well some of you may know that i got me a new engine and trans for 2K it just so happened to come with a 1989 2wd reg cab long bed dually with a 40 inch sleeper conversion. This little project started out to just be some cosmetic work and replace the rear end as the PO had shelled out the pinion gear. well in the process of putting a new rear end in i had to rebuild all the drive shafts and carrier bearings rebuild the rear brakes and i found out that the PO had done something very bad and cracked the frame rail on the drivers side all the way across the bottom lip all the way up the side and about a quarter of the way across the top lip. I did some prep work on it and welded it up as a temporary fix. well i was working on the truck today trying to get it running better and riding better so just giving it a good look over well i manged to find out that the front drivers shock mount is completely mangled the top of the shock is not attached to anything the lower A arm mount has been booger welded back on and is no where near straight the frame rail on the drivers side in the stretch portion is twisted so all around the frame is screwed!!! I don't trust the welds on the front end and i don't like the idea of just welding up a crack on the rear. I had planned to pull the front clip and clean up the nasty mess of a engine and give it a good tune,install a PSD IC and a 93 front clip.


So I have to take off the whole front clip i have already taken off the bed and the sleeper and i need to fix the frame on the front and the rear. I have every thing off of the chassis except the cab and the engine/trans so my line of thinking is i am time and effort ahead to just tear it all the way down and swap it all onto the 4x4 crew cab chassis that is cut off right at the rear cab mounts that i have and just flat rail it like a semi that way i will only have one graft joint per side instead of the 2 now and if i fixed the back half with new rails that would be 3 graft joints per side plus i would still have to cut off all the 2wd stuff to replace it and in the end i would have a cobbled together truck with lots of splices and it would still be a really long 2wd dually that gets stuck on wet pavement so in the end i will have a custom built 4x4 sleeper cab long bed dually diesel basically a mini semi


any way here is pics of the day i went to get it i have lots more of the progress?? i just have to get them off my camera and i will post them


https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...9&d=1241458434
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...1&d=1241458434
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...1&d=1241458434

 

Yeah man... That's an EARLY 1st Gen Diesel 2wd... The front ends wouldn't hold up to the weight of the diesel let alone that uber long wheelbase setup... The Higher offset dually hubs are even TOUGHER on the a-arms/etc... yikes! That rig really needs a 2wd straight axle under the front of it...

 

Can someone say chevy 3500HD front end?

I remember seeing a 90 wrecker cummins 2wd dually on ebay that had a 3500hd front end under it, he even said it in the ad, it had the 19.5's and everthing.

looks like a good project.