ramp rebuild
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gomopar440
Livin' my life...one gas station at a time.
Did you every confirm whether the crank in that 440 is cast or forged? I was expecting to see a thick harmonic balancer on mine, but it has a skinny one on it like yours.
BTW: I hadn't been able to get out to town this week, so I never got a chance to take a look if that guy has a 440 flywheel. Last time I spoke to him on the phone he suggested getting one from Mopar Performance. [smilie=f:$$$ :doubt:
BTW: I hadn't been able to get out to town this week, so I never got a chance to take a look if that guy has a 440 flywheel. Last time I spoke to him on the phone he suggested getting one from Mopar Performance. [smilie=f:$$$ :doubt:
TheIronSausage
Two brain cells left.. rubbing together for warmth
Skinny = Forged. Like 318 vs. 360.. All 360s have cast cranks, and big ass dampers.
69.5CUDA
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yup mines forged and factory drilled for a stick!!!
more pics tonight or tommaro..got the truck DRIVEN out and into the driveway so i can get to the front end swap...the 318 fired up then ran rough n died..p[opped the 2brl open carb cleaned out the jets tossed it back together and it ran nice....for about 10 mins..then wouldnt start unless you left the key halfway between on and start...that STUPUID FUCKING GODDAMN mopar ignition issue that happens..id love to know how to truely fix that shit...regardless i have an MSD setup with all the correct plugs to drop into ANY mopar at will without bolting anything down...just lay it in with its coil plug everything in and fire it up...truck ran perfectly..and seems the e brake is functioning very well too
more pics tonight or tommaro..got the truck DRIVEN out and into the driveway so i can get to the front end swap...the 318 fired up then ran rough n died..p[opped the 2brl open carb cleaned out the jets tossed it back together and it ran nice....for about 10 mins..then wouldnt start unless you left the key halfway between on and start...that STUPUID FUCKING GODDAMN mopar ignition issue that happens..id love to know how to truely fix that shit...regardless i have an MSD setup with all the correct plugs to drop into ANY mopar at will without bolting anything down...just lay it in with its coil plug everything in and fire it up...truck ran perfectly..and seems the e brake is functioning very well too
69.5CUDA
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so the good the bad n the ugly
as stated she ran out fine..but yeah shes a rusty ole girl but i was once told she spent ALOT of time travling the country too....i belive the 212k miles on it
that lil 318 looks dinky as hell in ther and its down soo far lol
as rough n rusty as most of the body is...the fenders and running boards are straight and solid with only very minor imperfections..mind you the inner fenders are shot to shit but ive got 2 sets of replacements possibly 3....but those factory flared fenders are NOT easy to come by and the running boards even harder
doors are toast the cab is actualy twisted and sagged out..the core is rotten at the bottom too...the frame she is solid, sitting ready is a 63/4 cab, doors, hood(in place) grill, and core, as well as fenders to pull inners from, 3 spare sets of doors, 3 beds..countless wiring harnesses and interior sets....basicly everything you could want or need to do it i have..save for materials, lines and such
as stated she ran out fine..but yeah shes a rusty ole girl but i was once told she spent ALOT of time travling the country too....i belive the 212k miles on it
that lil 318 looks dinky as hell in ther and its down soo far lol
as rough n rusty as most of the body is...the fenders and running boards are straight and solid with only very minor imperfections..mind you the inner fenders are shot to shit but ive got 2 sets of replacements possibly 3....but those factory flared fenders are NOT easy to come by and the running boards even harder
doors are toast the cab is actualy twisted and sagged out..the core is rotten at the bottom too...the frame she is solid, sitting ready is a 63/4 cab, doors, hood(in place) grill, and core, as well as fenders to pull inners from, 3 spare sets of doors, 3 beds..countless wiring harnesses and interior sets....basicly everything you could want or need to do it i have..save for materials, lines and such
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69.5CUDA
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here is my conundrum....
so the factory perches for the front axle are too cloes together by a lil more than 4 inches, the MH perches sat on the rails, the truck main pearches sit on the rails but drop the hole down by 4 inches....so what do?...this much i do know...the 4inch drop is to align the spring eye piviot point with that of the drop arm of the steering link to reduce bump steer
my solution is to "block" up the perch point and as sketchy as it sounds its not actualy any different than the OEM stamped drop perch other than the fact that mine will be tripple the thickness and i will be boxxing the frame as well since the frame seems to have had these oem perches break free or something since they are partialy welded back on wtih rivits missing
so..tell me if this wont work and why..take the MH mounts and bolt them to 3x3 1/4inch box, match there angle cuts to the box so that the box ends up neerly double the length of the perch, then take that assembly and bolt it to the frame...by all counts it will be stronger than the OEM setup and likely overkill since im spreading the load on the frame considerably...and when i say bolt i mean 1 bolt every 3-4 inches the same way the factory gapped the rivits just instead of rivits grade8 bolts(course in the case of alot of truck and MH stuff much of these components had both rivits and bolts for one reason or another)
the 3inch box is neerly exactly the width of the frame..if anything its 1/4-1/2 inch wider than the frame...and yes the MH frame was the exact same size and the perch just hung off both sides
so the factory perches for the front axle are too cloes together by a lil more than 4 inches, the MH perches sat on the rails, the truck main pearches sit on the rails but drop the hole down by 4 inches....so what do?...this much i do know...the 4inch drop is to align the spring eye piviot point with that of the drop arm of the steering link to reduce bump steer
my solution is to "block" up the perch point and as sketchy as it sounds its not actualy any different than the OEM stamped drop perch other than the fact that mine will be tripple the thickness and i will be boxxing the frame as well since the frame seems to have had these oem perches break free or something since they are partialy welded back on wtih rivits missing
so..tell me if this wont work and why..take the MH mounts and bolt them to 3x3 1/4inch box, match there angle cuts to the box so that the box ends up neerly double the length of the perch, then take that assembly and bolt it to the frame...by all counts it will be stronger than the OEM setup and likely overkill since im spreading the load on the frame considerably...and when i say bolt i mean 1 bolt every 3-4 inches the same way the factory gapped the rivits just instead of rivits grade8 bolts(course in the case of alot of truck and MH stuff much of these components had both rivits and bolts for one reason or another)
the 3inch box is neerly exactly the width of the frame..if anything its 1/4-1/2 inch wider than the frame...and yes the MH frame was the exact same size and the perch just hung off both sides
TheIronSausage
Two brain cells left.. rubbing together for warmth
I'm kinda surprised you're not going the junkyard Jeep route, and making your own leaf spring packs.. I'd think between all eight leaf spring packs, you oughta be able to add some leafs (leaves?) from the motorhome into your truck's sets. You'd just need a way to band them together, and bigger U bolts.. Unless they're different widths. If so, forget everything I just said.
69.5CUDA
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the truck frame is CONSIDERABLY longer....but then there is the steering box orientations front vs rear of axle...but rail size and shape aside from lack of length and wheebase yes its the same base frame
the jeep spring thing..god you dont want to know how many times ive done that and it works great...the lift on my explorer looks real damn good and its all OEM ford bits......but...the issue here is 2inch truck vs 3inch MH and the MH springs are a few inches longer...i had actualy considered cutting the eye area narrower till it fit..but then the length issue would still stand
the jeep spring thing..god you dont want to know how many times ive done that and it works great...the lift on my explorer looks real damn good and its all OEM ford bits......but...the issue here is 2inch truck vs 3inch MH and the MH springs are a few inches longer...i had actualy considered cutting the eye area narrower till it fit..but then the length issue would still stand
restoman
The paint fumes have cleared so I'm
Then why not splice the two frames together? A stepped cut or four, some plates for re-reinforcement and everything fits...
69.5CUDA
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i contemplated exactly that..but id still be back at the exact same issue...
you need the steering box's drop arm to be centered with the spring eyes to prevent bump steer issue
ok fine, but the MH was a COE/forward control design meaning the steering box was mounted in front of the axle and stood neerly vertical...so modify the shit out of it and rotate it right? now your steering shaft is inches above the centerline of the tire, but move the box back and inside where it needs to be...ok sure but now you have the issue of the "moving" end of the leaf spring(shackle end) at the steering box end
basicly i went and hunted for info based on shackle, springs, steering boxes and while i knew a good deal of it just from my RC scale rock crawler rigs, everything i learned confirmed it
the drop link balljoint should be on the same plane as the fixed spring eye, and while the distance can be changed it too is advised to be similar in lengthh to prevent any weirdness, the shackle (float end) of the spring should always be at the oposite end as the steering link to prevent any further weirdness
so at the end of the day, i could have used the MH frame, added ALL of the truck body mounts, moved the deck, fish plated in a whole lot of length (mostly in the wheel base) , flipped the front springs, sway, shocks and steering 180 on the front axle, removed the axle mounts and reveresed them too ..but then id still have to block up the rear pearches to get the steering geometry correct again.....so....just doing perches on the truck sure makes a whole lot more sense doesnt it?..besides the MH frame has been disected into 8 frame chunks
belive me my original plan was to just stretch the MH frame..then i went hunting for pics and came across a few guys who had done it on replical haulers mostly 4dr trucks..and its a train wreck...and the best way to deal with the steering is to use a truck front half of the frame and pretty much do what im doing or use a 2inch spring axle...in the end..if you have a long frame its best to just use it and make some tweaks..cause otherwise youll be doing the same mods AND building the whole frame from scratch as NOTHING is in the same or right place if its there at all
69.5CUDA
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so i made up my front spring perch risers yesterday..3x3x1/4 box, same material used for all the MH spring perches and such tho they probably used c channel instead, cut and mimiced the OEM angles which i might ad are NOT the same on all 4 corners of the OEM perches..2 oposite corners are 45deg the other s are anywhere from 25-40...mine are all 45, the holes on top are all direct sized to the same bolts that held half the perches in in the first place, the 2 smaller rivit holes were enlarged for the same bolts, an incredibly snug fit...i went so far as to use metric bits to get the tolerance as tight as possible, the bottom holes are the 2 center holes drilled all the way thru and then copy of the perch holes on each end using the perches as a template...about as fool proof as humanly possible..and most descidedly overkill as per my norm
meanwhile i had been enjoying the wishywashy crappy weather..rain, cold some sun.....but it seems summer wanted to punch us in the groin ...it snapped and is now 80-85 all day and night...very unpleased
attempting to getthe front axle out has been...intresting, between trying to get the truck up high enuf..i eventualy descided that it was adviseable to just pull the wheels and springs and do it all piece by piece, some of the stuff just blows right off like it was assembled yesterday..other things....your in for a fight, between the rust flakes falling on you and the heat its not fun in the slightest
got the front axle completely unbolted and it didnt want to fall off...eventualy the passenger side let go of its u-bolts..meanwhole i had to sledge and cut one on the dirvers side, all the while that axle hanging from em no nuts nothing
ill likely save the cutting of the rearward front spring perches for tommaro morning ..as they have been cobble welded back on by someone and ill be in there a while..not to mention i clobbered my ankle with lug nuts n studs rolling the front axle out
meanwhile i had been enjoying the wishywashy crappy weather..rain, cold some sun.....but it seems summer wanted to punch us in the groin ...it snapped and is now 80-85 all day and night...very unpleased
attempting to getthe front axle out has been...intresting, between trying to get the truck up high enuf..i eventualy descided that it was adviseable to just pull the wheels and springs and do it all piece by piece, some of the stuff just blows right off like it was assembled yesterday..other things....your in for a fight, between the rust flakes falling on you and the heat its not fun in the slightest
got the front axle completely unbolted and it didnt want to fall off...eventualy the passenger side let go of its u-bolts..meanwhole i had to sledge and cut one on the dirvers side, all the while that axle hanging from em no nuts nothing
ill likely save the cutting of the rearward front spring perches for tommaro morning ..as they have been cobble welded back on by someone and ill be in there a while..not to mention i clobbered my ankle with lug nuts n studs rolling the front axle out
gomopar440
Livin' my life...one gas station at a time.
Since you've already pulled off all the mounting hardware and it still won't budge, here's a little trick that might help you out.
Put a floor jack under the front axle, but make sure the lifting pad doesn't hit the axle itself. Pump it up so the lifting pad is contacting the leaf spring pack next to the axle and stop for a sec. Then chain the axle to the base of the jack, not any part of the lifting pad or arm, so the axle can't lift up at all. Pump the jack up a little further and the spring should be forced to separate from the axle.
Put a floor jack under the front axle, but make sure the lifting pad doesn't hit the axle itself. Pump it up so the lifting pad is contacting the leaf spring pack next to the axle and stop for a sec. Then chain the axle to the base of the jack, not any part of the lifting pad or arm, so the axle can't lift up at all. Pump the jack up a little further and the spring should be forced to separate from the axle.
gomopar440
Livin' my life...one gas station at a time.
I didn't even bother trying to get the exhaust flange bolts on my 440 loose. I took one look at them and just went straight to the angle grinder. Some times you just gotta do what ya gotta to git 'er done.
TheIronSausage
Two brain cells left.. rubbing together for warmth
Out of curiosity, what's the Bic lighter with the gaff-taped thing do?
69.5CUDA
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the bic was the exact spacing i needed on something i was doing with sheetmetal..might have been a bumper..or...hmm i think it was the spacing gap i needed for some fender flares....regardless its got a chunk of hardened rod sharpened taped to it for marking..ive never un taped it so it doesnt get lost LOL.
i was using it in conjunction with my t-square to mark the pre existing axle centerline both up on the frame as well as dropping the t down to the center of the axle..basicly i have a set of score marks on both rails to line up with the T for positionality then drop the bar down to the axle and ill know how far in/out of spec i need to adjust.....about as fool proof as you can get when your new springs are 4+inches longer and both front and all 4 corner mounts of the leaf springs need to be blown off
speaking of..i spent the rest of the day getting those damn mounts off the frame,,,huge pain in the ass with the cobbled welds and a bit of oh shit overkill amount of them...basicly ZERO good angles for the grinder on many of the welds thus breaking out the chissle swaping in the grinder and sawzawl as aplicable.....this really should never have been this much of a pain in the ass ....found bent rail areas, cracked spring perches, plug welded rivit holes, missing rivits, welds around most of the mounts...i think someone screwed up and hit something or was hit? ..dunno but whatever they did they screwed the mounts and had to fix em.....further making me pleased that my new mounts cover neerly triple the amount of frame to spread the load.....
pics when bucket quits being stupid
i was using it in conjunction with my t-square to mark the pre existing axle centerline both up on the frame as well as dropping the t down to the center of the axle..basicly i have a set of score marks on both rails to line up with the T for positionality then drop the bar down to the axle and ill know how far in/out of spec i need to adjust.....about as fool proof as you can get when your new springs are 4+inches longer and both front and all 4 corner mounts of the leaf springs need to be blown off
speaking of..i spent the rest of the day getting those damn mounts off the frame,,,huge pain in the ass with the cobbled welds and a bit of oh shit overkill amount of them...basicly ZERO good angles for the grinder on many of the welds thus breaking out the chissle swaping in the grinder and sawzawl as aplicable.....this really should never have been this much of a pain in the ass ....found bent rail areas, cracked spring perches, plug welded rivit holes, missing rivits, welds around most of the mounts...i think someone screwed up and hit something or was hit? ..dunno but whatever they did they screwed the mounts and had to fix em.....further making me pleased that my new mounts cover neerly triple the amount of frame to spread the load.....
pics when bucket quits being stupid
69.5CUDA
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front axles side by side...the differences are not all obvious, thickness, spring pad, drop are all significant..overall width is within an inch or 2, the width of the beam (forward/back) is neerly double....theres little doubt this MH axle is BEEFY
the old springs...yeah..uhh i think someone tossed some 1/2 or 3/4 ton springs in to lowwer the truck or make it softer...the springs on my ramcharger have more beef to them...hell the springs off the old 3/4 ton camper special had more beef
lastly OE ramp perches vs mh and my riser
the old springs...yeah..uhh i think someone tossed some 1/2 or 3/4 ton springs in to lowwer the truck or make it softer...the springs on my ramcharger have more beef to them...hell the springs off the old 3/4 ton camper special had more beef
lastly OE ramp perches vs mh and my riser
69.5CUDA
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as you can see by the pics below ...the rails around the spring perch were UGLY...some time with a pipe bender jack(12ton long ram), oxy, sledges, grinder, BIG crecent wrench..i managed to bring them more "true" ish...good enuf atleast
id had a good bit of dilemma about the placement of the new perches, how to get them square on the rails, how to make sure they were at a matched distance...then i ran into something by mistake..you see i had made left and right specific units, but if i swapped them it set the mounting block further back and as a dumb luck side note, the outter rear bolt hole EXACTLY lined up with the forward trans crossmember rivet on both side, the axle centerline ended up within my drawn spec of less than 1/2 inch
a bonus bonus for hanging the springs, i was able to use the front shackle perches as a temporary mount for getting these HEAVY springs in..mind you said perch is a greaseable unit..which is cool but WAY off in location both in height and the need to go forward into a impossible location..so they will have to come out
lastly..a couple comparision shots..old shocks n mounts vs new, old spring sitting on the new ones
i should make a note...the OEM perches were HALF the thickness, the new perch is held to the block with 4 bolts and the block is held to the rail with an aditional 6 bolts, said nuts n bolts were the same bolts holding much of the rails together on the MH frame (from the steering box to crossmembers and even partial perches)and are slightly larger in dia than the OEM rivets
id had a good bit of dilemma about the placement of the new perches, how to get them square on the rails, how to make sure they were at a matched distance...then i ran into something by mistake..you see i had made left and right specific units, but if i swapped them it set the mounting block further back and as a dumb luck side note, the outter rear bolt hole EXACTLY lined up with the forward trans crossmember rivet on both side, the axle centerline ended up within my drawn spec of less than 1/2 inch
a bonus bonus for hanging the springs, i was able to use the front shackle perches as a temporary mount for getting these HEAVY springs in..mind you said perch is a greaseable unit..which is cool but WAY off in location both in height and the need to go forward into a impossible location..so they will have to come out
lastly..a couple comparision shots..old shocks n mounts vs new, old spring sitting on the new ones
i should make a note...the OEM perches were HALF the thickness, the new perch is held to the block with 4 bolts and the block is held to the rail with an aditional 6 bolts, said nuts n bolts were the same bolts holding much of the rails together on the MH frame (from the steering box to crossmembers and even partial perches)and are slightly larger in dia than the OEM rivets
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gomopar440
Livin' my life...one gas station at a time.
Nice write up as usual. But about those pics... :huh: