73 crewcab build

rear power windows august 2005

2008-10-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

The front power window conversions were easy since dodge did power windows on the pickup/ramchargers from 81-93, but the rear was an experiment. Originally I did not have motors, but just the window mechanisms so that's all I had to work with. The previous owners lack of mainance on the truck caused the window channels in the rear to rust away to nothing so I had to fabricate some from scratch along with the window channels. Once I got a motor for the power windows it was one of the earlier model motors that almost the diameter of a beer can. That was too thick and the channel would hit the motor on the way down and keep the window from coming down. I then upgraded to later, 88+ model, power window motors. That was better, but the widow channel would still hit the motor and bind. So I then cut 1/4" out of the mechanism to move the motor closer to the door. That helped, but not enough. So the last resort was to cut out the recess in the door panels and replace it with flat panels to bring the motor outward about 3/8" more. Once I did that I was able to get the windows to go up and down without binding.

Sept 2005

2008-10-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Once I got all the old rust out I was able to fabricate new patch panels to replace the rust. I had to cut some of the besides out as well to get back to clean steel so I had to fabricate a panel to replace the cut out sections.

Bed work June 2005

2008-10-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

The bed was pretty rotten so I had to start completely over by cutting out all the cacerous rust and replacing it with clean patch panels.

interior work

2008-09-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Once I had the all the rust cut out and new patch panels welded in I primed the whole floor, sealed it with body sealer, and then coated it with herculiner.

interior rust may 2005

2008-09-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

When I eventually gutted the interior I was able to see the extent of the amount of rust and neglect this truck had.

gas tank crossmember june 2005

2008-08-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Since I had to custom build the brackets that are holding the gas tank in I had to build the one that ran across the middle to support the tank. Instead of just using a flat bar and having it bend or bow in the middle I ran 1/2" round bar down the sides to reinforce it and give it some strength. Then when I came down the side I changed it up to make it a little different. It also gives me a place to tie down tarps and other stuff.

front gas tank may 2005

2008-08-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Since I wanted to build this truck for long hauls across texas I decided I needed another tank for those extended trips. I had a second ramcharger gas tank that I had gotten for free so I figured I'de make it work some how.

front lift march 2005

2008-08-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

The front originally had a dana 44HD with drums on it. I've got a dana 60 with disk brakes sitting in my garage getting rebuilt right now. The front lift will consist of a combination of lift springs and drop hangers/extended shackles. For now I cut up my old lift springs and put them into the factory spring pack.

u bolt flip/shock mounts

2008-08-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Once I did the shackle flip I went ahead and did a u bolt flip as well. After you do the u bolt flip you loose that large mounting plate thats under the axle that also bolts onto your shocks as well. Since I needed a place to mount my shocks to now I just made a dual shock setup for the rear end.

rear end lift november 2004

2008-08-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

The truck didn't get much of anything done because I had moved 300 miles away and had to go back later on to retrieve it. The frist thing I decided to do to it once I had it back with me was to get started on the rear end lift. I built these drop hangers and shackle flips for the rear. The rear shackles were already fubar so I just went ahead and built me some new ones using polyurathane bushings.

gooseneck mods january 2004

2008-08-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

I decided from the beginning that I was going to put a 3 inch body lift on my crewcab. I liked the clearance it gave me when I was working under the truck and how easy it was to access bellhousing bolts. I also decided to keep the original gooseneck mount too. So to accomodate both of these things I had to raise the gooseneck mount up 3 inches. I used a piece of 1/2 plate with a hole punched in the middle and the nut welded on the bottom side. Then I used a piece of 6 inch schedule 40 pipe to raise the plate up another 2 1/2 inches.

Initial modifications january 2004

2008-08-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Once I had the bed off the first thing I did was begin getting rid of the gas tank that was inside the cab. I had a ramcharger gas tank along with all the brackets I needed. I just measured and transferred the measurements over to the crewcab frame and drilled new holes.

Initial teardown december 2003

2008-08-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

Not too long after getting it to my storage shop I began the tear down on my crew. The bolt for the bed were too rust on to try and break them loose so I just busted out the torch and cut them off.

Initial impressions november 2003

2008-08-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

When I found the truck it was sitting in the back of a drivetrain shop just rusting away. I scored the truck for $288 and hauled it back to my storage shop.