Building a Tow Rig

[DWitcher]

Expensive plastic piece of crap!

[DHONDAGOD]

Cool....




Chris

[D'Animal]

Originally Posted by D'Animal

Installed the Dodge Master Cylinder for the clutch. (What a plasic piece of crap that is.)

Originally Posted by DWitcher

Expensive plastic piece of crap!

X - 2

[DWitcher]

How it coming along Dan? I don't smell diesel smoke yet

[D'Animal]

You should have smelled some Sunday evening.



The wind was blowing south. It fired right up. I booty fabed a front driveshaft to make sure it would move under it's own power, It does.

Now it's time to order a front driveshaft, 4"11's for the rear and a rear driveshaft.

My buddy is installing the front clip on it tonight for me.

[D'Animal]

Originally Posted by D'Animal

My buddy is installing the front clip on it tonight for me.

My buddy was a no show after work. He had to take his 4y/o son to hospital.

I was able to get the inner fenders cut out and loosely mounted. The out fenders are loosely mounted as well. Hood latch is loosely mounted.

Rusty fender clips are non-reusable.

[HI^C]

lol, man wish someone would have said something, or i check in a bit more often.

cummins fits in chevy frame, loose the dodge a/c and buy one bracket
moves its postion and bolt it back in, or run no A/C USE 2nd gen not 1st gen motor
mounts, well you have 1st gen stuff but the vibes are alot less with 2nd. easier to
fab mounts as well really. not sure on the remove the motor to pull the starter ???

dodge brakes, specific to 1st gen, well this is the WORST thing on a dodge, rear
ebrakes are CRAP dodge vacuum booster and master is CRAP. loose the abs stuff in
the rear, trash it all, go GM hydroboost. and swap to different e brake setup, can
go bigger bore rear brake cylinders. no worries on if and when the vacuum pump will
go out or not, can get a direct drive PS pump or just run it through the vacuum pump
as it is setup now.

you did 4" diesel springs or thier 4" gas springs, ie part number. dont need an adjustable
drag for the 4" gas spring, run factory. AND THEY WILL settle in.

thinking dodge frame vs chevy cab is just sticking it to you, nothing looks remotely close
and looks like way to much work chevy frame

BTW you passed me probably on your travels, i have the rad support

[D'Animal]

Originally Posted by HI^C

you did 4" diesel springs or thier 4" gas springs, ie part number. dont need an adjustable
drag for the 4" gas spring, run factory. AND THEY WILL settle in.

Thanks for the input.

I installed 4" diesel springs. I have not done anything to the back yet. If I were to level it out right now, I would need 2" blocks. I heard the fronts will settle so I will wait a bit before doring anything to the back.

[D'Animal]

Ran into a bit of a snag.

I tried to install 4:11's in the rear. I could not get the backlash even close. I had 2 - 0.100" shims as well as a .035" shim on the left. I had one .065" shim on the right. The backlash was still 3/8".

Since I thought I was in over my head I took it to my local 4x4 shop. They could not see anything I did wrong. After a few phone calls I found that a 1990 2wd Dodge Dana 70 with stock 3:03 is an Uber rare housing. Not valuable, just oddball.

The pinion is offset in the housing. The only way to to install 4:11's is to install a specific built Detroit Locker.

I had the option of finding a Dana 70 U rear end or install the Detroit. I already had new brakes, wheel cylinders, drums turned, etc on this one. I opted for the Detroit.

The correct driveshafts should be in middle of next week.

They are "cleaning up" my wiring while waiting on parts.

[Wile E Coyote]

Snag, hell! Sounds like an opportunity for an upgrade, hehe.

[D'Animal]

Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote

Snag, hell! Sounds like an opportunity for an upgrade, hehe.

I just do not know how it will behave with a locker while pulling a goose neck trailer. On the dry stuff it should be OK but as soon as I hit some snow or Ice I heard lockers are the debil.

[DWitcher]

Originally Posted by D'Animal

Ran into a bit of a snag.

I tried to install 4:11's in the rear. I could not get the backlash even close. I had 2 - 0.100" shims as well as a .035" shim on the left. I had one .065" shim on the right. The backlash was still 3/8".

Since I thought I was in over my head I took it to my local 4x4 shop. They could not see anything I did wrong. After a few phone calls I found that a 1990 2wd Dodge Dana 70 with stock 3:03 is an Uber rare housing. Not valuable, just oddball.

The pinion is offset in the housing. The only way to to install 4:11's is to install a specific built Detroit Locker.

I had the option of finding a Dana 70 U rear end or install the Detroit. I already had new brakes, wheel cylinders, drums turned, etc on this one. I opted for the Detroit.

The correct driveshafts should be in middle of next week.

They are "cleaning up" my wiring while waiting on parts.

I ran into this about 3 months ago when trying to convert a 90 D70 from 3.08 to a 3.54 set from a 94. I think the pinion is .375" offset. What about using a factory style posi in the rear?

[D'Animal]

I can't get it in a 4:11 gear ratio.

I have the same 1990 Dana 70 as you that I took from the 2wd Cummins Powered Donor Truck.

Originally Posted by DWitcher

What about using a factory style posi in the rear?

[DWitcher]

Well the Detroit should'nt be too bad. Maybe carry a spare axle.

[D'Animal]

They axles are done and the driveshafts are in. It runs great. Aligning the front end today. I have 3" of tow in.

I'm really tired of hot wiring it so wiring is next.

[D'Animal]

How do you remove the ABS stuff? Do you just hardline the brake lines and eliminate the "box" bolted into the frame?

[DWitcher]

Thats what I've always done. Last one I did was a 98 GMC. Removed the ABS controller and installed unions in the brake lines. Obviously I had an ABS light screaming at me all the time but you won't have to worry about that. Look at installing a 2 lb residual valve inline to the front brakes if the brake pedal seems low after bleeding all the air from the brake system. They can be bought cheap from Summit Racing.

[D'Animal]

It is far from done but I drove it around yesterday.

I will bolt the seat in correctly before I do that again.

[DWitcher]

Any more pic's?

[D'Animal]

I'll get some today.

It is at the local 4x4 shop so the wiring can be done correctly.

[D'Animal]

The basic rough in wiring was done. Now it's up to me for the rest.

Well we mounted some 37's on it and it just did not look right. Did not have the right stance to it.

Mounted a set of 35's and they did look correct.

Loaded it up and it is back at my shop.


Wife likes it!

[D'Animal]

Load Range "E" Rated Procomp Tires and some fancy smanshy 17" wheels.


Not my first choice but they were take-off's from another guys rig and the price was really good. Quite a bit less than black wagon spoke steel wheels and 35" BFG's in a load range "E".

[D'Animal]

A few more pics.

[D'Animal]

Front View.

[D'Animal]

It is getting a flatbed. Once I get it mounted I will be replacing the rear blocks and level out the rig. I have a crazy built front bumper and an 8274 to mount on the front. After the added weight, the front should settle down about 1" or maybe 1.5 inches.

[CreeperSleeper]

Sweet...