but the 2" spacer may not. Putting the spacers on without longer control arms will pull the axle back and move you closer to the door.
Now 5" of lift and some trimming with the axle pushed forward, it would probably work.

I gotta agree. 2" spacer will get you to clear 35's. Add a 3" body lift, and your clearing 37's. Its still alot of hacking to clear 40's.

ok, cool, at least i got a fast answer. would a 3 in body lift and 2 in front spacer lift with matching back blocks get it high enough for some fender hacking without going into the doors?

A 2" spacer will just about level the truck out. The rear blocks are already 4 3/4" tall from the factory. If you really wanted to go taller, you'd have to make your own if you want to go over 5 1/2" (unless you find a pair of factory 6" ones from a ~'92-'93).

Pete

damn. fuckin car companies. ive seen plenty of older trucks with NO lift that just had big hacked fenderwells. well, my buddy just got a ticket for 15 over and he has to go to court to try and keep his lisc, so this project is now on the backburner.

I'm still open to trading! My RamCharger wouldn't be able to speed with 39s, so he'd be set on two fronts.

I want a Cummins...... :rolleyes:

OK WTF... hacking a truck? You have to be hardcore to hack a nice truck. This guy isn't hardcore. He'll regret it. And then I'll be jealous.

Well when he looses his license tell him to sell his truck on this board for cheap! I'm sure there will be plenty of takers!

Has nobody caught on to the fact that this is a 97 dodge with a cummins??
WHY AND THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS???? save up some money and buy something old to fawk up!!

Has nobody caught on to the fact that this is a 97 dodge with a cummins??
WHY AND THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS???? save up some money and buy something old to fawk up!!

There's nothing wrong with "fawking up" a 94 and newer CTD. :D
I dont regret one second of wheeling i do with mine.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/6/web/258000-258999/258080_683_full.jpg
http://dodgetruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/gotsmoke/141176.jpg

Just to top all of this off they do not make body lifts for ctd.

Just to top all of this off they do not make body lifts for ctd.

They dont make direct fit, but a few simple mods can make them work. A couple guys on my site have done it already.

Nice rig..... pic link not working... post some more pics PLEEEASEEE

http://www.cardomain.com/id/gotsmoke
figured it out, some pretty good pics, love the drowned ford :flipoff2:

They dont make direct fit, but a few simple mods can make them work. A couple guys on my site have done it already.


I am one of those guys. The kit for the gasser has everything needed to lift a CTD except new intercooler boots. All you do is loosen both lower intercooler boots when lifting the body and turn them to correct the angle. You also need to cut a few inches off the top of the hard intercooler tube, going from the intake to the drivers side lower boot.

a few more pics as requested.
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/ramsport59/IM000467.JPG
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/ramsport59/IM000454.JPG

Hey, this is off the topic, but, Gotsmoke,
Very nice truck. I would kill to have it. Nice site also. Have you ever gone to Silver lake sand dunes in Mich?? Cause couple weekends agaio, there was a truck there just like yours. It seemed pretty bad.

I am one of those guys. The kit for the gasser has everything needed to lift a CTD except new intercooler boots. All you do is loosen both lower intercooler boots when lifting the body and turn them to correct the angle. You also need to cut a few inches off the top of the hard intercooler tube, going from the intake to the drivers side lower boot.

a few more pics as requested.
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/ramsport59/IM000467.JPG
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/ramsport59/IM000454.JPG
Man that truck just look badder an badder every time i see it! :grinpimp:

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Nudelles, I've never been to silverlake. I'd love to one day but i think the Ram would need to be trailerd that far.

my 96 eats track bars every 50,000 max, thats the guarenteed forever moog ones too, I imagine with 39's you would replace every balljoint in the frontend when you do oil changes? just thought he should be aware of the ongoing cost of bigger tires.

my 96 eats track bars every 50,000 max, thats the guarenteed forever moog ones too, I imagine with 39's you would replace every balljoint in the frontend when you do oil changes? just thought he should be aware of the ongoing cost of bigger tires.

Thats not bad. My 96 was eating the mc quay norris bars every week with 33x12.5's. It got annoying getting a clunk in the track bar the day after you installed it.

Lukes links are your friend.

I beg to differ guys I got a body lift from Performance Accesories, it was made for the Cumins. It had all the parts needed to do the swap properly. Like a spacer on the intake, steel parts to make the fan shroud fit properly. A very well made kit, very pricey but worth it. I'm running 315's (35's) on it with no problems.

My brother has a dodge we just put on a 4" lift and are in the process of a 3" body lift. He has gotten him self some 39.5x15x16.5 sup swamps. you all seam to know your stuff. we thought we would leave the inner wheel wels out of the truck and hope for the best on the rearend. (wheel wells on the bed) Do you all think it is going to be enough of a lift?I will try and attach a pic of the truck befor any work was done,
thanks for the info :cool2:

Is it a 1500, 2500, or 3500? 7" will still hit with 40's, but should be drivable on the street.