Did Dodge make a '93 or 1st gen Crew Cab?

[GTX_Joel]

After spending 6 months now with my 93 diesel one ton extended cab, I really like it.



But my family is growing, and a crew cab would be alot nicer. I don't think I've ever seen a first generation diesel Dodge Crew cab, did they make one?

 

[Doug Czaja]

1985 Last year of Crew Cab

Hey Joel,



The last year Dodge made a crew cab in the first gen. body style was 1985. I did see one advertised in the autotrader several years ago, but think it was some kind of custom body. You could "make" your own . See my readers rig album.



Doug

 

[GTX_Joel]

Hey, thats a great looking truck!



How was the conversion? I suppose it wouldn't be to bad if you had a complete doner truck so you could just bolt it all together with no fabricating?

 

[Doug Czaja]

The conversion wasn't too bad. It took two buddies & me two weekends, the major part of it anyway. A lot of the little things have been done as time & money permits. I did have to get the radiator support from the donor truck so that the inter-cooler would fit. A little "modifying" to the radiator support was required to get the head lights & original '83 grill to fit. The alternator & voltage also regulator required a little creative thinking.



It did take some work, the right tools & some buddies but I glad I did it. Best part is, I don't pass five trucks like mine on the way home from work



Off the subject but, is that your GTX? Thats a nice ride! I used to have a '70 Challenger in high school. Always liked the B & E bodies!



Doug

 

[OnlyCummins]

You just missed a '91 D350 stretched (crewcab) with flatbed in the AutoTrader. Probably bought by someone on the other site since that person was also looking for a crewcab, also due to growing family. FWIW, it was being sold by a "Private Seller" in Marietta, OK 73448.



There was also a "... sleeper cab ... " conversion listed recently but it's long gone. Don't know if it would substitute for a crewcab. If you think you'd be interested in that sort of truck there's a "Wester Hauler" conversion still listed, here's one (listed 4 times) link.



Good luck in your search.



EDIT: Just came across another possibility. Take a look at this link.

 

[1stgen4evr]

1stgen crewcab

My work involves a lot of travel and I see the crew cab trucks, some just sitting, all over the country and Canada as well. I have two for the upcoming conversion that I plan. They were relatively inexpensive. Thierry Hosig was offering one a while back. Don't know if he still has it. Seems the crew cab truck got lost in the Cummins introduction drama. A comment that I read recently indicated that Dodge didn't have a strong enough frame for the Cummins earlier. Does anyone know whether the crew cab frame is structually equivalent to the CTD models No one with a conversions has commented as to mods on the frame.



750k miles on ctd trucks

 

[OnlyCummins]

1stgen4evr, I think you're onto something there concerning frame strength. There was a recent thread, either on this site or the 'other', on the history of the Cummins intro & one of bits of info that I remember was that Dodge wanted the engine in '85 but Cummins wouldn't sell it to them until the frame/truck was beefed up.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by GTX_Joel

After spending 6 months now with my 93 diesel one ton extended cab, I really like it.



But my family is growing, and a crew cab would be alot nicer. I don't think I've ever seen a first generation diesel Dodge Crew cab, did they make one?

I was in the exact same situation as you a while back. Ended up selling my '93 and bought a Chevy crew cab that has been properly re-powered with a first gen CTD. Still miss my '93 sometimes though...

 

[83 crew cab]

when I did the swap we measured a 91 d350 and could not find any diffrance in the frame size have not had any problem with the frame on mine. most of the crewcabs I have seen came with dana 60's fornt and rear also so that helps in the swap. George #ad

 

[Thierry]

I sold the one running good truck, as I now have a priority of finishing my 69 Coronet RT 440 (full restoration)before getting involved with to many other projects.



I finished my Ramcharger Cummins and I now have 10000 miles on the rebuilt motor, have a little electrical short and no time to get it fixed, I have had no problems with the frame, this took me about 4 weeks work by myself once I had the 93 Cummins truck as a donor, and the ramcharger side by side and started gutting the RC and then taking everything out of the Truck and reinstalling it into The RC.





I have two crewcab trucks left, a 85 Airforce Crewcab truck that I am parting out as well as a mint 82 crewcab truck that I will just keep and convert it in the next couple years. ( who knows everything is always for sale), specially with all the money thats going out on the Coronet. Real shame as I have a spare motor sitting beside the house very lonely.



Good luck in finding something as the good Crewcabs are getting harder and harder to find, one concidering there age as well as people dont want to let go of them anymore, as well as everyone wants to put cummins motors in them



Thierry

 

[GTX_Joel]

Thanks for all the replys!

Doug, yes thats my GTX, the Cummins works great for towing it to races around the country.





Maybe I could stretch the frame on my 93 and dropp a crew cab onto it? The problem with my 93 is that it is an auto matic, and I prfer a manual transmission. (The good thing is that it is in perfect shape and only has 80K miles on it)

Or I could sell it and do a cummins swap and resoration on an older truck, then I could set it up just the way I want it.

Or I have areally nice clean 79 F250 crew cab I could drop a Cummins into.



So many ideas, so little time to get them done. Maybe I'll run across one that is already done for sale some time.

 

[skobylenski]

There is a '93 crewcab conversion on Truck Truck right now. It's a 2WD, 5 speed with a flatbed. The pic is hazy, but it looks decently done. It's in North Carolina.



Here's the link: http://adcache.trucktraderonline.com/4/0/6/61219806.htm



BTW, I really like that black truck with the bunk and purple flames off the hood that OnlyCummins linked. That thing is sharp



Scott