MBF

I would think it would be easier to make your own gaskets. I got tired of trying to find a differential to rear axle housing gasket so I made my own taking some careful measurements and used a ball peen hammer and some very light single wall chipboard. It was the same thickness as a piece of the old gasket that I had. Took about an hour of measuring and tracing, When it was done it was an exact fit, and put an end to the phone calls and email searches I had been conducting. I also traced around the finished gasket and made a pattern in case I need to make another one down the road. If you've got flat surfaces to work with should be easy ones to make. Mike

Great trucks, not very highway friendly but a lot of fun to drive as long as you're not in a hurry. Will definitely haul their rated capacity and then some.

Why do you want to pull it apart? It isn't a front cover, its the carrier assembly for the differential. All of the internal gears (ring and pinion, spiders) are inside. If you just want to do a visual inspection you can just pull the rear cover.

Nice-looks like you're making good progress.

If there was gear oil in the trans you may have lucked out depending on how much water it took on. Whatever oil was in there would have floated on top of the water unless you've been driving it. In that case you have a transmission flavored looking milk shake.

If you can't pull it out of the box, it's likely the remnant of the horn wire which provide the ground for the horn. I don't know why that would be going to the headlight switch unless it shared the circuit breaker on the light switch itself. If I remember correctly, the - feed (which is the hot side in a positive ground system) goes from the accessory post on the keyswitch through a fuse to one terminal on the horn. The second one goes from the switch mechanism under the horn button, through the steering column tube to the other post on the horn. When you push the button you complete the circuit by making the ground, The horn body itself is insulated from the cab through phonalic(sp?) washers on the bracket.

I think I've got a set of working bull's eye bulbs on the shelf. I ought to put them in my 2.5 ton and see if they are any different that the replacements that are in there. Anybody done this comparison before?

Yup-what 4852 said. It's very close-for under the dash it'd be an exact match!

I'm wondering if that truck wasn't originally a firetruck, and that extra setup wasn't part of a power take off for the pump. It may have been used to disengage the output from the back of the transmission to operate the pump. Just guessing

Just something else to think about. If you bought it from Steve Harvey it could be a 52 FORD

Like others have said the heavier gauge cables are needed for the 6 volt system. Also, make sure your grounds are good and clean. Depending on whether or not those two things change anything, you may want to pull the starter and take it apart to inspect the brushes, springs, and clean the commutator (those things could all be contributors too). If you have a volt meter, while cranking the motor see what your battery voltage drops to. You may have a week battery that is failing under a load. Mike

The biggest antitheft modification I've seen on any MoPar. Aint my cup of tea, but it aint my truck either.

Jeff, I may have an complete extra wiper motor setup. Both of my trucks are vacuum, and I'm going to keep them that way. If you're interested PM me, and I'll see what I can find in my garage. Mike

I had surprisingly good luck removing the broken bolts in my manifold by heating the material on the corners of the exhaust plenum to a cherry red. I was amazed how easily all 3 (1 wasn't broken) of the broken bolts came out with a vicegrip.

Could it be that your body mount bushing(s) have collapsed to the point that they're letting the cab tilt forward enough so that the top of the floor board is rubbing on the brake pedal? The left front cab mount should have a steel sleeve in it to align the cab so that it stays in position for the pedals and steering. If that is missing could that be why your bushing split? Just throwing some helpful guesses out. I'd be interested in seeing what the post mortem on this reveals. Mike

The final drive ratio in a 4 spd is 1:1 (same as a 3 speed). You may want to look at a syncroed 3 speed to make the unit more driveable or like you said an A833 O/D. Unless you put some super-high ratio rear in the vehicle, I don't believe that first gear is going to be of much use to you. If it is, your 1-2 shift will likely be a slow one since it will need to be double clutched with a granny geared truck transmission. Just my unsolicited input. Mike

Being they're leather seals, did you soak them in oil before installing them? I've had to use speedi sleeves on the pinion of my 1 ton. It had just a slight groove in it that you could barely feel. Even after a good cleaning there was seepage. The sleeves added just enough meat to allow the seals to do their job. I'm sure the new smooth surface will prolong the life of the seals as well. Mike

If you're going to beat or press the old studs out of the hub/drum, make sure that you support the drum from the inside around the stud that you're removing. These can be so stubborn to remove that you can damage collapse the drum. I sold one to a member on here a couple of years ago. When I needed rear studs on mine, NAPA wasn't able to come up with an exact match. I bought a box of studs that had the round flange head w/o the cutaway to fit around the inner hub and had to grind the cutout into the head of each stud. Mike

I'll go along with what Hank said as a solution. I vaguely recall the material somehow being stapled or pinned to the trim pieces, but I'm not sure. I didn't use anything when I put mine together years ago. Mike

I spent some time with Dave at the ATCA truck show in Macungie a few years ago, and somewhere I have pics. He was a very interesting and knowlegable truck guy. RIP Dave, and thanks for all of the help. Mike

I can't tell from your pictures of the newer styled horn how many connections are on them, but I don't see any insulating type materials on them. I'm going to assume that they ground through their mounting brackets and there is just a single post to connect switched positive feed to. The original Dodge horns are insulated by the use of the phenolic washers on the mounting bracket and have two connections. There is permanent negative feed to them whenever the key is on (remember these were originally positive ground), and the positive or ground completes the circuit when the horn button is pushed. You'll have to change your wiring if you want to use the newer styled horn. Your steering column isn't insulated from the grounding circuit so care will be needed to not cause a direct short. Mike

I'm not sure exactly what is leaking w/o crawling under the truck, but could it be leaking around the bolt that mounts the bracket for the brake line? Have you made sure that your vent isn't plugged and that the vent cap moves freely?

You can narrow down the source of your problem by pumping up the brakes so that they hang and then: 1. cracking open the fitting on the master cylinder and see if the pressure releases. If it does, the problem is likely master cylinder related. 2; If it passes that test (no pressure released), pump them up again and open the bleeder on the suspected front or either rear cylinder. If the brakes release and you get have pressurized fluid at the bleeder screw it's the lines. 3. If you don't get any pressure release when you open the bleeder(s) you've likely got a wheel cylinder(s) hanging. I think I have that right. That's what I did to verify that my rear flex line was the culprit since all of my wheel cyls were newl within the past couple of years. Mike

After a good thorough cleaning I used a very fine bead of paintable silicone seam sealer on both of mine. The welds were pretty much intact, but it did leak between the spot welds. I have no idea what they used when they manufactured the cabs.

I think it matters what type of motor that you have. If I recall, you can change the parking position on the vacuum motor transmission by switching the actuating arms side positions (switching top to bottom). I don't think that can be done with the electric setup on the earlier cab style because there are two separate actuating arms. I may be wrong on this. It was a long time ago when I replaced my vacuum motor. My 49 2.5 ton is a firetruck that I've never had apart, and they park in the center like my 1 ton. Mke