Has anyone?

[catlin]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to ask this, so if there's a better place, point me in the right direction and I'll head there... I'm also not sure what the best serach parameters would be to see if this has already been covered...

I ended up with a rolling duece and a half chassis (frame, axles, and transfercase) that I ended up bobbing and putting under a 1990 Dodge Ram D250 2WD Cummins diesel truck. Pretty straight forward swap, but I'm not sure that the stock Dodge master cylinder has the displacement to handle the drum brakes on the Rockwells, does anyone have experience with that? I don't have the cash available right now to upgrade to discs (which I do plan to do in the future), so I was hoping to get the truck on the road with the stock drum brakes. I did replace the wheel cylinders and verified that the brake shoes were all in good shape.

Any help is appriciated, even if it's just direction to a more appropriate place to ask this question.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Danger Ranger]

Umm...the first thing to learn here on SS (Welcome aboard by the way) is that you have got to post pictures. We not only love to see what you're talking about, but will probably drool over it.


opcorn:

 

[scranch18121]

 

[doghead]

I moved this thread to the modification forum.

Do you still have the stock rear axle? I'd even be interested in the whole Dodge frame too. PM me.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I would say the Dodge master cyl has nowhere near what you need for fluid displacement. If the brakes are adjusted exactly, maybe.

 

[YankeeDuece]

Welcome aboard from Clifton Park/Niskayuna.

Stop by Wells Nursery on Aqueduct Road Friday and Introduce yourself.

 

[jatonka]

Welcome from Ephratah, west of you but easier to find than Yankee Deuce!!!! Lets see some pictures.

 

[catlin]

Here are a few pictures. I haven't taken any in a while... The truck is almost road ready and the brakes are really the only issue that I need to work out. I'll get some more pictures soon and post them...

One other thing that I did, since I was swapping the Dodge body on the frame was add power steering. I don't know if it'll work as nicely as I hope it will, but I got a power steering box out of a big truck (Peterbilt or Freightliner, I'd have to do some digging to remember which), made a mounting plate and a steering link. It mounts on the outside of the rail, which I didn't want, but that was all I could find. I've looked in the wheel well of a bunch of Mack tandem axle dump trucks and noticed that they all had a box that mounted on the inside of the frame rail, like the manual deuce box, but couldn't find any locally. I'll post some pics of that too.

If the Dodge master cylinder doesn't have the volume to actuate the wheel cylinders, I need to come up with a good, safe way to have brakes on the truck so I can drive it. If the only option is disc brakes, the truck will have to sit a while until I can get the money together for the disc set up...

 

[swiss]

That is pretty cool

 

[catlin]

Oh yeah, the chassis is actually from a1962 M49C tanker truck. On the transfercase, there is the normal Hi - N - Lo plunger that I need to hook up to a lever in the Dodge cab, but there is another plunger on the transfercase that is on the passenger side, roughly in the middle height-wise, that I don't know what it's there for. I'm going to make a lever in the cab for it as well, but it'd be nice to know what it does and what position it should be in when I'm driving the truck...

Thanks for you input.

Ynakee Deuce - I work at the GE Global Research Center... I usually get out of work around 3, is that a decent time to stop by?

 

[bones1]

That's something right there.

 

[m16ty]

I'll take that extra rear driveshaft coming out the back of the t-case if you don't need it.

 

[wayne pick]

Maybe a hydrovac master cyl and booster out of a medium duty, on the transfer case, That plunger is probably for a PTO seeing as it was in a tanker. Way cool truck! WP.

 

[197thhhc]

Welcome to the site. Looks like a cool project

 

[DeucesWild11]

Awesome!! Reminds me of that Johnny Cash Song.. "One Piece at a time" Love it!! Keep us posted with pics!

 

[overlordofmars]

Ok, take it from some one who has modified a lot of old days brake systems. You first have to see how many Ounces of fluid gets displaced by the original master and the replacement. Also you have to take into account operating PSI and how and if a booster was used.

Looking over a factory 4x4 dodge master cylinder, ( yes I own a dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 ) and the braking system in a deuce. Even with one axle removed and the displacement needed to push all the wheel cylinders in two axles the factory dodge system is NOT going to work.

Try to find an International school bus with a hydro booster system, it will be sufficient , I had one off of a 1700 series, it closely matches the required fluid displacement and PSI.

If you hook up the AUX brake booster from the school bus it will also give you an electric emergency back up system.

Look for a 1981 through 1998 IHC bus.

 

[Capt.Marion]

That spare lever on the transfer case is for the tank pump PTO (since it was a tanker truck). If the PTO is still there, you could probably sell the PTO and make some spare cash to fund your brakes.

Hopefully some folks whom are more knowledgeable about the tankers and PTOs will chime in.

 

[wayne pick]

Hea DeucesWild11, I grew up in Brewster. Worked for Lee Archer and Ziggy Sigqorjonnson back in the 80s. Know a lot of Mahopac people, small world.

 

[catlin]

The second plunger that I'm referring to is on the front side of the transfercase, there is a separate lever for the PTO. I'm actually planning on hooking the PTO to a compressor head so I have onboard air... That plunger that I'm talking about, I think, was manipulated by the original non-overdrive 5spd trans. Pushed in one direction when the trans was put in reverse, pushed in the opposite direction when in first, then not moved at all when in 2nd - 5th. I wasn't sure if it disengaged the front axle or a sprag or something like that.

Overlordofmars - thanks for the brake info. I'll do some digging around... If I decided to upgrade to a DIY disc brake setup, I could probably keep the Dodge master and vac booster, right? I just put a brand new master and booster assembly in the truck because the original one was shoot when I got the Dodge... It would suck to pull it now, since I can't return it...

Guess I should be thinking about the best solution over the quickest solution...

 

[swbradley1]

Welcome aboard and you need to get it running and on the road (safely) so you can drive it to Haspin this year.