bkahler

Timely post. I'm just about to this point myself so looking forward to the responses. Brad

I made a lot of progress since my last post. Other than filling the steering gearbox with corn head grease the steering system and front suspension is totally complete. Installing the support clamp around the steering column was a small chore due to the rubber isolator. I bought it new from DCM Classics and it was a really snug fit. I had to use fully threaded 1/4" bolts to get it drawn up close enough to where I could install the 3/8" bolts. The truck is now back to sitting on it's wheels although I still need to torque the lug nuts to final torque. Rotating the steering wheel from side to side yields maybe an 1" of movement before you feel resistance. That's considerably better than the 1/4 turn of the wheel that was there previously! I painted the intake and exhaust manifolds last week and installed them yesterday. I think it only took me five tries to get everything line up right and the correct studs in the correct holes, but they are installed Now it's time to start thinking about throttle linkage again. I didn't realize it previously so I was somewhat surprised to find the clutch and brake pedals aren't in the same plane. The clutch pedal is something like 1-1/2" or so closer to the firewall. Any idea why Dodge put them that way? Lastly I need help identifying which side of the windshield gasket faces out. I have someone coming Monday to install all of the cab glass (except doors) and I'd like to make sure it's installed properly! One side has a recessed section for the center bar. And the other side is totally flat. Which side is faces out?! Brad

That was my understanding as well on how these pumps work. I plan to use the electric pump as a pusher pump more than anything else. It's my understanding that the electric pump that I bought will also pass fuel through when it's not running. On initial start up in the morning or when the engine is hot would be the main use for the pump. Time will tell if I made the right decisions Brad

This is the first that I've heard of a check valve in the mechanical pump. However, my use for the electric pump is as a pusher up to the mechanical pump. The fuel issues I've experience with the modern fuels around here are the fuel evaporates from the fuel bowls over time and it takes a lot of cranking to get from from the tank to the pump. The addition of the electric pump has solved this problem in the vehicles I've used them on.

I didn't get any responses on this so I guess I'll move forward with just adding grease to each of the shackles and see what happens! Brad

I wish I could say the same. I've had constant issues with my TR4 even my Ford Ranger as well as a motorhome. If they sit to long or if they get too hot the fuel just seems to evaporate. On the motorhome and the TR4 switching to electric pumps in series with the mechanical pumps solved the problems. I don't like in tank pumps, I much prefer the frame rail mounted pumps.

Other than the spindle nut on the drivers side and the brake hoses the front disc conversion is complete. I will say besides the drilling and tapping required on the knuckles this is a very easy kit to install. Charlie did a good job in developing his kit. I would have had both spindle nuts done but I forgot to order a second nut back in the spring when I was laying things out. Charlie suggests either turning the original nut around or buying a new nut and drilling a hole where the cotter pin needs to be. I choose a third option. Previously I had the local machinist drill new holes at the very end of the spindle. I then threaded the nut onto the shaft, determined the right amount of free play in the bearings and then marked the nut indicating where the cotter pin hole was located. Using a cutoff wheel in an angle grinder I slowly cut a slot in the nut for the cotter pin. I believe this worked well. The other thing I did was to order replacement washers. The original washers are about .125" thick and the replacement washers are about .100" thick. This allows for more thread engagement of the nut in relation to the slot for the cotter pin. I tried to find the parts locally but was not successful and I found ebay pricing to be better than Amazon so I ordered from ebay. spindle nut washer spindle nut Once I get the second spindle nut installed I can get the wheels back on and the truck will be setting on all four wheels again. Brad

Low speed is the key. They slower you can turn the drill bit the better off you'll be. Large drill bits need to turn really slow

Not really. I've got a 20" drill press and associated clamps that made it fairly easy to accomplish. Trying to do them with a hand drill would be on the challenging side. If you want to mail them to me I can drill them out for you.

I think I need to revisit the shackles on my truck, or at least the installation of the shackles. 20+ years ago I bought new Flagg brand shackles and installed them. However during installation I did not use any lubricant. Having been browsing through the manuals the last few months I found references to lubing the bushing before assembly. Would it be wise for me to remove each bushing, adding lubrication and reassembling? Or can I get by just installing the grease zerks and injecting grease? I'd like to sort this out before I take it off the jack stands in the near future. So, did I screw up by not lubing the bushings?! Thanks, Brad

The steering in the truck when I got it was about 1/4 turn of play as you turned the wheel from side to side so anything that gives me better than 1/4 turn I'm ahead of the game ? If I follow through with plans, after I retire in a few years I'm thinking of heading south west. If that happens then the truck could turn into a regular driver. No way that will happen living this close to the rust belt. Thanks for the encouragement. Brad

I think the problem with a shoulder bolt will be trying to polish the case hardening .006". I can certainly try it but I'm not holding my breath. From what I remember the SHCS are pretty hard as well. I'll test one with a file to see what the hardness level seems to be.

I've made a little bit of progress on the front end. The leaf springs have the plastic inserts installed that are sold by Speedway Motors, the front axle is now installed and the steering knuckles are installed. All of that was done earlier this week. The last couple of days I've been playing around with the Rusty Hope disc brake conversion kit. The caliper brackets are installed and last night I shortened the mounted bolts as needed so the didn't protrude past the bracket and into the rotor space. 6 of 8 needed to be shortened between 1/16" and 5/32". I used a pair of vice grips and a 4-1/2" grinder with a flapper disc to slowly grind the down. This weekend I'm going to see about installing the steering tie rod, pitman arm and the drag link. I'm also hoping to get the rotors installed as well so I can get the truck off jack stands. Brad

I was wondering since you're using yours as a daily driver whether or not you noticed any changes as the miles go by. On the adjustment I purposely left it on the slightly loose side instead of the slightly tight side. Due to the star washer I couldn't put it in the spot I would have preferred. I figure once it's on the road things will move around a bit and I would need to tighten up the steering a bit. Unless plans change this truck won't be a daily driver, especially since Kentucky salts the roads in the winter. For the time being I will be running both an electric pump and the mechanical pump in series. The electric pump is right next the the fuel tank outlet. Mechanical pumps and modern fuels don't play well together especially when hot and I've used the dual pump configuration on multiple vehicles with success so I figured I'd try it on this one to see how it works.

I think shoulder bolts will likely be closer to if not spot on .250". The shank needs to be .244". I measured a couple of 1/4" bolts and the shank was .247" so I'm hoping that a SHCS will be closer in size. I think they would also be easier to polish to size if needed. I'm going to try and source a couple this weekend to play with.

All, Grease zerk problem is solved. Napa had a pack of zerks that stated "Assorted 1/8 taper pipe thread fittings". There were four straight, two 45 and two 90 fittings in the kit. They were actually tapered fittings and fit the threads in the knuckle just fine. Prior to stopping at Napa this morning I tried Tractor Supply and Autozone and saw nothing on their shelves that looked worth trying. Brent, That lube tip looks handy, I'll be ordering one from Amazon shortly. Thanks! Brad

I would think the shaft would need to be a hardened to keep from having a groove worn into it from the arm. I'm not sure I'd want to try and tap a hardened shaft with a #4 or #6 screw! On the original pin you can see wear lines but you can't feel them. When I bought the rebuild kits I bought two of them, planning on rebuilding a second pump. What I will probably do is install this pump and start rebuilding a second one. I'll have a chat with my machinist to see what he recommends for a pin. I'm thinking that a 2" long 1/4" socket head cap screw might be able to have the shank polished down to .2442". From there it should be an easy to use as a pin. I would think a nyloc nut would be sufficient to hold it in place. It would be interesting to see "meeting minutes" from the engineering design review meetings that were held as changes were coming about. I browsed McMaster Carr and they had nothing to offer in a 1/8" taper fitting. I'll give the local napa a try, I've got a better chance with them than any of the other places in town. I have all four of the grease zerks out, that's how I found out three of four springs were broken inside. I carefully ran an 1/8" pipe tap into the hole and it went smoothly which is why I'm fairly certain the fitting needs to be a tapered fitting. I've tried the 1/8-npt "straight" thread fitting and I can get it in about 1/2 maybe 3/4 turn and that's it. I even tried snugging slightly with a wrench and it was pretty obvious that was a bad idea. Of all the things on this truck I figured I might have problems with, grease zerks were not on that list! Brad

The edit button is behind the three ... in the upper right corner of your post.

I've found replacements for all of them except for the four on the steering knuckles. The bulk of the suspension was 3/8-24 thread with two up front being 1/4-28. But the four on the knuckle just don't match anything I've found yet. Mark suggested Napa, unfortunately the Napa in my area isn't as good as most of them that I've been in. But, it might be worth a try just in case. The O'Reillys, Advance Auto and Autozone stores in my area are all pretty much clueless if you can't give them a part number

Next problem. Three of the four grease zerks on the front spindles are bad. I'm at a loss as to what size thread the original grease zerks used although they look to be 1/8-27 npt tapered. I've looked everywhere but can only find what is labeled as 1/8 npt straight and they do not fit. Nor do ones labeled 1/8-28. I don't consider screwing in one thread being a good fit! Anyone have a source for proper replacement zerks?

I wonder if they eliminated the welting due to the Korean war? Dodge changed various things to help with the war effort like eliminating stainless grille bars, etc. Maybe felt was in short supply? I assume the welting was made from felt that is. The two pins provided in the kit were shorter than the original pin. So there are reports of pins working loose when used with the cups? Both the old pin and the new pins measure .2442" in diameter. The pin would need to be about 1-1/2" or longer in order to have circlips at each end. I'll have to check the diameter of some socket head cap screws to see how close they are to .2442".

I think I'll start off by leaving it out and if it squeaks then I'll deal with it at that time. Thanks.

Starting to get things done again on the truck finally. The steering gearbox is now bolted to the frame. I still need to install the steering wheel and horn assembly along with the little clip on cover that goes at the bottom of the tube. I spent some quality time making sure I got the worm adjusted as best I could. With the star washer you kind of have to pick a happy medium but overall I'm quite happy with how it came out. I won't know how good it is until I actually drive the truck. I also finished assembling the fuel pump. I used a kit purchased from Then And Now Automotive. They supply a good kit with lousy instructions. I had to kind of guess as to which parts to use at times. The biggest confusion was with the lever pin. They supplied two different pins, a short one and a long one. The long one might have worked but it wasn't as long as the original. I ended up using the short pin along with the two small freeze plugs they supplied. You can see the freeze plugs in the pictures. Brad

So what's the purpose of the welting?

Interesting, I've never installed welsh plugs without using sealant, that's the way I was taught. Based on the greasy grungy messes I've seen around the king pins it would seem most people don't get them set correctly Thanks, Brad