DaddyJeep Hauler II - 04 Crew Cab 1500

[daddyjeep]

So I picked up another truck for next to nothing. Of course it has an issue or 2, but for $800 I felt that i did OK. Of course it has a little rust. I do live in PA after all. The frame is broken on the passengers' side. It is where they all break on trucks that live in the rust belt. It has 240K on it, but everything feels solid and doesn't make funny noises or leave puddles. Factory towing package, 3.73's, locking rear diff, of course 5.3.



The frame.



I never liked the "Cat eye" front ends. Since both fenders are junk anyway I plan on doing a whole front clip swap to the 99-02 style front end. My local yard has a couple that are in good shape. Then, when I sell my other truck I will find me a southern bed and make it all one color again.

The new front end.

[daddyjeep]

The frame is fixed. I got it aligned back up and welded the top and bottom to hold everything in place.



The middle was pretty thin so I cut it out and made a piece to fit out of some 1/8" plate.



I then ground down my welds as well as the welds from the previous repair.



I got some 4" x 1/8" bar stock and made a full length reinforcement from the factory weld in the front to just before the rear spring hanger. I cut out a diamond in the middle. That and the cut out for the cross member increase the weld area by quite a bit. I don't think this will crack on me for another 20 years.



When I pull the bed I will most likely add some more steel just to make sure I never have any issues.

[daddyjeep]

I found a couple more spots on the frame that needed a little attention. Also, the gas tank was one pot hole Away from falling right on the road. One strap was already broken and the other I was afraid to touch for fear the tank would drop on me. I ratchet strapped it in until my new straps arrive. The remaining strap broke with the first click of the ratchet strap. I had it up on the lift this time so I could really look things over. Over all I feel pretty good ab out everything under there. The main rear brake line will get replaced here shortly. All of the brakes are new, front shocks are new, as well as one of the upper control arms. I think I will replace the other one and get it aligned. While I was under there I chopped off the huge factory muffler, factory style at least, and replaced it with a spare Flowmaster I had laying around. It sounds so much better.

[Palf70Step]

That rot is what I do NOT miss from growing up in PA. Nice work on getting ti stabilized.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

That rot is what I do NOT miss from growing up in PA. Nice work on getting ti stabilized.

Thanks.... It is what we have to deal with here. People on the internet scoff at repairs like this, but they don't understand what we deal with here. We can't just scrap them all when they get rusty.

Anyway, I had a busy weekend getting the front end conversion done. The new fenders needed a little work so it look all day Saturday to get it done. I had to rebuild the inner fender where the PDC sits on the drivers' side. The outside of the DS fender was rust free, but had a small dent. I went ahead and added a little filler and painted that fender with some rattle can white and painted the salvaged fender flare with satin black. I could have done a better job, but for this truck it will be just fine. The 04 bumper does not fit well with the older grill, but it will have to do for now. At some point I would like to build a custom bumper just because it is fun to do. On with the pics...



Will you look at that.... I got my kid to help a little.



New fender... still blue



New fender after paint



All buttoned up. Obviously I have a little more painting to do. I have a spot to fix on the passengers' side fender before I do that.

[hatzie]

I don't mind the 2nd design T800 Chevy headlamps. The 1st and 2nd design nose both look good as long as there's no rot in the sheet metal.
Your truck is looking better without the rust.

The 1st design nose was available and not expensive and it looks good.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by hatzie

The 1st design nose was available and not expensive and it looks good.

Yep... I have less than a $100 in the whole swap. That includes all the front end parts, all four fender flares, and a couple cans of spray paint.

[daddyjeep]

Ok.... The rendering, therefore the plan, is complete. This is what it will ultimately look like. I am super excited to start building the bumper.

[daddyjeep]

Well, that rendering will never happen. I have decided not to "build" this truck. I am going to continue the Square Body build instead. I have been just using the truck. It really does a great job towing the Jeep, well it did anyway. About a month ago it lost oil pressure and left me stranded two hours from home. I finally got around to fixing it over the weekend. I put in that $3 O ring on the pick up tube. It took a few hours, but really wasn't a bad job. While I was at it I thought it made sense to fix a couple gauges, most importantly, the oil pressure gauge. A while back I bought one of those stepper motor kits off Amazon. It was easier than I anticipated and within a half hour I had functioning gauges again. Now it's ready to hook up the trailer and drag the Jeep to Southington Off Road Park this weekend.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

That's awesome nice score for that price though. Rendering is badass gonna be looking super sweet!

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

Well, that rendering will never happen. I have decided not to "build" this truck. I am going to continue the Square Body build instead. I have been just using the truck. It really does a great job towing the Jeep, well it did anyway. About a month ago it lost oil pressure and left me stranded two hours from home. I finally got around to fixing it over the weekend. I put in that $3 O ring on the pick up tube. It took a few hours, but really wasn't a bad job. While I was at it I thought it made sense to fix a couple gauges, most importantly, the oil pressure gauge. A while back I bought one of those stepper motor kits off Amazon. It was easier than I anticipated and within a half hour I had functioning gauges again. Now it's ready to hook up the trailer and drag the Jeep to Southington Off Road Park this weekend.

You dodged a bullet on the oil pump pickup.
She looks good and runs good. I don't mod my daily driver. Keep her clean and maintained. Save the mods for the toy.