The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Alxj64]

I did a Blog update. Here.

-jim lee

I read all of these. Your adventures never cease to amaze me! Thank you always for sharing!


I've been tinkering with my seats and such again and also have been rummaging through my pile of random interior panels and trim pieces. Thank goodness I have the un-molested spare body out in the yard to figure out where half of this stuff goes.

[jim lee]

I did a Blog update. Here.

-jim lee

[Bruce in BC]

When I built the truck I used a set of used Dodge first gen Cummins springs. I re-arched them a bit and replaced a bunch of thin galvanized strips that were about 10 inches long where the spring perch bolt goes. The ride with these springs is great, the issue was the tips where each spring touches was quite worn and the springs did not have a smile shape to them but were flat.
I ordered new springs and of course forgot I had added about 1/2 inch of arch.
The new springs ride great but there is no smile shape to them, if anything it is a frown and the top leaf were it does not contact the leaf below it turns down. I could call this an S shape but perhaps wiggle is a better term. Axle wrap on this truck is not much of an issue, going in reverse the rear axle does wrap but I have only had the issue a couple of times and not often enough for it to annoy me enough that I want to fix it.
Adding an extra leaf may make the ride harsher, in an effort to keep the nice ride I want to add the friction pads to each leaf. If the ride quality changes then I will pull the leaf and go ina different direction. My rear end has leafs and air bags, my original intention was to do the same with the front but my steering box is in the way on one side.
There is a way to do this- I am just not sure what that is at this stage.
Take care
Bruce

[Alxj64]

Bruce, in regards to your front springs, is there room to put a torque arm on each side to help keep the front from wrapping and S- warping your springs? Adding the wrap and extra leaf might turn it into more of a tank and less of a truck. Also, drilling those springs for the pads may be a bit of an effort, most holes for that spring steel get punched in and not drilled, but granted I am sure your plan is to just drill the spring tail for a retainer. The pads on my Alcan springs are delrin, which are plastic. The ones in my 2006 Ram are also the same material and have 200K miles on them and seem to still be fine, granted your Carryall sees a lot more grit. Have you looked at using some bronze sheet stock and having then having a stud staked into them, or got a touch thicker and have a machine shop mill around on the surface to leave a stud behind to index the pad and also create a shoulder for them to prevent spinning? How wide are your springs? Are they still the 1.75" wide or nah? My rear springs ride really nice, but I do get some wrap out of them. I disliked my anti-wrap bar design so I am going to re-think that later on down the road.

[Bruce in BC]

So I want to tweak my front springs a bit. The plan is to add an extra leaf and go to a military wrap. My new front springs are taking an S shape and need a little extra help. I also want to drill out the leafs and add spring pads. That is where the issue starts, finding pads. I have phoned several spring shops up this way and get a "huh?" from most of them. While digging around I noticed Trail Gear had leaf spring pads which were sold through NSOR, I ordered them because they were supposed to be 21/4 in diameter. Of course when I get to NSOR I find that there are two sizes and most of the stock is 11/2 inch wide. I am now looking for another source for these pads. One issue I am finding is these pads are available in all sorts of different plastic, a lot of which is junk when used as a spring pad. The other issue is Ebay, I find a pad listed for 3 dollars and the shipping is $24.95. I want 20 of these pads - the math does not work for eBay stuff in many cases and this seems to be one of them. there has to be a source for these pads that is reasonable priced.
Jim we do need to meet up, Carolyn and I are going to be in Victoria Feb 22 to 25. Basically we get there on Friday afternoon and are leaving Monday morning. Because my daughter has no vehicle (they totalled their Dodge on the I-5) I have been told that we are going in our roomy Honda Fit.
I could do a different trip and bring the Carryall - but have no idea about where to explore on Vancouver Island. Just going to Long Beach and hitting up the Provincial Camp ground might be fun......but most likely darn wet.
The other thing I may do is head for a swap meet in Washington State, say the Monroe Swap meet. I would take the Carryall on that trip.

take care
Bruce

[jim lee]

Wow! What the heck?!

First the tranny thing, what a pain! Then, you have slime-balls using your truck as bait. And this is the third time?! This is beyond bizarre. I hope your get your machine running. I'm taking mine out on a overland group picnic this morning. (Fingers crossed)

-jim lee

[Goose]

I like the size/dimensions description, BIG :D

[Desoto61]

Wow! That sucks though you couldn't blame people for being tempted by what you've built, $5k is a bit of a slap in the face though. I'll keep my fingers crossed on Saturday!

[Alxj64]

What is that stuff in the pan? It looks like kitty litter. I did not know that adding kitty litter to a build is supposed to help things work better. Must be a Youtube thing.
From what I see stuck to the magnet it looks like it must be metal, what I do not see is a bunch of friction material - which indicates to me that this is a rebuild issue more likely than not.
What did you do about the converter?

Its no kitty litter, its 100% metalic. Stuff in the pan are ground up pieces of thrust bearings, needle bearings themselves from the thrust torringtons that hold the planetary sets off of each other and live inside the inner diameter of the clutch plates. It appears that since day 1 I was having a thrust bearing failure inside the front end of the gearbox. The bearing that carries overdrive actually. The "rebuilder" says nothing appeared to be failing but I don't think he ever split the front gear drum to find the bad bearing, instead I think he just looked for the first thing he could find, which was a very slightly burnt C3 clutch pack and replaced that and then buttoned the whole thing back up.

The torque converter I bought for it... and put 230 miles on. Its trash... There is no way to really clean it and it is not worth my time and the mess to put it on my lathe. Also its almost too big for my lathe. I have a 15" swing with the gap removed but the converter is 13.75" already. I could face work it all day, but not have enough room on the carriage to part the outer weld. I'll just keep it for a core. Later on in this truck's life, when I have the space to do so, I'll rebuild the transmission myself to salvage the shift kit, valve body upgrades etc.

Currently the transmission thats in it, I am told. Has 130k on it out of a 2wd 2001 GMC 3500. It appeared rather clean inside and only had a little bit of mud and dirt on the outside. It has an expected amount of clutch material in the pan, filter, and fluid for 130k miles. NO METAL... which is the key difference here. I am awaiting my filter kits and then I have to get my buddy to come over with the laptop to setup the transmission into "re-learn mode". Fingers crossed that I can drive this thing again on Saturday with no driveline noise for once. I will be so beside myself that I might burst into song! ha ha..

In the meantime... someone is trying to sell my truck...on craigslist. The post has since been flagged and deleted but this is the 3rd time now.

BIG ARMY CRAIGSLIST.JPG

[Bruce in BC]

What is that stuff in the pan? It looks like kitty litter. I did not know that adding kitty litter to a build is supposed to help things work better. Must be a Youtube thing.
From what I see stuck to the magnet it looks like it must be metal, what I do not see is a bunch of friction material - which indicates to me that this is a rebuild issue more likely than not.
What did you do about the converter?

[Alxj64]

Well, found out my transmission issues. Pretty sure this doesn't belong in the pan... The guy who rebuilt it still won't take any responsibility. I found another used unit and installed it over the weekend. I am waiting on my filters and fluid to deliver, then I have to reset the Transmission controller to "re-learn" the shift points for the used clutch sets in the donor transmission. Unknown mileage but if the truck drives again... I'll be happy with that.

[jim lee]

Haha! Without a breakdown, how would I know I'm on the road?

Merry Christmas!

-jim lee

[Bruce in BC]

Merry Christmas Carryall owners, Carryall want to be owners, and all the rest of the Dodge war wagon crowd. Hope we all make it through 2019 intact with no break downs, and if you have to have a break down let it be one you can fix on the side of the road with a bit of gum or bailing wire:)

[Bruce in BC]

and we have a video of that 4dr WC53 finished. I wonder what that master cylinder is from - I would love to get one that did not leak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLE0...&frags=pl%2Cwn This is a fine truck, the new owner is going to have some sweet rides in the thing. That is an interesting spot to tuck the spare tire, works quite well.

I had my rig pulled up on the far side of the house today - I used the winch to pull out a shrub and I am glad I did. The tap root has to be 2 ft long, with the winch it took about 15 minutes to get the truck moved, pull the shrub and tuck all the cable back in. I would have been at it for at least 2 perhaps 3 hrs to dig that shrub out of the ground

??? What wheels are on the 4dr Carryall????

[Chris Olson]

What about making one of the "feet" at the rear of the seat be a cross pin that drops into an under floor mounted bear claw latch