Work truck build

mcutler

mcutler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Location
mt.airy nc
I decided I will not borrow money to buy any more work trucks. 6 yrs, 220,00 miles, one rebuilt motor, and still have a few payments left on the 08 Chevy 3500.... Aside from the motor rebuild, haven't spent a nickel on the truck other than maintenance. Therefore I have decided to build my next truck.

Don't wanna start a manufacturers debate with this thread. I've done my research, weighed all the pros and cons, and everyone has their own opinions.

Originally was going to go old school with square body Chevrolet and 12 valve. I decided that the 30 yr old chassis wouldn't be safe, in the long term, towing upwards of 26k on a daily basis. My choice was made by economics and opportunity.

Platform- '08 f450 c&c, 6.4, 200k powrstroke, 4x4, auto, 19.5" wheels, and a purpose built flatbed, base model interior.

Plan- initially i had considered doing a crd 24 valve cummins. Through research I determined it not to be a cost worthy approach. So after talking to reputable diesel engine builders and aftermarket support manufacturers, I decided to use the 6.4.

Engine build plan- I purchased a low mileage motor, 90k- for a song. Bad news is it had fuel delivery issues- no surprise there. Motor currently in truck had 200k and lifter issues.
Bottom end on replacement motor is strong , good cross hatch on all cylinder walls, and tight crank.

New Parts list for newer motor-
Arp head studs, gaskets, lifters, rockers, push rods, hpfp, all fuel lines, upper gasket set, hd up pipes, oil cooler, water pump, tstats, belts, idlers, radiator hoses, lift pump, rear main, cold air charge tube, intercooler boots, s&b intake, dpf delete pipe & egr delete, h&s mini maxx race tuner. Not trying to build a hot rod but a long term dependable truck.

Rebuilt parts- both turbos, injectors, steam cleaned intake, heads fluxed and resurfaced, cleaned intercooler and hot side tube, relined fuel tank.

Fabricated parts- flat bed with trick removable metal side boards and tailgate, class 5 hitch, led lighting in tail and headache rack.

This is not a trick fab build so much as just sharing what I'm working on.

Few pics

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Fwiw, in past 13 yrs I have owned 6 new trucks; 02 f350, 02 & 05 3500 dodge, an 06 and two 08 Chevrolet 3500's; all 4wd duallys. I liked all the different motors of the big 3. But of 6 trucks the most costly to own were the dodges; not motor wise, but chassis and transmission wise. Owned both dodges at the same time and spent 12g's on 4 transmissions in 3 months. Comfort stands with Chevy and pure toughness of chassis goes with ford with a nod to cabin room. The dodges cabins were terribly cramped and inferior in construction.
There are kits to efficiently swap a cummins to this Ford chassis and have all the Ford components cooperate- EXCEPT the Ford 5r110, which is electronic and you must by a stand alone computer seperate from kit; $$$$, and then you still loose converter lockup control. Total swap, provided you can source, (and I have many sources being my profession is in the core and recycling industry) a low mileage motor for less than 5g was going to be upwards of 12g's- note that this would also be before any parts for said motor would be rebuilt or preformance adders are purchased. Currently before I purchased any new parts, I only have 6500 in the truck and newer motor. I will finish this project-bed not included, for less than 16g.


I do concur the cummins is the most readily and economical to build/repair/performance. But in my research, when done correctly and with the right parts the 6.4 is a powerhouse; but frequent maintenance is the key, and those that know me know I maintain to a T.
 
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I can see the problem with the dodge autos all our trucks are manuals and we have no problems. 3 Dodges pulling 30k since new with over 400k miles and only 1 trans in 2 of them and a rear axle or 2 in each from driver abuse must be better than the norm. For what you got in the truck and your reasoning I can see why you went the way you did. Looks good ready to see it when the beds done.
 
mcutler said:
All my dodges were manual! I bought 4 trans and Chrysler bought one under warranty.

Thanks for the interest. .. Love your sammy btw.
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Ah you had the nv5600 yeah they aren't as though as the 4500 which is what our trucks have If you ever pick up another one try running it 1qt over full heard people have had good luck doing that. I watched your buggy build thread so I know you will get this truck put together right.

Thanks for the compliment on the Sammy.
 
Made good progress last few days. Finished the head studs and gasket install. Installed the glow plugs, lifters, rockers and set lash, intake, hpfp, oil cooler, rear main, idlers and accessories, water pump and clutch fan, exh manifolds. Amidst all that I did the egr deletes and installed the flo pro intake horn. Basically everything torqued and ready sans turbos, injectors, and related pieces. Pick up the turbos and injectors from rebuilders on Wed.

I also got the old motor out of the chassis. (Quite a task by myself). The torque converter bolts are a royal pain in the ass. Tomorrow I will place the fresh engine in the chassis and get it hooked up as far as I can.

Few pics;

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I realize is not an insanely interesting build, and I was very intimidated when I decided to tackle this on my own, but with extensive research and my right hand man, ( my smart phone and pdf downloads of service manuals etc) it's actually turning out to be quite fun. ..... But wouldn't want to do it for a living.
 
Motor Inn its final place. Everything complete that can be until I pick up turbos, injectors, and lift pump in the a.m. Hopefully bringing the cab back down tomorrow. Then pull sending unit to inspect the tank liner and possibly replace if needed- before I start building the bed. Supposedly the biodiesel additives in today's pump diesel is a no go for previous years liners.

Pics;

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Was it a trans issue with the 02 f250? Had the same truck and thought the 7.3 was pretty forgiving. I would have turned 5/6 speed long ago if I was you, I am scared of an auto as it is now and havent had a problem with an auto yet knock on wood. Crazy build by the way!
 
No issues with the 7.3, I spoke wrong earlier that was a 250 ecsb, so I traded for the 05 Dodge for dually purposes. Zero problems with the 7.3, only the dodges were manuals. At the time I was skeptical about towing with autos, but the allisons convinced me otherwise. Reportedly the 5r110 is a hoss as well, good for <700 hp without modification.

Thanks for looking.

Btw, gotten lazy as the years go by, wouldn't want a manual again unless I was back in a peterbuilt!
 
Will be dropping the cab back down on my next shop workday. Finished the motor today, all components and wiring. Picked up the turbos and injectors this morning, got back to shop about 2 and was in the recliner by 6...

There's a whole lot of shit going on under these valve covers. ..

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And here's a pic of the truck right after I purchased it. Cranked and ran but had a horrible lifter chirp. 200k on the ticker.

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This is what I found when I removed the sending unit from the tank. The dreaded delamination of the liner from the steel tank. Through study I feel this is the root of all the fuel problems of the 6.0's and 6.4's. I'll be pulling it on Monday to go have relined, but I an going to skim the fuel off of the top of the trash to keep and use in my skid steer. Roughly 35 gallons here.
 

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Motor is in and been running almost a week now. Substantial difference over my deleted, h&s tuned 08 cclb dmax. Much quicker spool and acceleration; ala 4.30 rearend and twin turbos. Began fabbing the flatbed today as well.

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All waxed and cleaned up

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should have framework close to complete tomorrow.
 
I had a 02 E350 with 7.3 that suffered from the tank delamination. I bought another tank and within a year it delaminated also! I eventually took the tank to a radiator shop and had it baked and re coated and it's still going today. I blame the crappy stuff there trying to pass off as diesel fuel now-a-days.........
 
That's what I did. King Radiator. They relined on premises, just swapped out with them. Ford claims it was suitable for those year models fuel. Funny how Dodge and Chevy never had problems. There is a class action lawsuit in Jersey and cali on fords tanks.
 
$390 to swap out one they had in stock already lined. Even 3 local dealerships get their warranty tanks from them because Ford has yet to change their liner, plus there have been so many that the dealerships can't even get them from Ford, so I'm told. Don't have the number handy but they are located in King NC just north of Winston-Salem.
The most common they stock are the rear most tanks behind the axle, a few side saddles and a few vans. Price may be different for other applications.
 
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