ROTW: Fiona

[CruisinFJ60]

I've always been fond of the 6BT motors so I think I want one. Before diving into one of those trucks, I want to learn as much as possible. From my research I think I want a 1995-1997 6BT+NV4500 as they produce the most power and use the inline injection pump. The 24 valve ISB motors are smoother, right? How complicated are the ISB motor's electronics?

Suggestions on reading material?

i would say 95-98.5 (p pump) after 98.5 is when they went to the electronic injection pump (VP44) and switched to the 24V engine which was 98.5-02. in 2003 they went to the common rail engine it is still a 24V but it really is a totally different animal as far as the fuel system is concerned, it runs much much higher fuel pressures different injection pump ect.

and i am pretty sure from 95-2002 in the 5 speed trucks the NV4500 was standard before 95 i think they used a couple of 5 speeds. if you got a H.O. truck you could get the 6 speed which i think was called a NV5600 but not sure.

i will be doing the 6BT / NV4500 swap into my Fiona some day as well and i plan on using the 95-98.5 12V mechanical injection pump engine (p pump truck) for simplicity and reliability.

check out Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum it is a large site and has enough reading material available to occupy your time for a long while. my user name over there is LOW-LIFE.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) nother of the angle
2.) last one, this was mostly so i could reference back and not have to write it down
3.) and its out!!

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) this is a bitter sweet thing to see
2.) but i was more excited than bitter for sure!
3.) it just fell out! i dont know what or how it happened.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) different angle of the now seemingly empty front end
2.) same
3.) i used the flash, ill tell ya what tho those rock lights under there sue make it nice to find stuff when its dark out, even put out enough light to work on it if i needed.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) Ram assist, not sure if i will be putting it on just yet or not. i still need to tap my gear box which is no big deal but i need the $20 seal kit and that is easier said than afforded.
2.) where i got it and my hy steer from. say what ya want but the stuff looks and feels to be pretty good quality. time will tell.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

Oh yeah, about the pitman arm. Pick up an 80 series arm and run that. Cheapest option and highest possible clearance without cutting the frame up.

may look into that, looks like for the time being i will be using the stock arm untill i channel the frame for the flat pitman or do the 80 series arm or something similar.



anyhow thats all i got done today i put the axle side back together so when i drug the axle out it didnt crap gear lube all over the place. still debating on the cut and turn, this truck sees 99.9999999% trail only these days but i want to be able to safely drive it on the street, guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it and continue to play it by ear.

 

[boots4]

2.) where i got it and my hy steer from. say what ya want but the stuff looks and feels to be pretty good quality. time will tell.

I bought that same hydroassist kit from them before I knew more about them and have run it for a year. I've had zero issues with it; I've just readjusted mounting it a time or two but the unit has worked great.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

good to know. also your running the 60 box still right? do you happen to remember what page your ram assist is on so i can know which way the hoses go.

 

[boots4]

Page 20 for first install and ports on the steering box.

Page 26 for the reworked ram mounting and tie rod clamp. This position has no interference with the ubolts and better distributes the ram force between the two TREs instead of just mostly to the driver TRE. I wanted the tie rod clamp removable for easier alignment purposes and it doesn't move on the tierod at all. Very solid.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

Great!

thank you very much!

 

[CruisinFJ60]

In post #89 on the last page i talked about the reasoning for the mar tack but i forgot 1 other feature.
I posted a thread HERE asking about what the clip was for on the birfield, and after bouncing it back and forth a bit i realized i was over thinking it and realized that the mar tack also allows one to eliminate the outter clip on the birfield and the only clip needed is the big one on the axle that you never had to touch in the first place.
that then allows complete removal of the entire knuckle, hub and rotor assy without ever pulling any of it apart and only having to pull steering arms and the bolts on the back of the knuckle for the felts and wiper seal. cutting the job down to nearly nothing and making a trail repair much faster and easier.

also i forgot to mention, since this truck is nearly only offroad (and even when it wasnt for that matter) i never really drove with it in 4wd or with hubs locked at any sort of speed or for any sort of distance. that said i dont fill the knuckle housings with much if any grease, i simply make sure i have the birf packed well and there is maybe a little of grease in there just cause. reason being is it is a whole lot less mess to deal with when you bust a birf and makes getting all of the busted metal particles out easier as well.

k off to bed now as i got alot of cutting and grinding tomorrow so i can make some good headway on my SOA.

 

[kling-on]

Is the high steer trailgear too?? They told me they didn't have the right lenth tie rod tubes to fit a 60. Can't wait to see this one done... I guess I better get workin

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thanks for the info man! I'll put it to good use.

Good luck on the SOA, seems like it's going well so far!

 

[CruisinFJ60]

Is the high steer trailgear too?? They told me they didn't have the right lenth tie rod tubes to fit a 60. Can't wait to see this one done... I guess I better get workin

yes it is.

I figued there prolly wasnt a whole lot of length difference from the 60 to the mini truck so i ordered it. at first glance it looks likt it will be fine, only thing to me that seems questionable is the drag link length potentially being to short.
but the way i see it the kit that marlin has is for a mini truck but works on our 60's so i figured TG to be the same. Ill know for sure tomorrow i guess

Thanks for the info man! I'll put it to good use.

Good luck on the SOA, seems like it's going well so far!

yea no problem man, and yea so far so good it seems.

I got some more done today with the help of a friend, pics to follow soon, im still in the process of eating my first meal of the day cause i love my truck more than my body it seems

 

[CruisinFJ60]

had a friend come over this morning to give me a hand with some of this stuff, like cleaning up the axle and lining it all up up front.

1.) Stephen helping with grinding off crap from axle housing.
2.) seems self explanatory, but got the upper u bolt bracket cut off.
3.) driver side off.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) steve doin some more grinding with less crack showing.
2.) I noticed my springs looked a little fatigued, these springs are OME light / medium springs and have been on the truck for 2 years and 10 months now in SUA configuration, but i noticed that with them at full droop and no weight on them they looked like a "W"... Surely this is not normal....
3.) nother shot still hard to see tho.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) here is a decent shot of the passenger side wear on the springs
2.) and the driver side
3.) driver closer.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) another of driver side, i really am kinda upset about this too, i was gonna pull a leaf out of the pack to set it a little lower but with the already quite fatigued (to me) springs and not much arch remaining even at full droop and no weight on them i decided to leave them exactly how they are since i think the SOA will only further hurt them and only cause more deformation...
2.) picked it up just enough to pick the weight just barley off of the jack stand. it really shows how nasty the becomes. I noticed at roundup last march that they did this when flexed but never really realized how bad they were.
3.) closer shot.

Looking back at these pics my stock front ones i put in also do this, so i guess im just picky and was over examining them. I took the driver side one to a spring shop cause if ypou look at the first pic it has a very very slight bend by the spring mount at the catche or whatever you want to call it, he tool 1 look and said no problem. I got it back and you cant even tell anything happened.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) lining it all up so i can jack it up and get some weight on it to set the pinion angle and burn on the first perch.
2.) Me tacking the driver perch in place.
3.) nother

 

[CruisinFJ60]

1.) got the perch welded on
2.) passenger side perch
3.) i cut a little much off on my first shot so i had a gap on the back side of the perch, i used a peice of what i cut out of it and patched it back together to maintain strength.