How far from your selling dealer? Try 25,500 km (16,000 mi)!

[MattandLana]

Well, our '14 3500 Mega set sail from Long Beach today, en route to the Philippines where it will get the front end completely rebuilt to right hand drive, before being shipped to us in Australia. I can post more about the conversion process later if there's interest, but for those of you who feel your original dealer is a long way away, spare a thought for us:

2216 km (1385 mi) by truck from Austin TX to Long Beach CA
11750 km (7344 mi) by sea to Philippines
7541 km (4713 mi) by sea to Sydney, Australia
4000 km (2500 mi) by road from Sydney to Perth if we go the most direct route

Total 25508 km (15942 mi) or almost as far away as you can go without leaving the planet. Top that!

 

[Too Tall]

Yea, I have a good friend from Perth who is going to do the same thing to his Duramax. He even with the cost of the conversion, it's still much cheaper than buying the truck in Australia.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Subscribed and looking forward to pics of right hand drive. Keep us updated.

 

[mwilson]

Subscibing as well, count me in as a fan.

Mike.

 

[rrnut-2]

I/we would love to see pictures of the conversion.

Jim B

 

[AH64ID]

Yes please post up some photos and specs.

 

[MattandLana]

The photos etc will be about a month away, after the truck gets to the Philippines.

But to whet your appetite the conversion job includes:
+ Remove bumper, radiator etc back to fan
+ Strip interior completely back to bare metal
+ Cut out firewall left and right sides and reverse
+ Cut and install new floor section at transmission tunnel to create new profile (otherwise the bell housing hump leaves nowhere for driver's left foot and you have to keep it folded sideways which gets pretty uncomfortable on long hauls - whether and how well this is done is one of the big differentiators of conversion companies)
+ Fabricate complete new steering box for right hand side
+ Relocate airconditioning compressor to create room for new steering box
+ Fabricate new aircon lines and ducting as a result
+ Relocate steering column and pedals
+ Fabricate and install complete new heater box behind dash and HVAC ducting including to rear seats
+ New firewall insulation both sides
+ Fabricate and install complete new dash (except centre console)
+ Make new wiring harness to swap all controls to other side
+ Reposition airbags
+ Swap driver's and passenger's seat bases and squabs (keeping backs as per stock so the built-in airbags are on the correct side) and fabricate new panels for seat control switches
+ Swap window controls, mirror controls, etc including wedge for LH external mirror so it aligns correctly
+ Install Australian spec lights, indicators, etc
+ (Optional) Get satnav converted to Australian maps
etc etc

All up cost is around AUD$35,000 (about US$32,000) which sounds a lot until you consider the amount of work involved.

There is a small cottage industry here in Oz of numerous companies doing these conversions on all 3 of the big manufacturers. Quality varies wildly of course. The company we're using is Shogun International. Fit and finish of their completed product is generally regarded as being better than factory. You would struggle to pick it as not being RHD from stock - a layperson would almost certainly never do so. About the worst 'leftover' is that they don't reposition the centre console 4WD switch and brake controller, so they're a little bit of a stretch. I'll post some videos later.

Aargh - re-listing all that has gotten me excited all over again, and I still have months to wait.

 

[MJWenrich]

Curious as to why the need to do all this. Does the Australian government require that all new vehicles be RHD? As you know, we have RHD cars in the US and they are driven mostly by collectors but they are allowed. Of course I have never been to a RHD country and that might be the obvious answer if I were to drive a 3500 truck over there.

Mike

 

[Shadrach]

I do believe that ALL vehicles in Austrailia MUST be RHD. We can get away with it in Canada as well. David

 

[Regcabguy]

I was in Oz for 4 months in '79 and was still getting into the vehicle on the wrong side. Roundabouts were especially challenging. Beautiful,rural country. Probably not so rural along the coast anymore.

 

[MattandLana]

Curious as to why the need to do all this. ...

Mike they do make it much harder to register a LHD vehicle on the road these days, but in any event driving a vehicle from the "wrong" side for any length of time is at best a pain, at worst dangerous. Intersections, toll booths, carpark ticket machines etc are all set up for someone sitting on the other side of the car. But the main reason is overtaking trucks etc. You either need X-ray vision, or a VERY reliable copilot. (I drove my aged dad around France in an English RHD car once. I did't realise how much his judgment had faded until he said "Yep, clear" and I pulled out to be confronted by a massive cabover semi looming towards me at speed. Yikes! Funny, in retrospect.)

… Probably not so rural along the coast anymore.

Still plenty of rural even near the coast. We have 22 million people, in a country the same size as the lower 48. Nearly 85% of those live in capital cities and within 50km (30 mi) of the coast. But anyway our love is not the rural areas, it's the outback which is essentially unpopulated. We live in the world's oldest, flattest, driest continent, with unique flora and fauna and endless vistas of red sand, ancient rock and scrub. Rivers that run dry for decades at a time. Roadsigns like "Caution: 200km (120mi) until next fuel" are routine even on our National Highway 1. Some, including many urban Aussies, hate it. We love it. I want to travel in the US one day, but we'll be heading away from your cities and into the wilderness - which I bet strikes a chord with a lot of folk on this forum.

 

[MJWenrich]

Did not think about the passing issue. That would be a killer here as well for sure. And as I recall, you have those triple trailer trucks there too and those can take a bit longer to get around.

You are correct about many of us wishing to get away from the cities. When we retired, I went looking for one of the most remote and underpopulated areas in the mountains I could find that was within 30-60 minutes of emergency medical aid. Found it and this is where I like to stay until I need to re-socialize with people again. It's not really that backward but close. It's near Yosemite Nat'l Park and if you get over here don't miss seeing the park.

Mike

 

[GCP]

I agree. I am excited to witness this transformation. Subscribed.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Glad to see folks from different parts of the world sharing the greatness of the Cummins powered rams!

 

[dodgesst]

Man I just left Manila two days ago after a 10 day trip, wish I had seen this before maybe I could have "checked in" on your truck

 

[MattandLana]

Hi all, quick update. OK, it's now a RHD Ram! Conversion completed successfully. The conversion company has asked me not to post pics of the conversion on a US website - Dodge are funny about their trucks being privately exported - but in a week or so I'll post the pics on an Aussie site. I'll say when.

Truck now at sea en route to Sydney. I'm collecting it in early Sept then driving it across Oz to my home in Perth, 4000km pickup run if I go direct. So I'll pull into the driveway direct from picking up the vehicle from the dealer, and it should be pretty much run in already!