'39 dodge truck powered by a 6.7 cummins

Well I finally got her sitting on all four wheels.









Next on the list steering and fuel tank.

Bad Ass brother [cl

soltz said:

Bad Ass brother [cl

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X2! Very impressive and creative! [cl

Thanks for the kind words fellas.

Are you going to hook up the front drive shaft just to fool around with people or is it going to be a real 4x4

I'm going to make a valiant effort to make it 4 wheel drive. My goal is to get it driving with the rear wheels then tackle the front drive line.
I don't suspect it will be easy but the plan as of now is to run a two piece drive shaft with a slip yoke.
If it doesn't work, it doesn't work but I have to give it a go.

Advice needed

So like everything else on this build I've come to realize things are easier in your thoughts than they are in reality.
I'm now trying to work out steering and know how critical it is to have a sound steering system. I have lost steering at highway speed before, down right scary.
So when imagining what I thought would be a straight forward process of mounting the steering box on the frame near the fire wall and running a rod to a steering arm connected to the hub from the pitman arm to obtain a 'traditional' style rat steering I have come to a query.
Can I have the cast steel hub and steering arm welded by a professional welder, X rayed and have something that is both sound and legitimate?
I have read a little bit about this subject and there seems to be a grey area where people are pretty convincing it can be done and of course there are people who just down right refuse that this is safe.
The argument is the types of steel and cast iron. This debate is also big when welding on differentials. (Which on this build I have done on the rear upper control arms)
Now that I've gone and researched some I'm not 100% sure I can or can't weld cast steel. Cast iron I wouldn't attempt welding or even question why. But the parts I have are steel that had been cast.
Any advice, thoughts and even opinions are welcome at this time. Thanks in advance.

Here is the hub in question.

I'm pretty sure it can be done. The guy that would know better than me would be Bone head.

I wouldn't hesitate to weld it if it's steel. Clean it good with a grinder,
pre-heat it and weld it with a low hydrogen rod. Let it cool slowly and
drive like you stole it.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-u...eory/Pages/low-hydrogen-stick-electrodes.aspx

Thanks guys. I've been reading a lot on the subject and if it wasn't for the nay sayers I would have gotten at it sooner.
I've got the 'knuckle' off now and a steering arm fabricated.
Now to take it over to get some heat and welded by my welder friend [. I'm starting to think he's enjoying the build as much as I am which isn't a bad thing.
On another note its a good thing I took the steering knuckle off as I found the lower ball joint was broken. I'll be checking the other side as well now. Should have guessed the possibility of broken ball joints after pirouetting a 7000 lbs truck half a dozen times on its side.

I'm not sure how your steering arm looks but if the welding bothers you, You could always drill and tap some holes in the knuckle and put a few bolts in it as well for peace of mind.

The welding no longer bothers me. I was reading into nay sayers too much and just wanted to be sure it was something that was possible and safe. I'm sold that it can be done now however I did look at drilling and tapping holes to bolt the steering arm onto the knuckle. I don't think there's enough 'meat' on the knuckle to do that without creating a weak spot.
I'll be sure to post a picture of the arm after it's been welded to the knuckle.
Now onto the steering box location and bracket, fuel tank and plug everything back in and go for a drive. Lol. Prime example of how thinking things is soooo much easier than the reality of doing things.

Here's what I came up with for a steering arm.




And this is what my welder brought home the other day. I knew he was showing some interest with all the work I've had him do for me on my build.

So what are you going to be worrying about going down the road?

That's a pretty good looking old chevy. You need to get him on RRR so
we can see what direction he takes it.
Stay after you build, It's looking good.

I-R-POPS said:

So what are you going to be worrying about going down the road?

That's a pretty good looking old chevy. You need to get him on RRR so
we can see what direction he takes it.
Stay after you build, It's looking good.

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I'll probably have something to worry about driving down the road but it won't be the steering arm. I can get it megnafluxed for a case of beer if I absolutely need to ensure it'll hold. I'm pretty confident that it has fusion. Thanks for the kind words.

As for the Chevy he's not sure what he's going to do with it. It is in pretty good shape and pretty much turn key. It was running when it was parked in the eighties. Came with a fence post auger to boot. I may have to snag it from him after this build.



Pretty good shape.

Just a little update. Nothing crazy as life needs some balance at times.



Fuel tank, it may work better built out of steel but we'll get there.



Gauge cluster. I didn't cut the old cluster out. Someone did that years ago and I'll have to do some fitting to blend the old with the new. With the engine being computerized this is a no brainer just to plug this back in as it will give me everything I need. It may not be anyone's cup of tea but I don't imagine using a 2011 drive train is a very popular idea either.



Back to the steering (I'm all over the map, I know) here is where I'd like the steering box but run into space issues with where the master cylinder needs to be. I'm thinking cowl steering but I'm real tight on space under the dash as well. I'll think on it and weigh out options for a bit while I get the fuel tank built.





Anyway like I said, not much of an update but I am plugging along.
Thanks for looking. Any thoughts or advice is always welcome.

Just wanna say, I LOVE THIS THING !!!

Much appreciated man. I kinda love it just a little bit too. Lol

Very cool build Gunz, I saw your pickup just north of Shaunavon for quite a while then it just disappeared, I now know where it went. Great to have some so close by building as well.

Well I'm back. It's been a few months since I've been able to get any time on my project but I think I'm going to get a good week or two on it so I'm going to take a good run at getting some much needed progress done. Tonight I had a buddy over to pull the motor and turn the frame around. There's welding that needs to be completed on the insides of the frame that couldn't be done without removing the motor.








The game plan is to finish welding the frame, fish plate it and start plumbing in air lines, brake lines and as much wiring as I can before setting the motor and trans back in. I would really like to start it before I go back south for the winter but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Still lots to do but I'm moving in the right direction.