Caterpillar conversion looking for ideas and info
 

Ok I've bin saving up for this for some time so it's going to happen, the motor I'm going to drop in will be one of three 3116 3126 or c7 any help on witch one mite be better I'm leaning more toward the 3126 for the price and availability and no I'm not going with a cummins or any thing els I'm dead set on the cat and I'm going to make it happen

Next is the truck it needs to be 1997 or older to get around California smog, also looking for a 1 ton any make as long as it's the big three I need help to decide witch one would have the biggest engine bay or best front end to deal with the weight not afraid to break out the tools to make it work

Tranny I'm looking for a 6speed I can have an adapter plate made for most anything so witch would be best nv5600 zf6 or other any ideas I need them

Motor what ever I get won't be stock when it goes in, the guys at the cat dealer are all for helping me getting some thump out of it, I'm thinking if possible with a cat head studs,o-ring injectors, twin turbos, injector pump, I need ideas if needed I can have some custom parts made.

Before I jump all in I need to be fully ready so let's hear it some info so I can get the parts coming and the torch going :tu:

Are those mechanical series engines or HEUI? I wouldn't bother with swapping in a HEUI headache. :argh:

I would get the engine with whatever manual trans comes with it from the medium-duty truck.

As for a truck to put it in.... skip past the 94-02 Dodge, and 88-00 Chev IFS trucks. The frames are just not up to it IMO.

The 3116 in mechanical the 3126 is HEUI the newer c7 is common rail

I have a line on a hwy motor with 300hp but no tranny and I got friends with some bad a$$ machine shops that can do almost anything to make most anything work but if I found a Doner I would go that route with setup And divorced Tcase for the 4x4

Found a 82 2wd 1 ton diesel motor bay is a little small but I was going to cut it up anyway the guy in asking 1700 and it's got 77,000 miles on it. Or a 88 for f450 diesel for 1900 miles unknown I'm leaning toward the ford suggestions ?

Probably two of the stoutest 2wd trucks out there. I give the edge to the F450 with beam axle and rear discs.

We'll couldn't get the ford but I traded some stuff to a friend with a little money and got a dodge 97 1 ton now time to find the motor :jump:

Check that frame carefully, and don't plan on using the truck too hard. I have a 95 1-ton wreck that folded/cracked just ahead of the factory frame splice in the middle. They are a tall channel, but the gauge is thin, so rust weakens it faster.

The F-Superduty frame would have been the bomb... you'd have a proper Class 4/5 truck at the end -with Cat power - disguised as a pickup.

I've bin thinking on what you said earlier about the week frame on the dodge so I called my friends at wfo concepts in auburn California and they can double frame or beef it up the whole length of the frame for pretty good price. Also I was looking at a rebuilt eaton 10 speed today in my area, or should I keep looking for. Something like a 8 speed
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For some reason I can't put a pic up here but it's in my album

8 or 10 are most likely dual range anyway. I'd pick the 10. I think 7 speed is the most you can get in a single range box.

Another place to check is the front frame horns up front rust out on the bottom.

Some of the hardest use I see on frames is cantiveler loads. Tow trucks, dump trucks - anything that uses the rear axle as a fulcrum or pivot point. This 95 1-ton I have was a dumptruck. It seems the dumpbed went up, and the load didn't start sliding out soon enough, and started to pull the front tires off the ground. Instead of the tires lifting (I guess the cummins was too heavy) it folded the frame. Pushed the whole powertrain up and forward - ripped the trans mount, stuffed the tcase into the bottom of the cab, and broke both engine mounts. :ouch:

If that is the truck you want to build, beefing up the frame is certainly a good idea. :c:

It will be used for pulling a 5th wheel with a dozer on it and farm truck I killed my last three trucks with my 30,000 pound trailer the fist was a 01 dmax the silver one in my avatar pic a 08 dodge 3 trannys auto, and my 11 dodge fixed the dmax and the 11 but got rid of the 08. So this truck will just be for the farm stuff and the trailer till it dies then fix it beef it up and repeat. :tu:

I bet it was a wild ride when that truck went in half with some one in it :scare2:

Found a gmc topkick with a 3116 for cheap. Motor is a little dirty and has some miles on it but that's ok it's getting rebuilt before it gos in the truck. Will update more with pics when the motor gets and install starts

The 3116 will be the easiest since it's a mechanical engine.

I'm not sure you'll have a lot of room for a 7 speed… you'll probably have to do a body lift in any case and that may give you enough room to use that trans but I may try to look at using a T-19 with an Advance Adapter two speed aux box.

Pulled the 3116 from the topkick on Saturday. Now it's sitting waiting to be rebuilt pics from the pulling of the motor can be found in my photos

Pulled the 12v from the dodge the other night. Now for preping of the truck for the motor

Found a truck the other day with a bigger frame to use instead of the dodge. The motor bay is bigger to which is a plus Attachment 29894

I wish you were much closer to me as I would love to spend some time crawling around, over, and through that truck. I have a 94 Chev K2500 4X4 with the 6.5 diesel in it, and I would really like to do some comparisons between the two rigs. This may be a long story, but we both may come out with some good info.

The GMT 400 chassis (90ish to 2000ish body style), in the diesel pickups, was well known to have cooling issues. Supposedly, the body design restricted the cooling stack, making enough air flow through the rad a problem. Everything in this post is going to center around this aspect.

Looking at your pic of the truck, there is a subtle, yet major difference between your truck and the pickup chassis. Focus on the grill. Just below the headlight and turn/running light the grill changes color. Around the lights the grill is charcoal gray, below that the gray becomes lighter. The darker part of the grill is a separate piece from the lower lighter part of the grill.

The upper part is the same as the pickup, and will interchange with the pickups. The lower piece is used only with the true 3500 HD chassis. Could you measure the height of this piece, down to the very bottom edge? You will probably find it easier to measure where it curves back into the wheel well. I'm guessing it to be somewhere in the 5-6 inch range.

The frame for your truck is different than the pickup frame, even the 1 ton pickup frame, and I'm guessing that it is much heavier duty. In front of the suspension the frame swoops down lower so that the extended height of the extra grill piece will fit, and still have the bumper at a reasonable height to the road. I'm guessing that this could allow for a taller radiator also. If so, this is a big plus for you, keeping in mind that the 6.5 diesel GMT 400 chassis had a built in cooling problem, even with a wider rad than the same pickup with a gas motor and rad.

All of this means that your rad could potentially be taller than the one in the pickup. I'm equating a taller rad with increased cooling capacity available. The stock rad for my pickup has a core size of 34" wide X 19 7/16" tall (according to Rockauto, and what I've measured on my rad). I have not been able to find anything on a truck like yours. But, a Duramax rad for 2006 to 2010 has a 34" X 24 3/8" core which is basically 5" taller. And all the hose connections and built in tranny/oil coolers are similar.

To my way of thinking, if your rad core is the same as what my pickup has then you have the potential to be able to use the DMax rad because the spacer in the grill, and the downward swoop of the frame, should leave enough room.

I have also been researching this wondering if I could modify my rad core support, lift the cab, and use the grill spacer, like your truck has, to be able to use the DMax rad for better cooling. I have never had cooling problems during normal DD type driving. But, as soon as I tow anything bigger like a travel trailer I have to be very careful.

Would you be willing to take pics of the rad, rad mounts, and fan shroud? Measurements also? From looking at your pic the motor is still in place, so this might make it hard to get pics. If so, I understand.

Thanks, Don

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=M_Op8Npe1_c The red truck is a 91 6.2l the green one is a 97 6.5l

Thanks for the video. It's very obvious that the cab & chassis truck has a much heavier frame than the pickups. Also, from this video I now want to see if I can find the grill spacer that is used on the 3500 HD cab & chassis. The only draw back I can see so far is that the pickup cab would have to be lifted, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 6". I have never been a big fan of body lifts, but gaining cooling capacity for towing might be a good reason.

Don