ok, that about says it all.

i'm gonna be building myself a truck. gonna be used for offroading but HAS to remain street legal.

here is what i KNOW i want

1.) turbo diesel engine (cummins, PSD, duramax...dunno yet)
2.) full size shortbed truck frame. (maybe blazer/bronco)
3.) solid axle (of course) front and rear (either beefed up 44's or 60's)
4.) Hummer wheels and 37/38'' tires
5.) im going to be building off the frame a complete tube cage/firewall and windshield etc and making my own body/scavenging body panels.
6.) coil suspension front and rear.

so, what i need help with

- a GOOD STRONG transmission - if i go automatic, prolly a Turbo 400 will do, manual i dont know.

- Transfer case (strong - obviously :))

- Opinions on different diesel engines/trannys that can be bolted up to them etc...

Last thing, ideally i would like to use as FEW ADAPTERS as possible.

thanks a bunch

With a beefy diesel and 37/38's I would go 60s rather than 44...

im going to be building off the frame a complete tube cage/firewall and windshield etc and making my own body/scavenging body panels.

How are you going to keep that street legal?

Reason I ask is this, in any ground-up project - you have to really know what your goals are and what you can and can-not compromise. It would suck to make a bunch of compromises in the name of road legality - only to find out the finished product won't be legal anyway.

for the transmission the nv4500 will hold up well... granny low 1st gear.. and a 5th gear over drive.. nice for the street.. i'd go with the blazer frame.. i don't know how you're gonna fit that diesel and a tranny and all that other shit in there comfortably lol

IMO DONT start with a fullsize truck frame. they are BIG and need to be boxed to have any strength. i would go with a yota frame personally.

diesel- CUMMINS all the way. not the big 6BT5.9, but the smaller 4BT3.9 or if youre keeping it really light and want a very driveable diesel the 6AT3.4. the 4bt can be tuned to 300hp and 750ft lbs with a few thousand dollars.

any chevy transmission will bolt to the cummins with a factory adapter (bread trucks come with them).

transfer case is simple. Np203/205 doubler.

axles, i would go with a 70 or 14b in the rear and obviously a 60 in the front. i have a dodge 60 that i will sell you for $800.

suspension, leafs in front, traditional coils in the rear with a 3 or 4 link. personally i would go with a 3 link with a one piece upper A arm.

steering definetly full hydro. no two ways about it.

and if you are going to be running the diesel, then you need big axles. and if you need big axles then you need to run big tires.

IMO i would go with at least 39.5s but probably 42s. if you are building a tube body for it then there is no limitation to tire size.

WB of around 108-110 would be best IMO.

so to sum it up, start with a smaller frame, bigger tires, and a small cummins motor, tuned if neccessary.

but just to bring this to your attention, do you have any idea how much a diesel costs? its not like you can run down to the PnP and pull one out of a truck for $300...

I have researched doing a similar project quite a bit so email me if you want to talk more.

adam@pirate4x4.com

Find a wrecked 4x4 truck with the motor you want and then take everything you need, motor, tranny/t-case, axles, radiator, fuel tank, any wireing and such. Then build the frame or buy a used one and you have most of it done. I like my Ford diesel but for what you want a 12 valve dodge 5.9 would be easy to hook up due to very little wireing and for adatping if needbe.

You may as well start out with 44 in. tires and dana 60 front.
dont forget full hydro steering. For a big diesel, I am partial to the late model 7.3 PSD Ford with the AODE 4 speed for an auto or a ZF 6spd manual. ATLAS II and be done with it.

well, it looks like im gonna have to use D60s after all. i like the cummins 4 cyl diesel, good choice, and yes i realize they dont come cheap... i still like the idea of a full size truck frame, why do they lack strength? i want my finished truck to be wider than my toyota is.

what year/model trucks (namely chevy and dodge) came with D60's or bigger? i searched but couldnt find a thing

seems that bigger tires (maybe 42's) may be needed to clear the bigger axles, thats not a big deal, i just threw 38's out there as a start anyhow.

what did the NV4500 come in? will it bolt up to a cummins?
its a good and durable tranny?

as far as keeping it street legal, its gonna take some more research on my part, i BELIEVE that in Virginia you only need a windshield, firewall, lights (including signal lights) and MAYBE fenders or mudflaps...

well, thanks for all your input, i appreciate it.

Adam, i dropped you an email (fairly long) about what my thinking was, and asking about what you found in your search then my computer crashed (YEHA! love that!) so i dont know if it got sent or deleted...

thanks again

Allison all the way...but you need to find a donor truck for the wiring and module or it will get $$

dodge was looking into putting the allison behind the cummmins so maybe you can find what would be nessasary there if you don't like hte idea of the duramax....

there is supposed to be a article in the new aug. petersens 4 wheel about this....


honestly I would get a 4 cly cummins like used in the scorpion and go from there...

NV4500 came in Chevy and Dodge trucks from '93 - '01. They most comonly came behind deisels and big blocks. Dodge did use is with the 3.9, 5.2, 5.9 in '93. After '93, it came behind 5.2, 5.9, 8.0 and TurboDeisel. Chevy used it behind all its engines from '93-'01. But, your most likely to find it behind the bigger of GM and Dodge's engines.

So, it would bolt right up to Cummins 5.9l Deisel, not sure about smaller Cummins, dont know much about 'em.

Oh yeah, from '93-'94 the Chevy NV4500's had a lower granny gear, 6.34:1, but they are said to be a little noisy. I don't know, I have a '95 in my Yota. All other years, and all Dodge versions had a 5.61:1 granny gear.

go buy an early 90's dodge one ton diesel with a 5 speed/205
take off the body, shorten and box the frame, build your body tube thing
all done:D
what's the problem?

Man save yourself some time and grief just go buy a brand new F550 4x4 and a lift. Anythig else will not be legal in the USA and you know it. I bet if you took all the measurement of all the rigs of folks that post here, you would find that possibly 10 percent of all the rigs a still legal.

10% my ass. More like 1%. At least that is how it is in Michigan. If you have any truck you wheel with, its not street legal.

And seriously, Are you that good of a fabricator that you will be able to do this stuff? Just buy a '94 Dodge with the NV4500, find a shortbox for it, and chop the frame. That is pretty much what you are looking for anyway.

1%? youve got to be kidding. everyone i know has their vehicle "street legal", hell most of them are daily drivers 38'' tires and all...from what i understand the "rockstomper" is still street legal and look at that thing!

there are a couple reasons i dont just go out and buy a 94 dodge pickup, i dont really feel the need to go into them right now though.

and yes, i do believe i could do this.

Oh, when you say street legal you meant registered. Here is my "street legal" truck-
http://mudtruk.com/35mph.jpg

Are you telling me all of your friends trucks have-

Functioning emergency brakes
Legal bumper higth
Legal frame hight
Catalytic convertors
Mufflers quiet enough to pass local sound ordinances
Non-cut tires
No beadlocks
Tires don't stick out too far
No steering components that have been welded on

Thats where I get 1%. I bet only 75% of the cars on the road are technically street legal.

IMO DONT start with a fullsize truck frame. they are BIG and need to be boxed to have any strength. i would go with a yota frame personally. um, dodge fullsize frames are 3/16 and if you box it you would be MUCH stronger than a toy frame could ever be. so how would you strengthen the toy frame easily? sounds like a lot more work to go with the toy frame to me.;) i would find an early dodge with the 12valve cummins and shorten it as mentioned, remove body and build custom one, slap on 38"- 44" tire you want and your done.:D