Dennis_MN

I have a person in Monticello who picked up a '50 last fall and he is not very motivated to work on it. Something about it's a Dodge, so I'm thinking I should take him for a ride a show him a real project. I need a address. Dennis

There seems to be a cut off after 49 where there is a modern U-joint held in with C clips. My 49 had U-joints held in place with bolts and a plate. The other thing about a 49 is that the joint on the transmission end is one piece, 50 and newer have a two piece unit. Bottom line is that there is not a simple conversion U-joint for the 48 and 49. I started by having one end of the drive shaft changed so that it was jeep to jeep on the U joint, but it wouldn't balance. So the drive shaft people wanted the other end so they could balance it, which meant that the part on the back of the tranny had to come out. It was a real bearcat to get off, and then when I brought it in they said it was shot and they'd have to get a new one and attach it to the drive shaft. I've got Dodge to Dodge on that end, and it is in balance. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=26779&highlight=Axle+update

Randy, That is good news and it is great to know that there was a spare part in there just waiting to be used, take care now, there is only one left!

http://www.dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/bed/bed.htm Here is a link to an old version posted on another set of pages. I remembered seeing this in the past so I spent a little time hunting for it.

My truck is tucked away until after Easter, but I worked the garage cleaning up after winter. I put away my old fuel pump for the Dodge and I tossed the ends of my old drive shaft. In the process I spilled part of the tool box so I had to pick up bolts and grease zirks (45 deg ones after the front calipers). I had 10 bolts to pick up, 5 are marked L and 5 are marked R. Just in for a nap before I scrub the floor. I may take out the camera and post how nice it looks.

I had the same problem, the previous owner cut the ends of the frame to weld on a bracket to mount a Ford Ranger bumper. I cut 11 inches of a doner truck, and welded them on, unfortunately the truck was on jack stands and I didn't get the angle right, so the bumper sags a bit. Most folks say I'm the only one who notices. So be careful putting it back. Dennis

Interesting thread. I bought a 1931 Ford Model A coupe from a fellow who completely disassembled it, labeled all the parts, and put all of the fasteners in a variety of jars, and baby food jars. I came along 8 years after he did this and bought it for $150 and hauled every thing home in three truck loads. I spent the next two years rounding up more parts and re-assembling. One year on the chassis, and one year on the body. I drove it after that as a second car. My wife remarked that it least it wasn't another women or a bar, she knew right where to find me. After the first year she said that maybe a woman would have been better. She could compete with a woman, but not that dang Ford!

I just couldn't bring myself to put a hole in the top of the fender. My rack is exactly like yours except I left off the side rails. I have my antenna bracket screwed into the wood on the left side. I mounted a large steel washer on top of the 2 x 2 on the right side where I mount my magnetic CB antenna when I take road trips. I just run the antenna lead into the cab before I shut the door. I use a 18volt inverter for the CB power.

Looks like Reg missed out on another rare radio!

When I was in high school, I worked at a radio-tv shop, I usually installed tv antennas, or delivered TV's. However, because I had small hands and was pretty agile, I would be asked to remove and install car radios. This was 1956 and 1957 so the surfaces were different. I got to decide where to mount the antenna. I used my judgement where to mount based on radio location and where there was clearance for the Greenlee punch. It was pretty clear on the GM cars because it looked like this was planned for. All that said, I still have the Greenlee die for the standard antenna hole. All you need to do is to drill a 3/8 pilot hole then thread the bolt through the punch and into the die underneath. Then tighten until you have a hole. There was no way that I was going to do that to my truck, so I added a wood rack and I mounted a bracket to that and I ran the lead under the cab and into the firewall. I did use the punch on my bracket to mount my NAPA antenna. If you need pictures of the Greenlee, just ask or do a google search. Pictures of the antenna mount will need to wait a month or two. https://sites.google.com/site/dennisjsullivan/Home/photo--sharing

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=26136&highlight=Tailgate Here is a link to a old thread

I considered the change to 12v mainly to power a modern radio, CB, and GPS, however, I spent $50 and bought a inverter to do all of that stuff and I left the functional 6v to do what it has done for the past 62 years. Do a search for inverter.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=11168&highlight=Axle+swap I started with the above thread. If you have a 1950 or newer, you could possibly get by without the drive shaft modification. There is part called a conversion u-joint with the newer Dodge on one side and a jeep on the other side. I have a 49 and I had to have the drive shaft modified on both ends. Search for another thread called rear axle Dennis

I've been thinking that a guy could use a 12v battery in the trailer to operate the brakes, and control the set up with a 6v relay. I'm going to build some remote tail lights using 6v LEDs sorta like tow trucks use for disabled cars that they tow.

As long as that thread on gas mileage surfaced, I thought I'd mention that just yesterday I traded my 2000 Ford Ranger for a 2012 Chev Cruze 2LT. I plan to have my wife drive this one and I'll take her 2006 Tucson for my misc trips. She puts on about 20,000 miles per year and I put on less than 4,000 miles between my 49 Dodge and the winter vehicle. So mpg on her vehicle matters!

Back then: engine is 217 stock 6, trannie is 4 speed non-syncro, diff ratio was 4:11, tires are radial 215/85/16R LT Now or last summer, the only change was rear end ratio was changed to 3:73 And mileage on a 600 mile trip was 16.8 at 60 mph.

https://sites.google.com/site/dennisjsullivan/Home/photo--sharing This is a link to a photo site on google, copy and paste from a IPad is a new experience.

I bought mine at a swap meet at Ellingson Car museum's truck show. Every fathers day they have a truck show, you should come. By the way, the dealer for plates is a couple named Ribel, from Belle Plain, MN. Last year they had a unused set from 49.

That bumper is off a older series Ford Ranger. They used most of a receiver hitch to fabricate the mounting brackets. When I bought it there was a Ranger front bumper but I didn't like the looks so I switched to a original style but left the rear.

By now you know that YOM is Year Of Manufacture so this example is from Minnesota for my 1949 Pickup I first bought a set of 1949 car plates but Minnesota had used that number series on collector plates so I couldn't register them because someone had that number on a collector plate. I finally found a decent set of plates from a Truck so it had fewer digits and it had a Letter. I paid the one time registration fee and no longer need to pay the annual license fee. One other restriction is that they are supposed to be limited in annual miles driven and it says for car shows or events only. And I do have to have another registered vehicle in use.

Wow is my August filling up, count me in. The first week I'm driving the Dodge to East Grand Forks for a town 125th reunion, that will be a 700 mile round trip, then over to Wisconsin which should be a 800 mile round trip. Then my wife is having her 50th Wedding Anniv party on the 25th and on the 31st I head up to Rollag, MN for the Steam Threshers Reunion. Dennis

Nope, no need to clutter up your place, they are in a barn on a friends farm so not a prob.

As long as this thread is back up, I thought I'd make one more comment. I have a 1949 1/2 ton and there was a change in the yoke bracket attached to the transmission from a one piece to a two piece design. This means there is a difference in the U-joint after 49. The 2 piece design was used for many years and that one was retro fitted to my drive shaft and to the transmission. So I'm guessing that napa part number works for 50 and later. Was that piece a bugger to remove from my transmission! I borrowed a 1 inch drive socket and power handle and gave it all I had, laying on my back and prying against the frame with my legs. I had to tighten the brake band to help hold the transmission from turning. There is a poem in this experience about the problems of a 71 year old man working on a 61 year old truck!

I also have a box of parts left over after my disc conversion. The shoes are useful for rebanding or for exchange. There are left hand studs worth their weight if someone needs a couple, and the drums are good as they are. I think I have 10" brakes on my 1/2 ton fronts. I'm in Minnesota.

Wheel base is the key. Long box has a 116" wheel base, short box has a 108" wheel base. Looks like you would have to cut 8" inches out ahead of the rear springs and shorten the drive shaft. Or get a short frame.