Double Dingo's 1965 3/4 Ton "Crusty Biscuit"

[DoubleDingo]

I had seen vehicles loose coolant when sitting for a while without any traces. Either very minor leak that dries up or evaporation due to sysytem not being sealed(cap)

This was a first for me, and it's only sat for a few months. Having three vehicles that are high enough to get under like that, I need to make sure all of them have proper fluid levels each time I go drive them. It really irks me that squatters are allowed to do what they do and once they're planted they are almost impossible to evacuate from the premises. Cops won't touch it because it is on the Civil side of the law, even though it took a Criminal act to gain access to the building they are squatting in. My jeep could have had the catalytic converter harvested. It's on injured reserved right now and I haven't had a chance to crawl under any of them.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Yesterday I wanted to fire up the truck and charge the battery and let the fluids circulate. It too had a dead battery, so a day's worth of charging, and it was time to start it. I knew you guys would call ******** if I just put it in words.

I checked the oil and depending which side of the dipstick you look at, it either needs an oil change, or it's good for a while. I can honestly say I have never seen this type of thing before. Check this out....

Oil is good....

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Oil needs to be changed....

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[DoubleDingo]

Yesterday I wanted to fire up the truck and charge the battery and let the fluids circulate. It too had a dead battery, so a day's worth of charging, and it was time to start it. I knew you guys would call ******** if I just put it in words.

I checked the oil and depending which side of the dipstick you look at, it either needs an oil change, or it's good for a while. I can honestly say I have never seen this type of thing before. Check this out....

Oil is good....

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Oil needs to be changed....

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I just pulled it to check the level, the engine hadn't been spun yet. Interesting.

 

[Rickf]

Could be from the inside of the dipstick tube.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I guess so. All I did was pull it to check the level. Found it odd. That engine doesn't burn or use oil.

 

[Rusty Nail]

That's a good truck dude, the topper is fricking /win city!

 

[DoubleDingo]

That's a good truck dude, the topper is fricking /win city!

Thanks Rusty! It is by far my favorite vehicle in the fleet. The only bad thing about the topper is it doesn't seal well on the old '65 bed. If it's not raining it doesn't matter. The topper was made for the '73 to '87 trucks, and fits the '81 like a glove. On Crusty it's barely on the bed rails, there's about 1.5 inches on each side of the camper that don't sit on the bed rails, so I have to use giant clamps to be able to reach in far enough to hold it on. This truck is Mr. Reliable, it has taken me and wife thousands of miles without issue.

After putting glasspacks on the '81, which freed up some ponies, I have been thinking about doing the same to this truck. I think the muffler is hindering the performance some. It's only money, and that is tight right now.....a few weeks and I should be able to get them put on.

 

[DoubleDingo]

This old girl has been sitting non-op for too long now. Just went and got her insured and registered. Will be putting her into daily driving rotation after tonight.

"This old girl", that phrase said by a Caltrans worker back in June 2016. My not-yet-wife was visiting and we'd gone camping up around Lake Tahoe. The night we were there I got three text messages from three different people, asking if I'd heard from Mom and Pop. I couldn't respond because signal was spotty. The next day we drove up to Truckee to see the Donner Party monument, and I was able to talk to someone. Turned out to be a huge fire in the area where my parents live and they were given evacuation notice. Being so far north, we headed south. Along the way we saw a fire at Lee Vining that had the main highway closed, so we got diverted out to Hawthorne, NV. The downside is we gassed up a couple hours north, and were expecting to breeze through this area and fuel up further down. Talking to the guys who were diverting traffic, and not having anywhere to go to get fuel, I asked the guy how far Hawthorne was. About an hour's drive from here. I asked if he thought the truck could make it, as I look down at the gas gauge sitting on 1/4 tank. He leans in, looks at the gauge, looks at me, and says, "This old girl, she'll be fine!" So we headed out, and besides the detour, it was smooth sailing.

Parents stayed put, didn't get burned out where they were, but it was close. Those were some stressful days that followed, not knowing what was going on, not being able to get in because the highways in and out were blocked, but getting small updates from Pop's boss that would sneak in to check on them by saying she had to check on propane tanks in that area.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Over the weekend I got her cleaned up, and went to visit the parents. I got the glasspacks installed last week and it has a classic rumble to it now that I really like. Having better air flow it does have a little more power. It made climbing the mountain road easier and even my wife was having trouble keeping up at some points along the way. Unfortunately I feel the transmission and possibly the rear end is dragging, as in bearings going bad or something. I really noticed it coming home yesterday. Taking off and accelerating through the gears, it seems to be dragging, especially when everything is up to operating temperature. The transmission is making more noise than normal, but is still shifting okay, just okay, though. I need to rebuild it again, but that is going to be later on, and it will go in a different truck.

It's time to make Crusty Biscuit the new Mean Green, as that was the original intent for this truck from the beginning. Driving the three-on-the-tree has been fun, but it has run its course, and now it's time for a heavy duty 4-speed (SM420) to be installed. I think I might have a driveshaft out back that'll work with the current HO52/HO72 rear end and SM420. I plan to run it like this while I get the Dana 60 with 3.54's worked over. Going to replace all the bearings, seals, brakes, etc. However, I am tossing around the idea of leaving the HO52/HO72 rear end in it and installing the Ranger Gear Splitter, that way I can utilize the 4.57 gears and have a roughly 3.33 final drive gear with the Ranger. With the 3.54 D60, the Ranger would only need to be used to split gears, not needed for OD purposes, as 3.54 is a great highway gear. 3.54 sucks for climbing grades, but is fun as heck for screaming down the highway.

I have options on the final drivetrain setup, but the SM420 is going in finally. I'll keep you updated on the progress and have some photos to go along with it.

 

[Snoots]

Just change the oil on the dirty side.

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[DoubleDingo]

Just change the oil on the dirty side.

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I had to think about that one for a second, then I realized you're referring to clean and dirty oil on the dipstick.

I'll change the dirty side, but I may inadvertently change it all, dang it.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I ran some numbers to help me decide which route to go. It'll first get the regular 3-speed because the current transmission is really growling, and I suspect it's the cluster gears on the bottom on the trans.

This PDF shows the truck with the SM420, the current tire size, and what the various rpms would be with the corporate axle (4.57 gears), and the Dana 60 (3.54 gears)

Running 31.7 inch diameter tires....

 

[DoubleDingo]

This PDF shows the truck with the SM420, 30.5 inch diameter tire size, and what the various rpms would be with the corporate axle (4.57 gears), and the Dana 60 (3.54 gears)

Running 30.5 inch diameter tires....

 

[DoubleDingo]

31.7 is LT265/75R16

30.5 is LT245/75R16

The 30.5 may be 30.7, but 0.2 isn't going make a huge difference.

 

[DoubleDingo]

After mulling it over, I am leaning towards the D60 and the Ranger. 3.54 is an awesome highway gear, just bad for pulling grades, and 3rd OD is a 4.42 final drive which isn't a bad gear at all. I can run the D60 without issue until I can get everything ready for the ranger to go in.

To install the SM420 I have to cut open the floor, and install the high hump. A very basic installation there, and instant lower gears for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. 4th being 1:1 of course.

To install the ranger, I need to shorten the driveshaft, move the hole in the hump back, and create a new hole in the hump for the ranger shifter to go through, fabricate a crossmember mount and cross member, and reconfigure the emergency brake cables.