Jeff Balazs

Hi John; Don't the 53 cabs have a reinforcment under the floor running between the door pillars that the rest of the cabs lack? Jeff

According to the description this is on a military chassis and is still powered by a flattie. It is certainly an extreme example of taking things too far. But parked on the drive in to Tim's ranch it might make a good banner for the BBQ. When it comes to these trucks I am a huge fan of original stance ........ this one is just so over the top it cracks me up. Jeff

It is muy Macho isn't it Wonder what Paul will think?

This little gem is on the LA Craigslist right now. Paul.......you gotta be getting tired of that car stuff by now? Right? well here you go! You could easily make Mark's Todd project look totally wimpy with this baby. Imagine parking wherever you feel like ...... or knowing for certain that everyone will show you proper respect when you flick on the turn signals. I love it......and only in LA Jeff

Point taken but.....I put quite a bit of effort into retaining the original wheels. When I started this project I really had no idea of what I had let myself in for. It is a long story but here it is in a nutshell. Hopefully others following me along this path can use this to avoid a few of the pitfalls. When I got my truck one of the first things I did was pull the wheels off. The rubber was rotted and I had 3 broken lug studs on the driver side rear wheel. I thought no big deal.....I'll just get the wheels cleaned up, put some new tires on and replace those broken lug studs. The wheels themselves were no big deal but finding replacement studs is another story. They are unique, no one makes a direct replacement and NOS items are unavailable. I ended up with some 5/8" studs that I fitted new to all 4 corners. Of course the wheels had to be drilled and chamfered to fit. At this point I started in on the original brakes. The more I thought about how I intended to use the truck the more it became apparent that the gearing and the brakes should really be upgraded. So about 75% complete with the old brakes I bit the bullet and went for a Grand Cherokee rear axle with discs and a conversion kit on the front. I am happy I did but there was additional work necessary to make the original wheels fit. The Grand Cherokee axle had the right bolt pattern but needed longer 5/8" studs fitted, custom wheel spacers and some modifications to the caipers to work correctly. To use these wheels on the front I had to tit custom wheel adaptors with 5/8" studs. It all works well but it would have been a much easier job if I had a 1/2 ton or had thought things out a bit better. And it would have been ultra simple if it were a chevy instead of a Dodge. So you can see why I would like to finish this up with as little fuss as possible. I know I can make a stock wheel fit. Jeff

Perhaps someone with more knowledge than me could comment on this idea........but maybe you would have an easier job if you were to swap in a later drive shaft? I don't know what would be required to mate a later driveshaft up to an earlier transmission up at the Ebrake end......but it could be fairly simple. Just an idea. Jeff

Mark; Very possibly........I will keep my fingers crossed. It the mounting studs are 9/16" then it has to be. Jeff

Hi Guy's; I have been looking for over a year for a spare wheel for my 3/4 ton. No joy on a OEM wheel. I suppose that because this wheel was only fitted on 3/4 ton trucks it is fairly rare. It is 15" dia. x 5 1/2" wide and has a 5 x 5" pattern. The lug holes are fitted to 9/16" dia. studs. None of the other size trucks used this size and pattern If anyone has a suggestion for a appropriate substitute rim that has these spec's and has the correct offset I would appreciate it. I can't put this on the road without a proper spare. The other day there was a posting asking about the rarity of 1 ton trucks.......I am pretty certain there were more 1 tons than the 3/4 ton models. Some of the stuff specific to this size truck seems to be quitre rare. Thanks for you help. Jeff

Sorry. Mine was a straight swap. Has to be because it is a later model Pilothouse. Even the length was fine......and my truck is a fluid drive which tends to complicate most things. I was expecting to have to visit the driveshaft shop. It doesn't help that the vast majority of auto parts shops pretty much suck these days. If it makes you feel any better.....I live in a major population center......and haven't found a single source worth a darn locally. 20 - 30 years ago there was never an issue finding someone local that actually knew a thing or two. Now I think I would keel over if I came across a parts guy that was truly helpful. And believe me I have tried a bunch since I started working on my truck. My local Dodge dealer which I can walk to......is totally useless! Hang in there......it won't be that bad. I feel certain when your done you will be glad you went through it. Jeff

Paul; I am a bit of a visionary when it comes to this sort of stuff.... ...... here are some ideas........you will have to piece the final image together for yourself. It would be easy though.....chop the top like the Studie.....wheel skirts are a nice touch....strip it down and lighten it where ever possible.......put a stabilizing fin on the roof ........and don't bother with paint..... in fact grind it all off and go shiny. Then go have the time of your life. Jeff

I believe that the earlier PH trucks used a different yoke than the later trucks. On my 52 a pair of the Cherokee retainer clips were all that was required. Jeff

Mark; I feel certain you have thought about this........but don't forget to add in some sort of extra headliner mounting points. Jeff

Stumpy; Your truck looks amazing! Glad you are out having fun with it. Jeff

Hi Paul; Wanted to let you know that I have been keeping an eye on you even though you have gone over to the dark side. What Dave has said x2. Sound advice to be certain. Thought I would throw this out as an alternative. You are probably about ready to switch over to another car project by now so......When I look at this suburban I see something that you could really have some fun with. To me it is begging to be made into a full patina salt flats streamliner. Throw a 440 in ,some tall gearing and a stabilizer fin on the roof and you would really have something. I'd bet if you ask Tim really nice he would help you make a real screamer out of it. Jeff

I have never seen anything but distilled water as the recommended type. Jeff

Thanks Guy's; I still feel a bit foolish though. I must have thought about replacing this 20 or 30 times.....but didn't do it when it would have been much simpler. Oh dopey me. Merle; The plate on the fluid drive is very clean......no scoring, ridges or flutter marks. Thought I would just clean it real good with a 3m pad and brake cleaner. Not sure I want to disturb the fluid drive???? Should I be concerned about it? The clutch itself looked to be in fair shape.....nothing alarming there. It was working smoothly. I just had a faint to medium squeal in the throw out. When I removed the transmission the first thing I noticed was the little spring dangling free. It was not hooked to the throw out sleeve. The spring looks fine...but I don't know if it had come off when I pulled the tranny or sometime before??? Jeff

Or maybe I just wasn't thinking. Should have done like most people and made a list.....but no I had to shoot from the hip....and this time it came back to bite me. I have put a ton of effort into this truck to get it just so. And I know that some of the stuff I have taken the time to do is way beyond the norm for an average old truck. I was feeling pretty good about my efforts so far......but then I realized that I had cut a corner I probably shouldn't have after I got it all back together. Dummy me..... I never replaced the clutch or throw out bearing. I thought about several times while things were apart but something else always seemed to need doing before this. And it all worked fine when I first got it back together. But after a few hours running time a little squeal showed up. Not much at first and it would come and go. But then of course it would come back and only go away when I stepped on the clutch. So........ today I dropped the tranny and shipped the clutch out to Tennessee for a rebuild. Wouldn't have been a bad job but because my truck is a fluid drive 4 speed ......I had to drop the tank and remove a crossmember etc...etc... Now I have parts laying all over again. And I thought I was past this stage. It would have been a much easier job when the body was off.....I feel like a real nimrod. Jeff Note to self......start making lists......life is starting to catch up with me in ways I do not fully appreciate.

Cool truck. Looks like it could make a very nice patina type resto. You just gotta love that huge bed! It seems like there are far more one tons out there than the 3/4 ton models. I wouldn't think you will have any trouble finding what you need to get it going again. It is hard to say what the real value is. If I had to guess based on what I have seen out there the last couple of years I would say $1000 to $2500 in this condition. Have fun with it. Jeff

Based on the bidding I watched there was a good amount of interest. Was over $40k in a heartbeat. My guess is because it was not the same old thing. The commentators are not that knowledgable.....as they admittedly just never see them. It was a very nice truck but not 100% accurate. But very different from the normal auction faire. I think a nice Pilothouse would do very well these days. Jeff

Wow.....a 55 C series with a poly V8 just sold for $82500 at Reno! Jeff

Take a real hard look at this. For around $300 to $400 you should be able to buy a good low mileage 2000 - 2004 Grank Cherokee rear axle. They are a simple swap. You can get them in several ratios. They have 12" discs with mechanical parking brakes. Easy to get parts for......etc.etc.. Jeff

Mark; Well it seems as if there must be more than one configuration of the divison bar. The parts book only calls out one item for each side with no reference to the fuzzy. Perhaps the fuzzy was not considered as a renewable item. Mine has a weather strip retainer at the top but no holes to attach it to. Could be they revised things a few times and made no notations in the parts book. Jeff

That looks really nice Keven. Well done! Jeff

Interesting. I will have to keep an eye on this and report back after some time has past. My parts book does not show a weather strip of any sort in this location nor was there any evidence that any thing was ever riveted to the division bars I have. I do have extra fuzzy bar that I thought about using in this location but did not like the idea of cementing it in place. I never considered drilling holes for rivets. The bulb type stuff I did use seems to work just fine and is easily removed or renewed so if it doesn't work out I can always revisit this. Learn something new every day. Jeff

Since this will be my daily driver I have to look at these issues a little differently. Not that it rains much here lately mind you...... but I think you would agree it should be fairly water tight. The fix was about as simple as could be and is almost invisble. I know it is not original but if you look closely at the division bar it sure looks like they had intended or considered fitting something here. Jeff