1997 Dodge Cummins TowHo/Expo

[blakeape]

I recently posted a few pics of my dodge in the "show your tow rigs" thread and had a few requests for a build thread. So here goes. The truck is a 1997 Dodge Ram 4x4, Cummins, 5spd, extended cab, long bed with 4:10 gears. I bought the truck in May of 04 with 133k and have slowly been modifying it to what I want. It has had numerous tires ranging from 265/75R16s to 37x12.50R17s with corresponding stock suspension, leveler kit, 5 inch coil lift and now leaf springs and a 1979 Ford Dana 60. Currently it has a custom ground fuel plate, gauges, advanced timing, 4 inch MRBP exhaust, Pac Brake airbags and exhaust brake, killer dowel pin mod, fluid dampener harmonic balancer, flip out tow mirrors, homemade bumper, B&W turnover Gooseneck, recent paint from red to charcoal grey and now 195K. Here are a couple pics before the leaf swap

[Seabass]

Nice rig! You got any of your old suspension you wanna sell? I just picked up a 96. I love the pick w: the camper.

[blakeape]

So I know a lot of people think any tire bigger than stock is stupid on a tow rig and I am running 37's. When I got the truck with 265 and 4:10's it was geared so low that I wasn't comfortable cruising highway speeds of 75mph in Montana and my fuel mileage was not great. I am now getting the best mph I have ever gotten with the engine mods and 37's. Usually 12-13 towing and 15-18 empty. I did also change the gear in the t-case to compensate for the larger tires and have checked my speedometer with a GPS. The truck is obviously lifted also, which I know a lot of people think is senseless. If this truck was a hot-shotter or strictly a tow rig that arguement might make sense, but I like to camp in remote areas, use the truck to access rivers for kayaking in the spring and generally explore. The truck also is close to 23 feet long and a little ground clearance helps. I few more pics:

[blakeape]

Originally Posted by Seabass

Nice rig! You got any of your old suspension you wanna sell? I just picked up a 96. I love the pick w: the camper.

Thank you, about the only parts of the old suspension I have is a drop down track bar bracket from Top Gunz and sway bar drop brackets.

[blakeape]

So a friend of mine did a very similar leaf swap on is on his 01 cummins a few years back and has been real happy. He also has a fabrication business, a big ass heated shop and a lot more tools and know how than me. Thank You Chris and Nukeproof Fabrication. My truck shelled out the pass side unit bearing in August and was parked until November as I collected parts and saved money. I have been scared of my unit bearings going bad for a while and was afraid it would happen far from home. Luckily it went on my way home from work. I have also been fighting death wobble, the truck ate trac bars, the steering never lasted and generally sucked, the low pinion front end vibrated in 4wd with the lift and I never had problems, but never trusted the 2 piece vacuum actuated axle shafts. In the above post you can see the old axle coming out and the 1979 ford donor truck. Here are a few more dismantling and rebuilding pics. I don't know why, but I can't post more pics, I'll try again later.

[MT4Runner]

Looks good Jake--I didn't realize you had painted it.

[blakeape]

Originally Posted by MT4Runner

Looks good Jake--I didn't realize you had painted it.

Thanks Shawn, actually I traded Doug (Horsepower Ranch) my old IROKs for the for paintjob and I couldn't be happier. He really did a great job; door jambs, took the bed and hood off etc. I have always got great deals on red vehicles even though its one of my least favorite colors. Had a red 86 toy pickup in college, a red Audi, red Saab, red Ninja Motorcycle and I am keeping this truck!

[blakeape]

A few more. I pulled the dodge 60 out and sold it to a local guy who wrecked his truck and bent his housing. He swapped in his unit bearings which were pretty new and bought a bunch of my old lift. Then I pulled the 60 out of the 79 ford and rebuilt it. Replaced every bearing, seal, etc except pinion, carrier and kingpins. They all seemed good and I didn't want to mess with setting up a Ring and pinion, plus it was already 4:10s. Cleaned it up, primed, painted, new calipers, pads, rotors, u-joints, 35 spline stub shafts and warn hubs. Then gusseted the knuckles so they don't crack like the ones on my Taco. Only did the pass side because I am going high steer with a parts mike arm. Thanks for the stick welding Chris. Also replaced the 1/2 wheel studs with 9/16 ones. Actually that was a bitch. Had to order a 19/32 drill bit and open up the holes for the wheel studs I used.

[southern k5]

Very nice, what springs did you use, and do you have any pics of how you mounted them? Also, for your steering was it a custom build or does the standard high steer kit still work?

[blakeape]

Originally Posted by southern k5

Very nice, what springs did you use, and do you have any pics of how you mounted them? Also, for your steering was it a custom build or does the standard high steer kit still work?

Thanks for the compliments. The truck had a 5 inch coil lift from Top Gunz Customs before the leaf swap and I wanted to stay about the same height if not an inch or two lower in the front. A friend of mine has a 99 Ford Superduty that had a 6 inch Procomp lift on it. He does some fishing guiding and wanted to lower his truck for clients. I bought his 6 inch front springs and set it up initially with those. It was way to high. I went Junk-yard diving and found a rolled superduty with a 3.5 tuff country lift. I grabbed the front springs, u-bolts and plates. They worked great.

[blakeape]

Obviously things were only tacked and the truck was way too high. We custom made a set of front spring hangers and I plasma'd and sleeved the frame for the shackles. We used YJ spring bushings with a sleeve and all grade 8 bolts at the shackle end in the frame and spaced it out accordingly to match the leafs with some spacers cut from some heavy duty plastic. I torched the shackles out of some 3/8 x 2" flat stock. The 3.5 inch spring set the truck right where I wanted it and about 3 inches forward of where it was on coils. I am about an inch lower in the front than I was on coils, but being forward 3 inches my 37's don't rub at all and I think I could clear 40's with a little trimming if I really wanted.

[Nomad]

Nice work!!! I've got a '97 12valve also, and that's how that truck's front end should have been off the assembly line. I'm looking forward to the results!
Cheers!

[blakeape]

Thanks! So you can see I notched the body mount a little to clear the swing on the shackles in the last pic above. When we hung the springs we clamped them to the axle and actually pushed the front together a little to make the rear of the leafs line up with the frame and not have to mess with the factory 1979 ford Dana spring perches. So they are in a little of a V shape. I was a little skeptical, but this is how my friend Chris set his up a few years and many thousand miles ago without any problems. They are also only pushed in a couple inches. So next came steering. My old lift came with a new pitman arm that has the tie rod flipped to the bottom instead of on top. I reused this, but reamed it out to accept a Chevy 1 Ton tie rod end. I purchased a pass side high steer arm from Parts Mike and gusseted the knuckle on the 60. Then I bought left and right hand threaded weld in bungs and jam nuts for Chevy 1 ton tierod ends from Ballistic Fab. If I remember correctly we used .188 wall 1 5/8 DOM and made the drag link from the pitman to high steer arm. I used a factory 1979 Ford tie rod between the knuckles. I guess I don't have any great pics right now of the steering, but these last few have a 40 inch MTR on for laughs.

[MT4Runner]

Originally Posted by blakeape

When we hung the springs we clamped them to the axle and actually pushed the front together a little to make the rear of the leafs line up with the frame and not have to mess with the factory 1979 ford Dana spring perches. So they are in a little of a V shape. I was a little skeptical, but this is how my friend Chris set his up a few years and many thousand miles ago without any problems. They are also only pushed in a couple inches.

That's how the rear leafs are set up on late model Tundras. I think Toyota says it cuts down on sway and sideways deflection of the leaves.

[McMahan]

Looks great, it couldnt have come at a better time for me either! Subscribed

[blakeape]

Originally Posted by MT4Runner

That's how the rear leafs are set up on late model Tundras. I think Toyota says it cuts down on sway and sideways deflection of the leaves.

Huh? I hadn't heard that, but it makes sense and I have about 300 miles on the truck since the swap including towing my tractor with no ill side effects. In the last pics you can see the track bar we made. The axle end of the track bar is a modified bracket I bought a few years ago from Ruffstuff Specialties for my Taco and never used. The frame end is a custom made bracket and I had to cut the old factory track bar bracket off with a sawzall. I guess its cast and the torch no worky. For the track bar we cut the tie rod end off 2 factory 94-02 trackbars, sleeved them and plug welded it. The shocks are the bilsteins that came with my old lift. I made a plate to go on top of the factory coil mount. The eye bolt of the shock goes through the center and bolts to the 3 holes that hold the factory tower. The shock mounts off the back of the axle on some tabs.

[blakeape]

So the truck has been on the road now about 2-3 weeks and I couldn't be happier with the results. It rides firm but not ruff. I usually have approximately 50 psi in the airbags because I use them for a little lift and that definitely doesn't help. I bought 4 brand new 37x12.50x17 Goodyear MTRs from a member here for $200 apiece and am very happy. Finding an e-rated 37 is getting difficult, the new kevlar MTRs are only d-rated and I am pretty sure the Toyos are 13.5 wide. I have a set of e-rated 35 inch Toyo muds on H2 wheels that I will use if I hook to something really heavy. Like I said before I can do 75mph with the hubs in without and vibration. I have zero bump-steer and the truck is actually about an inch lower in the front. I am very happy.

[assman]

Any plans for a sway bar? Is it needed?

[Brutpwr]

I love how ur truck is turning out! Great work!!! Wish I had a truck similar to yours. I might have to buy/build one soon lol!

Jason

[blakeape]

Originally Posted by assman

Any plans for a sway bar? Is it needed?

Not right now. I saved the factory dodge one but don't see any need for it. Now I need to chase down a few rattles in the truck that are driving me nuts and save up some cash to get new knuckles for my wheelin' rig. I would like to get a couple driving lights on the front bumper, eventually put an ARB locker in the rear and build a rear bumper with a swing out tire carrier. I can't fit a full size spare under the bed anymore and plan on building an auxillary fuel tank to go where the spare is.

[blakeape]

So the truck is doing great. My wheeler is waiting on time and money so I drove to the top of a local trail and walked down. The dodge had the hubs locked in and needed it. It was actually kind of fun and really inexpensive to not wheel and just watch. But then last Sunday I jack-knifed turning into a friend's driveway towing my tractor and dented the extended cab on a Ponderosa and fucked my trailer up. Oh well, I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I put a line lock in and fixed the exhaust brake also.

[83K30]

Can you explain to me the need for a trac-bar with the leafs up front?

[blakeape]

A trac bar is by no means required on a leaf spring set up, but can definitely help lateral stability. The 99 on ford superduty's had them from the factory. It just helps to locate the front axle laterally underneath the truck and takes a lot of stress off the leaf spring bushings etc.

[warhammer44]

Awesome build! What size wheels are you running?

[blakeape]

37x12.50 R17 Goodyear MTR's, old style, e rated. Thanks for the compliments. I have about 4000 miles on since the swap and am still very happy. I put a PSC steering box brace on and wow did it help tighten up the steering. I have 198K on the truck and for all I know its the original steering box which leaks like a sieve, I have replaced the sector shaft seal once, and need to do a new box someday. I noticed my factory hitch is cracked really bad so a new hitch and rear bumper are in the works for the next couple weeks/month.