Rambo, Old farts last build

[Treburkulosis]

We have traveled a lot of North America but 2 hrs from home is pretty special!
Still a LONG way from "sorted" but a good start.

I just read through your Dakota build! Really cool stuff you are doing!

 

[Evguy1]

Thanks Treburkulosis, it was the reliability and power of the Dakota that inspired me to do this 1500 swap. I'm also hoping for the same 20-22MPG towing fuel consumption but it will be next year before I get any real data on that.

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[Treburkulosis]

Thanks Treburkulosis, it was the reliability and power of the Dakota that inspired me to do this 1500 swap. I'm also hoping for the same 20-22MPG towing fuel consumption but it will be next year before I get any real data on that.

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Ive heard the eco diesel numbers in the rams are excellent. I am lucky if I can get 16 on a good day with the hemi.

 

[Evguy1]

I almost bought an ED but was not happy with the reliability and when on a holiday I don't want to spend a bunch of time waiting on parts or a whole new engine. In the Dakota the Cummins never let us down other than an alternator in Kingman AZ a few years ago but that was just a one day delay.

 

[Evguy1]

So first tank of fuel and this is towing MPG....16.5mpg.
I still have some tweaking to do, mostly with trans shift points so 18 towing is my goal.
Should see 20MPG without a trailer in tow.
Tows like a ******* though, hardly know I had a trailer behind.

 

[Treburkulosis]

So first tank of fuel and this is towing MPG....16.5mpg.
I still have some tweaking to do, mostly with trans shift points so 18 towing is my goal.
Should see 20MPG without a trailer in tow.
Tows like a ******* though, hardly know I had a trailer behind.

That is awesome!

 

[Evguy1]

Well to be honest a Ram 2500 with the diesel probably gets about the same with a WHOLE lot less work. ;>)

 

[Evguy1]

I suppose if you like to be unique and I do, this is one reason to spend an obscene amount of money swapping the truck.

 

[Treburkulosis]

I love your build! Truck turned out really nice! Did you powder coat your wheels?

 

[Evguy1]

Wheels are sprayed with the same base/clear as the truck.
I have been looking at these but not in the budget this year:

 

[Treburkulosis]

I like those wheels! You Laramie wheels look great too!

 

[U&A]

The Alison that going in it is only a 6 speed and with 4.56 gearing and 37's that puts me at 2000 RPM in 6th at 80 MPH which is just right for the Cummins.
Would have to swap in the earlier front diff to get that sort of gearing.
With the 3.92 I'm at 1700 RPM @ 80 MPH which means most of the time at our local highways speeds of 100km/hr or about 60 MPH that puts me back into 5th at 1500 or even 4th at 2200 RPM.

Nice,

Doin it right

 

[Evguy1]

Well at this point I'm using the RAM 8 speed and its working well.

 

[Evguy1]

After fighting the factory air suspension for a year I decided to upgrade to the Bilstein shock/strut setup.
That left me with no rear air setup that I really like for connecting to a trailer. After looking at ALL the aftermarket options I decided to build my own. The reasons I went for my own design are: wanted to be able to drop the rear at least 2" lower than stock for connecting to a trailer and raise the rear 2" higher than stock for a bit of lifted look.
Most kits gave me the ability to lower OR raise but not both. I started with a pair of 2" lowering rear springs so the truck would sit lower with no air for connecting to a trailer. Then made brackets to support the new Firestone 9002 air bags which will give me 2200lbs of load capacity.
I used these same bags on my Cummins Dakota and they worked fantastic, I also put 4 of them under the back of my RAM 3500 deck truck for dropping the back of the deck for loading.

 

[Evguy1]

I know, crappy welds but they usually work. The plates go all the way under the frame and are welded on the other side as well. Almost half the bag sits under the frame so should have good support. I will use the old air suspension sensor links to add limit switches to let me know if the bags are too low or too high.

 

[Fediej]

The Cherokee, the Dakota, the 1500, Impressive all around!

 

[raakrebuild]

Great job with the builds, I enjoyed reading them. Did you use the 8 speed over the allison for more speeds, less driveline modifying?

 

[Evguy1]

Thanks guys, I have enjoyed doing swaps and custom builds for most of my 62 years. I went with the 8 speed for less modifications and more gear ratios. I had hoped that the RAM ECU could be fooled enough to still run the trans but that did not happen. The 8 speed and 3.92 axle gears make a nice setup for the Cummins. Possibly 4.10's would be a bit better to allow more use of 8th gear with my 37" tires. Still a long way to go to get it where I want it.

 

[Evguy1]

A little more done on the air bags. Bags are in and the system works very well. Used the two old original air tanks along with the 2 gallon one I had previously installed for the air horn so lots of air.
The up and down solenoids will be operated from both the cab and rear bumper. The bumper switch is nice when connecting to a trailer and something I loved on my Dakota. I put 2" lowering springs in the rear so the truck would squat lower than stock for connecting to a trailer and then the bags would bring it back up to ride height.

 

[Evguy1]

The fuel vent system does not work well with Diesel, too slow to fill. I removed the old vent system and building a new one. Got the old plastic housing out and machining a new aluminum one to replace it.