ok to make a long story short i have a 02 Dmax the injectors went out i dont have $3,000 soo im thinking about putting my 6.5TD back on the road but its 2WD and i need a 4WD like my 02 and i was wondering if i can convert it to 4WD and its a 3500 any ideas??

 

Not as easy as one would hope 4x4 is torsion suspension vs spring on the 2wd, I was going to go other way but opted for a frame to body swap rather than do the rework to the suspension, so I took off my bad 2wd burb body and swapped it with a good 4x4 body and scrapped the 4x4 frame that was very rusty from IL salt highways.

Doable but as cheap as a donor body/frame would be I'd take the good stuff off your 2wd and find make a 4wd out of it sell-partout-scrap rest of the stuff you don't need.

What is condition of the Dmax body whatever you do is gonna be around $3K for something decent unless you know where you can find a low $$$ dead engined 6.5 4x4, ever consider putting a 6.5 to the Dmax body ?

A buddy of mine goes by name of Ferminator on truck stop is the conversion expert what goes to what, he converted his Dmax into his 6.5 powered burb, you might want to join up at thetruckstop.us and ask same question if anybody would know the pitfalls he would

 

i was kinda thinking about a stirght axle conversion and the 02 is in great shape and i really want to fix it one day i like the Dmax a lil better the the 6.5 and i have a truck i could get a dana 44 front axle out of to convert the 93 6.5 soooo do you think i should look in to doing this or should i try to sell my 93 6.5 to fix my Dmax that fits my need better??

 

Time & money all things are possible hook up with Ferm tell him TD sent you he could really give you some options he messes with anything on wheels, Dmax has more grunt than the 6.5 does but for simplicity/economy I like the 6.5s and properly set up can give respectable power.

 

ok i probably will and how much $$$ the get the same power out of a 6.5 as a Dmax i need the power and would really like more the the Dmaxs has stock i pull 30,000LBS reguler and could really use 4x4 and a good bit of power out of what ever i decide to do and input on 6.5 power and any mods for 6.5?

 

before jumping off the conversion cliff, have you thought of throwing a locking differential in rear (experience= vehicle with locked / locable rear end will most times put open/open 4x4 to shame)

 

yes i have but i need the ground clearance

 

sorry that I am not that fam with Chevy 2wd, but is there no lift avail?
I'm running 285 BFG's on my 2500 Suburban

Although I was not part of (other than I sold the conversion when working at 4Wheelers Supply in Phx), but does not seem like rocket science to rip undercarriage off 2wd and just mount a live / one piece axle (common on Toyota's)... do the drive train later

BTW, GG, mt daily driver / weekend warrior, is 2wd Jeep Grand cherokee w/2" lift, 30x9.5 BFG at's that I drive pre-runner style

 

30K# stock ??? that is waaaay more than your rig should be pulling, maybe that is why yours is broke . I won't go down the littany of reasosns why you should not be pulling that kind of load legally especially in stock configuration; but sometimes a feller has gotta do what they gottta do, but you want to be smart about it, remember both the 6.5 & 6.6 powerplants were installed in trucks considered for light duty even though they sometimes go into trucks with HD badges on them 16K# is a heavy load for that vintage Dmax beyond factory stock specs even, add in 4x4 and towing ability is actuallly lowered. IIRC LB7s had some cooling & injector issues as well and may be part of what you have going on with your Dmax, talk to ferm hell point you in the right direction I'm a 6.5 guy & know enough about the 6.6 to be dangerous but have plenty of folks I can lean on if I run into a Dmax issue.

I've upgraded my 6.5 to be powerful/safe enough to pull on occasion when I need to move my backhoe 18K# loads with my g/n trailer that is rated for 9T that I self limit to 6T so trailer can stop both load & truck , if a had a dually I'd explore possibility of more bigger loads.

Before going down the list of things I did are you anticipating routine pulling of 30K# then I think even the Dmax unless you put down some coin into longevity modifications ain't gonna be suitable not sure if even legal.

I'm currently @ about 250rwhp with my 6.5 more to come but that involves a new engine I've been building for 4 years as time & finances permit, yes I could have bought a Dmax but what is the fun in buying Hp we 6.5 aficianados build for Hp

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Member BigBlueChevy on TTS site did solid axle swap conversion on his Burb so that is doable as well, as I said before all things possible with time & money

 

the 30,000 LBS is a guess its my bull dozer it is 18,000 19,00 ish and the trailer is about 3,000 and then the tools and stuff in the bed and stuff like that ive had the Dmax 6 years and ive pulled this load about 9 10 times about 20 miles max and i really like my Dmax better but i dont have the money to fix it but i have most of the parts to fix the 6.5 even with the solid axle swap conversion idea all i need to fix it is time and a long bock or to pull it down and freshin it up and its all legal im in AL and have a FARM tag so my wight limite it like 35k lbs ish o and im pretty sure my injectors went out on the Dmax it had alot of gray smoke at ide and at take off be for i parked it for 8 months and now its a no start so i think its the injectors