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1984 K5 M1009 Cummins & Tons
- Thread starter KB6Chris
- Start date
A build thread of my 1984 M1009 Cummins swap and tons.
I originally posted this on Irate 4x4 but thought I would share it here as well. Here it goes
I was always a big fan of build threads and having done a couple "builds" in the past with no threads I thought might as well do one for this.
Fair warning. I like to talk and story tell so this might be long winded
Starting out I bought a 1984 M1009 which is the military version of Chevy's K5 Blazer. All M1009 came with the 6.2 Diesel, TH400, 10 bolt front/rear with the G80 in the back and 3.08 gears. Truck had been stored inside and only had one tank of fuel ran through it in the last 7-8 years.
Pretty well kept rig and I used it as my daily for almost a year and really started to enjoy the utility of it. Being able to tow my SXS, carry 4 people and lots of stuff comfortably, 4x4, fuel sipping engine, 2 door classic look.
But, after putting close to 10k miles on it some age related issues started to show. The fuel system had many problems (probably due to running 7 year old diesel fuel) being a sticky governor and hard cold starts even with fresh glow plug system. The trans would not shift when cold. And a ball joint started going out.
Even though these would be pretty easy, cheap, and simple fixes I found a screaming deal on a wrecked 12 valve/nv4500/4wd Dodge soon after these problems arose.
It was as if it was meant to be.
Here is/was the plan
Past 3/4 years I've been wanting to do some road tripping/camping out west as I've never been West of the Mississippi and I wanted to build a rig to do it.
So I had a Chevy Kingpin 60 laying around I had bought for another truck, the 12v Cummins, NV4500 and the Dana 80 SRW axle out of the wrecked Dodge. Although I wanted this to be off-road capable I knew I was going to be just driving it up and down the road 90% of the time so I wanted to gear it more friendly towards the highway and daily driving. The rear axle was already 3.55 gears so I ordered 3.55 gears for the front and accidently ordered ARB air lockers for both axles. Oops
Before I ripped the Blazer apart I started getting the major components together so as to try and keep the vehicle downtime to a minimum.
The engine and trans were operating well before I pulled them so I opted for just replacing the gaskets and seals and things like water pump etc..
I completely rebuilt the Dana 60 though with new bearings, seals, kingpins, brakes, locker, gears. I see why people say that buying the axle is the cheapest part.
In the meantime the Blazer started to develop a bad fuel leak somewhere and when I drove into the shop to try and find it I decided now would be a good time to start tearing it apart. I pulled off the hood, grill, rad and doing everything else that's necessary to do the swap.
I got the drivetrain pulled and ordered the mounts and crossmember off of Agan Fab to hopefully speed up the process.
The kit came in and I welded it up, but the bushings for the engine mounts were the wrong size and had to be cut down. I also had to modify the frame plates to get more clearance under the engine. I talked to Ryan at Agan Fab and was very helpful with making the adjustments to his kit.
I also had to fab up the transmission crossmember. I used the factory 5 speed mount and cut a hole/notch in the blazer crossmember and put a plate in and I was able to just move the crossmember rearward a couple inches and drill a couple holes and bolt it back up. I had to put a piece on the crossmember to widen it out just a bit to reach the frame though.
In between doing all of that I freshened up the Dana 80 with new seals, brakes, and the locker.
Once the axles were done I pulled a 4 inch lift out of a parts blazer I had acquired and rolled the axles under and put the lift on which is springs in the front and just a block in the back. I had thought about doing a shackle drop but decided I'd try the block first. Soon after I found a guy selling some fairly new 315/75r16 Cooper's on like new American Racing wheel 16x10's and bought those and put them on
The transfer case was going to be a little tricky as the Dodge had a drivers drop T-case and I needed a passenger drop. A lot of guys use the NP-205. Doing that entails either locating one off of a 1st gen dodge and around here guys are asking an arm and a leg for, Or finding the np241c passenger drop which is also hard to find/expensive.
The other option was swapping the NV4500 mainshaft to 32 spline and rear housing to be able to use my NP208
Instead I lucked out and found a guy selling a NP241D out of a ramcharger for dirt cheap. I soon found out why.
So I thought something was wrong with using one of these cause nobody talks about using one in the squarebody cummins swap pages but I couldn't figure out why not.
So these NP241D usually come with the 23 spline found in most Dodge automatics and a fixed rear yoke. While no one lists a 29 spline shaft on the internet anywhere, someone mentions I call Midwesttrans and talk to them. I call them up and tell them what I was doing and they knew exactly what I needed. A new input shaft arrived a couple days later and I start tearing this T-case apart.
Now before I tore it apart it was evident that someone had been in it before because none of the bolts were tight but I could still spin the shafts and it shifted both range and mode fine so I had assumed it was all good.
First thing I find is the oil pump is junk, as well as no pickup tube. I continue on and pull the rest of it apart. Everything else seems good so I continue with the input shaft install and all new seals. I rob the pump out of another NP241 and fab up a pickup tube and start putting it back together. All goes well until I try tightening the bolts up. Its like there's an 1/8th inch gap on the right hand side and when I tighten it up the front output locks up.
Long story short after taking it apart and back together half a dozen times I discover that someone had put the wrong front output shaft in it. So I order the correct one off of ebay and after I slap it in there and begin to put it back together it bolts up just like it should. The best part was that it slid right on the back of the transmission with no adapter or clocking ring and the front driveshaft will still clear the crossmember
Now here is where I'm at a year to the day after driving it in the shop, and I told the g/f I was gonna have it done by last Christmas. Well that came and went so now the new deadline is this Christmas lol.
I was always a big fan of build threads and having done a couple "builds" in the past with no threads I thought might as well do one for this.
Fair warning. I like to talk and story tell so this might be long winded
Starting out I bought a 1984 M1009 which is the military version of Chevy's K5 Blazer. All M1009 came with the 6.2 Diesel, TH400, 10 bolt front/rear with the G80 in the back and 3.08 gears. Truck had been stored inside and only had one tank of fuel ran through it in the last 7-8 years.
Pretty well kept rig and I used it as my daily for almost a year and really started to enjoy the utility of it. Being able to tow my SXS, carry 4 people and lots of stuff comfortably, 4x4, fuel sipping engine, 2 door classic look.
But, after putting close to 10k miles on it some age related issues started to show. The fuel system had many problems (probably due to running 7 year old diesel fuel) being a sticky governor and hard cold starts even with fresh glow plug system. The trans would not shift when cold. And a ball joint started going out.
Even though these would be pretty easy, cheap, and simple fixes I found a screaming deal on a wrecked 12 valve/nv4500/4wd Dodge soon after these problems arose.
It was as if it was meant to be.
Here is/was the plan
Past 3/4 years I've been wanting to do some road tripping/camping out west as I've never been West of the Mississippi and I wanted to build a rig to do it.
So I had a Chevy Kingpin 60 laying around I had bought for another truck, the 12v Cummins, NV4500 and the Dana 80 SRW axle out of the wrecked Dodge. Although I wanted this to be off-road capable I knew I was going to be just driving it up and down the road 90% of the time so I wanted to gear it more friendly towards the highway and daily driving. The rear axle was already 3.55 gears so I ordered 3.55 gears for the front and accidently ordered ARB air lockers for both axles. Oops
Before I ripped the Blazer apart I started getting the major components together so as to try and keep the vehicle downtime to a minimum.
The engine and trans were operating well before I pulled them so I opted for just replacing the gaskets and seals and things like water pump etc..
I completely rebuilt the Dana 60 though with new bearings, seals, kingpins, brakes, locker, gears. I see why people say that buying the axle is the cheapest part.
In the meantime the Blazer started to develop a bad fuel leak somewhere and when I drove into the shop to try and find it I decided now would be a good time to start tearing it apart. I pulled off the hood, grill, rad and doing everything else that's necessary to do the swap.
I got the drivetrain pulled and ordered the mounts and crossmember off of Agan Fab to hopefully speed up the process.
The kit came in and I welded it up, but the bushings for the engine mounts were the wrong size and had to be cut down. I also had to modify the frame plates to get more clearance under the engine. I talked to Ryan at Agan Fab and was very helpful with making the adjustments to his kit.
I also had to fab up the transmission crossmember. I used the factory 5 speed mount and cut a hole/notch in the blazer crossmember and put a plate in and I was able to just move the crossmember rearward a couple inches and drill a couple holes and bolt it back up. I had to put a piece on the crossmember to widen it out just a bit to reach the frame though.
In between doing all of that I freshened up the Dana 80 with new seals, brakes, and the locker.
Once the axles were done I pulled a 4 inch lift out of a parts blazer I had acquired and rolled the axles under and put the lift on which is springs in the front and just a block in the back. I had thought about doing a shackle drop but decided I'd try the block first. Soon after I found a guy selling some fairly new 315/75r16 Cooper's on like new American Racing wheel 16x10's and bought those and put them on
The transfer case was going to be a little tricky as the Dodge had a drivers drop T-case and I needed a passenger drop. A lot of guys use the NP-205. Doing that entails either locating one off of a 1st gen dodge and around here guys are asking an arm and a leg for, Or finding the np241c passenger drop which is also hard to find/expensive.
The other option was swapping the NV4500 mainshaft to 32 spline and rear housing to be able to use my NP208
Instead I lucked out and found a guy selling a NP241D out of a ramcharger for dirt cheap. I soon found out why.
So I thought something was wrong with using one of these cause nobody talks about using one in the squarebody cummins swap pages but I couldn't figure out why not.
So these NP241D usually come with the 23 spline found in most Dodge automatics and a fixed rear yoke. While no one lists a 29 spline shaft on the internet anywhere, someone mentions I call Midwesttrans and talk to them. I call them up and tell them what I was doing and they knew exactly what I needed. A new input shaft arrived a couple days later and I start tearing this T-case apart.
Now before I tore it apart it was evident that someone had been in it before because none of the bolts were tight but I could still spin the shafts and it shifted both range and mode fine so I had assumed it was all good.
First thing I find is the oil pump is junk, as well as no pickup tube. I continue on and pull the rest of it apart. Everything else seems good so I continue with the input shaft install and all new seals. I rob the pump out of another NP241 and fab up a pickup tube and start putting it back together. All goes well until I try tightening the bolts up. Its like there's an 1/8th inch gap on the right hand side and when I tighten it up the front output locks up.
Long story short after taking it apart and back together half a dozen times I discover that someone had put the wrong front output shaft in it. So I order the correct one off of ebay and after I slap it in there and begin to put it back together it bolts up just like it should. The best part was that it slid right on the back of the transmission with no adapter or clocking ring and the front driveshaft will still clear the crossmember
Now here is where I'm at a year to the day after driving it in the shop, and I told the g/f I was gonna have it done by last Christmas. Well that came and went so now the new deadline is this Christmas lol.
Seems doable considering where you are at now.
Also that forklift table the axles are on, great idea!
The forklift table was a completely overkill shipping crate that some were fans delivered in and we stuck some wheels on it to make it a table. It works very well for axles.
I should've mentioned I've finished the build just copying the posts over here from the Irate page.
Got the fuel lines hooked up just cutting the stock steel fuel lines just over the axle sliding hoses onto them and going up the driver side frame-rail and hooking up the the lift pump and return off the injection pump.
Also got the brake proportioning valve relocated as well as all new brake lines ran. I really like the Ni-Cop lines for bending and flaring but its damn hard to keep them straight and pretty.
I resealed the brake booster as it had been seeping into the driverside floorboard for a few months before I rolled it into the shop. The two little o-ring/wiper seals on the rod side are a joke to replace. Only solution I found is to cut the rod that goes to the pedal to slide the new seals on and re-weld the rod end back on as the rod is crimped onto the shaft in the brake booster and not removable.
I also bought a new master cylinder for a K30 thinking the larger brakes needed a larger master cylinder. I read different experiences where some people said the K5 MC would work with one ton axles and some said it wouldn't. Who knows?
I was back and forth on doing crossover steering or not (pun intended) and decided to just go ahead with it instead of doing push pull. So I ordered a 2wd steering gear from Redhead and they said it was fine if I sent my 4wd one back as the core. I plan on ordering the Jeep XJ steering shaft to replace the factory one with the rag joints.
While I had it off I was looking at reinforcing the steering box frame area. Mine isn't cracked yet but I see ORD has options with using the weld on plates or the bolt on brace. Looking at bolt on brace I think I would run into clearance issues with the engine so I think I'll have to settle for the weld on plates. My question is are the plates good enough or do I need the triangulation that the brace provides. Granted I don't wanna go with any larger of a tire than the 35's so I might be okay but thought I'd ask the experts here
Also that parts blazer I took the lift off of was a 1988 with the hydraulic clutch so I went and robbed the pedals out of it to put in this one so I have my hydraulic clutch.
Little side note, now that I've been working on this thing a year I've been getting withdrawals from not being able to drive it so I bought another one off of marketplace. Guy delivered it from 6 hours away and I'm split between wishing I just gave him fuel money to take it back home with him or not.
Only rust is in the rockers which were covered up with tape and I didn't notice till I put it in the shop and looked it over after he left. A small spot on the tailgate and a small spot on the lower B pillar. All and all pretty good shape compared to the rust buckets floating around Illinois for the same price. But theres a twisted off bolt on the steering pump bracket causing a belt alignment issue and a pretty nasty sound on the lefthand side of the engine. I bought it hoping to be able to drive it around till I got this one finished but now it looks like its going to turn into the next project...
So I'm just gonna have to work twice as hard to get the first one done so I can fix this financial mistake later. I'm thinking I should find some medicine for the truck project attention deficit disorder before I get to much stuff in the shop I can't walk around anymore lol
Also got the brake proportioning valve relocated as well as all new brake lines ran. I really like the Ni-Cop lines for bending and flaring but its damn hard to keep them straight and pretty.
I resealed the brake booster as it had been seeping into the driverside floorboard for a few months before I rolled it into the shop. The two little o-ring/wiper seals on the rod side are a joke to replace. Only solution I found is to cut the rod that goes to the pedal to slide the new seals on and re-weld the rod end back on as the rod is crimped onto the shaft in the brake booster and not removable.
I also bought a new master cylinder for a K30 thinking the larger brakes needed a larger master cylinder. I read different experiences where some people said the K5 MC would work with one ton axles and some said it wouldn't. Who knows?
I was back and forth on doing crossover steering or not (pun intended) and decided to just go ahead with it instead of doing push pull. So I ordered a 2wd steering gear from Redhead and they said it was fine if I sent my 4wd one back as the core. I plan on ordering the Jeep XJ steering shaft to replace the factory one with the rag joints.
While I had it off I was looking at reinforcing the steering box frame area. Mine isn't cracked yet but I see ORD has options with using the weld on plates or the bolt on brace. Looking at bolt on brace I think I would run into clearance issues with the engine so I think I'll have to settle for the weld on plates. My question is are the plates good enough or do I need the triangulation that the brace provides. Granted I don't wanna go with any larger of a tire than the 35's so I might be okay but thought I'd ask the experts here
Also that parts blazer I took the lift off of was a 1988 with the hydraulic clutch so I went and robbed the pedals out of it to put in this one so I have my hydraulic clutch.
Little side note, now that I've been working on this thing a year I've been getting withdrawals from not being able to drive it so I bought another one off of marketplace. Guy delivered it from 6 hours away and I'm split between wishing I just gave him fuel money to take it back home with him or not.
Only rust is in the rockers which were covered up with tape and I didn't notice till I put it in the shop and looked it over after he left. A small spot on the tailgate and a small spot on the lower B pillar. All and all pretty good shape compared to the rust buckets floating around Illinois for the same price. But theres a twisted off bolt on the steering pump bracket causing a belt alignment issue and a pretty nasty sound on the lefthand side of the engine. I bought it hoping to be able to drive it around till I got this one finished but now it looks like its going to turn into the next project...
So I'm just gonna have to work twice as hard to get the first one done so I can fix this financial mistake later. I'm thinking I should find some medicine for the truck project attention deficit disorder before I get to much stuff in the shop I can't walk around anymore lol
I struggled with deciding what to do for radiator and intercooler. I really wanted to not cut up the core support and utilize the 6.2 radiator and an ebay intercooler mounted in front of the core support. The extra width of the 6.2 radiator on the drivers side with the location of the battery tray really limited space for intercooler piping without getting really creative. I decided to just do what everyone else does and put in the 2nd gen dodge radiator and intercooler which requires some cut/fab to the core support but once you bite the bullet and do it I think it comes out working the best with plenty of room still for an A/C condenser in the future. I was also able to utilize the factory intercooler pipes just shortening one and leaving the other factory. 2nd gen dodge radiator hoses worked great as well, just had to trim a couple inches off of both hoses.
I should be able to use the Dodge fan shroud but the cooling fan blades are too long and hit my relocated brake proportioning valve. I swapped the 6.2 fan onto the Cummins fan clutch which clears the proportioning valve but the blades are now real close to the engine. Around an 1/8th of an inch from the harmonic balancer and I had to grind the front the water pump pulley dowel down. I may just trim the Dodge fan blades to clear the proportioning valve if I run into trouble with the 6.2 fan...Time will tell.
I didn't like the military battery trays so I installed driver and passenger battery trays from Auto Metal Direct and put two 800 CCA batteries in.
I got driveshafts made at the local shop. Also upgraded the yoke on the T-case to 1410 to match the yoke on the rear axle and upgraded the yoke on the front axle to a 1350.
I put the ORD frame plate on as well as the redhead steering gear with XJ steering shaft. Also put on ORD crossover steering but ran into a problem with the TRE on the pitman arm side of the draglink. Its like the taper isn't correct because it really pulls the TRE too deep into the pitman arm. The pitman arm was the one that came in the ORD kit. I havent taken it back apart yet to really check it yet.
Hooked up the T-case shifter using the factory 208 shifter mounted in the floor. Worked great just had to adjust the linkage a little.
The exhaust still isn't done because I've had a hell of a time finding a 3" downpipe so I can run 3" till at least past the T-case. Everyone and their brother sells 4" except for Diesel Conversion Specialists which make a 3" that they use on Ford swaps.
I also decided to go with Dakota Digital for the gauge cluster. Specifically the cluster from Squarebody Syndicate. I really like the classic look of the gauges and the diesel tachometer option.
To make those work I also ordered their cable speedometer to electric conversion kit as well as their tachometer signal converter. I installed a connector on a "W" terminal on the alternator and using the converter I should be able to get a reliable and accurate signal for the Dakota Digital gauge.
I used the factory Dodge airbox mounted on the passenger inner fender. I thought about just using a piece of pipe and silicon elbow with a filter stuck on the end but I think the factory box gives a cleaner look. I don't even like the look of exposed filters under the hood of trucks these engine came in.
Took apart the shifter so I can install a new dust seal. That's one of the last things before I can start putting the interior back together, which I am looking forward to.
Reinstalled the hood and very carefully closed it because I was gunna cry if the hood hit the radiator cap when closed because there wouldn't be much I could do about it without completely re-doing the core support. Luck was on my side, because you can just barely fit your hand between the cap and the hood with it latched.
After I got all the hoses and cooling stack put together I filled with water to check for leaks...In my rush to get the engine set in the frame (many months ago) I never installed the thermostat and seals under the lifting eye so I drained the water and got those put in.
I got Bilstein 5125 shocks from ORD also with their recommended shock lengths for my lift. Maybe I'm in error but I feel 3-4 inches from bottoming out on the shocks is perhaps not good?? Either way I plan on putting bump stops in because I don't have much room between my engine crossmember and the differential housing anyway.
I was able to take the throttle cable out of the dodge and just install it in the Blazer, works like a charm.
I'm currently wiring up stuff in the engine bay at the moment. Going to have functioning grid heaters as well as utilize the fuel shut off solenoid.
That's all I can think of at the moment lol. I'm hoping to be able to move it under its own power before the first of the year. My main goal is to be able to drive it across the country to Johnson Valley, CA for King of the Hammers in early February. Perhaps even stop in Moab for a day and do a trail or two there. That has been motivation to bust my ass on it this month to hopefully have time to give it a proper shakedown before the 4000+ mile round trip.
I should be able to use the Dodge fan shroud but the cooling fan blades are too long and hit my relocated brake proportioning valve. I swapped the 6.2 fan onto the Cummins fan clutch which clears the proportioning valve but the blades are now real close to the engine. Around an 1/8th of an inch from the harmonic balancer and I had to grind the front the water pump pulley dowel down. I may just trim the Dodge fan blades to clear the proportioning valve if I run into trouble with the 6.2 fan...Time will tell.
I didn't like the military battery trays so I installed driver and passenger battery trays from Auto Metal Direct and put two 800 CCA batteries in.
I got driveshafts made at the local shop. Also upgraded the yoke on the T-case to 1410 to match the yoke on the rear axle and upgraded the yoke on the front axle to a 1350.
I put the ORD frame plate on as well as the redhead steering gear with XJ steering shaft. Also put on ORD crossover steering but ran into a problem with the TRE on the pitman arm side of the draglink. Its like the taper isn't correct because it really pulls the TRE too deep into the pitman arm. The pitman arm was the one that came in the ORD kit. I havent taken it back apart yet to really check it yet.
Hooked up the T-case shifter using the factory 208 shifter mounted in the floor. Worked great just had to adjust the linkage a little.
The exhaust still isn't done because I've had a hell of a time finding a 3" downpipe so I can run 3" till at least past the T-case. Everyone and their brother sells 4" except for Diesel Conversion Specialists which make a 3" that they use on Ford swaps.
I also decided to go with Dakota Digital for the gauge cluster. Specifically the cluster from Squarebody Syndicate. I really like the classic look of the gauges and the diesel tachometer option.
To make those work I also ordered their cable speedometer to electric conversion kit as well as their tachometer signal converter. I installed a connector on a "W" terminal on the alternator and using the converter I should be able to get a reliable and accurate signal for the Dakota Digital gauge.
I used the factory Dodge airbox mounted on the passenger inner fender. I thought about just using a piece of pipe and silicon elbow with a filter stuck on the end but I think the factory box gives a cleaner look. I don't even like the look of exposed filters under the hood of trucks these engine came in.
Took apart the shifter so I can install a new dust seal. That's one of the last things before I can start putting the interior back together, which I am looking forward to.
Reinstalled the hood and very carefully closed it because I was gunna cry if the hood hit the radiator cap when closed because there wouldn't be much I could do about it without completely re-doing the core support. Luck was on my side, because you can just barely fit your hand between the cap and the hood with it latched.
After I got all the hoses and cooling stack put together I filled with water to check for leaks...In my rush to get the engine set in the frame (many months ago) I never installed the thermostat and seals under the lifting eye so I drained the water and got those put in.
I got Bilstein 5125 shocks from ORD also with their recommended shock lengths for my lift. Maybe I'm in error but I feel 3-4 inches from bottoming out on the shocks is perhaps not good?? Either way I plan on putting bump stops in because I don't have much room between my engine crossmember and the differential housing anyway.
I was able to take the throttle cable out of the dodge and just install it in the Blazer, works like a charm.
I'm currently wiring up stuff in the engine bay at the moment. Going to have functioning grid heaters as well as utilize the fuel shut off solenoid.
That's all I can think of at the moment lol. I'm hoping to be able to move it under its own power before the first of the year. My main goal is to be able to drive it across the country to Johnson Valley, CA for King of the Hammers in early February. Perhaps even stop in Moab for a day and do a trail or two there. That has been motivation to bust my ass on it this month to hopefully have time to give it a proper shakedown before the 4000+ mile round trip.
I talked to ORD and the pitman arm they sent had the wrong taper in it so they're sending me the correct one and I'll send them this one back. I also ordered their upgraded tie-rod setup which only cost about 40 bucks more shipped than the stock replacement stuff from NAPA.
I got my ARB air compressor installed and wired up as well as the lockers plumbed, and tested. Mounted the switches where the factory 24V voltmeter was.
Put the shifter back together and used the Dodge shift boots just flipped around which worked pretty well.
Of course had to install a custom shift knob :smokin::smokin: I never thought I'd like an aftermarket shift knob but this one actually feels much nicer than the factory one.
Wiring is 99% complete with just loom to install after the shakedown run.
The fuel shutoff solenoid and grid heaters are wired up and work as intended. Not using the Dodge ECM I just ran the ground wire for the heater relays to the same switch on the dash that I used to operate the glow plugs on the 6.2
I ended up using the 6.2 fan mounted to the Cummins fan clutch to clear the brake lines going to the proportioning valve. It's not quite as big as the factory fan but I'm not towing goosenecks with this thing so it should be adequate.
I installed the gauge cluster as well as the control boxes for the tachometer and cluster. I ended up not using the aftermarket speedo sender I bought because the gauge cluster came with one. Also had to make a 1/8 NPT to 3/4 NPT bushing for the coolant sender and had to use the port on top of the oil filter because there wasn't enough room to locate the oil sender in the factory location. Right now all the gauges work except for the fuel gauge which I feel is a faulty sender because I was having issues with it before the swap.
I was able to drive it out of the shop on the 2nd of January but with out the correct pitman arm I couldn't take it for a test drive. Let the engine sit and run for 20 minutes and no real issues except for a leaking fuel filter which I have yet to fix.
I installed some aftermarket headlights and also upgraded the headlight circuit to relays. Fought the headlight adjusters for awhile and finally the 2nd set I ordered worked good.
Got the rear shock mounts welded to the axle and rear shocks on.
I was missing one of the CUCV front tow shackle/bumper mount when I bought it so I ordered a civilian bumper mount and my cousin fabbed up the rest of it to be able to attach the tow shackle. We were then able to mount the front bumper and tow/lift shackles.
Right now the last things are the steering components bump stops and full exhaust before its ready for the road. I hope anyways lol
I got some pics this time for you guys
I got my ARB air compressor installed and wired up as well as the lockers plumbed, and tested. Mounted the switches where the factory 24V voltmeter was.
Put the shifter back together and used the Dodge shift boots just flipped around which worked pretty well.
Of course had to install a custom shift knob :smokin::smokin: I never thought I'd like an aftermarket shift knob but this one actually feels much nicer than the factory one.
Wiring is 99% complete with just loom to install after the shakedown run.
The fuel shutoff solenoid and grid heaters are wired up and work as intended. Not using the Dodge ECM I just ran the ground wire for the heater relays to the same switch on the dash that I used to operate the glow plugs on the 6.2
I ended up using the 6.2 fan mounted to the Cummins fan clutch to clear the brake lines going to the proportioning valve. It's not quite as big as the factory fan but I'm not towing goosenecks with this thing so it should be adequate.
I installed the gauge cluster as well as the control boxes for the tachometer and cluster. I ended up not using the aftermarket speedo sender I bought because the gauge cluster came with one. Also had to make a 1/8 NPT to 3/4 NPT bushing for the coolant sender and had to use the port on top of the oil filter because there wasn't enough room to locate the oil sender in the factory location. Right now all the gauges work except for the fuel gauge which I feel is a faulty sender because I was having issues with it before the swap.
I was able to drive it out of the shop on the 2nd of January but with out the correct pitman arm I couldn't take it for a test drive. Let the engine sit and run for 20 minutes and no real issues except for a leaking fuel filter which I have yet to fix.
I installed some aftermarket headlights and also upgraded the headlight circuit to relays. Fought the headlight adjusters for awhile and finally the 2nd set I ordered worked good.
Got the rear shock mounts welded to the axle and rear shocks on.
I was missing one of the CUCV front tow shackle/bumper mount when I bought it so I ordered a civilian bumper mount and my cousin fabbed up the rest of it to be able to attach the tow shackle. We were then able to mount the front bumper and tow/lift shackles.
Right now the last things are the steering components bump stops and full exhaust before its ready for the road. I hope anyways lol
I got some pics this time for you guys
Made some bump stops. I just measured the distance from the top of my ARB air fitting and the bottom the of the crossmember and made a spacer to go between the factory bump stops and the mounts on the frame. Got the pitman arm sorted out and the ORD tie rod installed. I took it for a short drive down the driveway. Truck drives pretty well and rides decent but I have been chasing a misfire issue every since I got it running again and I kept hoping it was air and would clear up.
Well it never cleared up and while the engine ran it would misfire most of the time while accelerating. Now I drove the parts truck a little bit and never noticed a misfire so it must've been something I did while having the engine disassembled. I had previously had the injectors checked out but I thought maybe I got dirt in them or they were sticking from sitting. So I pulled the injectors and had them checked out. They came back good and after I reinstalled them, no change in engine running was noticed.
Next I thought the lift pump as I hadn't replaced it yet. Got one from the local NAPA which while it functioned appeared to be a lower quality one than the one I took off. There was remnant casting in the bolt holes that had to be drilled out. The fittings in the ports were not tight. And when I tightened down the outlet fitting it caved in the seat for the ferrule on the pump fitting. So I had to swap the fitting off the old pump onto the new one. After about 4 hours of fighting the new lift pump between junk fittings and it not wanting to prime the engine still ran the same.
Everywhere I read said retarded timing was the cause of the misfire but I checked the pump/engine timing multiple times and it was always spot on so that's why I chased everything else. Even had a hose in a bucket thinking the tank pickup was messed up.
I didn't have a way to check the pump timing other than using the pins on the engine and pump. So I said screw it and just decided to advance the timing and see what happens.
I don't know if any of y'all are familiar with changing fuel timing on a 12v but it takes some effort, not bad but I don't like doing it lol. I had to pull the fan and fan shroud, remove the oil fill, located the engine at TDC, remove nut and use puller to pop pump gear off the pump. I just marked the balancer pulley and turned it half of an inch which some old forum post said was around 6 degrees of timing. The factory setting on my engine was 11.5 and with the pump apparently set more retarded than that I figured I would be safe with 6 degrees.
I get the pump set, put all back together, fire it up at about 1 in the morning and she runs like a top! I take it for a short test drive this morning and fix a small fuel leak, adjust the drag link a little. I take it on a longer test drive this afternoon. Engine runs good and stays at operating temp. Trans shifts good, no driveline vibration. Ride is decent but there is some room for improvement. Maybe better front springs in the future and a sway bar. Going over bumps in the highway I feel some body sway. All in all though it was a great feeling that those were the only things I noticed after having changed so much on the truck.
Going to tidy up the wires this week and hopefully get it into the exhaust shop.
Well it never cleared up and while the engine ran it would misfire most of the time while accelerating. Now I drove the parts truck a little bit and never noticed a misfire so it must've been something I did while having the engine disassembled. I had previously had the injectors checked out but I thought maybe I got dirt in them or they were sticking from sitting. So I pulled the injectors and had them checked out. They came back good and after I reinstalled them, no change in engine running was noticed.
Next I thought the lift pump as I hadn't replaced it yet. Got one from the local NAPA which while it functioned appeared to be a lower quality one than the one I took off. There was remnant casting in the bolt holes that had to be drilled out. The fittings in the ports were not tight. And when I tightened down the outlet fitting it caved in the seat for the ferrule on the pump fitting. So I had to swap the fitting off the old pump onto the new one. After about 4 hours of fighting the new lift pump between junk fittings and it not wanting to prime the engine still ran the same.
Everywhere I read said retarded timing was the cause of the misfire but I checked the pump/engine timing multiple times and it was always spot on so that's why I chased everything else. Even had a hose in a bucket thinking the tank pickup was messed up.
I didn't have a way to check the pump timing other than using the pins on the engine and pump. So I said screw it and just decided to advance the timing and see what happens.
I don't know if any of y'all are familiar with changing fuel timing on a 12v but it takes some effort, not bad but I don't like doing it lol. I had to pull the fan and fan shroud, remove the oil fill, located the engine at TDC, remove nut and use puller to pop pump gear off the pump. I just marked the balancer pulley and turned it half of an inch which some old forum post said was around 6 degrees of timing. The factory setting on my engine was 11.5 and with the pump apparently set more retarded than that I figured I would be safe with 6 degrees.
I get the pump set, put all back together, fire it up at about 1 in the morning and she runs like a top! I take it for a short test drive this morning and fix a small fuel leak, adjust the drag link a little. I take it on a longer test drive this afternoon. Engine runs good and stays at operating temp. Trans shifts good, no driveline vibration. Ride is decent but there is some room for improvement. Maybe better front springs in the future and a sway bar. Going over bumps in the highway I feel some body sway. All in all though it was a great feeling that those were the only things I noticed after having changed so much on the truck.
Going to tidy up the wires this week and hopefully get it into the exhaust shop.
Took the truck to the exhause shop and got a 3" exhaust with muffler put on to try and keep it quiet.
After those first short test drives I started to notice a pretty severe oil leak coming from the rear of the engine. It was coming from between the adapter plate and the engine block. Happened after the engine was warmed up and only while at higher rpm.
At first I thought it was the oil pan, so I pulled the crossmember and oil pan and used RTV instead of the gasket to try and get a better seal. The leak persisted so I narrowed it down to the cam plug which I thought was only a freeze plug when I was re-sealing the engine so I didn't mess with it at the time.
Well to fix it requires pulling the tcase, trans, clutch, flywheel, and the adapter plate. I found all this out just a week before we had to leave for KOH. So I buckled down and got it all pulled and put back together in a day.
That fixed the oil leak but I was also having problems with excessive crankcase pressure. At higher RPM it was pushing oil out the dipstick tube. I don't know why this happened all of a sudden, maybe the timing bump? The factory blowby tube wasn't plugged and I didn't have time to diagnose the problem so I just added more crankcase ventilation with a vented valve cover off of an irrigation engine we had on the farm. That alleviated the excess crankcase pressure.
Next I had to fix the faulty fuel sending unit, or so I thought. The military Blazers had a 27 gallon tank so while I had it out I opted to just replace it with the 31 gallon tank and new sending unit. Got the tank and sending unit 2 days before we were to leave so I get it all taken down and come to realize I didn't get new fuel tank straps...the old ones were too short so O'Reilly's was able to get me some the next morning. Got the new straps, new tank, and new sending unit put in the day before we go to leave. I found out the wire to the sending unit was cut which is why I didn't have a working fuel gauge facepalm
Whatever we drive into town that afternoon to get the rest of our supplies so we could leave early the following morning.
With less than 100 miles on the build we loaded up a 1000 pound of tools, camping gear, and food and set out on a 4000 mile round trip to King of the Hammers.
We left around 2 AM with the plan being to make the 20 hour drive to Moab, Utah that first day. As we set off my anxiety level is through the roof, I kept telling myself this is the dumbest thing i've ever done. Setting off across the country in a completely untested vehicle that I just finished the day before with completely different drivetrain...etc.etc. Probably not a smart idea.
Well we make it through Illinois, Missouri, and into Kansas before I start to notice a hefty oil leak at a fuel stop. We look around and it's just a loose bolt on the vacuum pump. We breath a sigh of relieve and tighten it up and get back on the road.
Unfortunately we didn't make it to Moab and stopped in Georgetown, Colorado for the night which turned out to be a good decision otherwise we would've driven through the mountains in the dark and not seen a darn thing. The next day we awoke to clear skies, beautiful weather and just a short drive ahead of us. I crawl all over the rig, check all the fluids and we set out on the I70 drive through the mountains.
For having never being any farther west than Missouri, seeing the snow covered mountains for the first time was breathtaking. We took all the pictures we could and just drove with our mouths open the whole time.
We eventually made it into Utah
Took a scenic route off of the interstate to Moab which was well worth the extra time because view was extraordinary
We got into Moab a little later than planned so we just set on finding a campsite close to town and settled in for the night. Tent camping in 19 degree weather was a little rough but we managed just fine. The next morning we decided to try the Kane Creek Road/Hurrah Pass/Chicken Corners trail. Roughly 40+ miles of trail down and back with nice views and cliff roads.
We met up with a fella from Denver who was planning on doing Fins & Things the next morning and talked us into joining him. He also showed us a badass place to camp on the trail for that night.
The next morning we met up and proceeded to do the Fins & Things trail.
This is the only real picture I got because I was spending more time white knuckled on the wheel lol. The trail was a lot of fun. Finally got to use my lockers and was really impressed with how the Blazer performed on the trail. My cousin took some videos which I hope to get off of him soon. Might upload those later.
We finished the trail and ate lunch in Moab and proceeded to Las Vegas for the night. We ended up driving into a bad snow storm and I discovered that LED lights and snow don't mix. The lights don't build enough heat to melt the snow off of them and eventually cover over and you can't see anything. Kind of a rough drive but we made it fine.
We got on the road after lunch the next day for Johnson Valley California and I started to notice a vibration getting worse and worse as time went on. Pulled into a gas station in Baker, CA and found a broken lug stud on the drivers rear. Jacked up the rear and found all the lug nuts to be loose. I guess I didn't torque the lug nuts after installing the wheels.. Luck was on my side as I just lost one stud and didn't loose the whole wheel. No parts stores had any studs so we continued on.
Made it into Hammertown that night in time to see the pit crew challenge and get some Dang Brothers Pizza.
The time at KOH I didn't take many pictures because there was so much to see but did snap this one up on Chocolate Thunder next to a line of Jeeps
Overall the Blazer took getting beat around in Johnson Valley just fine. Tent camping for the week was a little rough but I'm glad I did it.
We left Saturday afternoon and drove all the way to Flagstaff Arizona before getting a hotel. We left the next morning and drove all the way to Adrian Texas where we did another once over on the rig. Tightened a couple loose axle U bolts and checked the lug nuts. It was then we decided to just drive straight through all night the rest of the way home. Got home around 9 AM with no further problems. We woke up in Arizona, saw the sunset in Texas, and saw the sunrise over St. Louis.
Overall the trip was just over 4000 miles. A little longer shakedown than I would've liked but we were able to drive it home so I guess that's a win.
After those first short test drives I started to notice a pretty severe oil leak coming from the rear of the engine. It was coming from between the adapter plate and the engine block. Happened after the engine was warmed up and only while at higher rpm.
At first I thought it was the oil pan, so I pulled the crossmember and oil pan and used RTV instead of the gasket to try and get a better seal. The leak persisted so I narrowed it down to the cam plug which I thought was only a freeze plug when I was re-sealing the engine so I didn't mess with it at the time.
Well to fix it requires pulling the tcase, trans, clutch, flywheel, and the adapter plate. I found all this out just a week before we had to leave for KOH. So I buckled down and got it all pulled and put back together in a day.
That fixed the oil leak but I was also having problems with excessive crankcase pressure. At higher RPM it was pushing oil out the dipstick tube. I don't know why this happened all of a sudden, maybe the timing bump? The factory blowby tube wasn't plugged and I didn't have time to diagnose the problem so I just added more crankcase ventilation with a vented valve cover off of an irrigation engine we had on the farm. That alleviated the excess crankcase pressure.
Next I had to fix the faulty fuel sending unit, or so I thought. The military Blazers had a 27 gallon tank so while I had it out I opted to just replace it with the 31 gallon tank and new sending unit. Got the tank and sending unit 2 days before we were to leave so I get it all taken down and come to realize I didn't get new fuel tank straps...the old ones were too short so O'Reilly's was able to get me some the next morning. Got the new straps, new tank, and new sending unit put in the day before we go to leave. I found out the wire to the sending unit was cut which is why I didn't have a working fuel gauge facepalm
Whatever we drive into town that afternoon to get the rest of our supplies so we could leave early the following morning.
With less than 100 miles on the build we loaded up a 1000 pound of tools, camping gear, and food and set out on a 4000 mile round trip to King of the Hammers.
We left around 2 AM with the plan being to make the 20 hour drive to Moab, Utah that first day. As we set off my anxiety level is through the roof, I kept telling myself this is the dumbest thing i've ever done. Setting off across the country in a completely untested vehicle that I just finished the day before with completely different drivetrain...etc.etc. Probably not a smart idea.
Well we make it through Illinois, Missouri, and into Kansas before I start to notice a hefty oil leak at a fuel stop. We look around and it's just a loose bolt on the vacuum pump. We breath a sigh of relieve and tighten it up and get back on the road.
Unfortunately we didn't make it to Moab and stopped in Georgetown, Colorado for the night which turned out to be a good decision otherwise we would've driven through the mountains in the dark and not seen a darn thing. The next day we awoke to clear skies, beautiful weather and just a short drive ahead of us. I crawl all over the rig, check all the fluids and we set out on the I70 drive through the mountains.
For having never being any farther west than Missouri, seeing the snow covered mountains for the first time was breathtaking. We took all the pictures we could and just drove with our mouths open the whole time.
We eventually made it into Utah
Took a scenic route off of the interstate to Moab which was well worth the extra time because view was extraordinary
We got into Moab a little later than planned so we just set on finding a campsite close to town and settled in for the night. Tent camping in 19 degree weather was a little rough but we managed just fine. The next morning we decided to try the Kane Creek Road/Hurrah Pass/Chicken Corners trail. Roughly 40+ miles of trail down and back with nice views and cliff roads.
We met up with a fella from Denver who was planning on doing Fins & Things the next morning and talked us into joining him. He also showed us a badass place to camp on the trail for that night.
The next morning we met up and proceeded to do the Fins & Things trail.
This is the only real picture I got because I was spending more time white knuckled on the wheel lol. The trail was a lot of fun. Finally got to use my lockers and was really impressed with how the Blazer performed on the trail. My cousin took some videos which I hope to get off of him soon. Might upload those later.
We finished the trail and ate lunch in Moab and proceeded to Las Vegas for the night. We ended up driving into a bad snow storm and I discovered that LED lights and snow don't mix. The lights don't build enough heat to melt the snow off of them and eventually cover over and you can't see anything. Kind of a rough drive but we made it fine.
We got on the road after lunch the next day for Johnson Valley California and I started to notice a vibration getting worse and worse as time went on. Pulled into a gas station in Baker, CA and found a broken lug stud on the drivers rear. Jacked up the rear and found all the lug nuts to be loose. I guess I didn't torque the lug nuts after installing the wheels.. Luck was on my side as I just lost one stud and didn't loose the whole wheel. No parts stores had any studs so we continued on.
Made it into Hammertown that night in time to see the pit crew challenge and get some Dang Brothers Pizza.
The time at KOH I didn't take many pictures because there was so much to see but did snap this one up on Chocolate Thunder next to a line of Jeeps
Overall the Blazer took getting beat around in Johnson Valley just fine. Tent camping for the week was a little rough but I'm glad I did it.
We left Saturday afternoon and drove all the way to Flagstaff Arizona before getting a hotel. We left the next morning and drove all the way to Adrian Texas where we did another once over on the rig. Tightened a couple loose axle U bolts and checked the lug nuts. It was then we decided to just drive straight through all night the rest of the way home. Got home around 9 AM with no further problems. We woke up in Arizona, saw the sunset in Texas, and saw the sunrise over St. Louis.
Overall the trip was just over 4000 miles. A little longer shakedown than I would've liked but we were able to drive it home so I guess that's a win.
Great story. I also like to put my self in a pinch and just drive my projects not knowing if every thing is good.
It can be fun if a little daunting at times
Thank ya!
The tool box is what is called a "Pack Rat" by Weatherguard, very handy and although pricey new, can be found for much less used.
The place where we camped was called 'Catacomb Rock' on the Hurrah Pass/Chicken corners trail. I unfortunately don't have the GPS for it but I think it can be found pretty easily on the trail.
Little update:
Truck has around 7500 miles on it now and have begun to get death wobble from time to time. Was planning on adding a stabilizer anyway for comfort but will also check other things to see if anything came loose.
After harvest wraps up gonna put in an order at ORD for front sway bar, and some better front springs. The parts truck takeoffs are starting to sag a little bit and I haven't been happy with the ride.
Little side note but after having so much fun at KOH this year I've been getting the itch to go back next year. One thing that wore me out was the tent camping. So my Grandpa had a 1975'ish Avion camper that we've kept in the shed and has remained in good condition. I'm gonna see how the Blazer handles it and maybe drag it out there this winter. Maybe another thread on that lol
Truck has around 7500 miles on it now and have begun to get death wobble from time to time. Was planning on adding a stabilizer anyway for comfort but will also check other things to see if anything came loose.
After harvest wraps up gonna put in an order at ORD for front sway bar, and some better front springs. The parts truck takeoffs are starting to sag a little bit and I haven't been happy with the ride.
Little side note but after having so much fun at KOH this year I've been getting the itch to go back next year. One thing that wore me out was the tent camping. So my Grandpa had a 1975'ish Avion camper that we've kept in the shed and has remained in good condition. I'm gonna see how the Blazer handles it and maybe drag it out there this winter. Maybe another thread on that lol
Sweet camper! My dad, brother and I lived in one for about 6 months in Montana when we were very young. They stay warm pretty well during winters!
Death Wobble sucks! The only thing that cured mine was the hydraulic assist. Could just be your alignment.
Death Wobble sucks! The only thing that cured mine was the hydraulic assist. Could just be your alignment.
That Blazer looks sweet! It's got all the cool goodies too!
Thanks! From what I've heard they were really well built campers back in the day.
Alignment could be it. I did a home alignment with some pieces of angle iron bolted to the hubs and a tape measure. So it's likely it could be off.
Following this on Irate. Good to see it here too. Awesome rig!
Awesome build and trip report!
Color me jealous!
And you are absolutely correct about the snow covered mountains being breathtaking...
Color me jealous!
And you are absolutely correct about the snow covered mountains being breathtaking...
