Build ‘68 M715, AKA "Smokey" (Can I post this Jeep on MUD?)

[Ditcherman]

Awesome! They are fantastic engines, just SO stinkin’ heavy

They “seem” so light compared to a 7.3. I’ve had many of both and make my living in the mud, the username is actual in the real.
Every Cummins I’ve ever had big or small has always been great.
But ya, compared to a 2F or whatever, it’s a whole different world.

 

[boots4]

Ha! You certainly did, good eye

I don’t actually HAVE a plan for it currently. It’s a ‘94 12 valve that was mated to an NV4500. Was in the donor truck I used when I did the NV4500 conversion in my ‘01 Dodge. Was considering using the P pump and components to swap out the VP44 pump in the ‘01 but haven’t gotten around to it. Runs perfect tho

Well it certainly doesn't hurt to have a spare 12v laying around. I've got a 1st gen sitting in my shop waiting to go into my Travelall project I'm working on. Should work well for what I want to do with it. Ok, back to more tig welding goodness!

 

[Rock40]

Ok…. The D60 is officially DUN

 

[Rock40]

So I don’t normally do product reviews and nobody sends me free stuff but I WILL weigh in on the brake brackets from Torq Motorsports

To say it simply, not impressed.

All these guys do is make brackets to run “big brakes” on various axles. These particular brackets allow you to use ‘09+ Dodge 3500 calipers and rotors on a GM kingpin D60. They claim that factory Dodge brakes will lock up a 40” caliper, HARD. With the brakes we’re installing, hopefully the truck won’t endo

Unlike a standard GM setup where the rotor is held to the back of the wheel hub with the pressed in studs, this mounts the rotor in the front. They claim “easy rotor changes” and that’s garbage. (Yes, the bracket is on backwards here but it’s the best pic I could find of them)

Once the bracket is bolted to the spindle, it’s impossible to get the upper mounting bolt in OR out without pulling the entire upper steering arm AND this stud

Not to mention that the rear offset on the bracket is wrong. Using OEM Dodge caliper bolts, they are about .25” long and would contact and damage the rotor if you just bolted them down. So I had to trim the bolts down

THEN we get to the rotors themselves. Being essentially loose on the lug studs, there is nothing to keep the rotor centered on the hub. So it has the ability to wobble and be out of round. AND, GM lug studs have a shoulder to lock the rotor in (when pressed in from the rear like normal) and the shoulder of the stud has zero chance of pressing into the wheel hub

So…. All 16 studs had to have the shoulder machined off like this

 

[Rock40]

So on the front of the wheel hub, my machinist friend made up some press fit aluminum spacers to center the rotor to the hub. 2 thousandths press fit so I had to heat that rings in the oven and freeze the hubs to get them on. They DO perfectly center the rotors tho

After all THAT, you can finally mount the calipers. These are SSBC Barbarian 8’s. Full race, 8 piston calipers for a Ram 3500. SSBC is proud of them to say the least

And the brakes and axle are done, just a ton of fiddling around for something that should have been pretty straightforward.

Would be nice if Torq Motorsports was a bit more forthcoming. None of this is addressed on their webpage or the non-existent instructions they provide on their $340 caliper brackets. What are disc brake caliper brackets for a 14B? About $60 from RuffStuff

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That sounds like a pain in the dick. Hopefully they're worth it. I've never found the factory k30 calipers wanting on my truck.

 

[Rock40]

That sounds like a pain in the dick. Hopefully they're worth it. I've never found the factory k30 calipers wanting on my truck.

Yeah, that’s putting it mildly.

I agree, I run 3/4 ton rotors and calipers on the D60 in my 40, have worked great for years. The idea here was just the biggest upgrade we could go to. Not sure what the truck will weight when done but if it’s sub 7k I’ll be shocked

 

[Rock40]

Making a small bit of progress. Finally got the lower radiator hose plumbed, the angles are challenging to say the least. Required a 130 degree bend off the water pump, then a hose splice followed by another 90 degree bend. Sheesh

Got all the holes in the lower frame/winch plate in and sanded

Nearly done with the layout and cutting for the winch hawse and the ballistic shackle mounts

 

[Rock40]

Front bumper and fun with Toyota mechanical jacks…

So the plate cut in the shear is completely square, outer frame rails not so much. REALLY had to squeeze it to make it square up

Warn 16.5 will sit like this behind the rear mounting plate. Just enough room to get it in there past the front clip

@boots4 asked for more TIG action, I think we’ll all have our fill during the front bumper construction. Have a LOT of welding to do before any of the winch plates go in

 

[Rock40]

Ok…. So all the front frame rails and the lower plate are welded up. Haven’t had a pile of leftover TIG rod pieces on the floor in a long time

Welded bolt protection bits onto the main winch plate

Pretty neat machined pieces actually

Has some oddball 1.125” OD and .25” wall thickness DOM laying around, can’t remember what that was from Cut some up to act as spacers/crush protection on the lower winch mounting bolts.

Last thing will be capping the top with another piece of .25” so the bumper will be completely boxed at that point

And got the Ballistic shackle mounts tacked in. Those mounts run through both inner/outer plates and will be welded on both ends. Again, helps keep everything very rigid

 

[Rock40]

Cardboard templating

Think I’ll go with this for the main top plate. Radius the inside corners, follow the body lines as best as possible and call it good. Very hard to keep it “reasonable”

 

[Rock40]

Got the 2 skid plates sheared out today. Both are 3/16”

The big one is going to be a BEAR

 

[Rock40]

Front bumper is slowly taking a final shape…

Adding some angled “risers” top and bottom to level the upper/lower plates out

That’s 7 plates in today. Likely close to a dozen more once it’s all done. And that’s only one side

 

[Rock40]

Added a small cap…

So the front clip on the drivers side is pretty darn bent up

And with the body out of square, decided to build the bumper square/parallel/symmetrical both sides even tho it may look a bit out of whack. We can replace sheet metal down the road if need be, once the bumper is in tho, that’s a permanent fixture. So the drivers side is definitely going to land higher compared to the passenger side. Because the front clip is bent down and inwards

 

[peesalot]

I like the rise where it comes out of the middle, that little lift or hieght detail makes a world of diff IMO.

 

[Rock40]

I like the rise where it comes out of the middle, that little lift or hieght detail makes a world of diff IMO.

Thanks, much appreciated. Been going pretty slow with this. Have made lots of small changes along the way, really want it to be “right” when it’s finished

 

[Rock40]

More filthy plates… Please, friends don’t let friends weld dirty on this stuff

Which are now clean and weldable

Realized that the 1.5” radius I wanted to do here slipped my mind when I was shearing everything out. Tacked the two main plates together, built up the corner with silicone bronze then sanded in the radius. Fixed

 

[Rock40]

Upper plate on the passenger side…

Bottom plate tacked in…

Nearly there, it still needs interior bracing and the very ends boxed in. Going to let this sit and marinate for a bit before any serious welding.

 

[Rock40]

Last of the cardboard templating for this

@WesternCruiser needed this: winch tucks up REALLY dang good. 1/16” clearance between the winch and the bottom skid plate

 

[peesalot]

That square corner under the tow hook in pic might affect approach, a slight ramp, let the angled side piece play thru.