Swap body instead of engine, tranny, front and rear ends etc...

[Subourbon]

Hey guys,

So I jumped on the cummins bandwagon and starting looking into what I'd need for a swap.

turns out its a lot. Things I hadn't even thought of!
Anyhow, someone mentioned I'd need a donor truck etc...

Then when the comments piled up and I saw how much work it is, which is fine, its a project vehicle anyhow. Someone mentioned just finding a solid Ram with the cummins and trans I like, and doing a body swap, away with the ram bed, and cab, and drop the 1982 suburban K20 body in.

Now its certainly still a fair bit of screwing around getting body mounts lined up and finding a wheel base that works. Im certainly not expecting it to be easy, but is it easier? I don't know.

Would need a wheel base that matches, and also, the heater (I'm in Canada, gonna need that). Would that line up too?

If anyones done, it, hopefully this thread attracts you all and share your stories!

Thanks everyone

 

[waterpirate]

Swapping a body onto another frame is a real pain, switching manufacturers can be even worse. There are plenty of cummins fans doing motor only swaps, and plenty of solid advise and parts lists, kits. I would stuff the motor you want into the truck you want and be happy.
This from the guy who put:
a bug body on a jeep chassis
a international cab on a chevy truck chassis
and stuffed a lot of wrong motors in the right chassis
YMMV
Eric

 

[Matt69olds]

I’m sure it could be done. Could it be done easily, and look good might be easier said than done. Are the wheelbase even close? Count on lots of fabrication regarding cab mounts, radiator, then the electrical hassles. I’m guessing your thinking the 3rd gen Ram? That means ABS brake hassles, adapting the GM column to the ram steering gear, the list goes on.


Having owned a few of the 3rd gen rams, there is no question they ride better than the old square body chassis. And 200k miles on a cummins is considered barely broken in.

 

[Ricko1966]

I think the motor swap would be much simpler.I'd still be tempted to the body swap, but that's because I'm a weirdo and been doing stupid stuff like that since I was 14 or 15. Also you gotta think what do you have tools and room for? I've got welders, torches, plasma cutter gantry crane and on and on.You will need that stuff to do a body swap.

 

[Salty Crusty]

Jump back off of the Cummins bandwagon. First time you pull the front tires onto deep mud, that heavy-ass rattlin' stinker will sink you to the diff. Seen it plenty of times.

You have a transfer case with a decent ratio, you'll have all the torque you need without the swap.

If I come off as a diesel hater, you're right.

If I want my **** to rattle and stink, I'll loosen the valves and lay a dead cat on the headers. Few folks actually need them and I have no issue with them. Problem is that diesels have become the Corvette of the new age, guys trying to make up for small penis size...

 

[Subourbon]

Holy crap, I didnt get my email notifications for these replies, sorry folks.

waterpirate: I would love to see the bug on jeep! wow. And yeah, when the other mentioned it, it was food for thought, and i googled and wheel bases came close, and none really matched, I would rather not try and shorten or extend a wheel base, alignment issues, and it just seems like a whole new can of worms...

matt69olds: No i was thinking mid to late 90s 2nd gen 12V, the "holy grail" of diesel engines, lol. when doing a swap i figured the less electrical the better. omg. and like I mentioned, wheelbases have come close, but none are close enough without some fuckery required.
Yeah theyre mile eaters for sure, here in canada theyre still selling for 2 or 3 times what i paid for the truck with 3 or 4 times the miles on them. I mean 6.2 are reliable for sure, and i've had no issue with it so far, theyre just slow, and I thought of a ready to go banks turbo kit, which they say will out produce the 6.5 and problem solved. but I dunno, this is all still in the works really.

ricko1966: I have none of those things. lol. Actually this is a very very long term project, first things first, were building a garage on our property soon, blank slate, so will be able to customize for having a lift, a few chainfalls and stuff. But yeah I can defintely see this project, engine swap AND body swap being a PITA. But man, what a feeling when its all done!

salty crusty: Youre right, few people need them, but this is a project, and yes, big stupid lifted trucks that puke out black exhaust are the new penis extender. But thats not my intention with diesels. I was actually hoping to make it a veggie, but thats going to take a lot more reading because the tech hasnt been refined yet.
And yes cummins seem to be more pulling and hauling than off roading fun. But will see, this whole project is still quite far away sadly.

 

[jake wells]

find you a chevy P30 and swap the diesel engine from that it will be a cummins

 

[Grit dog]

P30 will be a 4bt engine.
Solves the weight issue but doesn’t do much for power unless it’s really strung out. + less parts available and not a lot of aftermarket support.
Would be great if going for fuel economy though but that’s not what a 4x4 is about either.

 

[Matt69olds]

The old 12 valve mechanical cummins would be a fairly easy swap. Other than the fuel shut off solenoid, I don’t think there is anything electrical.

Personally, I’d skip the 2gen chassis swap. In my mind, the only way to justify swapping the body onto a different chassis is for a major improvement in ride and comfort. Swap the cummins drivetrain if you want the power/economy


As for the diesels being “penis extenders”, no gas engine can come close to the torque of a turbo diesel. If your planning to work your truck or tow, I guess whip out the big fella and start hauling!

it’s very cheap and easy to get some serious power out of a cummins. As long as you have enough turbo to supply the air needed for complete combustion, it won’t “roll coal”. Those are the guys who are trying to compensate for the “short/comings” in their life.

 

[Subourbon]

Hahaha, yes short comings. No i agree with you. I was more replying to the guy who commented earlier. I have no issue with diesels, I work on ships, I know how much power is needed to break ice.
And no, rolling coal is about the dumbest thing I've seen.

As far as 4bt, I'd consider it ifnit were the smaller K5 blazer, seems like it'd be a good fit. Bit suburban is hugeee.

Yeah I just got curious about what it would involve.
And ueah someone mentioned the fuel shut off solenoid, that a lot of guys who do a swap run a wire to override it manually

Appreciate the feedback folks!

 

[Galane]

You want a tight fit, I know a guy who put a 1949 REO cab onto an early 2000's RAM 1 ton chassis with the big Cummins. Why? Because he wanted a massive rat rod. Custom built aluminum diamond plate bed and headache rack. Spent around $5K on custom wheels to put fat duals on the non-dually rear axle. Shortened the frame so the rear track is probably 1/3 as wide as the length of it.

He had to do a completely custom built firewall to wrap around the back of the engine and the radiator is behind the cab. Dual electric fans, all sealed up pretty good and has pieces of diamond plate to scoop air at the radiator from the sides of the cab ahead of the stack pipes. Doesn't overheat when sitting still. Instead of a radiator under the hood there's a custom built vertical intercooler for the turbo.

 

[Subourbon]

Holy ****,

Yeah I wish I could do that. just need a place to work out of, tired of doing stuff in my driveway. When my garage is put up i'll be very happy and can really tackle the stuff I wont need to worry about weather moving in.

Sounds a lot like what they do on that show vegas rat rods, old buddy, modern-ish frame (sometimes) big **** off cummins and stacks!

I always thought that when you cut and weld a frame that it messes it up, or that you can expect it to be a massive weak spot in the future, but I mean, if done right, I really dont see any issue with welding on a frame. Im talking shortening, not just welding in new mounts. But I dunno, cars are still a bit unknown to me.
And yeah, def a system that is often overlooked is cooling. Ive never had a needle move past the halfway mark, and I plan to keep it that way!