L-S-160 Dump Truck Rebuild

I'm finally getting started on my dump truck project. It's a '52 L-162 to be specific. SD-240, 4-speed, 2-speed axle, 3 yard box. The cab is shot so I have an S-160 cab from a parts truck I bought from forum member PeterH that will be going on it, hence the "L-S-160" designation. When I do the cab swap I will also be replacing brake lines, installing a 3-speed brownie (auxiliary transmission), building an alternator mount and anything else that would be easier done with the cab off. My goal is to have this thing road legal by June so I can take it to a local "run what ya brung" car show. You may have noticed I called this a rebuild, rather that a restoration. I want to get it driving reliably first, then later on think more along the lines of bodywork and paint.

So for starters on New Year's day I installed the shifter for the brownie. Since the floor of this cab is shot, I decided it would be easiest to pick the location by removing the cover plate and cutting out a chunk of the floor and this is what I wound up with. I may fiddle with it a little more, but it's pretty close to it's final place. I have to put in the parking brake drum and band but hopefully there won't be any conflict with the shifter.



I built a bracket that uses the running board bracket bolts in the frame. I'll try to get pictures later.



I've been rounding up parts for the last several months and today I had what I needed to do a partial rebuild on the front axle from the parts truck. I decided to use this axle since the king pins are tighter. The wheel cylinders and wheel seals got replaced and I was happy to discover the brakes and return springs still have lots of life left in them. I also replaced the tie rod ends. Gonna try to get the axle swapped next week in the hour or two I have after work if my dad doesn't need to use his shop.



Here's the cab that will be going on it. Handy place to store it!

The aux shifter is most often bolted to the main trans and not the frame. As the whole drivetran is torqued, the shifter will move with it. If it is bolted to the frame it will remain stationary and could be forced out of gear. The aux is mounted with "dounut" mounts at the rear and a yoke that can swivel at the front. Better to let the shifter move with the drivetrain.
I have a winch truck that they bolted to PTO controls to the trans AND frame, it didn't last long before it broke!

I considered the bolting it to the transmission, but my RD-405 has the shifter bolted to the bottom of the cab between the seats and as far as I know that's from the factory, so I figured if that works this should, too. If this setup creates problems, it won't be hard to change it.

Nice rig. You might need to do some modifications to get the L sheetmetal onto the S cab. If I recall, it's just a matter of bolt locations, but it's been a while since I've looked at one.

I was looking at something at Nick's site and thought I'd post a link. The sales engineering bulletins might be useful,they cover all the L-series.

http://nwaringa.wordpress.com/manuals/

Have fun and keep the pic's/info coming.

Nice rig. You might need to do some modifications to get the L sheetmetal onto the S cab. If I recall, it's just a matter of bolt locations, but it's been a while since I've looked at one.

Thanks for the heads up. We'll all know for sure soon!

I was looking at something at Nick's site and thought I'd post a link. The sales engineering bulletins might be useful,they cover all the L-series.

http://nwaringa.wordpress.com/manuals/

Have fun and keep the pic's/info coming.

Thanks for that link, Scottso. I've poked around on his site a bit but must not have looked farther down on that page. So far I'm been having fun. It wouldn't be much fun if I was doing this at work and had to worry about getting things done in a reasonable amount of time. I'm always amazed at how a job that I figured would take an hour or two with a dozen tools can eat up a whole day and half of the toolbox.

Tonight I got the axle out and I'm going to try to put the other one in tomorrow night.

Oh, yeah. Rock Auto is great. I got all my brake parts on closeout for about $100 cheaper than Napa, including shipping.

Yesterday evening the axle went in and brake lines hooked up. Today I pulled apart the left hub again to replace the bearings I didn't have when I had it apart the first time. So I took a picture of my new wheel cylinders in their places with bright, shiny faces.



It turns out that a broken Ferd 351 camshaft makes a pretty good bearing race driver.



The truck is back on it's own wheels now. Next phase may be swapping the rear axle out for the parts truck axle. This one has 3" wide brakes and the other one has optional 4" which should make it more highway speed friendly. I don't plan to haul anything of any weight at 55mph but it's still an 8,000 lb truck empty so I figure more brakes is better.

It's been bumper straightening week. I pulled it off and by heatin' and beatin' managed to get it fairly straight.

To get the bow out of the center we (my brother and I) put it on the table face down and put pressure on the bent part with clamps and then checked the edge with a straight edge. Starting with the biggest kink first we heated the flange until it was just turning red, then lightly quenched it by pressing a damp rag against it. This caused it to shrink and by working each high spot we got the center pretty straight. I didn't get any pictures of the process, but I got this one after to illustrate the basic idea.



Then to get the kinks out of the ends I clamped it to the table and pulled the end down with a come-a-long. I heated up the kinked spot red hot and with a 12 lb hammer behind I beat on it until the flange wasn't very wavy anymore. After it was all over I wound up with one end bent about 2 inches more even though things were pretty straight. Pulled down with the come-a-long again, heated the flange red hot at the spot that seemed to have the biggest kink and when I checked afterward it was only 1/4" from the other side. Plenty good for me. In all I pulled the passenger side forward about 4 inches.

My methods are probably a bit crude, but the result was what I was going for. The pictures make the bumper look better than it really is and I may mess with it some more at a later date but for now I can put it back on not have it interfering with removing the sheetmetal when that time comes. I still have to tweak a bracket before I can put it back on but it shouldn't be a big deal.



Passenger side before and after. This was the worst of it.





Before and after.

Looks really good! That is old school metal bending! Puts me in mind of a couple of the fellows shops I used to haunt when I was still in High school. Long time ago.

Great job on the bumper Jared. I've been searching for quite a while for a replacement front bumper with no luck. I think I'll try a few of your techniques on the one I have.