[pic_jon]

About 2-3 months ago, I started looking for a new project.. A tow rig project. Our 2008 Toyota Tundra Crewmax 4x4 5.7 is more of a people mover than anything. After a leveling kit & 33" Michelin's.. The fuel mileage was horrible. 12.4-12.8 city / 14-14.5 highway (65-70mph) mostly flat land. 10mpg when pulling a toyota pickup on a 16 footer.

Goal: No payment, Reliable, Capable, good looking & Fun to drive
Wants: 94+ 2wd dodge diesel extended cab long bed 3/4 or 1 ton
Target Initial investment: $2500

I expected to do body work front to back.. Paint job, re-do the interior, work on the motor and drive train until it's bullet proof.

So I found a 97 cummins club cab long bed, 2wd, NV4500.. Talk about ROUGH!!!! Hahahaa Should be fun! :lmao: At least I was under my budget :lmao:

On to the pics!

 

[pic_jon]

After a 3 hour drive home.. I had to put the interior at the top of the list :barf: So I striped it down..

The truck drives surprisingly well.. Has a fair amount of power for not having any aftermarket parts aside from the hillbilly bull hauler stacks. They're not even mounted evenly lol.. No y-pipe either.. Just a " T ". They're definitely coming off!

 

[pic_jon]

All in all, it runs pretty well for a mostly stock truck with 3.55 gears and 800+ lbs in the bed.. Definitely quieter than I anticipated

Here are the only two random videos I took.

VIDEO #1



VIDEO #2

 

[crashnzuk]

What the hell are the blue lights for? Mood lighting :laughing:
Travis..

 

[yager]

Official Texas Issued bumpers... Front: Check, Rear: Check
Official oversized, bigger than fuck, illegal alien smuggling sized stacks : Check.. Check..

Cool start to project: check !

 

[pic_jon]

What the hell are the blue lights for? Mood lighting :laughing:
Travis..

The previous owner called them hoe-lights.. :laughing:

 

[hadfield4wd]

The previous owner called them hoe-lights.. :laughing:

Pretty sure I'd just buy a new seat.:barf:

 

[Atchley]

Looks like you are off to a good start. If you don't mind me asking what have you got in it?

 

[pic_jon]

You guys should have seen the look on my wife's face when she saw the truck in the driveway :lmao: Needless to say.. She thinks I'm insane.. I can't argue

Pretty sure I'd just buy a new seat.:barf:

:laughing: Ya sounds disgusting huh? My father in law is an upholsterer.. So yes, they'll be getting re-done. The pictures make the interior look horrible.. But seeing it in person.. It's down right :barf:

Looks like you are off to a good start. If you don't mind me asking what have you got in it?

After a full tank of diesel, couple gallons of coolant, 16 quarts of oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and a fuel heater/fuel pre-filter kit.. $2100. Still need to get the title transferred, registered and state inspection (if that's even possible lol). I got insurance on it before I bought it, so that's taken care of.

 

[pic_jon]

Official Texas Issued bumpers... Front: Check, Rear: Check
Official oversized, bigger than fuck, illegal alien smuggling sized stacks : Check.. Check..

Cool start to project: check !

Haha thanks..

Ya I noticed the exhaust is factory piping until it gets under the cab, then its 4 inches up thru the bed and into 7" stacks.. Talk about cheap!

Also came with a pretty new rawson koenig tool box , goose neck plate and rails, the stock exhaust, early 90s playboy deck of cards.. hairy edition, upper ball joint new in box, fuel filter new in box.. Wish I would have saw this before I bought one. Owell, I'll use it soon enough

 

[uglyscout]

NICE! You will like it.

I had a 95 2wd automatic version of your truck and got 19-20 empty, 17-18 with my 1500# camper and 16-17 with my 8000# trailer (I didn't tow with the camper enough to have that # for you). It would do the speed limit with the camper or trailer on all but the worst passes on the west coast. You should squeck out even better mileage with the 5 speed.

 

[pic_jon]

Got the interior removed..

Only one way to sanitize all the dirty deeds this truck has seen :shaking:

......Water hose & pinesol

Don't worry.. It's just surface rust!

After spending a solid $5.00 at the pressure washer.. I still couldn't see my ass re-using this carpet..

Oh well.. Carpet is useless anyway, especially at camp grounds and offroad park parking lots :flipoff2: Needless to say.. This is going in the dumpster

 

[duck454ss]

as far as that engine is concerned, make her breath and you're good to go. i straight piped my 2005, installed an air intake and gained 2-3 mpg. those 12v are bullet proof. one thing you should look at is the dowel pin. its and easy fix but can destroy your engine. i cant remember what year 12v had the issue but google it. also consider swaping the turbo for an hx35/40 hybrid and you'll be sitting pretty.

 

[pic_jon]

as far as that engine is concerned, make her breath and you're good to go. i straight piped my 2005, installed an air intake and gained 2-3 mpg. those 12v are bullet proof. one thing you should look at is the dowel pin. its and easy fix but can destroy your engine. i cant remember what year 12v had the issue but google it. also consider swaping the turbo for an hx35/40 hybrid and you'll be sitting pretty.

Yeah that's next on the list, after I get the interior cleaned up a bit. It smells fresh now.

The KDP is definitely no joke! I'm starting to wonder if my timing case is cracked or not.. This thing leaks quite a bit. This is a well oiled machine lol.. I'll put it up on the lift and pressure was it once the engine is resealed. I'm sure its a combination of a lot of things. Vacuum pump, crank seal, gear box (p/s fluid), oil pan, probably rear main and maybe even the timing housing (killer dowel pin).. We'll see on that last one! Keeping my fingers crossed


Anyway.. I got the surface rust cleaned up and applied a coat of rustoleum white primer to the floor pan. Looks pretty nice. Once it's dry I'll install new Jute! I'll probably use two layers around the transmission tunnel, for noise reduction.

 

[blthomas]

Cool little project.

Man talk about a rig in need of that ever popular $50 Rustoleaum roll on paint job.

I'd grab a gallon at Lowes or Wally World and get that bitch one color.

You keepin the stacks? :flipoff2:

 

[pic_jon]

Cool little project.

Man talk about a rig in need of that ever popular $50 Rustoleaum roll on paint job.

I'd grab a gallon at Lowes or Wally World and get that bitch one color.

You keepin the stacks? :flipoff2:

Nah, I can't do it.. They've got to go! I have to have a tool box in this truck. The gap between the tool box and the cab looks wayyyy too goofy. Like I mentioned earlier, the stacks were poorly installed using stock exhaust, then 4" exhaust into a 4" " T ", on into 7" bull haulers.

It'll also be nice to put a 4wheeler in the bed and close the tail gate

However.. There have been about a dozen dodge/cummins I've seen where stacks were done to my taste :beer:

 

[87manche]

where'd you pick up the jute? my IH needs sound insulation badly, but I can't stomach the cost of dynamat.

 

[pic_jon]

where'd you pick up the jute? my IH needs sound insulation badly, but I can't stomach the cost of dynamat.

The dealership I work at sells it. But, this particular jute came with my new dark grey rubber floor assembly to replace the nasty carpet.

Got it for $0 out of pocket :flipoff2:.. My father in law got it for me. I did a front/rear brake job and an alignment on his Silverado. He bought the pads, I just did the labor. His way of paying me.. What a deal!!!

He gets a discount.. So I think he paid $140-150 for this. Full price is closer to $175-200

I've already installed the jute and rubber floor. Just need to finish trimming the edges and making holes for the seat mounting locations.

Here's some pics of an easy way to apply jute

Lie your jute down evenly over your floor pan..

Trim the edges and fill in all gaps

My truck has studs sticking up. I made perfect holes around them by doing the following:

Tap the top of the stud through the jute, lightly with a hammer

You will soon see this>>>

Push the jute down just a little>>

Find a socket which will go over the stud, and tap it down until it bottoms out on the floor pan>>

And you end up with this>>

 

[pic_jon]

Also pulled and stripped the headliner.. Got some nasty foam crap in my eyes lol.. Feels nice. No tellin' what kind of nasty stuff was on it, and now in my eyes.

Don't think I mentioned this.. But this truck came from a chicken farm Due to the measurable amount of dirt and crud.. I don't think they EVER rolled the windows up.. Why not??? Just push the damn button..

I was told that I should have the headliner back by the end of the day! Also.. $0.00 out of pocket.

 

[rajincajingt]

nice find