First Gen Cummins, accept no substitutes

Rot Box

Explorer
H1's won't clear the tie rods on a non dually axle by a long shot. A friend of mine runs 12bolts on a dually hub front end (dana 60) and they fit like a glove.
 

bondvagabond

Observer
Thanks for the straight info. Looks like it's trailworthyfab re-centered h1's or sumphin' else all together.

Had a guy drop off 2, 12 inch long sections of 4x3 angle iron off of craigslist. They are powdercoated brackets for doing post and beam construction. I am going to use them to build custom winch extensions for my bumper. The 4 inch leg fits perfectly inside the "c" of the frame in front, leaving the 3 inch web pointing towards the centerline of the truck horizontally. The little feet on the hidden winch mount of my thor wormdrive winch should mount beautifully to the bottom side of this leg. Then I will see how close in I can remount the factory bumper brackets on the angle iron, and trim off any extra.

I was cleaning up the garage in preparation for getting some more projects crossed off on the dodge, when I found some extra parts for the scout I had sold to help fund the cummins truck purchase. I called the guy I sold it to and told him he could have them. He was so tickled, he offered to give me the winch bumper I had fabricated for it. This thing is massive. 8x2 c channel, super thick. 3 peices too so it is adjustable for width. He was going to go with the factory chrome bumper I sold with the scout, so had no use for it. It will eventually go on the dodge, but it has such short mounting brackets, that I will need to use the angle iron extenders I am making for the factory bumper anyway.

It will be very beefy, and would actually prevent a deer from toasting my radiator. And with shipping and tax the price of $free fit in with my poor man build quite well.

So, no excuses on your own builds guys :) was home taking care of the sick wife, worked a full day for my home business, got some cheap craigslist fabrication materials dropped off even though I couldn't leave the house. Cleaned the bejeasus out of the hoopty geo metro, got it sold on craigslist for a tidy profit to help fund further cummins upgrades, not a bad day.

Mods in the works:
mount winch

get new tires, how big can I go with 3 inch lift? Don't have the time to section fenders like metcalf

pressure wash/weather strip/remount/repair latch/get locks rekeyed on canopy

drain and overfill tranny

repair bouncy speedo, new/lube speedo cable?

that should keep me busy for a while.

Will try to take pics of the winch mounting "expedition" haha
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
You should be able to fit 35s without cutting. If you cut at the front and back of the fender you should be able to fit as big as you want.

Like this

attachment.php
 

Metcalf

Expedition Leader
If I was going to do it over again I would just get a 1st gen dually bed and remove the plastic fender....instant HUGE wheel opening with a nice edge and no body mods. For the front a set of Trailer Product fiberglass front fenders would make it pretty easy. you would still have to do something about inner fenders probably....but that should be fairly easy.
 

teleturns

Adventurer
For the record H1 rims are not worth it even if they do fit without recentering. I invested $2k (trailworthyfab) in H1 wheels and got rid of them in less than 6 months. They are impossible to balance, due to the beadlock clamping the tire it never seats correctly. You could run them with out the inner rubber/mag/pvc ring but if you have a flat the tire will fly right off the wheel because the wheel doesn't have an inner safety lip.

I tried everything to balance them and gave up.

Another negative aspect is that one beadlock wheel with PVC insert and a 37x12.5 16.5 Goodyear MT weighed in at 150lbs!

BUT I think H1 wheels look great on a 1st gen!
2011-02-19112905.jpg
 
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yes, third gear is very finicky. the trick is to let the lever "find center" before you push it up into third. i have driven a few now (including mine with a perfectly assembled tranny) and they are all finicky to go into third. as i push it out of second, i actually let go of the knob. then grab back ahold after it rests at center, and it (99% of the time) drops right into third.
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
Yeah I do that too. I have noticed that I have developed a pretty odd shift method into third. I wrap my hand around the knob to pull from 2nd but push into third with the palm while letting go of the knob and almost slapshift it up. Rarely ever grinds when I don't try to force it but just simply toss the knob in the general direction of third.
 

bondvagabond

Observer
been busy

Been busy with the holidays and everything, got a woodstove installed in our house, and had to spend a bunch of time tracking down a water leak in the cab of the missus' fzj80 landcruiser. (It was the stinkin' factory roof rack)

Did get the winch mounted on the front using the angle iron extensions. Going to go pickup a cheapy welder within the next week or so to finish the front bumper.

Have a line on some 37x12.5x17 inch tires on steel wheels set of 5, 2 are new three at 50% with a set of 4 good truck chains for $500, then I could prob sell my pretty boy 16 inch rims to offset the cost a bit. 17 inch wheels are becoming more common and 16inch less so on fullsize trucks right?

My truck has to haul firewood for me/two single mom friends of mine/plus a bit of a side business as well. So for $100 bucks on craigslist I picked up a truckbed trailer made out of a dodge 1 ton pickup. With fullsize spare, and two full sets of brake lights, and a burly trailer jack off a travel trailer, not bad for $100 bucks. ALso the rear axle is complete to the yoke, so I have an instant spare rear axle for the truck.

Thinking about putting the truck cap on trailer for better visibility out of the truck. Also since the truck is taller, it would be nice to be able to load from the sides as well.
2 of my 35's are shot, 2 at 25% If I buy the 37's I will put the two better 35's on the trailer, keep a third for a fullsize trailer spare. Should be able to get in most anywhere, and haul out 2x as much wood. Already used the winch to pull out some trees. Teared up when I thought about pulling out those trees by hand.

Think I will put a tool box or job box on the tongue of the trailer. The guy I bought my trailer from was a city boy liquidating his dad's stuff who had passed away. When he found out I was going to use the trailer for hauling wood he offered me a new husky 372xp chainsaw and a gently used stihl 025, for $300, with spare chains and parts. Quite an upgrade from my 30 year old mcculloch. the msrp on that husky is like $880, it is a real pro saw, only bummer is that now I have a nice saw, I need to lock it up. Will probably keep the mcculloch in the pickup bed as a beater saw, and no, I don't blaze new 4x4 trails, but several times a year I get trapped in at my cabin by blowdowns. I estimate I cut over 60 cords of wood last year, so even though I am no pro logger I am digging the pro saw.
 

TheAlmightySam

Adventurer
Looking forward to pics of your completed winch bumper. I've been on the fence about what to do about a bumper on mine. Like you, I need some critter protection, but most of the options I've found are either ugly, expensive, or ugly and expensive. I like the looks of the Buckstop bumpers, which are made in Newberg, but I'm having a hard time swallowing the $1500 price tag.

Where are you at in our great state?
 

bondvagabond

Observer
I am down in Grants Pants, OR.

I hear you on the price. You can do it cheap though. I am into mine 100 bucks. 75 for bumper, 20 for angle iron brackets for the winch extension, 5 for new grade 8 bolts. Wait till you see a pic, it is beefy too. Mine is from a mid 70's chevy, and the curve of the front/light holes line up perfect. I will have to weld up some vertical suports that I got for free out of a rural garbage pile, they started out as a camper jack. The bumper itself was a three piece warn, that I will be able to adjust because the outer pieces can be slid in and rebolted.

I am far from a great fabricator, but this is a very doable project. You will be much more likely to find a cheapy chevy winch bumper than a dodge, but they aren't hard to modify. Going to do it with a crummy 99 dollar harbor freight welder too, because I don't have time right now to make myself a new junkyard onboard welder to do it even cheaper :)
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
I had no idea Buckstop is from Newberg! I stay there all the time... Champoeg too. All that wine and hazelnuts... Dutch Bros too:ylsmoke:
 

bondvagabond

Observer
My wife throws up in her mouth a little bit when anyone mentions dutch bros. She is from Texas, and it ain't coffee if it dosen't melt off the spoon. I'm down with candy coffee though, I am secure in my manhood

If any of you Orygun dodge guys needs a nice factory chrome front bumper, maybe we can do some swappin'. It will be painless, I want it out of my garage. Will be driving the I5 corridor within the next month and can even deliver.
 

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