71 4X4 Frame off Restoration

[DWilbur]

I was abruptly woke up at 4:30am this morning to a loud nois when I looked out my bedroom window someone had hit my 2012 Ram 3500. this truck was to last me the rest of my life. not sure if it is totaled but the 325i BMW that hit it shoved my truck back 10 ft and the hole right side is now up on the curb. this is the 3rd time in 3 years that 2 new truck have been hit. the last truck I had was hit twice once on the righ and once on the left. I think I have a bad case of bad luck.

[Zane M]

That sucks about your truck! Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), with the price of a '12 3500 being so high, it probably won't be totaled. Hopefully it will get fixed right.

[DWilbur]

looking at it this morning after the sun came up the hole front end is pushed back and the driver door and windshield are affected. the body lines are out of alinement as far back as the rear door.

[DeadheadNM]

Bummer about the accident. I was t-boned about one month ago by a careless driver - dealing with the insurance folks etc. can be a real hassle.

Nice build thread though - good luck with it. Any chance you want to sell the OEM hubs off the Dana 44?

[BrianG]

Ouch!!!!!! Thank goodness that the truck was parked and it wasn't a moving head on. I'd like to hear the explanation of the driver of the Beamer? Bigfoot jumped in front of him or something?

[DWilbur]

I'm not going to part out the Dana 44 I'm keeping it. I'm thinking about build some thing with the front and rear axel.

[DWilbur]

The driver said to the police that he fell asleep driving home. I or the police did not smell alcohol on his breath. the driver was taken to the hospital with head injuries.

[70 shorty]

Ouch! while the truck may not be totaled, I'd bet money the BMW is. Hopefully the driver comes out ok with his injuries. Hopefully, your truck will come out ok too.

[DWilbur]

Hopefuly the driver is ok. it looked like he hit his head on the steering wheel prior to the air bag deploying. he cut his lip as well. I would have to gues he was traveling about 35 to 45 mph.

[DWilbur]

I welded some 1"X3" tube to suport the back of the truck cab to make it easer to set it in place. I worked on the 69 quad cab for about 3 hours cutting out some sheet metal to fit the back of the truck cab. but the rear suport for the cab was getting cut off so I had to stop until I can get some material to suport it from the bottom. I would have gone to HD but I wont get a rental car until Monday. you can see in the pictures the area I will be cutting out so the floor of the truck and suburban will fit better. I will use the back cab body mounts to bolt the cab to the frame.

[swamp rat]

That's a real bummer on the truck getting hit, hoping everything works out ok for you on that issue. Your making great progress on the project truck as well!

[Vova]

You're going to need a D60 for the front of this beast...

[DWilbur]

I have a Dana 60 for the front and 14 bolt for the back.

[Vova]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

I have a Dana 60 for the front and 14 bolt for the back.

Nice. That should hold up nicely. I have the same setup in my Toyota.

[DWilbur]

Having to deal with my Dodge truck filing a claim with the insurance company and getting a rental car. I did not go to work today. After dinner I welded up some scrap tubing and built side suport so I can finish cutting out the back of the cab. I will try and finish up the left side later this week. I ordered a new floor patch panel to replace the one I cut short last Saturday.

[goldenburb]

loven this build. I want to do the same but my skills are no were close...
Please keep posting diy pix .thanks for sharing...

[Vova]

Update?

[DWilbur]

I had to work Saturday so work on the truck. Sunday I work on finishing up the suports for the back of the cab so I can fit the back of the truck cab on.

[DWilbur]

After fitting the cab and getting it close I noticed that the tuck roof line is very low. A lot further off than I thought it would be. I'm thing about cut below the rear window at the line marked on the back of the cab and raise it up to fit the roof line better and fill in with a patch panel. It would be about 3 1/4" fill peice. I will see if there is anything else I can do for a better fit at the top.

[71blksuper4x4]

Cut the top off of the suburban donor around the rain gutter area, and lower the roof to meet up with the truck roof. It will look funny if you keep the burb roof line. I have seen you can trim the burb roof to match up close with the truck cab roof line, and add a filler piece to mate it. Everyone does it different, but here's a good approach:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=499490

[Vova]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

After fitting the cab and getting it close I noticed that the tuck roof line is very low. A lot further off than I thought it would be. I'm thing about cut below the rear window at the line marked on the back of the cab and raise it up to fit the roof line better and fill in with a patch panel. It would be about 3 1/4" fill peice. I will see if there is anything else I can do for a better fit at the top.

Can you take a side shot to see the roofline?

[DWilbur]

I don't want to cut the roof line down. I'm 6'-5" tall and need the extra inches the burb offers. more pictures of the difference in hieght.

[72kool]

love what your doing and your metal work is great! just wondering bout the problem of the height difference, could you cut the back off the 'burb and customize the rear to replace the door? but your height problem wouldnt be an issue?

[DWilbur]

The back door of the burb is above the rain gutter not enough material to work with. I have been thinking about using the right and left corner of the burb roof. But I still have the issue with how things line up inside the cab. I leaning twards cutting below the back window and raising it up to meet the roof and add a filler peice below. I saw a picture of a quad cab that they raised the roof above the window and it looked odd.

[swamp rat]

I don't know if you have seen this guys thread yet but he seems to have some pretty good ideas going. This is all way over my head so i know i cant help any.. Good luck!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=557019