My Project

These are pictures of my 1978 Dodge Crew cab when it cam out of the booth.
I thought it would be best to post it up here in hopes I could get some support for parts and motivation...
To start, I am struggling to find good aftermarket bumpers for it.
Sean

I can't help with the parts, but I like it! Looks like its gonna be a cool truck when its all done.

You may want to check these guys out. Never dealt with them, but someone had suggested it to me a one point.

Dodge Truck Parts - NOS and Used Dodge Truck Parts - Mopar Truck Parts

Awesome... and Welcome!

What color is that?

What are your intentions? A stock - restoration type build, or a modded up monster truck, or somewhere in between? Not sure what type of bumpers to suggest.

That body is super straight and looking good!

Was it an old Air Force / Navy truck or do you know it's history?

I recall seeing rows and rows of those and crew cab F350s (White or Blue) lined up on flight lines or Heli pads out in the desert at remote underground bunker spots I've explored about 20 years ago.

Sadly, few (if any) of them are left.

Keep us updated and posting up pics as it comes along. Wish I were a bit closer (I'm down in Big Water) I would love to come wrench with ya!

Welcome! I like the color of the truck, looks immaculate.

I don't know of anybody who makes aftermarket bumpers for these trucks. Fabbing your own shouldn't be too hard as long as you're a good welder.

Thanks for the comments everyone. The paint is gunmetal blue. We mixed a few to get that specific color but it's not as crazy as we could have gone. It was an air force truck (air traffic control signs in the cab) so the color was a lot brighter blue initially. I did jam everything with the new color.
I plan to have a semi-daily driver that can wheel as needed and still be a head turner. If there's a lift involved I plan to stay 4 to 6 inches. I figured bumpers would have to be crafted by hand but was hoping maybe one of these manufactures would have more than just the Fey version. I've got a fab friend who has offered to build some.
I'm thinking of accenting all of the blue with blacked out badges, wheels, and bumpers. I think the grill could look good blacked out too but it's pretty hard to change that back if I decided it didn't look good. But if I don't change it then it's pretty much the only thing not black or blue.
I'm grafting in an 08 dodge interior that was black leather. Should be a little more comfy. I bought the painless wiring kit too and it looks pretty straight forward. Anyone have tips on that? I wanted fresh start with the electrical and needed a bigger fuse box for power windows/locks and the stereo/dvd player. Would like a/c down the road but not worried about it today. I've had this truck for about ten years and been thinking, planning and hoarding things for it as the body got straightened and painted.
I'll post more pics as it comes along. Thanks again

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That looks badass! It's very rare to find a crew cab of that vintage that's not rusted to hell n back, and I live in New Mexico!

I would most certainly say you fabricate bumpers for it. Just keep em simple and understated to not detract from the awesomeness of the truck!

I agree with WhiteExpress. Build your own. So you can get the exactly the way you want them.

This looks amazing. Please keep the thread updated.

As for blacking out badges and your grille, you can use Plasti-dip. Don't like it? Just peel it off.

Plasti dip. That's a great way to try it out. Thanks.

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Front bumper found and on :thumbup:

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Gonna definitely black out the grill.

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Looking good. Any more progress pictures?

Trying to find rims to put on this truck. Attached is a picture of the lugs and tires on there now. Plate inside the door says 16.5-6.75 for rims. Anyone have success with this? Truck is a 3/4 ton and 8 lug. Is there a place that says what other vehicles rims will fit on "this or that" truck?

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Pretty much any dodge rim up to the 4th gen rims will fit. I put rims from a 2007 truck on mine. They fit with no problems. Any rim from older Chevys will work too.

Bolt pattern is 8x6.5

Need more pics... and frequent updates. This is just too nice to not follow along.

You thinking narrow, stock steel wheels and dogdish caps, or going with some affordable Craigslist aftermarket type wheels a little wider, or ?

What theme are you going with, or is it just whatever comes available and looks right when you see it?

The plan is to go black and blue as much as possible. I'd like the wheels to be matte blacked out versus shiny. I'm working on eliminating chrome on the truck. Want to plasti dip or paint anything chrome. The interior will be black leather from an 08 crew cab. I'm upgrading the electrical via Painless Wiring and I went with the bigger fuse box for upgrade to Pw, Pl, etc. Not sure about lift or size of tires. It sits high enough and I feel like if I start on that road then I'm another 5K minimum ;-) and sometimes a clean "slightly modified" stock can look so good. So that's my theme for now.

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I have 97/98 Ram 2500 wheels on my 76. Only problem with using the later Dodge wheels is that you can't use the hub caps because the nuts that hold them on are a different thread pitch than the 70s Dodge studs.

Truck came with 97 Ford F250 wheels (heavy mothers). Any wheel that's 16in in diameter that has a bolt pattern of 8x6.5 should work.

Probably a dumb question but can it be a 16 inch or bigger or just 16s?

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Getting everything ready for the new 18 circuit wiring.