1953 Dodge M37 wheeler conversion

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Just need some radiator hose and a skid plate and I'm ready??? I'll call it FJ01
 
Why did you get such a big fan??
17 or 18” 600ish watt would be plenty. :lol:

On the plus side it will help make up for radiator being small.
 
Had no idea how big it was, it doesn't say on the listings.
 
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Okay, took it out for it's first real test drive today, there's video on the gopro I have to download. But ... Got about 2 miles around my neighborhood and the rear end locked up. No effing idea why? Disconnected the driveshaft and it still won't roll, so it's the differential. Eff me.

Had to call to get it towed as I had no way to even get it on my trailer. This was not on my list of potential problems.

 
Sure it’s the diff and not the brakes locking up solid in the rear? Just a thought.
 
I thought about that, but I'm not sure why they would. Unless the Tesla , master decided to apply the brakes for some reasons. I can disconnect power and see if that changes things.
 
So, why would the brakes lock up solid in the rear? Bad calipers??? It's not the master cylinder. This morning it will roll a little. I can feel the resistance. In a couple of hours, I'll get it in the shop and get the tires off and see what I can see.
 
Pads dragging on disc, heating up til lock up, is the caliper floating properly & do those calipers have enough room for those discs or are they wedged in there ?
 
cracking the bleeder screw on the calipers will tell you if it's hydraulic or not.
 
cruisermatt said:
cracking the bleeder screw on the calipers will tell you if it's hydraulic or not.
Click to expand...
Ahhh, didn't think of that.

They are disc. The idea they are dragging a little and heating up is a good one. It matches the behavior I felt last night. Whatever they are doing, they are both doing it exactly the same.
 
peesalot said:
Pads dragging on disc, heating up til lock up, is the caliper floating properly & do those calipers have enough room for those discs or are they wedged in there ?
Click to expand...
They aren't wedged in, but there might be enough drag to cause this.
 
Verify free movement of caliper both the pistons and the slides, if there is not enough room to compress pistons and get the pads off the rotor you may have to modify.
 
I had a similar problem around 20 years ago with a 14 bolt using front calipers in the rear. It would work fine cruising around, but the calipers would stick on under heavy braking (towing) and literally melt the rotors. I don't remember what the problem was though. I remmber I fought it, sort of fixed it, but the bias was never right for a real road vehicle so I swapped 4" wide drums back on and the braking was super.

A 4 wheel disc brake system is superior to disc/drums in most ways, but rear discs with the wrong bias are really bad beyond low speed casual stopping. The harder you brake, the more the improper bias shows itself.

Hopefully it's something simple like a rogue residual pressure valve or a proportioning valve plumbed incorrectly.
 
Okay, Pacific Mountain Cruisers has this thing called the Bonehead award they give to the guy ever meeting who did the stupiest thing. I've definitely got it won for this month.

The diffs are both totally dry. I totally thought I had put oil on both months ago, and I never did. So, I seized the pinon bearing. Not sure how much damage I've done. Waiting for Eric to come out and given an opinion.
 
Holy, Eric's gonna give you some s*** fer dat. Freshman, we need pics as evidence. Did you really do that, those were nice axles.
 
Oh geeze. Hopefully the front hubs/shafts weren't engaged at least
 
Front hub was not engaged. Pinon bearing melted and welded itself.
 
So, Eric saved my ass and yesterday he put new ring gear and pinion and new bearings to the rear diff and today I was able to take the M37 around the neighborhood - about 2 miles. and it runs much better with 90 weight in the rear diff. It actually ran great, lots of pep without even pushing the pedal down much.

New 6th gen Camaro brushless PWM (variable speed) fan arrives tomorrow that should be easier to install and easier to run. Will post about getting it up and running.

But ... I need some help. The ultimate Dana 60 comes with 1480 series front yoke. I didn't know that and had the driveshafts built with 1350's. I took the front driveshaft down to have the 1350 swapped out to 1480 and the guy said he'd have to trash the entire driveshaft and go from 2" to 3" to make the 1480 work. So, he suggested changing the yoke on the front diff to 1350. Anyone familiar with the Ultimate Dana 60's? Is that a straightforward thing to do???
 
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