Had some free time this past weekend to pull the truck out, and get the extra short bed i have off this frame so I can start to do some work on it now that I have the time.
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I set the extra bed outside on the CCSB frame, which I may or may not ever get around too.. but it's out of the way for the time being. I originally planned on swapping my 94 (red crew cab) over to this chassis, but now I'm not sure if I want to. The red truck is completely rust free (frame, cab, bed) and this frame is rusty, I have this short bed, but it's not perfect, unlike my 8 foot bed. So I'm probably going to just leave my 94 alone, no sense in gutting a perfectly clean truck.
That said, I'm half tempted to just sell this CCSB frame/bed... Or find a cab from a truck being parted out and build a CCSB 4x4 to use for winter driving. Ether way, it's going to sit for quite a while until this 93 is done.
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Now that I have the bed off, I can begin to strip down, prep, and paint the frame semi gloss black. Then begin to replace the brake and fuel lines, followed by swapping out the factory 4:10 rear end.
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Which brings me here. My dad's truck needed a new axle, so I bought this pair of axles. A 4:10 dually axle for his truck, and a 14 bolt SRW 3:42 ratio for this truck. I bought both of these from a buddy, the same guy I got the engine from, and he told me he bought this axle from a guy who took it out of a Suburban. I've never seen a factory 14 bolt full float 3:42, but the teeth on the ring gear match a 3:42 ratio, so it works for me.
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3:42 is a pretty high ratio for a 1 ton pickup, but considering that the cummins is a torque monster that doesn't rev up as high as the other GMT400 motors, it seems like the best option.
Here is roughly the RPM's I'm looking at.
3:42 - 1800rpm @ 70 MPH
3:73 - 2100rpm @ 70 MPH
4:10 - 2600rpm @ 70 MPH.
The 3:42 will allow me to travel 75-77 mph (seemingly average highway speed now a days) at 2000rpm, which is within the Cummins optimal torque and fuel efficiency range. For most of my daily driving, I typically sit in the 65-68mph range, so that'll keep me around 1600-1700rpm where I should see 20-21mpg. I'll take a little hit with towing, but considering that dodge trucks came with 3:55 ratio's and that I don't routinely tow more than 10k, It should work out well.
My biggest beef with my 6.5 truck, is with that 3.73 ratio, during road trips when I'm far from home, I don't feel comfortable driving much faster than 70mph, just because I don't like revving the 6.5 up to 2500rpm for 2-3, even up 8 hours at a time. Diesels are much happier at lower RPM's. I do plan on working the truck, but highway speeds are more important to me as it should see plenty of highway miles.
