Full Size Jeep Network

I kinda hijacked another thread about this, so I am sorry about that...

So let's make this an official thread... I need input.
I was in the process of doing the magnum driveline swap into my J20, but I had to put it on hold before I had much more done than pulling the J20 driveline out and stripping down the body, pulling the grill, lights and the interior... The donor truck is a '95 short box, regular cab 1500 Ram, that I have been driving to work on occasion over the winter... We had an event here in Iowa, this weekend at a place called MIOBI, and all my Jeeps seem to be out of service for one reason or another, go figure... so in a last ditch effort to attend, we swapped the 35s from one of my CJs onto the Ram, trimmed up the back of the fenders with a sawzall and drove 3 hrs to the event, wheeled the everloving crap out of this truck all day, then drove it 3 hrs home! I averaged 11 mpg for the whole day by the way...


So it got me thinking, rather than having to deal with the driveline mounts, fuel delivery, shift linkage and a whole list of other things, why not put the J20 body onto my Ram frame? Change a few body mounts, shorten the truck bed to the wheelbase, swap over the entire wire harness and modify what is needed... I don't know, doesn't seem like it would be a bad job, was going to lift it anyway so why not modify the J20 axles to the coil front of the Ram? It sure rides nice compared to the J20, and flexes really well!

Pros and cons, please!

Well, I actually think putting the J-Truck body on the ram frame will be a lot more work than swapping the engine and stuff to the J20 frame. You would gain the front coil suspension of the Ram, which is cool. Would take some work to get the J20's front axle setup for the coils. Not sure anybody makes weld on mounts. You could try and get the stock mounts off, but they are pretty thin material so not sure how straight they would be afterwards. And then you have to get them in the right position without having the old axle/mounts to measure from.

Not sure how much work body mounts would be, depends on the frame design. I have never compared the two side by side.

I think you would have a better driving/riding rig with the Ram frame/suspension. But it would be way less work to put the Ram's stuff into the J20.

Stuka wrote: I think you would have a better driving/riding rig with the Ram frame/suspension. But it would be way less work to put the Ram's stuff into the J20.

X2

If you have access to the entire Ram truck assembly, then yes, swapping the J20 onto the Ram chassis will be the way to go.

I say this after having done all sorts of drivetrain swaps in jeeps.

Then again, it gets you thinking - why not just drive the Ram truck as it is and tow the J20 (after building it)?...

Blake wrote:

Stuka wrote: I think you would have a better driving/riding rig with the Ram frame/suspension. But it would be way less work to put the Ram's stuff into the J20.

X2

If you have access to the entire Ram truck assembly, then yes, swapping the J20 onto the Ram chassis will be the way to go.

I say this after having done all sorts of drivetrain swaps in jeeps.

Then again, it gets you thinking - why not just drive the Ram truck as it is and tow the J20 (after building it)?...

Well, this is my other dilema.. I had a blast wheeling that Dodge, in fact, a discussion ensued later that day on what could be conquered if it only had a bumper with a winch mounted to it... (My Dodge has no front bumper) Well a fellow wheeler, whom I don't even know, offered his shop, bender, tools and his expertise to build me a kickass winch bumper for it, and that is actually going to happen in a couple weeks... I like Dodges, have always driven Dodges, but I really like Jeeps too and thought it would be cool to build what this thread is all about... And my original plan for the J20, WAS to build it into a tow rig with a modern, fuel injected driveline, hence, me getting this Dodge... it's a big conundrum

It does sound like a whole lot more work to put the Jeep body on the Dodge frame. With that said, if you can do the work and have the room, go for it.

What about registration and emission / technical inspection? which is what is on our mind in California.

letank wrote:What about registration and emission / technical inspection? which is what is on our mind in California.

Registration? i would just use the J20 title... because we have no emissions or tech inspections in normal states...

I bought my CJ7 in PA, as a frame and driveline and several boxes of parts and a dash, built it while I was working out there with a YJ tub, long story short... It came with a NY title that had been signed and dated 12 years ago, I mailed it to my wife in Iowa, she went to the courthouse and registered it and mailed me the plates... just in case you needed a definition for "normal states"...

By the way, I ripped all the emissions of it, installed headers, intake, Holley T/A carb, and now it uses a Gallon of gas every 8 to 10 miles, with much of that ending up as black soot all over the back of my Jeep... I know this sounds reckless and wasteful, but it's a free country, right? Well, I guess for most of us it is...

So I've decided that it will be too much work to do the body swap, and I am having way to much fun with the Dodge to take it apart now, and besides, the bumper build for it is on this weekend so I would hate to waste that effort as well...

Now the focus has changed... the 360 is in the CJ7 now anyway and I reeally like how it runs... and now I have this tuned port 350/ SM465/ NP208 combo that was going to go into the CJ, just laying around... I'm kinda thinking I have a new plan now, and I may not even have to change my drive shafts!

If it's not diesel, it's not worth the swap

Carnuck, I completely agree with you...

401 or go home with tears.

Jeesh... tough crowd!