i have a question for all the cummins conversion guys out there... i have all the parts together to do a cummins/nv4500 swap into my 77 f250 highboy but i have concerns with what type of mounts are best. for simplicity i would like to just get fordcummins.com's mounts and be done, but they don't look very well insulated as far as vibration goes.

so, has anyone had vibration issues with their cummins swaps with/without regards to fordcummins.com's mounts? i have a '98 24v and i have the big circular rubber insulators from the dodge truck, that bolt to the block and they look like they would do an outstanding job at insulating it, but they would require me to fabricate mounts to hold them. i'm not too keen on fabrication of this sort. dropping/notching the front crossmember i feel comfortable with but this may be out of my league.

anyone have any observations or suggestions?

 

I have a '89 Cummins and used the rubber insulators from the donor truck. I fabbed my own mounts. The drivers side was fairly easy, the other side was a bit more work. I built/modified all the mounts for engine, transmission and transfercase, and made a bracket for the transfercase shifter. Of all of the things I built on my truck the only thing I would buy if I did it again is the shifter bracket for the transfercase. I spent the better part of the day on a part that would have cost about $40 from Advanced Adapters.

 

how is the vibration from the engine felt inside the cab? i am not familiar with the mounts that are on the '89 but if i recall they fit on the same frame pads that the 360/318's did. which seems to me like they would be a sandwich type mount vs the suspended bolt type of the '98s. the fordcummins.com mounts appear to be sandwich type mounts which is my concern.

i dont have alot of time to create a fabbed mount so my preference is a bolt-on set-up if possible.

 

My mounts are a sandwich type. I really have no complaints with vibration. Look for user gallerys by Scot and jnordby . Both have good pictures of their installation and mounts they used. If I recall both used newer engines and have the same mount you need. If I wasn't such a computer clutz I'd update my gallery.

I'd check availabulity of the fordcummins mounts. I have never bought a part from them but I have heard service is real slow.

 

The mounts are not hard to fab yellow f250 - and use those factory donuts that came with your donor engine, you won't do any better and could do a ton worse. What I did is cut the towers off the donor dodge frame (find one at the junkyard if you need to). I then got two pieces of 5/16" plate, and drilled holes so I could bolt it to the Ford frame. I bolted the engine to the tranny, positioned everything, and then put those dodge towers on the new plates I drilled. Tack them on while in the truck. Pull everything, and weld them on there good. Bolt them back up, and be done with them.

If you can't get the dodge towers, then fab those too, out of some beefy plate stock - really only a flat piece, angled upward, notched to hold those donuts. Once you have the 5/16" plates drilled and fitted on the ford frame, and the engine hanging there where you want it, you'll see it is not a difficult job. My gallery should have some photos of the mounts I built.

jon.