1976 Dodge 5/4 - Hoping to Buy

[KRB64]

... The best is a limited slip rear end like I had with 4:10's...

I'd love to find a limited slip for mine. Oh man that would make this truck practically invincible!

[Ron in Indiana]

Limited slip is the hot ticket let me tell you. I pulled more vehicles with that truck than any I've owned. I pulled 3 semis stuck on ice or snow just letting my truck melt down to get a grip and away we went. During that first winter I owned the truck we went out to see how bad things were. A short wheel base Chevy with a kid driving it tried to go down a country road. Being flat as pancake around her the snow piled up pretty deep anyway. The kid tried, making a mess looking like a sidewinder snake trail. He gave up and backed up to us as we were watching his limited progress. He stopped beside us and said "You can't get through that one it's DEEP !". I said OK and pulled the stick in HIGH LOC and took off. It wasn't easy following his crooked path but we were up to where he had stopped. I hit bummer high snow and got stopped. My wife was getting excited and said we better not get stuck since we had the kids with us. I backed up, hit it again threw snow to the point of not being able to see and blasted out the other side. It was bare road ahead so I turned around to drive back to the Chevy. I stopped to see the look on the kids face and said to him " Nope YOU can't get through there". And away we went.

[Don Williams]

The correct tool for the job and knowing how to use it is often critical to a job well done.

[78clubcab]

Gas Mileage

Will is correct. You will also run across people who say you can convert a full time to part time for better fuel mileage. IF you can find a conversion kit I highly doubt you'll get a payback on the initial cost. You may gain 1-2 mpg but it's still better as a full time in my opinion. I loved my 78 W200 with full time. Yeah the mileage sucked but it always pulled ALL the time. The best is a limited slip rear end like I had with 4:10's. Hope you find your dream truck it's out there waiting to be found which is half the fun.

I also had a 1978 Power Wagon with the 4.1 gears in the early 1990's. I remember a kit from a company called MileMarker to convert to 2wd and the cost back then was even very high. If I remember correctly, the kit went inside the transfer case only to disconnect the front drive shaft from full power, letting it freewheel. However, I am almost sure the front hubs and diffs were still turning, thus turning the front drive shaft. In My opinion, the biggest factor in fuel economy is final drive ratio. Overdrive accomplishes this best. The 70's transmissions were bombproof but were only 3 speed and ended up in 1:1 as 3rd gear, so then your were stuck with whatever you had in the diffs for your final drive. Even the newer trucks of today would find themselves on a more level playing field with the trucks of the 70's without the benefit of o/d. Granted, fuel injection is much more precise to achieve optimal air/ fuel ratio as it monitors this constantly through the O2 sensors, but IMHO overdrive is by far the winning factor for fuel econonomy