My 83' Crew Cab Dually project

[DblTrbl]

Originally Posted by 54earl

I just bought an 82 crew cab dually (200). No engine or trains, but I have a small block 350 and a turbo 400 as well as a 700r4. I have been trying to figure out a good bag selection and if the 350 would work out.

The 350 seemed to push mine along just fine. It sucked at highway speeds, but that was the TH400. I towed my 25' boat around last summer without issue. I haven't heard good things about towing with the 700R4's, but I may drop one in just to get that overdrive.

I'm using Air Lift Dominator 2600's all the way around. It lifts the front just fine and I don't expect that the rear will weigh any more than the engine. Do yourself a favor though and run multiple tanks. 5gal was barely enough to lift the front once.

[54earl]

i have dual air compressors might as well have dual tanks. Thanks for the info on the bags. I am looking forward to seeing yours up and running.

[DblTrbl]

I had a REALLY frustrating day with my pulley and bracket kit. Nearly everything required some form of clearancing, bolt holes are off center, the water pump pulley has been countersunk so far that the bolts seat well below the surface, the alternator fan hits the alternator body when bolted together, the heim joints interfere in both ends so the bolts can't be tightened, the power steering pump bracket gives very limited belt adjustment. I found that I have the wrong shaft on my power steering pump. I really expected that bolting the shiny parts on would be more fun.

A little more progress...

[DblTrbl]

I got the crossmember built and tacked in place. I still need to build some filler pieces and burn the whole thing in...

[aggie91]

That looks good.

[ruffrida2005]

Man that looks good and really heavy.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by ruffrida2005

Man that looks good and really heavy.

The way he built it makes it look a lot heavier than it is. I love details like this. Nice work.

[tinydb84]

So much work. I would have dimple died a piece of sheet and called it a day. Actually I probably would have been too lazy to do that and just used a sheet.

How thick of material did you use? I am trying to figure out how I want to run the cross members in my truck...

[DblTrbl]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Each section (3 of them) weighed around 10lbs. It's 3/16" with 1/8" wall tube. Like Tinydb84 said...it was a lot of work. The most time consuming part was smoothing out the welds on each hole...both sides. A carbide bit worked well, but it took time. This area is kind of where I can get artistic with the framework, so it was worth the hours that I had to dedicate to it...

Here's some progress on the fillers that I'm doing.

[TrailerTrash]

wow this looks amazing keep it up

[ruffrida2005]

Looks good buddy.

[DblTrbl]

Finished burning it all in. Just need some filler and final prep before paint. I got my power steering pump issue worked out. I had to order one for a 71' Monte Carlo to get the correct main shaft for my pulley. I'll be bolting that up shortly and then dropping the engine and trans back in so I can start cutting the floor.

[Advanced Design]

Very cool build! DblTrbl, you have some awesome fab skills. I am tagging along for the rest.

[Task Force Era]

Man I forever regret the day I got rid of my 87 crew cab dually!

Sick build man, I'm loving it!

[64chevtruck]

Nice details DT. The extra time you put into making that frame look stylish is well worth it I think. Cant wait to see it painted.


Keep up the good work.

[DblTrbl]

Thanks guys...

I lifted the cab off today - I should have done that months ago, but these things snowball and I've been trying to be the least intrusive as possible...clearly that hasn't worked for me so far. Haha!

I also got the engine and trans temporarily mounted in place so I can finish out the trans mount/crossmember and the carrier bearing crossmember. Then I'm on to marking and cutting the floor. At this point it's looking like I'll be tunneling the entire length of the cab for the driveshaft...what I'd give to have a slip roller at my disposal.

[ruffrida2005]

That's looking good buddy, I wish I had the room to put my truck in my garage, but i'm about 1' and half too short.

[64chevtruck]

Snowball.......ain't that a fact....

Hey maybe you could find a concrete truck chute, or the right size metal pipe to cut in half to use for your tunnel?

[Ghostwhite]

I am going to do the same, tunnel all the way back. I haven't even measured but I know the Cummins I'm using has a terribly high crank centerline.

Originally Posted by ruffrida2005

That's looking good buddy, I wish I had the room to put my truck in my garage, but i'm about 1' and half too short.

How about sideways!

[ruffrida2005]

Originally Posted by Ghostwhite

I am going to do the same, tunnel all the way back. I haven't even measured but I know the Cummins I'm using has a terribly high crank centerline.



How about sideways!

No sir. That would be even worse. I hate these small 2 car garages. My NBS Silverado crew cab with short bed hardly fits with the door down.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by ruffrida2005

No sir. That would be even worse. I hate these small 2 car garages. My NBS Silverado crew cab with short bed hardly fits with the door down.

I feel for you...it's really hard to turn my truck around inside the shop without moving other vehicles out of the way.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Low Elco]

Great lookin' fab work, and educational. Please continue!

[DblTrbl]

I was able to get the carrier bearing crossmember mounted up and the drivetrain bolted together for mock-up. Preliminary cut on the floor is done. Not one inch of the driveline would have cleared the stock floor. I'm afraid that I'm going to be forced to go with buckets or do some modifications to both benches. The tunnel is going to be taller than the bottom of the seats. I may also be trimming the back wall of the cab a bit. I haven't been able to drop the whole thing down yet to see where the driveline lands.



The hood is going to be tight fit. I hadn't planned on it, but a cowl hood may be a necessity...

[Low Elco]

ps-love the boat!

[tinydb84]

Have you thought about lowering the engine an inch or two? I got mine down 2.5 inches (its an LS though). You already got everything cut out but it may save some of the headache of messing with the seats.