Me A Happy Camper - 1975 Dodge 500

[crash325]

For Every Rose there is a Thorn. Lately lots of thorns & very few roses.
Think that repairing the old Dodge is somehow jinxing me.

Little rose bud. 3 /4 days & baby doves & mother are gone. Know that Inca Dove babies can fly in 3 days. Didn't know that about full size doves.

Built a harness out of rope to hold Little Boy while going to town. Had him tied with rope, he chewed that in to in about 3 minuets. OK use some dog chain.
Get back from town & he got out of harness & is gone. Spent the next day driving all over the neighborhood & no Little Boy. Dog catcher was in the area, ask him if he has my dog. Says nope, no dogs at all.

Next AM Mother Bobby scratches on the door. Never done that before, but I think she wants in the house. Nope it took her a little while to show & tell me that we have to check the yard for Little Boy. Every time I quit following her, she comes back to get me. She talking her head off, another thing she had never done. All her life she has had a dog companion, Wants Little Boy back.

Get a call from the dog jail. Little Boy was picked up by the border patrol & taken to jail. 70+ miles 1 way, yep he is there, does not even seem glad to see me. No bail, just prove who I am & fill out a form. Surprise, have a helper go with me to help get him in the truck. Soon as he gets close to truck & I open the door in he jumps. Will this continue??? As I start driving he wants out. After a few miles he settles down. Wants out when I open the gate at the yard, manage to keep him in the truck, he stays while I close the gate. Drive around the yard & tell him OK get out & he just looks at me. Mother Bobby who went with me is talking to him. After a little while he gets out.

I can't go any where until I dog Prof the fence. Going to put up some chicken wire, where I think he can get out.

More Later
Jim

 

[Ken]

Jim I had a problem with A LARGE red dog that would dig under the fence. so cleaned back the grass and piles of dirt from its digging and buried a sheet of metal roofing with about 4 inch of side bent up to attach bottom of chain link fence. Then added a elec. fence charger on insulators close to bottom of the fence. and another set at top so would not climb over.
That day while at work wife called and this dog had moved back to edge of the metal roofing material and dug under the fence.
Found the dog at neighbors location and he had crawled under to be in same pen .Seem the call of nature is strong.
Then we had filled out a survey form from Purina foods and had listed name as Clifford and our mailing address. Started to receive advertisement for all over including a Visa card all to use only call a 800 number . But Clifford disappeared along with his lady friend was never found think stolen and later Visa called to find out why never activated card Told the caller, Clifford had run away with lady next door . ruined his credit.
Be glad your dog wants to be with you better than biting in the wrong places.
ken

 

[crash325]

I think I have found the place he is currently getting out & back in if he chooses. Good thing is he does not go out when I am here, only when I leave.
Have some wire sort of like miniature hog wire. Will put it up tomorrow & see what happens. He has done a little digging, but up & over is his way out.
Chances are he will find another place??? If I can keep him in, think I will go bail out another dog, he didn't try to get out when Little Brat was alive. hope is another friend will keep him occupied.

Where the Border Patrol picked him up is over 15 miles down Ajo Hwy. How he got that far is pretty amazing, he had to make a lot of choices & not get hit by a vehicle.

Since the was picked up by the BP, is he now an illegal Alien ???
If so ***** will give him a work permit, food stamps, SSI card, ***** Care, & a tax refund. :cool2: :thumbsup:

 

[crash325]

A little more on the life of a boring hermit.

Took a day to do nothing. Did cook a roast, came out tasteless. BA Humbug. Dogs love it.

Lured Little Boy in the truck cab with a hot dog. Took him & Mother Bobby for ride around the neighbor hood. He got back in the truck once on command. Progress I guess. He got in yesterday but come out pretty fast.

Worked on the fence, repair / improve?? It should have been good enough for most any dog, but not for Little Boy. Plan to go over to the well or some other place close & see if he finds another place to get out.

More later,
Jim

 

[FordGuy62]

I will be interested to see how your Ford MC works. My 74 Dodge 600 flatbed ("Ermer") is showing signs of a deteriorating master cylinder (intermittent soft pedal). I flushed the fluid last year and that helped, but it is deteriorating. Most times I have a firm pedal and great brakes. Sometimes it goes soft, but one or two pumps and it's firm again. A little scary. Had the 318-3 (industrial) from the factory. It had a bad clatter. Pulled the oil pan and found a bad piston (missing small chunk at wristpin boss). I ended up buying a 360 from a motorhome, low mileage (aren't they all?), new bearings and oil pump and it runs great. Truck has the granny 4-speed (NP435 IIRC) with PTO for the dump bed. I'm in the process of installing a gooseneck hitch to the frame & will cut a doorway through the bed. Great truck for gravel, dirt, landscape materials, lumber, scrap metal, whatever. A real workhorse.

 

[crash325]

I will be interested to see how your Ford MC works. My 74 Dodge 600 flatbed ("Ermer") is showing signs of a deteriorating master cylinder (intermittent soft pedal). I flushed the fluid last year and that helped, but it is deteriorating. Most times I have a firm pedal and great brakes. Sometimes it goes soft, but one or two pumps and it's firm again. A little scary. Had the 318-3 (industrial) from the factory. It had a bad clatter. Pulled the oil pan and found a bad piston (missing small chunk at wristpin boss). I ended up buying a 360 from a motorhome, low mileage (aren't they all?), new bearings and oil pump and it runs great. Truck has the granny 4-speed (NP435 IIRC) with PTO for the dump bed. I'm in the process of installing a gooseneck hitch to the frame & will cut a doorway through the bed. Great truck for gravel, dirt, landscape materials, lumber, scrap metal, whatever. A real workhorse.

Hi for Guy,
I'd like to see a picture of your truck.
As I said earlier working on my guy is jinked. Every time I start something else goes wrong.
2 Problems are the big & small brake lines are reversed, minor. Push rod from vacuum assist it too big around. I have decided the best way to cure that is to grind it down to size. Bad thing is it has to be done will installed. 4" Angle grinder is my choice of weapons. 1 Hand for the grinder & 1 to turn the rod.

I hope to get back to working on it in the near future.

One thing you might want of look into is broken brake return springs. That is where my problems started.

Almost impossible to overload the old guy. I wish it were a dump & have thought about converting it. Only thing stopping that is $$$.

I will try & get you the numbers off the Ford cylinder & post them for you.

Well my jail bird dog is home & happy as a clam. The fence has been improved & fixed. No normal dog would have ever gotten out. But this big old clown just is not normal. Gave it a little test the other day & he was still here when Mother Bobby & I got home.

More Later,
Jim

 

[FordGuy62]

I hadn't thought of broken return springs. The debate here is which is less painful, an expensive master cylinder or removing those brake drums? The guy I bought the truck from put new brakes and kingpins on the truck, but that has been a number of years and little miles.

The only load related issue I have is rear wheel clearance. When I bumped up to 9.00-20 from 8.25-20 tires, I had to radius notch the outer rails of the bed. 5-6 tons of well-centered gravel is OK, but off-center or too much weight and I can get tires rubbing.

I will attempt to upload some pictures of Ermer. This is my first try on this site. One picture of the old 318 coming out, one of the "new" 360 going in; one loaded with gravel and before cosmetic work; one after sandblast and powdercoat of wheels, mirrors and front bumper, and two showing current status mounting the gooseneck hitch. Paint is peeling on the hood as you can cee in the picture of front of truck.

 

[crash325]

I hadn't thought of broken return springs. The debate here is which is less painful, an expensive master cylinder or removing those brake drums? The guy I bought the truck from put new brakes and kingpins on the truck, but that has been a number of years and little miles.

The only load related issue I have is rear wheel clearance. When I bumped up to 9.00-20 from 8.25-20 tires, I had to radius notch the outer rails of the bed. 5-6 tons of well-centered gravel is OK, but off-center or too much weight and I can get tires rubbing.

I will attempt to upload some pictures of Ermer. This is my first try on this site. One picture of the old 318 coming out, one of the "new" 360 going in; one loaded with gravel and before cosmetic work; one after sandblast and powdercoat of wheels, mirrors and front bumper, and two showing current status mounting the gooseneck hitch. Paint is peeling on the hood as you can cee in the picture of front of truck.

#@&###@@%%%

Site at my post & only put up your quote. Will try again.

Before spending any $$ try adjusting the brakes on all 4 wheels. Then bleed the brakes & see if that cures your problems.
Dodge replacement MC was $450. 00 for a rebuilt one. Brand new Ford MC cylinder was $65. Old ford & Chevy parts are plentiful & cheap. No so with an old Dodge.
Wheel cylinders being an exception USA made were about $35, new China made are about $29.

If you do have to pull a brake drum try to get a spring kit before starting.

My old guy is happy at 55 MPH, Over 60 & he not happy. Engine does have a governor on it. 1St gear is crawl, rarely needed. Clutch a little touchy, likes all in or all out. If not done correctly old guy really bucks. Tyranny synchro's not so hot, best to double clutch & match RPM.

First goal is to get the old guy HWY legal again. Then slowly restore it. If I ever get that done, have a 1 ton 1956 Ford to work on. May never get to it, lack of $$ & I'm getting older.

Thanks for the pictures.
More Later,
Jim

 

[doxford jim]

I hadn't thought of broken return springs. The debate here is which is less painful, an expensive master cylinder or removing those brake drums? The guy I bought the truck from put new brakes and kingpins on the truck, but that has been a number of years and little miles.

The only load related issue I have is rear wheel clearance. When I bumped up to 9.00-20 from 8.25-20 tires, I had to radius notch the outer rails of the bed. 5-6 tons of well-centered gravel is OK, but off-center or too much weight and I can get tires rubbing.

I will attempt to upload some pictures of Ermer. This is my first try on this site. One picture of the old 318 coming out, one of the "new" 360 going in; one loaded with gravel and before cosmetic work; one after sandblast and powdercoat of wheels, mirrors and front bumper, and two showing current status mounting the gooseneck hitch. Paint is peeling on the hood as you can cee in the picture of front of truck.

Would it not be safer to add a block under the frame to give you some extra clearance ?
Other than that, you sure have a nice looking truck for it's age and that size would be very handy.

 

[FordGuy62]

60 MPH flat out is max. Same thing with trans, even with fresh gear oil shifting takes some finesse. The two-speed rear end makes it nice for heavy loads on rural roads. Too bad the Dodge parts are so pricey. I'm a Ford guy by nature (hence my member name), but the ol' Dodge somehow spoke to me, and the price was pretty good. I'm not much of a Dodge guy, but there is something about that truck. You sure don't see many of them.

The reason I suspect the master cylinder is the intermittent nature of the soft pedal. Great brakes 80%+ of the time, occasionally extra pedal travel requiring a pump or two to firm up again. I have to say that the factory brakes on the old truck are pretty darn sure, even pushing 20k lbs loaded. I just don't want to push my luck with whatever is going on.

I'm setting it up with the gooseneck hitch so I can pull my trailer with mini or tractor. The hitch came off of a '90s Ford pickup but was an easy adapt to the narrow Dodge frame. Gotta finish up fastening the hitch to the frame and then work on a doorway for the hitch to extend through the bed floor to the hitch. He won't go fast, but he will start, turn and stop far better than a light-duty truck. I picked up an old-school Kelsey-Hayes brake controller, new-in-box, dated 1977; the type that tees into the brake line. I'm going to use that one vs. the newer electronic/inertia type, since the old style is compatible with the Dodge. I'm hoping for smoother, more positive trailer braking.

There are only a couple of choices I can see to increase tire clearance; raise the bed (PITA due to hinge point and hydraulic cylinders), add spacer between axle and spring, or increase clearance in outer bed rail. Since there isn't much load on the outer rail, and it was pretty easy to reinforce, I went that route.