Camper Special

[bigwalton]

On the MTRs, I have those on our LJ and now that they've got some wear on them they are L-O-U-D. I don't know how much you care, but I don't think that they're to the point where they need replacing and I was REALLY happy to put the hard top back on last weekend due to it.

[jscherb]

Originally Posted by bigwalton

On the MTRs, I have those on our LJ and now that they've got some wear on them they are L-O-U-D. I don't know how much you care, but I don't think that they're to the point where they need replacing and I was REALLY happy to put the hard top back on last weekend due to it.

Eric,
When I first bought my Scrambler, it had MTR's on it. They were new, and not too loud. But a few thousand miles later they were terrible. I eventually swapped them out for GSA's. In researching the problem, I read that you need to rotate MTR's every couple thousand miles to avoid the wear patterns that cause the bad noise. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, seems either way seems like a good reason to avoid MTR's

Panther,
Love this build!! I want one! Anyone want to trade me one for the Gaucho?

Jeff

[bigwalton]

Originally Posted by jscherb

In researching the problem, I read that you need to rotate MTR's every couple thousand miles to avoid the wear patterns that cause the bad noise. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, seems either way seems like a good reason to avoid MTR's

I knew that and tried to not let it go more than about 5k miles between rotations and I rotate the spare in. Obviously it wasn't often enough.

I will say that I have been shocked about the life I got out of them, I got the thing on the assumption that 25k would probably be the max I would get out of them and I'm on 34k or so now IIRC.

I actually have them on the Postal too, but I just write off any noise with that thing Great offroad though, I'm pleased in both cases other than the noise thing.

Lee, one alternative I might suggest is the Truxxus MTRs. Had those in 33" before the MTRs on the Scrambler and they were shockingly quiet. I upgraded to the MTRs before they had more than a couple thousand miles on them, so I don't know how they wear, but I was real happy with them for on and off-road use.

[Panther]

I have a while to go on tires but the MT/R's we're talking about aren't even around anymore anyway. I waited for months for them to be available for civilian use during desert storm a few years ago and now when looking for a spare I find there's a "new" Mt/R. I've had them on the scrambler for over 3 yrs and like them overall, we'll see for this project. I did finally find a spare (it's the one in the pic) on ebay for cheap.

The donor arrived today.

[Panther]

Not much to report on, driveshafts have been removed and some minor details.

I've now seen 4-5 other guys doing the same build which is

Anyone interested there are several on CL National Craigslist Search

Right now there's one in OH and another in NJ.

Edit: In fact they need to sell this one in NJ by next weekend, price negotiable!
http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/1474451589.html

[Panther]

So I had a chance to pull the T98 and NP200 to start clearing space for the swap.

I do like the e-brake on the tcase and may try to use one on the Np205 later on.
I have some POR15 on order to clean up the rust and dropping the gas tank will probably be next.

On thing I found out that I thought was pretty cool was the fact that the seat mounts swivel!
I was thinking about doing this anyway but whoever put the seats in used a universal mount that has a swivel latch.

What I'll probably do as add a small fold down tray on the door to the box. Then you could easily enjoy meals in the cab. There's not a lot of room but enough to pull it off.

[bigwalton]

Cool, see, it was meant to be

[revman74]

very cool build, have you thought of removing the rear doors and putting a ramp door there instead? they have tent set ups for toyhaulers this way, the ramp sets down level with the rest of the vehicle and is great place to put a bed or just have a little extra room. I have a 37 foot fifth wheel and have been traveling the country for the better part of the last ten years (due to my line of work) And I can honestly say the differences from one part of this country to the next are incredible!!! P.S. you'll love the northwest!!

[Panther]

My thought on the rear doors is to use the door on the passenger side as a main entrance. The steps would then be moved over to that side. On the drivers side would be a stall for shower and toilet directly behind the rear door. To make more room for the shower, I'm thinking of lowering that section of the floor 4-5", there's room underneath. Then the shower head would be in the very corner. The idea would be to have an outdoor shower as well. Simply open both doors, pivot the shower head outside and there ya go an outdoor shower. You could even extend a curtain between the doors for privacy and make a step to stand on.

I do like the idea of using a side wall almost like a ramp door. I tried to draw this but if any of you have seen the Eco Roamer he did this as a guest bedroom.



Oh another thing I forgot to mention is that it was changed to 12v at some point, another plus.

Happy Thanksgiving

[Panther]

I've started disassembling the dodge and for as much as the M725 is not rusted out, the dodge is! I swear this thing was recovered from the titanic! Progress is slow but if I get a block of time during the holidays I may have everything out.

Here's a rough floor plan of how I'm thinking of setting up the box. I'm talking with someone every experienced with this process and I have to decide to gut a rv/trailer or go with top quality marine components. There could be a big difference in cost but I'll deal with this later down the road.

Also, it looks like it's already been converted to 12v which saves me the conversion.

[Panther]

Ok, so I've determined the dodge axles won't work out.
I'd like to keep the rear spring hangers outboarded they way they are and not have to move the hangers underneath the frame. They problem is that I need a wider axle to fit the 50" width from spring center pin to center pin. The dodge is 50" between the backing plates so this has me headed to the CUCV route.

Also the auto is an A518 with .69 overdrive.

With 37" tires, 4.56 gears, .69 overdrive at 65 mph the cummins is at 1850 rpm.

With stocks M7## axles, 37" tires and .69 overdrive it's 2400 rpm, too much for the cummins. I'd like to be close to to stock which if my math is right is 32" tires, 3.55 gears, overdrive 65 mph is then 1670 rpms.

[Panther]

[bigwalton]

Git er dun!!!

[Panther]

Today was more of removing stuff from the dodge to get it out of the shop.
One thing I did remove was the crossmember/motor mount, it's the exact width as the M725 frame.

Obviously I have yet to remove the stock motor mounts but you can see how easily this fits and adjusts. I can understand why when cummins are sold they don't come with this crossmember, it's a PITA to remove.

[Panther]

Well today the dodge carcass is gone. If I look back at the posts, it arrived 11/18 and was scrapped today without motor mounts, motor, trans, tcase, axles, engine and interior wiring harnesses, driveshafts, gas tank, heating/AC box, intercooler, rad, brake booster and plow. That's longer than I would have liked but I have been able sell some unused parts and have more to go.

The motor can't go in until I spring over the front or have a GM front Dana 60. I'm looking for one with a matching 14 bolt with 4.10s if anyone knows of a set.

It's nice to have the dodge gone because now I can fit my scrambler and don't have to climb over it to get to the other side of the shop.

Now the focus shifts to the M725.