Gallery Page 104
Tyler's 1975 Dodge W200 Truck
Tyler bought his 1975 Dodge truck three years ago. It was an old Air Force truck. It was the "Bare Bones" model, no power steering, 318 engine with an 727 trans. The reverse band on the transmission blew out after a month. The truck has a bulletproof NP-205 transfer case, Lockomatic Warn hubs (NICE hubs), and four-wheel drum brakes.
Tyler personally rebuilt the entire truck. He converted the truck to a standard transmission with an NP-435. He said the conversion was not unduly difficult, because the transfer case is not a tandem mount. He didn't even have to change the length of the jackshaft. Tyler rebuilt the engine with all new bearings and freeze plugs, RV cam, rebuilt cylinder heads with bronze silicone guide sleeves and hard valve seats. He installed a Gear Vendor overdrive to bring it up to date. The overdrive mounts behind the transfer case.
Notes of interest: At 70 MPH with a 727 4.10's and no OD, the RPM ran 3400. When Tyler installed the overdrive, it came down to 2700 RPM. When he converted it to a standard transmission, the RPM's dropped to 2300-2400 around 70 MPH on thirty-one inch tires.
Tyler has driven the truck coast to coast with the modifications, under full load. The first time with all his tools, and the second time with all his tools and a seventeen and a half foot trailer behind it. The truck does seventy five or eighty sustainably under full load! He loves it!!! Tyler's current project is installing air conditioning.
Great Idea: Tyler kept the automatic shifter lever because it acts as a great hand rest to adjust the radio when the truck is thrashing over bumps.
Gear vendor overdrive on the back of transfer case.
Tip--Hoods are easily stablized with silicone caulk to stop vibration when the factory anti-vibration bushing fails.
Tyler also converted a half ton 2WD (the truck in the background) to a one ton 4x4, keeping the half ton frame rails.
UPDATE October 2015: This truck now has a 1989 Dodge Cummins five speed with a Gear Vendors Overdrive. That makes it an eight speed (not including transfer case high/low, which Tyler sometimes uses when hauling) with a double overdrive. The gear ratio is 3.54. As with previous mods, he built it from the ground up, rebuilding the transmission, front end, etc. This truck was intended to look like it would have looked, if Dodge had put a Cummins into a 1975 pickup truck. The shifters are seventies, and the factory gauges are all there and functioning(except the vacuum gauge, because it seemed slightly pointless. The custom wiring is mostly using original Dodge connectors. Tyler removes the fuel shutoff solenoid in his conversions, and he installed a locking hand throttle with a t-handle. This is how he eliminates electronics and keep things simple and reliable. This truck could drive around the world without even a charging system. He recently calculated that he has been driving this truck for about 10 years. It is his daily driver. It was his first Cummins conversion. Tyler has done five now, including fixing one conversion that somebody else had butchered.
Recently, Tyler put on NOS front fenders, and a new bed, sandblasted it, epoxy primed, K-36 primed, and painted it with original Dodge truck colors from the early seventies, with a late seventies paint scheme. It has rock guard below the contour line. This truck hauls all over the North East. Wave if you see Tyler around! If you have questions about Cummins conversions or problems with your seventies trucks, please email. Tyler likes to help others keep their rigs running.
Tyler's email address is:
beastmobile@hotmail.com He would be happy to answer any technical questions. He has lots of experience. (Editors note: Tyler is the auther of several of our tech articles.)
Are you proud of your Dodge truck or car? Want to show it off? Please email me a pic along with a description of your vehicle and I will add it to the Gallery.
Joe Leonard 2007-07-30