1985 Mitsubishi Turbo Diesel SAS/Money Pit

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Here's my 1985 Mitsubishi Turbo Diesel Pickup. The Turbo Diesel engine is a Mitsubishi 2.3 liter or more commonly known as a 4D55. This motor came in the truck from the factory and produces 84 hp and 136 ft. lbs. in it's stock configuration.

I bought the truck back in July of 2003 and have used it as my daily driver ever since and plan to use it as such in the future. When I bought it, the torsion bars were cranked, it had shackle lift in the rear, and a 3" body lift for a total of 6" of lift. It had 33" tires, 4.88 gears and the front fenders were heavily trimmed.

Since the spring of 2008 it has undergone a complete make over inside and out. There is so much it is impossible to remember everything. but here are a few of the mods.

Engine
4D56 head with roller rockers, ported and polished
4D55 PerformanceTD04 Watercooled turbo conversion
4D55 Performance H.O. injection pump
Custom Intercooler
3" exhaust
4D55 Performanceair intake
Custom brake booster

Tranny
FM145 Transmission Swap from a 1987 Ford Ranger Married to a Atlas 5:1 Transfercase
Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch
Tatton's Drive Shafts
Belly Skid

Axles and Suspension
2008 JK Crate axles from Mopar Performance
Elockers
Disc Brakes
Fox Coilover with remote resiviors up front
Trail Gear Leaf Springs in the Rear
Custom long arm suspension setup
Electronic disconecting sway bar up front off a 2008 Rubicon
5.13 gears
(It has about 13" of lift)

Other
Restored interior retro interior
4D55 Performance Battery relocation kit
4D55 Performance Oversized friberglass front fenders
Stinger Battery
Rocklizard Sliders
General Grabber Competions 33x12.50x17
XD Addict Wheels




Here's a few pics of me at Moab in the old configuration, before the SAS and suspension lift.






As she sat back in 2008 with the Jeep wheels, it may look good in the picture but I demand perfection so the bed had to go. The bed was beyond all hope. It had 500 holes drilled on the inside and in the bottom from the previous owner.



Here is what it looks like currently with all the modification with the roof rack, wheels, rocksliders and bumpers. It's always a work in progress. I have since swapped out the bed for one in much better condition, and I have started prepping it for paint.

[mitchell]

my first 4x4 was a 84 D50 man that was a cool truck

[Rockrenegade]

Lets see a pic of the new fenders. Are they baja style or what.

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by Rockrenegade

Lets see a pic of the new fenders. Are they baja style or what.

Actually I have a set of original John Bakers but there just not big enough. So I am having a couple sets of off road baja style fenders made as well so I can stuff 35's with out rubbing. I plan on selling the baja style fenders in the future but were just in the molding process for now. The new fenders will be similar to the John Baker fenders, but they will have 5" more flare and 38" wheel openings.

[88mitsu]

How much power are you making with the mods now? I wish I had a diesel...whats the MPG like with the 35ish" tires?

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by 88mitsu

How much power are you making with the mods now? I wish I had a diesel...whats the MPG like with the 35ish" tires?

Due to the current state of the economy and diesel prices, I have it burning as efficiently as possible for now. When I put my foot into it, I don't even get a puff of black smoke. My last dyno run which was in earlier this year had me making about 83 hp and 130 ft lbs of torque at 8psi. We were having a hard time getting the full 13psi of boost because you can't shift on the dyno so we did the best we could in 2nd gear. I am certain there is lots more power than this dyno shows. I have no problem pulling long 8% grades over mountains here doing 70mph in overdrive. Even with the bigger tires my 0-60 time is 2 seconds faster than it was stock. As far as fuel economy it is great. I used to get between 21-27 mpg but ever since I upgraded to a custom built injection pump, I now avarage 32 city and 44 freeway. I also removed all my California emission which probably had something to do with it.

[88mitsu]

Thats at the wheels with the tires that are on it now? 44 highway Hell yeah!

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by 88mitsu

Thats at the wheels with the tires that are on it now? 44 highway Hell yeah!

Yeah, the milage is way up since switching to the 1983 federal injection pump. A friend and I had a suspision that the injection pumps off the '83 Mitsubishi Pickups were far more efficient than those that came on the '84-85 trucks. It was probably the single best upgrade I have done to my truck. Not only does it return better mpg but I definately have more power.

Since switching to the '83 pump the truck has a completely different sound. I get that cool diesel ping when I hold the rpm's constant like the big Cummins trucks. I used to get the diesel clatter but never did I get the ping.

I have owned alot of little trucks over the years like a 94 toyota with a 22re, a dakota with 3.8 magnum, chevy Luv diesels, and a mitsubishi with 2.6 and none of those engines have the moving power of these little Mitsubishi Diesels. I wish I could get my hands on another one and just keep it bone stock.

[Rockrenegade]

Why cant you shift on the dyno? I thought you needed to be in 4th gear to do a dyno run.

[4D55 Performance Inc]

I am not an expert about dynos, but the shop was calibrating my pump based on the dyno runs. They did about a dozen or so runs over a two day period to get this pump perfectly calibrated. They said they could not do full dyno runs but they could dyno it in second gear which was adequate to calibrate the pump and timing. I wish I knew more about dyno's but I don't. For what it's worth, the shop the was doing the dyno's was one of the best diesel shops in the country so I trust what he was saying.

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Here are a few shots of the hole in my floor. Just making some room for the Atlas transfercase. Also here is a shot of the Tcase cross member/skid plate. Still alot of work that needs to be done but it movin' in the right direction. As a side note, that orange stuff you see in the cab is glue, not rust thank goodness.

[GreatWhiteShark]

my first truck was a 1988 dodge d-50. Lowered and not 4x4 of course

unfortunately it got stolen soon after purchased.

got a better rig now

yours looks hella cool!

what does it have for hubs? aisins? manuals?

[Rockrenegade]

Thought you might want to see how the rig finally turnrd out. Here it is in action. I know the quality sucks.

YouTube - colby in the box

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by Rockrenegade

Thought you might want to see how the rig finally turnrd out. Here it is in action. I know the quality sucks.

YouTube - colby in the box

That thing is sick, what is your crawl ratio. I love the flex and the beadlocks.

Your diesel sounds like mine used to before I rebuilt the pump. Now mine sounds like a Cummins. I think with some tweeking you could get alot more power out of that 4D55 and it would sound alot more like a diesel.

[Rockrenegade]

Its 288/1, at the very end that was all it had. Third gear double low

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by Rockrenegade

Its 288/1, at the very end that was all it had. Third gear double low

Were you having tranny issues?

[88mitsu]

Damn the floor of your truck is hella clean. Do you have any rust at all?


the youtube truck thread, incase you don't have it bookmarked yet
/forum/dodge/452534-powerhouse-powerram-50-royal.html

[Rockrenegade]

Originally Posted by 4D55 Performance Inc

Were you having tranny issues?

What do you mean, as far as the noises? No, might be a loose rocker or something. When you gear your axels and t-cases it relieves the stress on you engine and tranny.

[AutoBodyGod]

Wow Spencer, Thats a big ass ugly hole & hack job you have here. Why didn't you have a body lift installed or dropped the drivetrain? Is the hack shop going to reinforce the floor after this is all said & done?

[4D55 Performance Inc]

That big a$$ hole is the price to pay for going with the Atlas. That hole is inspite of adding a 1" body lift. It's basically all back togeather, but my Stinger battery died so I am waiting for a replacement to come in the mail. RRRRRRRRRRR.

If it's not one thing, it's another.

[AutoBodyGod]

Originally Posted by 4D55 Performance Inc

That big a$$ hole is the price to pay for going with the Atlas. That hole is inspite of adding a 1" body lift. It's basically all back togeather, but my Stinger battery died so I am waiting for a replacement to come in the mail. RRRRRRRRRRR.

If it's not one thing, it's another.

You still didn't answer my question Spencer.

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Yeah, the floor was reinforced and rust proofed. The floor was chopped like that so the original seat mounting brackets could be retained. Lowering the drivetrain was not an option because it's a rockcrawler and I need all the clearance I can get.

[sneakyninja]

Originally Posted by Rockrenegade

Thought you might want to see how the rig finally turnrd out. Here it is in action. I know the quality sucks.

YouTube - colby in the box

I love that truck! You should post a link to it's build, I remember following the build and watching the videos from when you were building. Badass

[4D55 Performance Inc]

Originally Posted by sneakyninja

I love that truck! You should post a link to it's build, I remember following the build and watching the videos from when you were building. Badass

Unfortunately the link to the build was lost when MightD50.com went down. As far as the videos go, I think your thinking of Colby's rig. I have never posted any of my videos on the web.

I will try my best to recreate what was lost, but it will take a lot of time.

[88mitsu]

Hey, was the original transmission a km145? How diffucult was the km132 2wd swap? How much different was the mounting, clutch, shifters, etc.?

There is a Toyota FJ80 solid axle at the yard with 4.10s, I thought I could km132 swap with a samurai transfer case...