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1950 dodge b2c suspension upgrades


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Hey everyone! so ive had my little dodge running for the past year drove it almost every day. then boom one day as im driving home on its last trip the engine just lost all power it still runs but its only running on a couple cylinders. ive completely rebuilt the engine and ive had a blast driving it as stock. i think my intake valves have stuck on a few of the cylinders but i havent gotten to dig into it due to the fact that the kansas winters are harsh and i restored this whole truck at 17 in my drive way. i love the truck and ive had a blast driving it stock and taking it to parades and having date nights in it. but since its geared for only 50mph i cant drive it to much i live in a small town so driving to and from school isnt that bad but when i get in big cities and on highways i dont have any gears left to accelerate around stupid people and i dont have the brakes to stop because of stupid people. so ive decided i have two routs. fix the brakes with disc brakes somehow and then just drop a custom 360 i built for a shop project... and just keep stock suspension and stuff which with that much more power suspension swaps are needed. and id like to swap to a more modern suspension without cab swapping. so my ideas are!

 

Junked out Lincoln mark vIII (was my first car thing was a rocket) i was thinking they already have Irs and Ifs suspension like a mustang gt they also come with air ride suspension how hard you guys think it would be to swap them in my fabrication skills are pretty good but im not sure of the track width of the truck and the Lincoln. i know that if i were to do this complete front and rear suspension swap this truck would be good for short course and some small racing etc etc. nothing to big id also end up using the modular 4.7 out of it so i have fuel injection and all that but ill probably end up selling the modular engine and installing the 360 in there... my overall goal is to get this thing to handle and to get it to have some power. i had fun when it was stock it just wasnt enough for me and id honestly love for my family to be able to drive it too. i seem to be the only one who can get the dang thing in reverse and first gear. my uncle the man who owned it since 1950 cant even get it in gear anymore haha. im going for a street truck thats got power and reliability but without breaking the banks.. i chose a lincoln mk vIII because thats what i had lying around.... what do you guys think? any tips or tricks or measurements?

 

my other idea is to ask what kinda front end i could swap into this truck thatd give me disk breaks and better handling without doing all the swapping and modding from a mk Viii either way its gonna end up mopar powered but im tryin to build a vehicle that when i get back from tours and stuff in the military i can just fill up the tanks and drive till the sun sets. what are your guyses opinions and tips? any help would be loved!! thank you guys!

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I did the Rusty hope disc brake conversion, but kept everything else. Well I also dropped in a V8. Have taken it up to around 70mph and it all felt great, but I do find the steering difficult in parking lots. So I have looked at Heidts crossmember bolt in with rack and pinion steering, still thinking of keeping the leaf springs etc.

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where do i find the disk break conversion? and can you get my a link to that and the heidts cross member? also what rear end did you use

 

I did the Rusty hope disc brake conversion, but kept everything else. Well I also dropped in a V8. Have taken it up to around 70mph and it all felt great, but I do find the steering difficult in parking lots. So I have looked at Heidts crossmember bolt in with rack and pinion steering, still thinking of keeping the leaf springs etc.

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1950dodgefan, on 02 Dec 2015 - 6:35 PM, said:

its also a 118 in wheel base while these ar 116 in

I know you looking for a cheap and easy way to get to where you want to be. but there is not to my knowledge a ready bolt on upgrade of a modern chassis back to these old vehicles....somewhere along the line you will have to do some real work be it an upgrade or repair of the original body and drivetrain.  It is good to dream of owning, fixing and driving these old cars/trucks, make a detailed list of what you want and wehre you want to be with your ride..then proceed toward that goal and not stray...straying leads to wasted time, money and other resources as you back up, change direction or flat out make an error along the way.

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I know you looking for a cheap and easy way to get to where you want to be. but there is not to my knowledge a ready bolt on upgrade of a modern chassis back to these old vehicles....somewhere along the line you will have to do some real work be it an upgrade or repair of the original body and drivetrain.  It is good to dream of owning, fixing and driving these old cars/trucks, make a detailed list of what you want and wehre you want to be with your ride..then proceed toward that goal and not stray...straying leads to wasted time, money and other resources as you back up, change direction or flat out make an error along the way.

well im not going for cheap and i know ill have to fabricate things. im not a bad fabricator ive built full panels with nothing but a hammer and a bag of sand i mean when it comes to cab swapping theirs 10 mounts that hold the body to any frame. i found a diagram of both chassis from the 1950 to the 1984 and i designed them in 3d auto cad and ive figured out almost exactly where i need to drill my holes for my mounts and ride height ive designed the whole truck on computer. and i have a 400hp 360 that bolts into the truck so im pretty confident i could get it done for under a 1,000$ since i have the engine and both trucks for free. all i have to do is fab some mounds and then air ride to get it to sit right. im thinking bout triangulating a 4 link in the rear so it hooks like a sun-of-a-gun i may post my cad files if your interested. im a senior in high school and currently studding to be an engineer ive designed anything from simple brackets to small two stroke engines that fit in the palm of your hand i think im capable guess well find out!!! 

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, make a detailed list of what you want and wehre you want to be with your ride..then proceed toward that goal and not stray...straying leads to wasted time, money and other resources as you back up, change direction or flat out make an error along the way.

a clear direction is definitely key.

For the rear end I used a '78 Chevy nova with a wheel adapter to change the bolt pattern, it added 1" to the overall width which looked good. (I had the rear lying around, if I had to to go out and buy something I might not have gone this route) I just found this for the front end http://www.fatmanfabrications.co/products/hub-to-hub-kits/hub-to-hub-stage-i/hub-to-hub-kits-stages/#hubtohubkits says $469 for the Dodge truck, but have no further knowledge or experiance.

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I drove my B3B again yesterday and do not have any significant steering difficulty. This truck steers as easily as my 97 Chrysler Cirrus which has a limited style PS. Question, do you have radial tires, are your king pins new (mine are), what is the size of your front tires? I was driving late model 40 cars, trucks, and tractors when I was twelve (12) I so obviously learned early on to never try to steer when not moving!

When I park, I often leave my front tires turned in the direction I want to go next, that is quickly done the last foot of travel as I park. However, I still wonder about the condition of your king pins. Even if new, when the bushings are installed into the spindles, the spindle pair must be trued together or they will fight each other when they rotate. I.had mine trued accordingly.

I wish you well. Now I wish I could sleep like I did when I was twelve (12) or play bed games when I was 21 !! LOL

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well im not going for cheap and i know ill have to fabricate things. im not a bad fabricator ive built full panels with nothing but a hammer and a bag of sand i mean when it comes to cab swapping theirs 10 mounts that hold the body to any frame. i found a diagram of both chassis from the 1950 to the 1984 and i designed them in 3d auto cad and ive figured out almost exactly where i need to drill my holes for my mounts and ride height ive designed the whole truck on computer. and i have a 400hp 360 that bolts into the truck so im pretty confident i could get it done for under a 1,000$ since i have the engine and both trucks for free. all i have to do is fab some mounds and then air ride to get it to sit right. im thinking bout triangulating a 4 link in the rear so it hooks like a sun-of-a-gun i may post my cad files if your interested. im a senior in high school and currently studding to be an engineer ive designed anything from simple brackets to small two stroke engines that fit in the palm of your hand i think im capable guess well find out!!! 

 

One thing you will learn very quickly as an engineer is, theory rarely matches up to reality perfectly. There's always something that will pop up in the reality of the situation/problem that you didn't account for in your CAD or theoretical work. Please don't think i'm trying to knock your efforts. I'm a mechanical engineer and can appreciate a good CAD model and its usefulness, hell i use them/ make them everyday. The bottom line is that it sounds like you have the drive and willingness to research, learn, and plan what you want to do. No doubt this type of stuff will help you be a better engineer in the future. Way to many engineers only understand the theory, and not necessarily what it takes to actually build what they have designed (basically a lot of them lack common sense). If you can do both you'll be way ahead of the curve.

 

Im sure you can pull these mods off on the truck, best of luck.

 

-Chris

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Sounds like fun......

 

Read through some of the links in my signature below.....maybe you'll find some ideas there. 

 

Post lots of pictures, makes it easier to understand whats going on. ^_^

 

48D

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The suspension on my 3/4 ton is stock and the ride quality is very comfortable. It could easily handle more power.

I did a 2 for 1 swap on the rear axle so I have a 3.55 ratio and disc brakes all around. The truck stops as well as it needs to and that is in crazy a$$ Southern California traffic. If I were to do anything else it would involve adding some more ponies and a modern automatic transmission. Everything else is pretty much just fine as it is. I have been told by a couple of pretty knowledgable people that the ride is far more comfortable than the competitors offerings from the same time period.

 

Jeff

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Get your tape measure out and do some measuring before you decide to do that frame swap. That D series frame is going to be a bunch wider than what you intend to put on it and the tires may be partially outside the fenderwells. Even with offset rims they may hang out and/or rub the suspension and frame when turning.

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thank you all so much and yeah i dont have a problem with the way it handles im not gonna lie when i drive it to school i stump my buddies cause there big ol trucks cant turn worth a darn and im in there driving in super tight circles blowing there minds. and trust me ride quality isnt what im going for im just going for something that when i throw the pedal down to the floor the thing launches like a rocket and doesnt bog down ;) im wanting to frame swap so one day i can go back to all original! its gnna be a fun project i hope!!

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thank you all so much and yeah i dont have a problem with the way it handles im just going for something that when i throw the pedal down to the floor the thing launches like a rocket and doesnt bog down ;) im wanting to frame swap so one day i can go back to all original! its gnna be a fun project i hope!!

That explains the current state of your engine...lol, that's how I drove at your age too! I suggest a 360/727 combo, although your folks would probably not...hahaha!

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I drove my B3B again yesterday and do not have any significant steering difficulty. This truck steers as easily as my 97 Chrysler Cirrus which has a limited style PS. Question, do you have radial tires, are your king pins new (mine are), what is the size of your front tires?

 On my B2D I have the original tall skinny tires at 60psi and it steers pretty good. On my B2B I have a 225/75 15 at 32psi and it is a much harder steer, I was leaning towards the tires causing this BUT it is two different trucks, different wear and tear etc. Guess I need a third truck to figure out what I like better.

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a clear direction is definitely key.

For the rear end I used a '78 Chevy nova with a wheel adapter to change the bolt pattern, it added 1" to the overall width which looked good. (I had the rear lying around, if I had to to go out and buy something I might not have gone this route) I just found this for the front end http://www.fatmanfabrications.co/products/hub-to-hub-kits/hub-to-hub-stage-i/hub-to-hub-kits-stages/#hubtohubkits says $469 for the Dodge truck, but have no further knowledge or experiance.

I own a fatman kit (which i havent installed it yet, hopefully in January) but i can tell you that price they advertise is the very basic of parts. if you want a full kit with every part needed you will be talking around $2000. They offer the kit in the stock 4.5" bolt pattern or the chevy 4.75" to match your nova rear.

 

If you dont mind the stock truck suspension, rebuild what it needed and ad the rusty hope dics brake kit.

 

Plymouthy adams is correct in the fact that you need to make a plan of what you want to do with the truck and stick to it. i changed my mind several times, one of which was the volaire/diplomat front subframe until i decided that the fatman kit offered everything i wanted and was the direction i wanted to go. it cost me time and money because of all the back pedaling and running around.

 

On a side note, a mopar 8 3/4" rear end already has the same bolt pattern as stock/rusty hope and can be had for fairly cheap and are good. easily handle your 400hp 360.

 

best of luck with your truck

Edited by Ram Man 02
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as an engineering student, I was put into a group (of slackers) for my senior design project to take a GMC 2500 that had been heavily modified to run on CNG and get it to run on LPG with a measly budget.  The first week I surmised that the professors' pie-in-the-sky ideas were not feasible and priced out a conversion with existing technology with modest modifications.  At our 1st presentation, the profs told our group to prove that the pie-in-the-sky ideas could not be done for the next 2 semesters...a year later (long story), I was approached by those same professors to complete the project unassisted with the same measly budget using my original assessment so that the department could have a deliverable.  My point is that I learned in engineering that time & $$$ both will define your budget, no matter what your aspirations are, because in the end you need to show something for your work or it's all just a waste of resources.  I have rescued a dozen projects (and almost bid on a bunch more) from the scrap heap as the original "project managers" all did the same thing:  they wanted their pie-in-the-sky but reality set in, time passed on, and they opted to not continue after dismantling/butchering a limited resource, as these old beasts do not grow on trees (one guy took a running flathead powertrain & axles, sold them for scrap cuz he was in a hurry for $$$, then lost interest in what was a pristine B-4 :huh: ).  I apologize for the lecture, but I would hate for ya to lose interest in a unique opportunity such as the Pilot-House...pump yer brakes for a few days, stew on a plan of action, do your research, weigh your options with time & $$$ in mind, assess your long term goals (immediate use, ownership, possible sale to fund the next project), and then proceed with an open mind and open eyes  B)

P.S.  when these old trucks get fixed up, they are rarely "finished"...there always seems to be something to fix or upgrade
 

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I tore my b3b apart when I was in high school thinking I was going to "restore" it. Without a plan on how to fund it or an idea of the process, it sat....now 30 plus years later, I have done things to it since but I wish someone had spelled it out for me like PA and others have.

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One of the first lessons I learned as a freshly minted engineer was to evaluate previous examples of whatever I was doing and learn from others mistakes...just sayin'.....

Edited by wayfarer
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When I was learning to race.....someone once to me

 

"Its one thing to start a race.....its another thing to finish....don't worry about winning son, just figure out how to finish".

 

48D

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48dodger, on 05 Dec 2015 - 2:22 PM, said:

When I was learning to race.....someone once to me

 

"Its one thing to start a race.....its another thing to finish....don't worry about winning son, just figure out how to finish".

 

48D

shoot for the moon..be happy if you take out a street light

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  • 1 month later...

That explains the current state of your engine...lol, that's how I drove at your age too! I suggest a 360/727 combo, although your folks would probably not...hahaha!

actually funny thing is im currently building a 500cu stroked 440 for it i got a new job and stuff on top of military so money has been pretty great its making around 600hp without the nitro deciding weather or not to put it in this or my 1985 d100 short bed 

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