'47 Dodge shop truck

Oh yeah.....

Love getting new stuff.... [P

Nice! Gotta be good starting with a brand new housing.

DJ3100 said:

Nice! Gotta be good starting with a brand new housing.

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It's a ''reclaimed'' center with new style tubes from Speedway. I just hope it's straight. I'll know when I put it together. I'm not very impressed with the welds.

I-R-POPS said:

It's a ''reclaimed'' center with new style tubes from Speedway. I just hope it's straight. I'll know when I put it together. I'm not very impressed with the welds.

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It's probably better than an original Ford. I haven't been impresses with the factory welds.

Even if it is straight now, how straight will it be after welding the brackets or spring seats? I kinda' think they do fine without being dead nuts straight - hardly anyone ever gets them straightened.

The nice thing about the speedway rears, there's nothing to cut off, they're not covered in dirt and grime, and you know the studs aren't gonna pull out the first time you try to remove the third member.

DJ3100 said:

It's probably better than an original Ford. I haven't been impresses with the factory welds.

Even if it is straight now, how straight will it be after welding the brackets or spring seats? I kinda' think they do fine without being dead nuts straight - hardly anyone ever gets them straightened.

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As long as it still turns freely without any binding after welding the brackets on I'll be happy and call it good.

endicott_jb said:

The nice thing about the speedway rears, there's nothing to cut off, they're not covered in dirt and grime, and you know the studs aren't gonna pull out the first time you try to remove the third member.

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I am really pleased with parts from Speedway.

I got the rear end put together today.. Every thing went without any problems so now it's on to the new suspension. Going to do something different from the parallel springs. Way too much wheel hop under hard acceleration. Thinking it would be really bad when I get the 408 stroker in it.

I got tired of working underneath this thing so I went ahead and pulled the bed off it to do the suspension. I'm to old and stiff to do it from the bottom.
Got the tubs all tacked together and bolted in place. Just need to take them out and do the finish welding on them. Then I can get more tire under it.

Quote: I-R-Pops...I'm to old and stiff to do it from the bottom.

I'm with ya on that. Working on one underneath ain't what it used to be. I hurt for days everytime...

New changes are looking good. Hope this helps your wheel hop. Though I drive the bejesus out of mine, I seldom shower down on it from a dead stop. It tends to get squirrely when I do that.... Not really wheel hopping on mine, but wants to dance the two step when I brake loose those 12" skins...

Great progress, the tubs turned out real nice.[cl

Now what?

This is what indecision looks like. Can't make up my mind what I want to do for the rear suspension.

I do know it needs to be back on the road. It's way to much fun to drive to be out of commission.

You mean as to four link or spring?

leaf spring or coil over? you do your notches like mine on the GMC...just a bit smaller...and I laid box tube into the inside frame rail for extra support...but looks good...no where were we?? [S

sgtpontiac said:

leaf spring or coil over? you do your notches like mine on the GMC...just a bit smaller...and I laid box tube into the inside frame rail for extra support...but looks good...no where were we?? [S

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I don't know where I am from one day to the next. I am making progress tho.

My old Hobart welder melted down so I got a Miller 211 from Cyber weld. This little machine will weld circles around the old Hobart. It makes my shakey welding look like I know what I'm doing.

I got the tubs welded up and ready to install when I get to that point.

Decided I would go with a Chassis Engineering ladder bar set up with coil overs. Got it all tacked in place Saturday. I need to set the bed back on to get my ride height where I want it. Then I can make my brackets for the coil overs.

I found a new to me used set of mags that look pretty good with my two tone primer look. $4oo with the tires.

More fun tomorrow!

Looking great, (note to self, buy a new welder)
Good deal on the wheels and tires, there are four ya [S

I have had a Miller 211 for a few years. Really like it. I did replace the gun with a 12' Tweco which really made the machine a lot more handy. It seems to weld on 110v just as well as 220v. It does like .030 wire better than the .023 wire.

Wheels look perfect on that truck.

I have never used ladder bars - I'll be interested to see how you like them. The coilovers will be a good step up from the leaf springs.

Nice work.

Great progress, really like the wheels.[cl

soltz said:

Looking great, (note to self, buy a new welder)
Good deal on the wheels and tires, there are four ya [S

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Thanks Soltz. I wish I had bought this welder sooner. It is so much better.
Yea there are 4 wheels and tires.

DozerII said:

Great progress, really like the wheels.[cl

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Thanks Dozer. It's nice to find a good deal once in a while. Even nicer when you have the cash to take advantage of it.

DJ3100 said:

I have had a Miller 211 for a few years. Really like it. I did replace the gun with a 12' Tweco which really made the machine a lot more handy. It seems to weld on 110v just as well as 220v. It does like .030 wire better than the .023 wire.

Wheels look perfect on that truck.

I have never used ladder bars - I'll be interested to see how you like them. The coilovers will be a good step up from the leaf springs.

Nice work.

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I'm definitely going to put a longer gun assy on it. Don't know why it comes with such a short one. It welds great. It does seem way to hot on the auto set to me tho.

That makes two of us on the ladder bars. My thinking is if I put 450 to 500 horse power in a pickup that is light on the tail end any ways, the ladder bars will help get it to the ground.

I have a couple of friends that run a whole lot more HP than that at the strip and drive their rides on the street and they swear by ladder bar set ups.
Time will tell. If it doesn't work for me it will be simple to convert it to a four link set up.

I fought with the Miller gun for a long time. It seemed very stiff as well as short. The new one is much better.

Welding technology has come a long way in the last 10 +- years. Those older welders just don't penetrate as well or lay down as nice beads.

The Autoset on mine seems to work OK at 1/8" +. But when welding 18 ga I set it on 20 ga or lower. But you get used to it.