5500 Album by Kevin Foust. 1 - 121 of 121 Total. 5839 Visits.
1 Been looking for a bigger truck for several years and had given up on finding a Dodge 4x4. People tend to keep them for a reason as the newer Fords seem to have all kinds of motor/driveline problems.
2 Wasn't really looking for a megacab and this one has a long wheelbase.
3 Went to see it in Indy and it was SO clean for a work truck.
4 It had been sitting outside a while and needed a good cleaning but no real damage was done to it.
5 It's a 2008 5500 4x4 diesel with a Knapheide service body.
6 Made a lowball offer and he accepted so here we go.
7 I bought it to pull my gooseneck trailer and didn't think the service body would work without some mods. Local dealer offered me $3000.00 for it so I started to do some measuring.
8 After measuring I was happy to find that it looks like it will be fine if I just cut the step bumper back.
9 To make the gooseneck hitch mount correctly and easily I decide to pull the service body off and paint it then. Has some scratches and would be the best time to correct that.
10 Interior is extremely nice for a work truck that has been used.
11 Lots of room here!
12 Cummins runs great and is all stock.
13 Top cover was broken but a buddy said I could have his.
14 Cleaned it all up and looks a lot better now.
15 Buffed the paint and it shines again.
16 First up is the bumper. It does clear as is but is too close for me anyway. Off cambers might have hit but not sure. It was bent there anyway so plan is to make it flush with the inset in the center.
17 Here you can see how much will be removed.
18 Someone had a couple of whoops as you can see. No real need to have it sticking out this far for my use anyway.
19 Rear frame will have to be chopped off a little too. Made the marks for amount to be removed.
20 Put the bumper on the table and got it ready for the plasma cutter.
21 They had pinched the wiring loom where it passed by the frame. I notched/smoothed it while I was cutting things.
22 Won't be any issues now. Makes everything tidier too.
23 Next I cut the frame ends off and smoothed them up.
24 After smoothing some paint was applied.
25 Bumper was next and cut off the extra there as well.
26 Smoothed the edges and cleaned it up for welding on the new lower section.
27 Here is the middle section that was covered by the steel that was sticking out. Plan is to use a section of the same size box tubing to make it the same size/look.
28 Got a scrap piece from the pile and looks like it'll work fine.
29 Wanted to bend the corners around and here is a little trick. I use a piece of cereal box and bend a 90 degree edge. Then cut a V till it matches the angle. This way you have a quick, foolproof cutting guide.
30 Here is the angle needed.
31 Open it up and lay it out.
32 welded the box tubing on the original center section.
33 Once welded on the end, I pulled the outer edge down. Note I left it long so I could have a built in leverage advantage. Once tacked, I'll cut it off. Saves a lot of measuring this way.
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37 Pulled the bed off and out in on a wagon. I'll have to put it back on and off to double check the gooseneck hitches position so this will make it essier to move around. It IS pretty heavy.
38 Put it in the garage for now.
39 Truck is beefy, here you can see the springs are over 7 inches in total thickness.
40 I did a lot of measuring before taking the body off. You have to be dead on with this for your hole to align.
41 Truck has a 52 gallon fuel tank.
42 Not any space left in there!
43 Exhaust runs through the area where the mount will be located but luckily most will be above it. The hanger will cause an issue as I want to retain it for ease and strength. I'm not welding it to the frame and it will bolt on like the factory made one does on my other truck.
44 Frame is big on this truck. .310 thick and over 8 inches tall here. They have gussets on the bottom as well, doubling the thickness.
45 Behind the cab it is 14 inches tall!
46 After leveling and aligning, I put the hitch into position. I'm using a Una-Goose center section. They sold me that after calling asking for it. I used one of these on my 3/4 ton and was very happy with it.
47 Center section slides on heavy box tubing for adjustment. Once in place, bolts pinch it to stay there. Plates will be on the inside and straps will go around the frame. It'll make sense later when you see it.
48 Cut the drivers side plate out and had to put some reliefs for brake lines, wiring and bump stops.
49 Vise Grips hold it for mock up.
50 Looks good so far.
51 Other side will require a little work as the exhaust mount sticks out beyond the frame. I want to make it so I can still remove the exhaust if need without messing with the hitch.
52 A piece of angle iron will do the trick and still keep it strong.
53 Welded it on for good after checking the clearance. I filled in the end as well.
54 Should be fine now.
55 Looks good so on to the next step
56 Shouldn't have any rattles as there is plenty of room.
57 Next was the straps. I went bigger than the factory used on my other one. These are 1/4 X 2 inch. laid out the bend lines and marked them.
58 Used the compact bender to do them cold. Took all I could pull to do this as this is an older one.
59 This thing is a great option for doing stuff like this.
60 All done and ready to drill.
61 Nice and clean with no welding required.
62 Factory used 1/2 bolts and I went bigger with 5/8" grade 8.
63 LOTS more remeasuring and tacked the box beam to the ends. Here you can see the pinch bolts for the center section as well.
64 Rechecking again and is good so final welding can be done. AFTER bed is put on for a trial fit that is!
65 Happy with the way it turned out.
66 After putting the bed on it was fine. I'm going a step further and drilled a 3/4" hole and bolting the plates to the frame to securely locate it forever.
67 I made a a triple wall pipe collar to go between the frame and inner plate so it will be solid with no flexing.
68 I then final welded the center section in with 2 passes.
69 Should be plenty strong here too.
70 Brought the bed back in for painting.
71 Decide to take it off the wagon and hold it up with some wood rounds.
72 Scuff sanded everything to get ready for primer.
73 Pulled all the lights and latches off. Sanded down the scratched areas some to help the feathering there. This will be a 30 foot paint job!
74 After taping it all off I primed it and started sanding it out.
75 Ghosting it out as you can see here.
76 Other than scratches, bed was in nice shape.
77 Used 3/4's of a gallon of paint to do it. I used acrylic urethane on it and came out nice.
78 A few sags here and there but as I said. It's a work truck and not a show truck.
79 Going to paint the inside of the boxes as well while I'm at it.
80 Gives a nice gloss to it as well and fits with the rest of the truck.
81 Cleaned the rear section of frame and painted it too.
82 I sand blasted the hitch assembly pieces and powder coated them here at home.
83 Ready to put the bed back on.
84 Double checked all the bolts torque.
85 lines and wires all clear fine.
86 As well as the exhaust.
87 Here we go!
88 Before putting the bed on I got some diamond plate for the corners and top. It was chipped up pretty bad when I got it so I decide to go to the top with it, instead of just small plates at the bottom.
89 Put some on the side as I had it left over.
90 Put it all the way on the top so You can set stuff up there without messing it up. Sets it off to me too.
91 Inside of the boxes were painted gray and the doors white.
92 Little mini rollers make quick work of this.
93 For the inside of the box I decided to use Herculiner. They had it on the floor but not the sides. Here I ruffed up the sides so it would stick better.
94 I used an angle grinder with a stripping pad. Went quick.
95 Got the Herculiner on and put the bed back. All cleaned up and ready to go.
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100 Bed turned out nice. You have to do 2 coats and I used 1 1/4 gallons. I only put one coat on the floor as it allready had it.
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102 Here you can see the finished bumper. I used Herculiner on it as well.
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105 Clean and neat gooseneck mount.
106 This is how I'm hauling the WC. Some would say overkill but I want it to stay!
107 Same with the tire rack. Basicly 3 2 inch straps will have to break before one tire will be loose.
108 Made up some special hauling rims that UI can run chains and straps through. Had to use wheel spacers as well to clear the disk brake calipers. Chains are Xed front and rear.
109 2 inch ratchet straps are used on the inside to relieve stress on the suspension pull.
110 After I cut the holes in the rims I welded in bent flat pieces of steel so the straps won't wear.
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113 Pulls like a dream.
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115 With truck on the trailer the helper springs are still about 3/4 of an inch from hitting on the 5500.
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117 I put another 7 pole trailer connector inside the bed so the cord isn't hanging out the back. Hopefully that will save any future headaches.
118 I also put in 10 stainless recessed hooks for holding stuff in the bed. That will keep things from sliding around.
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121 Here's a trick to make your life easier. Put a piece of 1" tape in the center of your tailgate. Then get some wide masking tape and do 2 runs to the center of your gooseneck ball 1" between. Then spray with a contrasting color. Makes backing up to the ball a lot easier. Say you did it for the wife. ;)
