My 1984 One Ton

[crazzywolfie]

that is a very nice truck. i would not drive that in the snow unless you had to. something like that should be a summer cruiser only. i let my 81 sit for months with no issues. if you have a place to park it inside then it should be fine to sit for years if you had to.

before you go throwing bigger tires on it you should see about adding support to the power steering box area of the frame. i discovered a brace on my 91 when i was stripping it that my 81 does not have.

 

[Dieselholic92]

that is a very nice truck. i would not drive that in the snow unless you had to. something like that should be a summer cruiser only. i let my 81 sit for months with no issues. if you have a place to park it inside then it should be fine to sit for years if you had to.

before you go throwing bigger tires on it you should see about adding support to the power steering box area of the frame. i discovered a brace on my 91 when i was stripping it that my 81 does not have.

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to look at it later and see if that brace is there.

 

[crazzywolfie]

i just know the frames are sometimes susceptible to cracking right by the power steering box which is why dodge eventually started installing these. i know i am almost certain i see the frame on my 81 flex when i sit there steering it back and forth.

 

[Dieselholic92]

I suppose if it doesn't have one, it will be something I'll have to scrounge up from a local wrecking yard

 

[Dieselholic92]

Does anyone else have any input on what size tires will fit under the stock suspension of a W350? I'm thinking 33x12.50 are what I need.

 

[Dieselholic92]

Well we got a little bit of snow in the last week, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some more pictures

 

[dodge dude94]

Looks awesome!

 

[iSlacker816]

Sweet truck bro, she's gorgeous!

 

[WhiteExpress]

that truck is amazingly clean. Love it!

I fear that you'd not clear 33s with stock suspension, but I know the ol 1 tons rode pretty high comparatively.
I would go with a 33x9.50 for the stock wheels, wide wheels were NOT a thing back then, they're like 16.5 by 6.5s or something similarly crazy.

 

[Dieselholic92]

Thanks everyone!

I've been debating putting a small suspension lift on it (I hate body lifts), probably something like 2". But it's hard to justify doing it to this truck. However, even my grandpa (who is extremely **** about not molesting pristine vehicles) is telling me that he always thought this truck needed a 1.5" or 2" lift to make it perfect.

 

[Dieselholic92]

I was just going through my computer and found a couple more pictures of the truck from this spring when my grandpa still owned it.

Hope you guys like pictures because I do!

 

[dodge dude94]

We (I) LOVE pictures!

 

[PCA4208]

Nice! The tires look like the original swamper type tires too. Looks like the original spare in the back of my 79' Power Wagon.

 

[Johnn123]

Thats freakin mint man! I see it says Lakefield on the side, im gonna presume not the Lakefield im in

 

[Dieselholic92]

Thats freakin mint man! I see it says Lakefield on the side, im gonna presume not the Lakefield im in

Thanks! Not quite, Lakefield Minnesota haha

 

[Dieselholic92]

Not much to update other than I transferred the title and got the license plates a couple weeks ago. Not doing much to the truck right now as it's kind of in cold storage in my shed for the winter (Too cold to work out there). I wish I could drive the truck but I'm not going to due to the salt on the Minnesota roads for the winter. I'm also looking at buying another fire truck from a local fire department. It's a 1974 Ford C700 with a John Bean pumper body on it. There's 3,800 miles on that truck. I figure for the money it would be perfect for watering all of the trees I'm planning on planting next summer. I'll update the thread if I get it.

 

[Dieselholic92]

Another question. Do you guys think I should leave the build sheet behind the seat or take it out and put it in a sleeve? I've been thinking I should take it out to preserve it


Sent from my iPhone in the cab of a Caterpillar

 

[crazzywolfie]

i would probably frame the build sheet and hang it on the wall

 

[Dieselholic92]

It was a somewhat nice day so I decided to bring the Dodge down to my shop to put the new plates on it, clean it a little, grease it and check the fluids. I wanted to see how it looked without the hub caps. Still not sure which way I like it yet.

I also picked up some Ford 16" wheels for it so I have some more tire options

 

[Hemi395]

I plan on keeping the truck until the day I die. I couldn't stand to put it in a museum. A truck like this needs to be driven. Letting it sit would just allow it to deteriorate even more mechanically. It's only for fun, and will never be daily driven, so the miles aren't going to rack up. For anyone worrying about me taking care of the truck, here is a current picture of my daily driver. It's been my DD for 7 years, through Minnesota snow and salt. Not one bit of rust on it. It's even been snow wheeling a few winters.

Ok I know this is off topic, but what is your secret for keeping this truck rust free in an area that has tons of rock salt?

Sent from my Galaxy S4