Well I finally found a decent crew cab

[BobS]

Two years ago I bought a donor 90 W-250 Dodge Cummins that was used as a service truck for a local Cummins repair shop. It has a rebuilt Cummins engine along with a rebuilt Getrag. Yesterday a friend who is a local used car dealer said his wife was in Tampa Florida attending a huge auto auction that was going on today. She said there was a near perfect 81 crew cab 2WD up for auction. We agreed on terms and today it became mine. I guess it means a lot more when you have to wait that long to get something. Anyhow I hope the bottom side looks as good as the topside! Here is the only pic I have of it:


Bob

[Philip]

The bottom of the left fender doesn't look right. It might be just the angle the pic was taken at. Or it could have some rust repair work there.

That front bumper is from a late 70's 4X4. The only trucks I have seen those on were USAF 4X4's. Mostly in cold climate/rough terain areas. Most state side bases usually didn't get that bumper on 4X4's.

I hope you got a good body. It will make a good starting point.

[PToombs]

I'll bet it's a military, with a repaint. It looks good, hope you got a good deal!

[BobS]

It was listed as government owned. I noticed the front fender bottom. I have NOS front fenders on hand so that will not be a problem. My main concerns are the frame, cab mounting areas and the rear doors. The other thing that looks weird is the rear wheel offset. Almost looks like a dually rear with a standard wheel bolted on. Maybe it is just a deep offset wheel?

[PToombs]

Probably a deep offset, the front hubs are normal 3/4 ton.

[Philip]

I noticed the rear offset also. But we can't see the rear rim good. So it might be just a high offset rims someone threw on it. A dully axle would put the rear tire out a lot farther than that. A C&C axle would set about like that tire is now.

I am thinking just different rims front to rear.

The biggest problem I have seen on Dodge CC's are the rear cab mounts breaking out of the body if used in a rough terain application. I repaired a few CC in AK in the late 70's with broken cab mountings. If you notice the body line does not match up on the bed. That is normaly one of the easyest ways to tell. The cab body line is down lower than the bed. So there might be a problem there. But you wo't know tell you get her home. If there is a problem then PM me and I'll tell you how to fix that. It isn't to hard. You just need to know how to weld a little.

[BobS]

Thanks Philip, will do. I plan on removing the body and having the frame blasted & painted before I convert it to 4WD.