W350 Crew Cab - The ultimate first gen - Pics and history

[DVolk]

She definately looks good , how are you mounting the caravan coucil ? and what are you doing for a hjeadliner my 84 dont have one in it . , i started back on it after months of caious !!!!!!!!!

 

[RSchwarzli]

You've been quiet for quite a while. I was hoping you were working on this project and not getting sidetracked. Great progress this winter. Maybe we will get to see the project truck on the road this year.

A bit of both truth be told. Had many friends vehicles I have been working on (its their dd's so I kinda have to help them), plus working stupid long hours last few months so I have had progress but also fair amount of sidetracking.

And I hope so. But unless my work load changes, it won't happen. 300+ hour months don't allow for a lot of play time.

Looks great! Im a little curious about the rear shocks, there at a pretty steep angle which will put a lot of leverage on them making them work pretty hard if at all, is that part of the 4 link kit?

Yes, that was part of the kit. And yes that may change before it gets on the road. The big issues is I have not fully established ride height. The angle was required to allow full collapse and travel at my estimated use range. When I have the air system fully finished I may have to revisit those as I don't like them 100%. (And we all know when I don't like something it usually ends up being redone! )

You're welcome...

:-laf

I was actually going to send you a PM last night with a thank you now that I have pics that could go with it but ran out of time and was going to send this morning! But I guess I will just say it here!

Thank you sir!

Your post/find made the trophy piece of the truck!

I should also edit that. It says cruising the TDR forums (also have this now posted on Cummins forum so shameless plug for TDR there and I did just a copy paste of the data for there onto here) but it should have your name in there!

She definately looks good , how are you mounting the caravan coucil ? and what are you doing for a hjeadliner my 84 dont have one in it . , i started back on it after months of caious !!!!!!!!!

I have not got that far yet! LOL I know it will go up there somehow just have not decided how. And the how is based on the headliner. And that I have not fully formed a mental process for doing that yet so... .

I will post when I do figure it all out if that helps! One way or another it is going to involve screws and fasteners.....

 

[RSchwarzli]

Here we go folks. This is in a more chronological order and better written. Might be worth a read as well. All the pics are here and the info is the same but it is condensed.


1993 W350 Crew Cab - The ultimate 1st Gen WARNING: Lots of pics!! - Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum

 

[RSchwarzli]

And for those who are observant, I ran into an issue. When I pulled this truck apart, I never planned for it to go to this extent. I was figuring it would just be a transmission swap, maybe a bit of a safety refresh and call it a day. I was also a lot more inexperienced. I never knew may tailgate was warper (or possible I just did not care).

Anyways, here is a shot of the surprise I got when I put the original tailgate on:


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I was planning to swap the trim but once I saw this, I decided against it. The pic does not really show justice to the bow, but fair to say it is a 3/8" gap on the bottom between the bed floor and gate at centreline. Since I prepped the new tailgate for the holes, I have been working on a way to attempt to straiten the old one, but if that fails, the new one will have to be painted to match and go from there. Either way the painter forgot to paint the red stripe on the bottom so it has to go in for some paint... . just don't know what gate it will be yet!

 

[Shadrach]

I had a new tailgate that came off a 93 truck from work back in 93. I robbed the hardware from it for my crew. It was a plain model but I kept it in my shed for years then trade it for some 440 truck exhaust manifolds and some other parts. It ended up on a truck just like yours, but no where near as nice of course. Most tailgates have a bow in them. It lets the water run out of the box Keep up the good work and the pics.



When we installed the G56 and a South Bend Clutch in my buddies 93 W350 we used the 2nd gen HD clutch cyl and kept the 1st gen cyl because of the angle it mounts at.



<a href="http://s447.photobucket.com/albums/qq195/shadrach1984/G56%20Trans%20in%20a%201st%20gen%20Dodge%20CTD/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0925.jpg" target="_blank">#ad
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[RSchwarzli]

Yup. Thats the piece I am looking for. Mine is showing fatigue around the hose barb.

And yes the first gen piece has to be used. Exactly right on the slope.

 

[HHhuntitall]

hmm, have you called the guys at South Bend? They might know where to get a reservoir, if it'v available... ...



I know the whole assembly can be purchased WITH the reservoir attached for around $160... ... RHINOPAC/WORLD CAR Part # PS0589 I think that's a part number from RockAuto.com... ... .

 

[RSchwarzli]

Yes, I did. They do not have access to it.

Thanks for that number. I will look into it!

 

[RSchwarzli]

OK. Where did we leave off. Oh yes. First thing up on the plate next was silver soldering a bung onto the oil pan for the temp probe. So the pan was dropped, drilled, soldered and primed. Has also been painted already even though I don't have pics yet of that.

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Next up was actually not directly but indirectly related. I am starting the interior map of the gauge layout for the truck. This posed a problem as I was not sure my theory of gauge layout would work. So I decided the best plan was to finish the gauges on the 1990 and if it worked, I would know what the crew layout would be. So I got busy ripping the existing gauges out of the daily and this is the result. I like it. So I will move this direction for the crew as well!


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Who says a 1st gen cant have a 4 pillar pod! HA!!




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[AH64ID]

Looks good, but the angle of the pilar mount seems very steep.

 

[RSchwarzli]

It's actually not too bad as I have a 2. 5" seat lift in there.

The top one did get tilted down 25 deg afer this shot and that helped solve the last bit.

 

[JDerrig]

Looks like the cockpit of a jet plane! Pretty neat!



-j

 

[SRay]

Hmm, if it's a cockpit of a jet plane, it's prone to future hijacking attempts for terrorists.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Smart butts.

 

[HHhuntitall]

It has to fly first... ... ... .

 

[RSchwarzli]

Oooooh! Zing!

That one was a good one! Lmao

 

[SChandler]

Any updates or are you still trying to memorize the ideal operating range for each of the gauges? :-laf

On a serious note, I saw, long ago, a build that had as many gauges as you do. The guy who built it turned all of the gauges so that when the needle pointed straight up, that meant the gauge was reading "normal". Might save some memorization time on the less used gauges and make it easier to see, at a glance, if anything needs more careful observation.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Update is my daily driver, the 1990, had a getrag poop the bed.

So have been spending money and time collecting Nv5600 parts and as soon as I get my parts in (like as in the next 48 hours!!), it goes under the knife.

So no. Have not really been working on the crew too much.


As for the gauges, this is something I have considered as well. Still deciding of it looks clean enough for my standards.

 

[SChandler]

Sucks about the Getrag in the DD. Mines started popping out of 5th and 2nd on occasion, so a rebuild is in the plans.



On the gauges, I wasn't too sure about having them rotated from straight up. I appreciated why it would be easier to read them, but I didn't care for the "crooked" look of the gauges. Anyway, it's an idea for you.



On the six speed swap, why the NV5600 into your DD and not the G56? I understand that the crew gets a NV5600 because that was the only six speed Dodge had used when you started the build, but at this point, why NV5600 instead of G56?

 

[RSchwarzli]

Sucks about the Getrag in the DD. Mines started popping out of 5th and 2nd on occasion, so a rebuild is in the plans.

Yes, that was months ago. Next you will have not getting into first, grinding of the input shaft bearing when the clutch is not depressed, and then a whole lot of noise.

On the gauges, I wasn't too sure about having them rotated from straight up. I appreciated why it would be easier to read them, but I didn't care for the "crooked" look of the gauges. Anyway, it's an idea for you.

Valid idea. I have the same issue though. I hate the sideways look.

On the six speed swap, why the NV5600 into your DD and not the G56? I understand that the crew gets a NV5600 because that was the only six speed Dodge had used when you started the build, but at this point, why NV5600 instead of G56?

Very observant question! Yes, you are correct. When I started the G56 was not available.



In this case though, the 5600 is still a stronger transmission than the G56 when power is applied. In the 56's case, if under high amounts of TQ, the aluminum case can flex and cause issues. When this happens and breaks, many 6. 7 guys actually convert to a 5600. Still a more robust unit.



So it seemed logical really... . And I have done it before so I know what I am doing!