CTD + Crew Cab - who's doin' 'em?

[ndurbin]

The door under the glass would be pretty cool. Something else that came to my mind if you went to a short bed, is you could do something like the chevy avalanche (sp?) where the rear glass and back wall came out to allow more bed space.



But lucky me I have a 2nd gen. and can get the quad doors.



One thing I want to put in mine is from a 1st gen. The rectangular 4x4, WTS, and WIF display. I always thought those we're cool. But I am going to have a nightmare when I goto wire all the guages I want up. I sat down last night and came up with 26 (including tach. and speedo).



Nathan

 

[RSchwarzli]

26! How the heck do you come up with 26!!!??? Are there even 26 things to monitor? Are you sniffin fumes again?

 

[ndurbin]

It's going to be a custom dash with all new guages. And if I'm going to spend all the time building and making this truck the way I want, I'm going to monitor EVERYTHING.



Tach, Speedo, Boost, Air PSI, Trans. temp. , oil psi (2), fuel psi (2), oil temp. , water temp. , volt meter, hour meter, EGT (3), intake temp (2), rear axle temp. , fuel level guage, outside temp. , and air suspension psi. Guess it's really 22 (must have miscounted the first time thru the list).



Nathan

 

["Mad Max"]

ohhh hell no - we gotta come up with the other 4 :-laf ... . lesee here... . : front axle temp, ammeter, knotmeter, and a stoichometer (measures the air/fuel ratio like an O2 sensor) :-laf .

 

[ndurbin]

ok well theres the other 4 then.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Here is another few. Outer space temp, temp of the vehicle beside you, infront of you, behind. How about a road rage gauge? Or in this case mabee you need to have a sanity gauge! Oo.



Robert



P. S. And I thought I was bad with coming up with 10!

 

[MMiller]

With that many gauges you will need a crew cab and THREE trained copilots to monitor all the gauges. But who is going to be looking out the windshield? :--) :-laf



BTW you'll need a gauge to monitor the temp of the copilot, ie how hot she is!



Michael

 

[benhall]

That's why older Air Force planes have flight engineers on them so the aircraft sensors can be monitored.



Ben

 

[RSchwarzli]

How about a stress gauge. He is gonna need it as keeping an eye on all of those gauges is probably gonna make him stressed!

 

[ndurbin]

Why do you thing I have a wife and two kids? They'll each get a couple guages to monitor and I'll just sit there and drive. :-laf

 

[ndurbin]

I got to thinking on how one person could monitor 20+ guages w/o going insane. So heres what I came up with.



On the less important guages (such as Air PSI) rig up a light next to the guage and when (using Air PSI as an example) it drops below a certain PSI it makes the light come on. I could probably use the lights on most of the guages to light up when it goes outside of the range I want it operating in.



I don't think it's the diesel fumes that make me think up some of these (sometimes crazy) ideas. I think its the shows like Pimp My Ride and Overhaulin' that make me stray off the path of sanity.



Nathan

 

[mrpbody]

Another CrewCab Conversion

Hey gang,

I purchased my 85 D350 Crew Cab a few months ago. I'm currently looking for a donor truck and the time to do the conversion. My plans are to go with the 98 12V and NV5600 and convert it to a Dually. I'm still undecided on leaving it 2wd or converting it to 4wd. I'm not interested in doing big monster lifts, I want to build something that I can use as a work horse. The only thing that I'm trying to figure out is how much different the fuel mileage is between the 2wd and the 4wd. I like the looks of the 4wd and the idea that I could drive it over the mountain passes in the winters, but I want to stay with driveability for long trips while pulling or hauling. Any feedback or ideas are welcome and hopefully I attached the pic correct so you can see it.













#ad

 

[mrpbody]

Well, I screwed that one up, lets try this again.

I purchased my 85 D350 Crew Cab a few months ago. I'm currently looking for a donor truck and the time to do the conversion. My plans are to go with the 98 12V and NV5600 and convert it to a Dually. I'm still undecided on leaving it 2wd or converting it to 4wd. I'm not interested in doing big monster lifts, I want to build something that I can use as a work horse. The only thing that I'm trying to figure out is how much different the fuel mileage is between the 2wd and the 4wd. I like the looks of the 4wd and the idea that I could drive it over the mountain passes in the winters, but I want to stay with driveability for long trips while pulling or hauling.



Not sure how to post pics here yet, but you can see it at unless I screwed this one up too. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/displayimage.php?&photoid=13808&width=0

 

[bgilbert]

mrp, super nice truck, I'm jealous as heck. Fuel mileage will be better with 2wd. In fact, I'm looking for a 2wd for that fact, plus I don't use 4wd hardly at all, and I have three 4wd's. 2wd 5600 will be easier to convert, no t-case to mess with, not that its tough though. A good limited slip diff will be a must with 2wd if you plan on driving in winter snow etc. Plus down time, conversion time, level of difficulty, will be increased if you choose to convert to 4wd. I'd love to get a rid like yours, and use my 89 for the conversion. Although I would be looking for a 2wd manual, as this rig wouldn't see the mud or snow. Hey Sam are ya sure you're gonna sell the 85 to your buddy???

 

["Mad Max"]

Bill - yeah he wants the thing pretty bad and he's dropping off the $ here soon. I already have another cab so I'm good to go, but I still am looking for another rear section, and pretty much just the sheetmetal and interior trim panels - no seats. I want to do the suicide quad-cab thing in a bad way and I'm just crazy enough to try it. I used to be scary with a sawzall... but now I have a plasma cutter... ... . so now I'm scary and dangerous :-laf



On the 2x4 /4x4 thing - There will be a mileage difference, but for me, if I'm building a rig that big I want it to be 4wd just in case it gets in a bad spot, plus I'm having an electronic locker stuffed into the front D60. I figure it this way - if that thing ever comes up on some deep snow or mud, at 8000 lbs it's gonna just sink right up to the doors if I have to stop or get to spinnin the rears. The front end will be so heavy and the front tires standard duallys that it'll just turn itself into a big plow. So, I want 4wd to be sure the sucker can dig itself out. I know myself well enough to know I'm going camping and doing some mild off-roading with my rig, so it's 4wd for me. Plus, if I don't get enough of the 4x4 fix then I'll unload my little tonka truck Ramcharger from the trailer and toss that thing right into the mud and go play!



- Sam

 

[RSchwarzli]

O. K. I will mention my project here too. People like me can't leave a good thing alone. My plan for the winter is to stuff an entire 2nd gen driveline (engine, NV 5600, transfer case, front and rear axles, rad and intercooler) from a 96-98 into the crew . As I said I can't leave well enough alone. In saying all this I need some thoughts on installing all this stuff, the biggest one being mounting a NV 5600 to a 2nd gen 12V. I posted on the 2nd gen forum but knowbody seems to know. My question is if I take a engine assembly and take a 5600 assembly (clutch, trans, belhousing, everything) will it bolt up to the back of the block? Every post that I have read people are converting from a 4500 to 5600 and use some of the existing parts. I however will be starting from scratch so therefore will not have any parts. HELP! Thanks.

Robert

 

[ndurbin]

You might try looking up member C. Harlan. I belive he has a 6 spd bolted up to his 98 12 valve. I believe you can get the whole clutch and flywheel package from SBC for the 6 spd. Your best bet may be trying to find a wrecked truck w/ a 6 spd. in it to get the parts ya need.



Nathan

 

[1stgen4evr]

will it bolt up to the back of the block?

ALL of the B series blocks are the same at the back. Four or six cylinder. So yes it will bolt up.



James

 

[RSchwarzli]

What about the rest of the parts? Will I have any major issues while putting in the axles or motor?

 

[HSchroen]

I looked at all the states listed and did not see any Crew Cabs. How long ago did you see that? Just curious, what year was it and did you see how much it brought?

I have found that the Government is selling them by auction on at their GSA website. The website is the following: http://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/gsaauctions/



Copy and paste that, and then go under the trucks section. The last one I saw was in Ohio and was a retired Air Froce truck.



I hope this helps someone that is looking for a truck to convert.



Ben