Another Cummins truck: 91.5 W250, the "Blue Ox"

XRrider

Observer
Pardon the crudeness of my mspaint skills but with the boxxy front end of the ol' dodge I'd think a front end that followed the trend would look more at home. The straight bar design you had would look great on a '94. Nice to have the ability to draw up everything in CAD, solid models are so cool.
B4ASSEMBLYVIEW1.jpg
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
I dont know how to superimpose the bumper over a photo. I have been trying to formulate a design for the front bumper for over a year. Thank you for the input, you gents bring up a good point that the high grille bar would look better for the 1st gen. Below are some photos I have been collecting to get the creative juices flowing:

FJ60 with tall grille guard over headlights, which I like


Here is a Ram showing how high and wide the grille bar needs to be to clear the headlights. If you look at my 3d view, the center loop would need to be 4" taller to be above the headlight. I considered it, but when I measured it out it turned me off a bit. The main bumper tube on my dwg is the same height as the top of this trucks main bumper. (Also remember weight)


...and this one I personally like, maybe a little bit more like a prerunner. You can see where the side bars fall, below the headlight. I do not want to obscure the headlight at all, but dont might taking a little space from the signals.
 
Last edited:

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
The pics help with the visual for sure. I love the 60, and as for the Dodge pics, I still like the look of the one on the dually. I don't know what Buffalo is all about, but where I live we have trees tight to the trails, and big game animals like moose, elk and deer wandering around at dusk. I prefer more coverage. The per-runner style is cool too, and if it suits your needs and wants, build one!
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
That 60 is beautiful, and ARB has a great design to their equipment IMO. Front end protection is a prime consideration in this bumper build. I did not think on the order of Moose/Elk though, that sheds new light. We have a thick population of deer here in WNY and I have seen some damage to other vehicles, but haven't hit one yet. One thing that I noticed, as can be seen in both the FJ60 and dually Ram pic, they require a mid height protection cross tube since the Grille loop is so high, without that a deer would easily slip right through it. By keeping the grille loop lower, my thought is I can keep weight down while still having good protection. Honestly, I have never hit anything so I don't have experience how much protection is needed.

Edit: Kind of along my thinking mentioned above, this 'burb running the OffroadDesign front bumper wacked a couple Elk. He came out pretty cleanly considering, but still damage a hood and fender
http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/subbumpervselk.htm
 
Last edited:

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
I have a question I need answered tonight, should I keep the overload leaf in the rear spring packs? I do plan to have up to 4,000 lbs in the bed again, and its not a trail only rig. I am finally getting to the rear suspension on this long weekend, laboring away on the Blue Ox. I am pulling the extra springs out of the rear packs the PO added, wire brushing each leaf and painting them. I designed and built my own shackle flip brackets, and I plan on removing the 3" stock blocks, which should result in a 1-2" lift. Pictures to come later
 

CumminAlong

Observer
I would leave the overloads. I still have them on my 97 and I don't notice too much difference offroad. Granted my truck isn't really meant for offroad in the first place :coffeedrink:
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
Thanks the reply, I have one pack reassembled, I kept the overload, but did flip it, as there is a slight taper on the bottom, top was flat. So now the tapered side faces up. Really looking forward to having a compliant ride, if that's possible in these old trucks
 

CumminAlong

Observer
Yeah, these old 1st gens can result in kidney failure pretty easily! :Wow1: I'm sure this has been said before, but new front springs and a good set of shocks will do wonders for your ride.
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
I have new 2.5" springs for the front, which are next after the rear. The rear was the worst aspect of the ride, with 8 leaves+ overload, rode like a pay loader, I cringed several times on the way to work everyday
 

CumminAlong

Observer
Yeah, I can imagine that would be awful. should see lots of improvement with the mods you're doing! :smiley_drive:
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
Im almost done with the install and the clean up of the leaf packs
Shackle bracket design:

 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
You dont need Chevy 63" springs for a good ride

The shackle flip is done and it rides amazing. Along the lines of 1985 Caprice Classic, Buick Roadmaster. I ended up taking out the 2 additional springs added by the orig owner plus one extra from the stock pack. I would say a stock spring pack would ride great with these brackets. I was smiling ear to ear this morning on my ride to work, and laughed when the usual horrendous expansion joint that used to send my off the seat wasn't even noticeable, like I said, amazing. It rides great, but when I got up in the bed and was jumping around in the box, it doesnt feel soft like a half ton, still feels firm. Edit: after a few days of driving, the ride is firm in normal driving, but harsh bumps just melt away now, they are soaked right up.
The brackets bolt on in the stock location for the Diesel frames, no drilling.



 
Last edited:

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
Flexing out the 1st gen cummins, did a little articulation test. Flexes pretty good, the rear axle participates now. The new front springs and shocks will also make a world of difference, as the front is almost on the bumpstops when level and the front shocks allow only 1-2" droop. Then I'll get some pics in a frame twister



I will be relocating the upper shocks holes outboard, right now the stock length shock is limiting droop


These pictures show that the stock shock lenth is maxed for droop and is wrapping the axle
I have new bolts to install for the rear clips so the main leaf isnt getting flexed to the breaking point



 
Last edited:

Anthony24x

Observer
Awesome work! Did removing the leafs mean you ended up at about the same ride height? How do you think load carrying capacity is effected?
 

E.Roy

Aspiring Explorer
Thank you. The rear ride went from 24" to 24.5" with the 3" factory block removed, measured from the axle center to the wheel arch. I lost 3 leafs which were about .3" thick, so thats about 7/8 lost. I did have to make a 1" block that relocated the axle 1" rearward, which is bolted to the pack, something that might not be necessary if the stock block is retained. On capacity, the only time it was nice having so much spring as before was the time I put about 4,000 lbs (2 cu yards) of dirt in it. Now I would be less apt to try putting that much in, but its still a 3/4 ton, just not like a 1.5 ton.
 
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,533
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top