1995 2wd Crew Cab, Cummins, NV4500, Brown-lipe.

I've been slacking here. I've owned this truck for awhile and been a member on here for a couple months and this is only my second post. But here's my project. I'm just going to copy and past post from another forum i get on.

Figured i'd start a build thread now that i have a little something to show. my truck had a 6.5l turbo in it with 206k on it. the accelerator pedal assembly needed replace and rather then spend the $600 on that i decided i'd just put a cummins in it which was my plan for the truck all along. So i found a 1997 p-pumped 5.9 out of a freightliner fedex truck with 241k miles on it that came with a Allison AT542 tranny. I damn near stole this motor as it came with everything from the intercooler to the tailshaft. Hell i even got the frame rails that everything is bolted into for $1500. I got to fire it up and hear it run before i even bought it so i know it's a good motor. So far i've got the old 6.5l about ready to come out. just have to remove my core support and undo the motor mounts.

I also am getting an old BrownLipe 3 speed under/overdrive unit for it to give me overdrive as well as a little more selection of gear for towing.

The interesting thing is going to be fitting all this in the truck. It's lowered and i don't want anything hanging below my frame rails as i plan on bagging and stock flooring the truck next year.

here she is.


old motor about to come out.




New engine after some degreaser and a car wash.




I got the old motor out finally and cleaned the frame up a little bit and sprayed it with some rustoleum flat black just to make it a little cleaner. it's not show quality but it looks alot better then it did. I also got the intercooler and radiator and stuff off the cummins pulled and started getting it ready to come out of the framerails it's still in. hopefully this week i can get the cummins pulled and about ready to go in the truck.





Picked up my brown-lipe today and got my truck pushed back into the shop. I also about got the cummins out of the freightliner frame. didn't get as much done as I wanted to because of a sick kid and family shit going on all weekend.

Also decided i'm not going to run the allison. it's up for sale in the for sale section. I just don't think i'd be happy with an automatic. So i'm looking for a 5 or 6 speed dodge tranny and adaptor set to put behind the cummins. with a 5 speed and the 3 speeds in the brownie i'd have 15 gears to choose from. plus a double overdrive for speeding down the highway. if i get a 6 speed i'd have 18 gears.

The gears in the brownie are a 1.52:1 underdrive, 1:1 direct drive, and .72:1 overdrive. With the 4.11 gear my truck has and the low ass first gear of the 5 or 6 speed I should be able to pull a house over without breaking a sweat.


So I spent all day friday trying to find any transmission with no luck. Hell I was about to resort to an automatic and buy a whole truck to get all the stuff I needed. Then I came across a complete 5 speed changeover on ebay that was about 6.5 hours away. I called him up and he said if I wanted it he'd end the auction. So yesterday I made a 810 mile round trip for this.




1994 Dodge NV4500 complete with adapter, starter, flywheel, clutch setup, bellhouseing, slave and master cylinder, shifter and boot. Everything I need.

I also sold my old 6.5 and nv4500 out of the truck. otherwise I wouldn't have had the money to get it all.

I got a lot done today. Would have got more done but i was by myself and moveing this thing isn't really easy. Got the transmission and everything mounted and on there. Dropped the oil pan and turned it around. still need to get a rear sump pickup tube but the pans just on so I could set the motor and get started on mounts. Got the motor in the truck. I had to cut the floor because the shifter placement is different. it a couple inches farther back then the chevy. Still need to move the whole thing back about 2 inches or so. I don't think the fan is gonna fit under the hood.
here's pics.









Here's what i'm going to make my motor mounts out of.
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Today I pulled the engine back out so I could cut the motor mount pedestals off the frame. Once they were cut off I ground it down and made some reinforcement plates for the frame where the new mounts will sit. I spent about an hour retapping the holes on the block that I'm going to use for the mounts. Then I shoved it all back in and started welding the tabs to the frame. They don't stick up anymore then the pedestals did so they shouldn't get in the way when removeing or reinstalling the engine and tranny. Which I'll have to do atleast one more time to finish welding everything up. I also got the freghtliner high mount A/C compressor and bracket off as well as the fan. Hopefully this next weekend I can get the motor mounts finished, Make my tranny crossmember and have the engine in for the final time. Also hopeing to get the brown lipe mounted under the truck as well. pics.







Here's a couple pics i got before my phone died the other night. The first one is of the GM tranny mount cut to bolt onto the dodge tranny. The second is my motor mount tacked up. I'll get some pics tonight when i go out to measure for my driveshaft.




Here's some pics of how the truck sets right now. I pulled my driveshaft tonight and it's getting shortened tomorrow. I put some new fenders on the truck also. The others were cut up behind the wheel lip. They are barley on there so they aren't lined up or anything.







Still shooting for a test run this weekend.

I got quite a bit done. Just have some wiring to finish up. The Brown-Lipe and shortened driveshaft and new u-joints are installed and ready to go. Just have to figure out where and how to mount the shifter. oh and rebuild the tranny tunnel. I may just put the brownie in overdrive for a little while. Even had the engine fired up for a little bit. Got the drivers side inner fender installed and power steering figured out. I need to find a gasser pedal assembly and figure out a throttle cable also. Was hoping to test drive this last weekend but things always take longer then I think they will. Here's some pics.




I got a gas pedal and throttle cable out of a 1990 pickup. got them in but gotta make a bracket for the cable to hook up. I also burnt up my fuel shutoff solenoid so i'm just going to use a choke cable to open it manually. I don't have the $275 they want for a new solenoid. I also bled a couple of the injectors and got it fired up. Still have some little stuff to do but should be on the street this weekend.

here's a video.



Well I was hoping to be driving this damn thing this week but the damn slave cylinder was giving me fits. I spent probably 6 hours trying to bleed the dodge slave cylinder with no luck. I actually think I had it bled but the chevy master probably didn't push enough fluid. So I went and bought a new Chevy slave cylinder which has an awesome little thing called a bleeder on it. No question about whether it's bled or not. I did have to make some modifications to make the chevy slave work on a dodge tranny but not bad. I took the snap ring that holds the mounting brackets off both units. Got rid of the chevy mount as the bolt holes are way wider then the dodge. plus there studs and not holes. Then I used the dodge mounting tab and welded a bead along the inside of the hole that the slave sets in. The dodge slave has a 1" bore where the chevy is 20mm. some filling to get it just the right size and bamn. install the chevy snap and you've got a chevy slave in a dodge tranny. Also used the Dodge slave rod as it's shorter. Worked like a charm. Drove the truck for a mile or so. still have to add some cooling fans and rebuiild my tranny tunnel. I have one more weekend to get it done and on the road.

Yeah it may have squatted it a little bit. It's already pretty low up front and i didn't measure before or anything. I know it seems to ride a little rougher now.

I finally filled the huge hole in the tranny tunnel. I had to kick a cat out of the damn truck this morning because it had crawled through the hole. It's all done and seamed sealed and I added a fuel filter to it also. It came off the fed-ex truck and has a cool little fuel warmer on the bottom that the coolant goes through. I also got my electric fans and shroud installed and wired up. There's a vibration coming from somewhere on the truck. I think it is my carrier bearing. I'm going to check it out tomorrow after work. Other then that the thing runs pretty good. Just need to get some more of my gauges hooked up. here's some pics.




I adjusted my fuel plate and turned in my smoke screw on this beast. It blows alot of smoke now. plus I should be somewhere around the 220hp mark with it. As soon as i get off these 77 hour weeks I'll adjust the timing and crank the boost up on it.

I haven't driven this beast in about a month but last night i Put a 4" exhaust on it from the turbo back. Kinda sucks when you have to keep everything above the frame. Trying to find a 8" stack. Should have one on it next week. the truck sounds way better and runs better too.












Sorry if some of the days and stuff in there don't make any sense. I did the exhaust last weekend. I'm still slowly working on it. I'm hoping to put an aftermarket wireing harness and gauges in it this weekend. still not sure how i'm going to get a speedo hooked up. If you have any question let me know.

Cool project. I'm guessing if you had a bench seat, you switched to buckets?

this build is sic!

i would love to cram a cummins in my truck. but i could only afford the 6.5...

HELL YEA!!! love this build, i am dieing to dump a Cummings in my dually!

looks great

cool Dude!!!

Thanks guys. The truck always had buckets. I'm actually looking for a tan or grey interior and i want to have 4 buckets. I'm probably not going to get to work on it this weekend. pickedup a head gasket job on a grand am. think I'm going to get new tires for the rear and some better injectors. That is unless anyone wants to trade some wheels for the rockstars. I hate the black wheels on this truck more and more everyday.

Did you buy your exhaust pieces from Keystone? Your shop is Chrome Dome Customs right? I am Orlando the guy that sold you your pipes if so (can't imagine their are to many people in KS building a cummins powered chevy dually) Truck looks really good man, I would love to do the same to mine one of these days!!! Anyway here is a link to my dually, we just finished paint and body work this week on it.

yeah that's me. small world. i'll be giving you a call this week. a buddy of mine wants me to put some 5" on his Dodge welding rig.

Damn I kinda like the black rockstars, bet my polished alcoas would look good on your truck. Awesome build by the way.