1985 Wagoneer 6bt, NV4500, NP205, D60 Front, and 14 Bolt Rear

[Resbum]

I am going to run 4.10 for now. According to my gear calculations, with running a 35" tire and the nv4500 at 70 MPH my engine RPM should be about 2100. Which should be perfect for the 6BT. The axles I have came from under a 1980 Chevy K30 and already had 4.10s in them. So, that worked out pretty well.

Hmmm, I signed up for instant email notifications when new posts hit your thread and didn't get any. Need to find out why.

I think your calculator is right on the money or both of ours gave us bogus info. If I remember right, the overdrive on my 47RH is .69:1 which should be comparable to your tallest gear(.73:1?). I also have 35" tires and 4.1:1 gears. My numbers match yours pretty close taking the difference into account.

[Resbum]

I was surprised, pulling the front clip was not that hard to do. This will give me a lot more room now as I install the new motor and motor mounts and such. Now I just have to find a place to put the front clip to keep it safe and out of the way.

Yeah, it is pretty easy to remove. The two blind bolts on each inner fender that mount it to cab gave me fits though. It is nice having all that room to work with.

Here's an idea for storing it. It's what I finally did for my bed. Get a few 2X4's and make them into a 2 foot by 4 foot rectangle. Then buy some elcheapo casters and mount them on the corners. Stand the front clip on end sitting on the creation you made and wheel it into a corner. It's been really nice being able to easily move my bed into different out of the way places, as needed.

[ross80truck]

Yeah, it is pretty easy to remove. The two blind bolts on each inner fender that mount it to cab gave me fits though. It is nice having all that room to work with.

Here's an idea for storing it. It's what I finally did for my bed. Get a few 2X4's and make them into a 2 foot by 4 foot rectangle. Then buy some elcheapo casters and mount them on the corners. Stand the front clip on end sitting on the creation you made and wheel it into a corner. It's been really nice being able to easily move my bed into different out of the way places, as needed.

I have tall ceilings in my shop, I may see if I can hang it on the wall up high with my forklift. But at the same time I know I am going to need it accessible for test fitting. That gives me another idea. I bet I can rig up some pulleys and hang it from one of the c-perlings right above the lift. That way I can just easily lower it down to test fit and it is out of the way. Okay, more pictures to come on that.

[ross80truck]

I decided to go ahead and focus on getting the front clip stored safely before I moved forward on the jeep. I have tall ceilings in my shop and rigged up a hoist and lifted the front clip up to the rafters. I used some boards to brace the clip so that it would not be so flimsy. I bought a hand crank winch from McMaster and a couple of swivel pulleys and about 80' of cable. Everything works great except for the hand crank winch I bought will ratchet up, but when you release the lock it free wheels down. So, I am going to have to get a different style hank crank winch eventually. For now though, the clip is safely stored up and out of the way. I will just have to use my forklift to lower the clip down when I am ready for it. Once I get the right winch in place, I am sure this setup will come in handy latter on for something else.

[ross80truck]

Once I got the clip up in the air, it did not take long to finish getting the motor, transmission, and transfer case out of the jeep. My list of things to attack next is below.

- Install new J20 steering box
- Bolt D60 under front end
- Send off Hydro Boost to get modified and then install
- Install clutch pedal assembly out of donor Dodge and set up clutch master cylinder
-Remove heater box for engine installation clearance

Some of that does not sound to hard, but I am not looking forward to installing the clutch setup.

[Resbum]

Nice clip storage setup.

In looking at your pictures I believe you already have under frame spring mounting points. True? If so, does that put the axle mounting points on the springs within a 1/2" of matching the D60 mounting points? That's how close it was on my pickup frame. That would sure be sweet for you. It took a mess load of patience to convert mine from side frame to under frame mounts.

[ross80truck]

Nice clip storage setup.

In looking at your pictures I believe you already have under frame spring mounting points. True? If so, does that put the axle mounting points on the springs within a 1/2" of matching the D60 mounting points? That's how close it was on my pickup frame. That would sure be sweet for you. It took a mess load of patience to convert mine from side frame to under frame mounts.

Yes, I already have under frame spring mounting points. So, with only a little grinding on the D60 I should be able to bolt it right in. I did a lot of research on this before I started, so we will see if it pays off when I put the axle under it.

[Resbum]

Yes, I already have under frame spring mounting points. So, with only a little grinding on the D60 I should be able to bolt it right in. I did a lot of research on this before I started, so we will see if it pays off when I put the axle under it.

All your research should payoff if your Dana 60 and springs are like mine. The biggest thing you have to do is grind or cut some material off the differential housing.

I had to grind the D60 alignment holes the spring studs go in 1/4 inch inboard on each side, then fill the outboard side of the holes with built up welding material. This caused the inboard side of my passenger spring to hit the lip on the differential housing before the stud would drop in the hole. Grind or cut the housing edge inboard until your spring stud fits in the alignment hole and you should be golden.

[MtnYJ]

Very cool project, I'll be watching!!

I saw you mention a Dodge clutch pedal assembly; I've never seen one first hand so it may be an easy one to install, but have you looked into the clutch pedal assembly from a '80+ J truck? We swapped in an Astro Van hydroboost and a hydraulic clutch setup from an XJ - the J truck pedal assembly worked out very well. It was just a matter of changing out the pin that hangs the brake pedal in the Waggy to the J truck pin witch hangs the clutch AND brake pedal.

Then again, the Dodge hydro setup may be different enough that none of that applies... just a thought, keep up the good progress!!

[ross80truck]

Been really busy at work lately and have not had a chance to work on the wagoneer. Brown Santa did bring my new J20 steering gearbox yesterday. That was cool. I also have been helping my buddy with his 4BT powered Suburban. We have been having some fueling issues. Had my dad run the pump on his test stand and found no problems there. He did re-caliberate it though while he was at it and turned the fuel up, a bunch. Put the pump back on the Burb and still have the same issues. So, we pulled the injectors and are having them rebuilt and we are also checking all the supply lines. Learned something interesting here that will apply to my rig. Did you know that a diesel engine will return about 90% of the fuel that is sucks from the tank back into the tank? On a diesel engine your supply line should be a minimum of 3/8" and your return line should be a minimum of 1/4". If it is smaller than this, you are restricting your fuel flow. Also, the previous owner of the Burb was using both the fuel pump on the 4BT and the original in tank fuel pump. A in tank gasoline style fuel pump does not flow enough fuel for a 4BT let alone a 6bt. So, we are pulling the in tank pump and up sizing the lines to the engine. I will let you all know how this works out.

[ross80truck]

Very cool project, I'll be watching!!

I saw you mention a Dodge clutch pedal assembly; I've never seen one first hand so it may be an easy one to install, but have you looked into the clutch pedal assembly from a '80+ J truck? We swapped in an Astro Van hydroboost and a hydraulic clutch setup from an XJ - the J truck pedal assembly worked out very well. It was just a matter of changing out the pin that hangs the brake pedal in the Waggy to the J truck pin witch hangs the clutch AND brake pedal.

Then again, the Dodge hydro setup may be different enough that none of that applies... just a thought, keep up the good progress!!

I have not looked very close at the Dodge pedal assembly. Only enough to know that it is an assembly and can be taken out as a unit. So, I may change my plan once I get it out of the Dodge and start looking at putting it in the Waggoneer. Thanks for the info on the way you did it. I will keep that in mind.

[ross80truck]

Well, I got tired of looking at the Wagoneer over in the corner of the shop and not seeing any progress. So, yesterday we brought in my D60 axle out of a 1980 Chevy K30. And it is almost a direct bolt on. I had to drill the alignment holes on the axle saddles out a little larger to a 41/64 hole. Then it bolted right up. I am going to have to get longer U-bolts, but I will wait on that until I get my new front springs in and measure there thickness.

Next I am going to roughly mount the rear end. This way I can roll the jeep around. I want to get it rolling so I can roll it outside and pressure wash the axles and the frame.

[Resbum]

Sweet!

[ross80truck]

Hung the rear leaf springs yesterday. I am changing to the 63" suburban leaf springs. I bought a kit from Ballistic fab that comes with front fixed leaf spring hanger, rear frame shackle mount, shackles, u-bolts, spring perch, and spring plate. The kit was pretty inexpensive at around $200. I got the leaf springs from my local pick and pull for like $60. As you can see in the pictures below, I did not by any means firmly mount the leaf springs. I rough mounted them only so that I could mount the rear axle and put some tires on it so that I could roll it around. Also I did not want to final mount the rear leaf springs until I know what the ride height of the front is going to be with the 6BT in the front. Everything is just tacked into place, so hopefully it will hold enough for me to set it on the ground and move it out of the way so I can get my wife'c car on the lift to do some work on it this weekend. I will post some more pics once I get tires on it and have it sitting on the ground.

[Resbum]

Looks good. I have really liked the Ballistic parts I've gotten, for the price. You're doing everything in the order I did. Hang the front end, get all the weight of the engine on the front end, then worry about the rear end.

There have been times when I've wished I'd gone with the long leaf springs in the rear, but I knew I needed the heavy weight springs for some of the future tasks I have planned for the truck.