[ALipper]

That's the definition of built, not bought. Sweet build and lots of props.

 

[dieseldak]

Heres a couple pictures. I won't kill your thread with pics of my truck. I have a couple more but it refuses to let me load them.

Load em up, lol. I dont mind. The truck looks great, makes me want to finish up the body on mine even more. Your truck also has a real nice stance to it. I never wanted mine as big as it ended up being but it is what it is I guess.

The MPG are amazing compared to a gasser so long as you can stay out of the throttle and dont turn the motor up to much. There is no reason why you shouldnt see 24+MPG out of the truck and still have the power to pull a house off its foundation.

 

[Muddy maki]

I love your truck its exactly what i want out of my dakota even down to the push bar and the H2 rims!!!
I had been contemplating doing something similar to this but I wanted to use a 2000 ish 2500 until I saw what they sell for used!

 

[dieseldak]

I love your truck its exactly what i want out of my dakota even down to the push bar and the H2 rims!!!
I had been contemplating doing something similar to this but I wanted to use a 2000 ish 2500 until I saw what they sell for used!

Thanks, Ill have to post up some pics this week of what it looks like now..................its much bigger and much nicer to drive with OD and lockup.

 

[fastdurango00]

any new news? sweet truck! maybe some day ill have the funding for a project like this...

 

[dieseldak]

Yeah its been a long time since an update so here we go.

The truck is now lifted 7 inched higher than it was. The roof line is at 8'11", how much lift that is over a stock Dakota I have no clue but its big and a pain in the ass to get into, lol.

I removed the 727 and swapped everything over to a built 47RH, all I have to say about that is lockup is amazing and I an run down the highway at 70mph and 1200RPM..........

I added a few gauges that I had intended to a while back but the money was better put other places. So it now has a Tach and EGT gauge.

The motor got turned up a bit aswell, I put in a 3200RPM Governer spring, a Denny T fuel pin and built an adjustable wastegate for the turbo. The truck has alot more poser now and its just about maxed out without going to larger injectors.

I also painted it satin black since the paint it had was in such poor shape.

Things left to do are loose the stack, its just a pain in the ass, throws soot all over the back of the truck and the wifes white car when I leave........swap out the axles for a set that has lockers.......and maybe twins.....we will see

 

[zclif2601]

I personally thought the stance before was perfect now it looks off. Maybe bigger tires

 

[dieseldak]

I personally thought the stance before was perfect now it looks off. Maybe bigger tires

It rubbed like crazy before and the front drivers spring was broken. That was the reason for the lift. The suspension was in such bad shape that a 4" lift kit raised the truck 7", lol.

It needs 40"x16" tires for sure...............they would be on but they are $2000

 

[Big_Texxan]

so im noticing the guages are not stock, as I assumed they werent, but the light switch and im assuming the AC and radio are all working. Question is, I want to do a engine swap as well, and planning on doing the guages like yours, but how did you manage to keep the stock light switch and any other switches the truck came with?? I know a good deal about wiring and such, but wondering how your setup is.

 

[dieseldak]

I eliminated the PCM entirely so I had to do a little more outside wiring than you may have to but it was actually quite simple. So long as you keep the under hood PDC most of what is in the truck will work. The only things that didnt work were the turn signals(I used a trailer wiring module and 2 flashers to fix that), the windshield washer(I just gave the stock power and then found where it was going and sent that to the pump) and the horn(basically the same thing, added a wire to the back of the air bag so that when pressed it grounded out which I had trigger a relay for the horn)

Now if you swap retains the PCM then you are laughing as it will all work like stock without any fussing around.

 

[Big_Texxan]

oh okay, that seems really simple. thanks for the info. I want to run a stand alone system, as Im eliminating the entire motor/tranny/drive train. Thats the plan. I was thinking about using a painless wire harness, but not sure how well it would work, yours seems a lot simpler

 

[dieseldak]

oh okay, that seems really simple. thanks for the info. I want to run a stand alone system, as Im eliminating the entire motor/tranny/drive train. Thats the plan. I was thinking about using a painless wire harness, but not sure how well it would work, yours seems a lot simpler

What kind of motor are you swapping in? Ive done alot of other swaps and played with most of the stand alone systems(FAST, EFI Live, Mega Squirt, AEM). With most of them you will be able to just piggy back them over the factory wiring and retain it all like it was stock. A Painless harness will only reproduce what you already have, as long as there is a power wire going to the fuse block under the hood almost everything in the truck will work.

 

[Big_Texxan]

see im actually not sure yet. I want something unique and different. 5.9s have been done, manual transmissions and hemis have been done, ive seen a dakota with a 340, and the LS series motors have been done, and I would consider a diesel, but it wouldnt do anything for me, seeing I dont want to SAS my truck, I want to lower it, and the frame wouldnt hold up to towing, seeing Ill get a designated diesel for that. But im thinking old school Mopar, or a couple of LSx base motors, but all have the idea of the motor/efi setup/manual transmission. Dont plan on keeping the 4.7 (limited mods available), no plans for a hemi (idea has been played around, but slimmer and slimmer pickings for the years) You know? I want to stray away from the crowd a little bit.

 

[dieseldak]

Went mudding over the weekend. The truck is way more capable than I ever could have thought. There really isnt much it cant do.

Also I frankensteined from flippy tow mirrors on it so I can see where the hell I am going when I back up. Build myself a big steel front bumper since the stock one looked way out of place. The stack is gone and its soo much nicer to drive, its not screaming in my ear anymore

Next on the list is 42" or 44" tires and some 4.10 axles.




Bumper




Flippy Tow Mirrors



Exhaust

 

[Xxaler]

I saw your truck at MOPARfest the other month, you really need to sandblast that frame, it really looks like its hurtin the way the paint is just slapped on there with no prep.

 

[dieseldak]

The frame was wire wheeled and painted. There was no point to going through all the prep work to make it gorgeous then beat the hell out of it scraping rocks and dragging it through the mud. Its a off road mud truck, not a show queen.

 

[Big_Texxan]

That bumper is really nice man, and the stack glad its gone, sooooo much cleaner now. Did those mirrors come off a ram?

 

[dieseldak]

Yeah the stack was cool at first but the novelty faded fast. Its sooo much more pleasant to drive now. The mirrors are from a 94-02 Ram, just had to redrill the doors to bolt the mirrors on, couldnt have been easier.

 

[Big_Texxan]

damn thats nice man, The mirrors fit the personality of the truck, Im not big into stacks, I love it without it now.

 

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were you able to keep the turn signals in the tow mirrors working or are they just for looks ? :gotpix: