Its a Liftall M80 off road forklift... 8k at 10 feet 5k at 30 feet (and rated very conservatively)
weighs in at 11k... has a 4 speed Rockwell tranny and gear reducer...and neutral lockout

It will go 55 in high range but thats too scary for me... I never get out of second around my ranch...

They come equipped with micro locks and tow bars with brakes ( I got rid of that as it would take a heavy duty truck to tow it and still is dangerous)

They were designed and built in Nevada for lifting all the radar and communications sites built there in the 80s... and then went out to the industry. They would build the towers in one location and then transport them out off road to sites on long dirt roads.. which is why they will go as fast as they do...

I got this one from a packing company down in the Monterey area,,, this is my second one.. the first one I bought off ebay and got screwed,,,it had been used hard by a roofing company and I put a bunch of work into it and sold it at a loss.. this one has been used gently and fleet maintained with 2700 hours on it. It needed an intake and exhaust when I got it so I custom fabbed a three inch one out of heavy wall pipe using a thrush turbo shorty muffler and stainless bandit clamps... it sounds absolutely perfect and way better than the 3 foot long industrial rusty muffler that was on it. This system will outlive me... and the next owner...

I spent two days making it nice and lubing it (all 50 zerks)... it holds 20 gallons of hydraulic oil... I learned everything there is to know about one barrel ford carbs on this one.. which makes me a resident expert for all the 300HD motors I accumulated

The company is still in existence.. except they are diesel powered and auto transmissions today... along with a 80k price tag... I paid 4k.. which was a smoking deal... usually this vintage (1980s) goes for about 6500

I looked for a long time,, I really like this one because it has the same components as all my 70s vintage f600s. Ill blast and paint it this winter... cat yellow and black like my service truck "lil bit"

Once you have an off road forklift monster all those nearly impossible tasks become easy peasey







The f600 supercab conversion awaits lonely in the background and jealous of the attention I gave to Oregon Oakie...

 

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Very nice, thanks for all the info on the liftall!

 

Well Oregon oakie got a bath today and I washed off a lot of "must" = mud + rust. After 45 minutes with steam it was free of grease. There is something about greasy stuff that just turns me off from wanting to work on it... anyway... a couple of interesting things came out of it...

The 351 has every piece of smog equipment on it and hasnt been oakiefied
The more I read about Cummins conversions the more I want one,, darn you chase ..supercab... and others
If you look closely you can see "Ford truck 1977" (the truck is a 78) on the 205 in marking paint...which tells me someone has been there...and not Ford.. add in the red and blue rtv and thats a cinch these have been worked on or replaced

I never believed the truck had 102 k on it... but 202k would be realistic based upon mechanicals...

There is nothing broken or messed up on the frame.. but it will take another couple of hours to clean it up and remove brackets and wiring for blasting.. the rust is surface pitting and will come off... none of the mounting holes are compromised.



When I look like this momma says I cant come in... so its a hose shower.. I just know some of you can identify



I dont think blue and red rtv was even around in 1978





We know that ford didnt use marking pens... or at least didnt mark on the 205s with the wrong year.. so this one has been out..or in.. or in and out.. thats junkyard paint to me





WTH... Oregon Oakie strikes again.. this was the door crank... he obviously stripped it or lost the screw so he started using plumbing fittings.. the first one was hammered on the crank spline.. the second brass fitting on over the top pinned with nails... I dont get it.. not even Shadetree slim could have done better




I love the sheetmetal screw.. just for safety.. he banged the thing on so hard I had to scrap the mechanism.. the original oil paper is still on the doors



There are a bunch of parts to sell.. the entire green plastic interior parts.. which are in great shape...someone told me they are getting hard to find....the bed toolbox.. obviously the motor and transmission if I go cummins

Darn you cummins dents..darn you

Now ..if that elusive donor with everything I want and so low a price I cant refuse would just fall out of the sky

 

Where are you located at? I see them everyone once in a while on clist & facebook. Sometimes you can find a wrecked one that still runs.

 

Not sure what your price range is, but this truck has been for sale off and on since I started looking last December. Would have bought this one instead of mine had it been for sale at the time I bought mine. (was on c list then came off a few days before I bought mine).

1995 dodge ram 2500 cummins

Ryan

 

Ryan

Im in Redding.. parolee armpit of California and where Lake Shasta is turning into a puddle watering lawns in SOCAL

I have a line on a low mileage 91 w350 Im calling on this morning.. darn you


So.. whats better..

a Fudge.. a ford dent on the dodge chassis?,,I know.. sacrilege
or a Fummins.. a cummins in our chassis?

As I understand it the conversion either way is about the same effort

Thoughts anyone?

 

You going to switch it over to intercooled?

I've not done a frame swap, but I've heard that it's more work and the wheelbase doesn't line up with the wheel openings on the dent body.

 

Well,,, not sure,, if the truck comes to fruition I might leave it stock... get it through cali emissions and referee station before I would consider playing with it.. I know its not the p pump...or intercooled... I understand that wakes them up a bit.. but Im really just interested in a mileage monster.. which again as I understand it was pretty good in this model if you stayed off the oil pedal

The one ton dodge has lots of good pieces.. a 60.. a 205... unfortunately an auto.. I just called on it.. and the guy is out of town .. said hes had numerous calls.blah blah blah.. but the price is right 3500.. 112k,,, no towing.. second owner... I hate dodge sheet metal.. well except 67-71 powerwagon stuff

Only worried about the front.. rear is going to be a custom body.. whether ford or dodgey

 

Oh, yeah, I forgot you have the Cali emissions crap to deal with (damn greenies.... )

I was going along the same path. I actually bought a 93 W350 that had an auto. I then changed my mind and sold that (made a $1,000 on it ) and bought the '95. The reason I wanted a second gen is because I wasn't going to use the Tcase or front axle and wanted the 47RH trans for the lock up TC capability.

I would think upgrading the intake & exhaust would give some performance improvements without screwing with the emissions? Not sure though.

 

Spent some more time today deconstructing Oregon oakie...
Still not finding anything broken...well.. I broke the passenger side brake line getting it off...
Someone told me there is a company that makes all the lines for our trucks via CAD.. anyone have a line.. no pun intended..on them? I see them for big broncos but haven't seen them for our trucks.. and stainless to boot!!! Opps just found inline tube,, but they only list them for a 2wd long bed.. no 4 x 4 or Supercab.. and yes I can bend them.. HIO bends are a thing of beauty...

Ive tried all the tricks on the body mounts and usually just melt them off.. does anyone have a BEST trick they like.. mine are always frozen on with every truck Ive ever worked on



And why did ford make them different widths.. seems to me during manufacture they would have made the can mount in the rear to equal the front... unless the rears need more rubber because of load



The t98 and 205 came out as a unit.. Ill rebuild the 205 first.. then the transmission.. then the rear and front.. put suspension and axles back on ,, and then fill in

The rear ratio is 4.10.. Im going to run 35's.. so for a six truck it should be the right blend for best mileage at 60 @ 2362 rpm.. overcoming resistance and other factors aside... seems OK with me

After careful thought Ive decided to go this route

I was prepared to push the trigger and go cummins and buy the dodge donor.. but a period of cool reflection has me going back to my original plan.. and put a 300 in it..
why,, because

I have several forged crank 300s

No trans swap is necessary.. which reduces my build time and keeps the truck ultra simple

I think I can build one that will have all the smog crap on it to pass (this is a non catalyst truck.. the referee wont catch the hd motor as long as I have all the light duty smog stuff correct.. and I will.. that will be an adventure Im sure).. if anyone has smog pictures for a 78 six truck for California I would be most appreciative (8500 gvw light duty California)

The 300 is the closest gas version to the cummins I know.. OK.. its not a cummins for pulling.. but this truck will never pull anything with regularity. Will it get better mileage than the 351.. most likely.. more driving style...than efficiency.. but Ill do all the right stuff to it and still get it to pass

This is a mommie and me traveling truck... it wont be towing a trailer.. and if I do it will be something lightweight... I have medium duty f600s for the heavy stuff

It does maintain some semblance of originality with the six

So now thats the plan...

Ill be rebuilding all the sub assemblies first

One more day of disassembly and the blasting can start.

Im not sure Ill even save the rusty galvanized fuel tanks.. I have a new 36 gallon over-sized for the rear and several nice clean mid-ship tanks.. why make the effort I guess.. I had even thought about fabbing some aluminum tanks but why reinvent what I already have

Sometimes ones efforts are better spent getting to the "good" stuff..

For sale 351 m.. with all the smog crap that makes them legal.. and if you want a 400 I have that one too

 

i'm from NY and when i bought my truck nearly 25 years ago it had that same foam donut as an insulator for the transmission. .

 

I like your "revised back to original" plan to do a HD 300 in your 4x4 SuperCab. Love it when a truck combination Ford never built is created/composed using all-Ford parts. While I like a Cummings, and have greatly enjoyed those amazing build threads, this truck build is going to be of more interest to me, love the 300!

David

 

Ok..
A little progress
I know I owe some of you parts... I have them..promise,, they are tucked away in my shop

After complete disassembly I found one sketchy cab mount that had been damaged over the years by the rusting cab bouncing up and down.. no big deal I kept some spares in the parts pile.. just in case. The brakelines were pretty much toast so I didnt try to save them... the fuel lines are a maybe..Ill be bending for awhile... the fuel tanks galvie coatings were all rusty... I have a 32 gallon replacement for the rear a couple of nice clean midship tanks.. but all the hardware is rusty junk now and not worth blasting

Anyway.. everything takes twice as long... and I burned almost 2000 pounds of sand making the frame and associated parts completely rust free again. Sandblasting is such a thrash and I wish I could find a youngster and I would pay them... but it is somehow satisfying to dig all the rust out,,, this was the rustiest project I have had to deal with.. we Kaliforniacated densters are so spoiled. The Green meanie the 2x donor truck almost looks afraid after seeing his bother get cut up with the plasma






And then several coats of good primer (Ive been having really good luck with Magic paint..)




Finally.. some nice deep black... ahhh I feel better now... when I reinstalled brackets I made sure to coat behind them with a parafin based coating them.. this dent should outlast me and then some




About $200.00 of grade 8 bolts replaced every frame and suspension bolt

I have decided to go with a rear shackle flip... and a front 4 inch superlift
to run 35s...

Lets see,,
Got the 205 rebuild kit... have the axles all torn down.. and blasted clean
Going from the 4.10s to something that will work with the ranger,,, and be happy for the motor and freeway.. 4.88s.. maybe even 5.13s.. locker rear,, arb front... still have some math to do
Already have prothane for everything

After I get it to rolling chassis I might go back to "lil bit".. my f600 and finish it off).. I needed a break after a year and a half restoring it

Momma's watching me on this one so the checkbook isnt wide open and I still have to take her on the Disney trip... wives vs trucks..

Wives win

Still struggling to find all the smog stuff for the 300 .. smog folks here arent all that accommodating.. they want the dents off the road

 

Ok.. a little more progress

The green meanie is giving up its life for Oregon oakie...



Forklifts make body removal easy peasey... the longest part was getting a stubborn ebrake cable off the frame..
I finally used this trick

Put a pair of vice grips on the front side of the spring clip and give it a little pressure forward.. while doing so work on the clip on the back side depressing the fingers with a regular pair of pliers working it back and forth until you get a finger or two started,, then keep pulling on the clip with forward pressure until it pops out... the Ebrake clips always give me a hard time.. but this seems to work best for me




Once off I had the following options

Dip it... which means a trip to Oregon.. at the cost of almost 1500.00 including some travel costs.. makes it very easy

Media blast it.. about 1000.00 but doesnt dig out rust very well.. but cleans up easy

Or sandblast it myself ..about 200.00 and deal with all the sand... ( and trust me thats a hassle.. for every hour blasting.. plan on the same getting it back out of the rockers etc)

After careful thought Ive elected to do it myself.. especially after finding some rust in the floor.. more because Ill do it until Im satisfied and I can control the process
I spent two hours steam cleaning the entire cab and with 4500 psi I was able to blow out all the seam sealer from the seams.. finding rust underneath.. surface... but always growing.. which is what rust does.. so Ill get into all these areas with sand and make it fresh metal.. treat it and then coat.. and seam seal everything again

I found the roof support had sagged over the years with a downward bow.. so Ill grind off the tack welds... pull it out... and re-bend it into the proper bow... then reinstall with rubber between it and the roof instead of that stupid asphalt welting ford used

Restoration is a labor of love.. and only those who have done it completely really understand.. its hours of labor

Im left with a plethora of parts,,, "less than rusty"... so I can cherry pick what I need.. a fuel tank... a line.. a thousand little pieces

Now I have a couple of motors for sale..a 60... and a bunch of other stuff... hopefully getting some money back from the resto drain.


Repeat after me... never use that stupid jute felt padding... all it does is make a medium for moisture to rust out our rigs

I hate chrome and shiney stuff so Im going to strip all the tabs for molding... personal preference.. I like clean lines and paint... and I think trim just is another place for rust to occur.