Building a real tow rig, opinions wanted, Cummins swap thoughts

[sled_dog]

Who has put a Cummins motor in our style truck? I know we've discussed it before, but I'm giving it thought. I really should have bought a 1 ton diesel last time around. My C2500 only has GVW of 8600. Figure, K5, small car trailer, thats my max GVW, plus I've just got a 350 trying to pull that. I really want a nice 3 axle equipment trailer or at least something bigger than a standard car trailer for hauling the blazer, and I want a nice tow rig which the 2500 is but not nearly as nice as it could be. Thought is, sell my 2500, blue book is over 6300, figure try and sell it for 6000(I paid 5), then take that money and invest it in my 3/4 ton 89 Suburban. My thought is put a 5.9L Cummins 12V motor out of a 94-98 truck in it, an NV4500 in place of the 465, and a 14bolt FF in place of the SF. I know I would need, new front springs, the motor, trans, a new clutch, adapters, bellhousing, the rear axle, and lots of little stuff. Would it really be worthwhile to do? The burb cost me $1000, I could sell it for 2 or 3 if I fixed the rockers and little stuff I believe. Would the 3/4 ton 10 bolt be stupid to leave under the front end? Keep in mind it won't be a wheeling rig, it will be a daily driver, snow vehicle, that maybe gets stuck with a tire in a yard once in a while. I think for 6K I could build it into a very nice tow vehicle, but would it be worth my time really?

 

[Diesel Dan]

Would it be worth it is a judgemental call. What you want too build is something never offered by the OEMs. So you can't just wait until you find what you want. There are converted cummins trucks out there, but they don't come along for sale very often.

If you run quality ball joints it should handle the weight. Lots of 3/4 tons out there with plows that have more front axle weight than you would. Now it might not handle the torque if you try to use it all.

Over on the TDR a guy from Findland is installing a modified CTD into a '90ish sub, 2wd that he pulled the 454 out of. Has lots of pics on his web sit. I believe it is more common than most think.

 

[uao85]

I have been thinking about the same thing, only I was planning on getting my hands on a crew cab dually 4wd with the long bed so I could keep some cargo area also. There was an article a couple years back about a cummins swap like you are talking about only they put it into an older 1 ton ford. A good website just to get basic info from is www.fordcummins.com. Good luck, I will get there one day.

Remington

 

[BlazerGuy]

Clicky: www.fordcummins.com