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4bt quad cab dakota

17K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  chickenlights 
#1 · (Edited)
so i finaly graduated college and started working for cummins in columbus indiana. so that means i finaly have money to start my project. about a month ago i bought an 05 recon engine that came out of an oshkosh truck and have been buying parts ever since. i got a nv 4500 trans off a 98 ram and i plan on using my stock np 231 t case with an input shaft swap to mate it to the 4500. i got an intercooler with the engine but it wont work with the stock radiator due to the inlet and outlet tubes not being wide enough to go a round the radiator by a 1/4 in. i thought i would just start a thread in hopes that it would be easier to find answers when i start the swap hopefuly some time next weekend. im still trying to figure out what im going to do for a daily for the time being. i have read the other posts on here with other dakota swaps several times but its always nice if somebody has new ideas or chimes in on something that forgot to get posted. any information would be appreciated. thanks.
 
#2 ·
i got the engine mounts and trans mt made this past weekend. i made the driver side differential mount and i pushed the diff as far up to the pan as i could. but now i am woried that when the suspension would collapse the lower a arm will hit the output shaft of the differential (cv) the torsionbars are cranked all the way and it doesnt seem like it would be a problem under normal driving but i am just paranoid. anybody ever have this problem?
 
#5 ·
i will try to get some more pics up as soon as possible. i have heard that if you take the differential completely out and just leave the stub shafts to hold the front wheel bearings together, that you do not have to mod the pan, but then you only get 2 wheel drive. i got the truck back on the road this weekend for the first time in a month. its really fun to drive!! power was a little down but i adjusted the power screw a little and what a difference that made. just have to get an exhaust system on it now and button up a few ods and ends. i was also happy that the interior came together nicely even though the shifter location was changed. i was able to use the stock bezel but was not able to use the stock shift boot. my oil pan will require further mods but for now it is drivable. i wasnt able to put my differential up close enough to the engine to allow the suspension to come down over bumps, so the lower controle arms would hit the output shafts of the cvs. it definatly gets you a lot of wierd looks when driving around town.
 
#6 ·
Put up more pics, I never had a problem with the cv shafts hitting my lower control arms. I only had to drop my diff 2 inches and mod my pan some. My truck is a 94.
 
#7 ·
well i think i should have taken more out of the pan but i wanted to keep the capacity up as much as possible. right now i was able to keep it at 10 qts by adding another sump up front with another drain plug. i dont think it hit metal on metal yet but i used a paing marker and colored the lower controle arm and the sway bar where i thought they would hit and took it down a bumpy road and the cv boot rubbed a little paint off. i guess if it does break it then that will be an excuse to do a solid axle up front :)

khaoskustoms,
what are your egt when you are driving down the road and under full power? and do you know what an acceptable temp would be for both?
 
#10 · (Edited)
its not letting me put my other pictures up now cause they are too big. i also got a parking violation ticket from the security guard at work the first day i drove it to work. here at cummins we have front row parking spots at work for cummins powered vehicles, which are all dodge ram trucks. i had to talk to the security guard to get it straightened out so all is good now. i still need to re route some wires and i just painted the intercooler pipes this weekend.

also i got a part number for a trans mt off of another thread but i dont recall which one. part # 2268 for a trans mt off of a 1970 chevell (fits pretty much every rear wheel drive chevy up to the mid eighties) the first one only lasted twenty miles before the rubber gave out under the weight. went back to the parts store and they had another option for the big block 454 motors that was the same bolt pattern but was made of solid rubber. i highly recomend this mt if you are trying to squeeze the nv 4500 into the tunnel with out modifying it. it can be done, i did it!! i will post the new part number when i can find the box.
 

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#11 ·
update:

i drove the truck for 1200 miles and was getting between 24-28 mpg depending on how i had the pump tuned and my driving style. then...

i down shifted to third turning onto a frontage road to go to the gas station and i heard a pop, then a tick tick tick noise fron the trans. under acceleration there was no noise but everytime it was in third and it was in an engine brake situation i heard the tick noise. popped the inspection cover and saw that i had knocked part of two teeth off the third gear on the counter shaft. very disapointing!!

atleast this will give me an oppertunity to cut my pan again so i can put the front diff up higher to avoid hitting my lower controle arms though.

i ended up buying the factor puller to get the gears off the trans and hope to get that in by the end of the week so i can start the tear down. AGAIN!! :(
 
#17 ·
my cv boots rub a little, but i turned the torsion bars up about 4 turns to make it ride stock height.
 
#20 ·
I'm going to have to back up a little, The cv boots did not rub on my Durango at stock height, but now I have one blown apart (drivers side) on the Dakota. I cranked the stock torsion keys pretty hard on the Dak to clear the tires but still have a little left. I'm still not 100% positive it hits though as I remember weld slag hitting the boot from when I did my frame side mounts. I'll let ya know when I get under there and straighten it out.
AL
 
#22 · (Edited)
well the truck made it on a 800 mile round trip back to my parents house this weekend with no problems :grinpimp:

my egt probe is in the manifold on the cylinder 1,4 exit. i figured those cylinders by design of the intake get the least amount of air so they would be hottest anyway. i do have the origional intercooler from the bread truck on it. with the pump cranked up (slightly) i am hitting about 15 psi and the temps rise up fast to 1100 but never really go too far over 1200.

anybody know how much boost i can safely run before i have to put head studs in?

also i have been reading up on these engines running cold, my engine according to the factory dakota sensor says i only get to around 160, could that be because my temp probe is in another fitting that is pulling it away from the head? since when i am stopped it will raise to 1200 or so and never go over that. already tried 2 thermostats... even while running cool the engine still feels hot to the touch like i think it would and the heat blows hot! air. all my reading on this i still havent found a definate conclusion to the problem.
 
#23 ·
well the truck made it on a 800 mile round trip back to my parents house this weekend with no problems :grinpimp:

my egt probe is in the manifold on the cylinder 1,4 exit. i figured those cylinders by design of the intake get the least amount of air so they would be hottest anyway. i do have the origional intercooler from the bread truck on it. with the pump cranked up (slightly) i am hitting about 15 psi and the temps rise up fast to 1100 but never really go too far over 1200.

anybody know how much boost i can safely run before i have to put head studs in?

also i have been reading up on these engines running cold, my engine according to the factory dakota sensor says i only get to around 160, could that be because my temp probe is in another fitting that is pulling it away from the head? since when i am stopped it will raise to 200 or so and never go over that. already tried 2 thermostats... even while running cool the engine still feels hot to the touch like i think it would and the heat blows hot! air. all my reading on this i still havent found a definate conclusion to the problem.
Hard to say how much boost you can go to with stock head bolts I think generally around 40-50psi you should be thinking about it. But there are also tons of stories about guys running more than that without problems. I pretty much go feel stock is fine with a single turbo, but for twins it doesn't hurt to get studs, unless it's a small set of twins like an hx30 over hx40 with the max boost limited
 
#24 ·
just an update, this weekend i finaly made my new differential mounts, i was able to push the diff up another inch and half which now lets me have full travel front suspension. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN RIDE QUALITY. driver side mount only took eight hours.... that damn starter was a pain to get around :) now i just got to get a front drive shaft made up and i can have 4 wheel drive again.
 
#25 ·
update

my truck now has 10,000 miles on it since the swap and the only problem was that i had to replace the origional clutch master cylinder (which dodge made, not my fault....) anybody that has ever had to replace anything in the clutch hydraulic system on these trucks or i believe the dodge full size trucks are the same way, knows its a pain... but i was able to find a slave cylinder that comes with a bleeder valve in it instead of buying the complete assembly, which is the mastercylinder, slave cylinder and reservoir all prebled as one unit, from dodge ($317) because this system is not meant to be servicable.

besides that i couldnt be happier with the outcome of this build.
 
#27 ·
i finaly got around to putting a good turbo on my truck this weekend. what a step up from the stock h1c, its a totaly different truck now. also installed a new low pressure piston pump to go along with my bigger injectors. the old diaphram pump was only putting out 4 psi to the pump, the new one puts out a steady 15.
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