1942 Carryall Questions...

[Bruce in BC]

Front axle

re read the carryall thread .
I am running a dana 60 from a dodge
Another one is running one on stock springs from a chev
The perfect axle is the ford 78 -79
There is even some pictures
and a lead on a WC53 in Inland empire

Bruce
What more could you ask for ?

[Alxj64]

Thanks for the leads. I'm still searching and thinking.... Most of the build I have thought out, but the one aspect that always makes me nervous is the front axle swap. I don't remember the stock spring perch spacing measurement, but I remember its pretty narrow. Looks like the logical options for a D60 would be the very pricey 78-79 Ford axle for a passenger side drop. Switching to a driver drop Chevy/Dodge axle seems like a lower cost solution, and still has the perch width in the 32 inch range, and the Dodge WMS at 67.50 seem the closest to the original WMS. Has anyone considered this option? I may be overlooking some steering box issues as well

Thanks

Here is another one for sale. One in much better shape sold on ebay last week for a mere $3,200. When I was looking to buy one, there were NONE available for sale that weren't already restored and over $20,000 each. I say take this opportunity and snag one as dry spells do come quite often with none of these things really available.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge...item4abc6079d9

Bruce is right about the Carryall Thread in the WWII dodge section. As for axle WMS, the previous owner of my Carryall had a Dodge front installed in his as well. He was running a 4bt and 4L80E with a passenger's side output Chevy NP241 case. Problem with the passenger side axles is fitting exhaust, driveshaft into one spot and getting the exhaust past the T-case. The 78-79 Ford axles CAN be found but they are basically made of gold. My friends refer to them as the "Grail" whenever we discuss them because people want them so badly. I have one in my '97 Wrangler trail rig and I will admit, its truely an awesome front axle.

For my Carryall build I scored an '86 F-350 High Pinion Kingpin front. I like the idea of a driver's side output so that I can run big exhaust on the passenger's side, and my starter is on that side on my ISB170, and its a rear geartrain as well which creates a list of other minor and interesting problems. As for the axle width and spring location, I am just planning on burning the plug welds out of the passenger side and shortening the long side tube, and then cutting the short side tube and inserting a .250" wall sleeve with enough ID for the shaft to fit through and then rewelding it. I won't be jumping this truck like I do my Jeep so I am pretty confident that it will hold up. I have a friend with a D60 alignment bar with all of the correct sized pucks already so as long as we get the caster angle right, all will be good with the world. I had originally given thoughts to outboarding the springs to the '86 axle width, however... I would end up having to run some goofy way offset wheels to clear the leaf springs at full steering lock and I really don't want to comprimise too much appearance of the truck. I am going to build wider hangars, do a shackle reversal, and move the front hangar far forward, move the shackle back, and run as long of a spring as I can in the front to help spread the chassis loads out along the frame so to help minimize the twisting and bending that is so very common with these trucks.

As for the steering, the previous owner kept the stock style tiller steering. I can't bring myself to do that as I have always built cross-over style stuff for the Jeeps that I've built over the past few years. I am planning on relocating a steering box forward on the frame, and using a PSC reverse rotation box (arm facing forward) and running cross over highsteer to the passenger's side knuckle and thus only needing one highsteer arm. Then my plan is to flip the kingpin knuckles around backwards, which should work just fine and actually improve my ackerman angle, and run a reverse mounted tie rod on the stock knuckle steering arms located behind the axle and at most may need a slight "hat" bend to clear under/behind the high pinion housing. This will hopefully keep the tie rod clear of the oil pan and the drag link should easily clear under the harmonic balancer, just behind the front cross memember. This is my "plan". Once I get the body repair wrapped up on the rear of my truck I am going to start getting my drivetrain slung into the truck.

[TonyKeffaber]

Thanks

Thanks for all the great suggestions, I wish I had asked more/better questions when I did my WC12. I put a Toyota box in that to replace the original box and hooked to the original axles with the tiller arm. It worked I guess, but didn't inspire confidence, and I eventually lost interest and sold the truck. If I take the plunge on a old 4x4 truck again, I just want to make sure I have a better result this time. I know I don't have the skills/tools to machine my own steering arms or hand form a tailgate, so I need to be realistic with what I can take on with one of these. I keep watching/reading while you guys blaze the engineering trail and see if I can find the right truck for me to tackle.

Thanks again!