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D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. #3036609
04/24/22 02:37 PM
04/24/22 02:37 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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I'm still batting around options and ideas for my 75 D100 short box. From what I've figured out, there are a lot of similarities all the way through the 1993 Ram 1500 short box. The frames seem to be the same length and I assume they're the same track width (I couldn't find specs on the track width). The bodies appear to be similar in shape and size and the interiors also appear to be similar in size and build. (Here's what I'm thinking). I'm thinking that if I can find a good used 90 to 93 Ram 1500 (2WD or 4WD, I don't care which) I would use everything that I could except the body for my D100. If there are not a bunch of things that I haven't thought of, I'd use the frame, engine, trans, diff, steering, and suspension, fuel system, exhaust, cooling system, AC, wheels, tires, all of the electrical that I can reuse including the Dash (which I've heard is almost a direct bolt-in) (minor mods needed), gauge cluster, steering column, seats and any interior that I need or that looks better than what I already have. Also, they probably won't fit, but if the doors would happen to match up decent, or the guts would swap over, I'd keep the electric door locks and electric windows too. I doubt that they would be a match, but I'd use the RF fender and roof skin, (or patches from them) if they would fit. I'm obviously not a purist and I'm not looking to build a show truck, I just want a good daily driver. I'm not 100% sure about any of this, but that's where your knowledge, advice, and suggestions come in. Am I on track or am I hallucinating?


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3036619
04/24/22 03:20 PM
04/24/22 03:20 PM
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trw1982 Offline
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do it. the breakdown by years is as follows. 72-75, 76-80, 81-85, 86-90, 91-93. look at lmc web site for stuff you may need. i just took a 91 long bed, cut fram to short bed, installed the 318 tbi w/518 od trans. used and 87 cab. re used pass door from 91. changed drivers door from manual to power everything. core supports are diff on 91-93. but you can use almost everything, one way or another. it get a little hairy when you use an overdrive with a 30 gal gas tank. if you have specific questions, pm me here. my son and i have approx 15 trucks.

Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: trw1982] #3036627
04/24/22 03:41 PM
04/24/22 03:41 PM
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ILLINOIS
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volaredon Offline
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Trucks were still 3 digit ("150" not "1500" til the end of 93, 94 started the 4 digit ID ("1500")

Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: volaredon] #3036646
04/24/22 04:51 PM
04/24/22 04:51 PM
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ruderunner Offline
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Lots of swappable stuff from 72 to 93. But not all.

I've done the dash swap, wouldn't do it again. It's not a bolt in and the wiring is very different.

If the 75 is in such condition you need that much stuff off a newer truck, you might be better off using the 75 as the parts truck.

What is the end goal?


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ruderunner] #3036654
04/24/22 05:32 PM
04/24/22 05:32 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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The 75 has (pretty much) a good body, and it's the body style that I want. It does have a couple of small rust holes at the front bottom corners of the doors, one small one in the RF fender, and one small one in the box where I'm guessing that they patched over the fuel filler hose. I hate the ride, I hate the truck 4 spd, I hate the manual steering and the manual brakes, the fuel tank is in the pickup box toolbox, the rear end needs a rebuild, the engine is good but doesn't run great or start great, I want to end up with a good solid driver. A doner pickup could fix all of these issues. As far as the dash goes, swapping the dash should save me from having to deal with all the wiring issues and gain me AC and a better heater set up. If the doors or door guts would swap easily, I would end up with electric windows and door locks that would already be wired for it. If they don't fit, they would make for good patch panel donors anyway. Mostly the only things that I wouldn't have would be, a newer body and airbags.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: volaredon] #3036657
04/24/22 05:36 PM
04/24/22 05:36 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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Yep, they were 3 digits. That was my bad. In my defense, when I've been looking up parts and fitment, some of the places have been calling them 1500s, but I did know that they were D150s till 1994.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3036666
04/24/22 05:55 PM
04/24/22 05:55 PM
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Colleyville
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Just find a clean '92 or '93. You'll get the magnum engine (unless it's a '92 360, 190 HP), OD, no airbags and a LOT less work. The ride or brakes really won't be any different. We put 350,000 miles on the wife's '93 Ramcharger, save for a couple of water pumps and an A/C compressor, never had a single issue with the engine. Trans got rebuilt at 228,000 miles.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: trw1982] #3036667
04/24/22 06:03 PM
04/24/22 06:03 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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Well the OD trans and gas tank, you must be talking about the trans tunnel fabrication, and the gas tank must be the filler neck or the box clearance to the tank. Those should all stay with the frame that they were born with, but if those end up being my biggest issues, I'm golden. The trans tunnel could come from the donor pickup as well as some floor patch panels that have been so primitively repaired in the past. I haven't even decided that I'm going to do this, and I'm already getting fired up about it.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3036687
04/24/22 07:24 PM
04/24/22 07:24 PM
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trw1982 Offline
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not talking about the trans tunnel. i cut down a long bed frame to 115 wb. then put the eng/trans in and tried to put the 30 gal tank in. it hit the trans crossmember. using an early frame, i had to move the eng/trans a little farther back because of the overdrive trans. it is approx 4 in longer than reg 727. if i would have used a 20 gallon tank, i would have been ok. i just wanted a bigger tank.

Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: trw1982] #3036692
04/24/22 07:41 PM
04/24/22 07:41 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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I hoping to find a 91-93 short box pickup and the frame shouldn't need to be altered at all if I'm correct. If I have it figured right, I should be able to remove the cab and box and then start working on the cab floor fitment. I'm guessing that the cab and box mounts might even line up. I don't have any extra doner vehicles so I'll only have one shot at getting it right. Actually, I don't even have the donor vehicle yet. I do however have a new, 2004 5.7 factory take-off engine, leftover from a previous project, laying in reserve.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3036707
04/24/22 08:50 PM
04/24/22 08:50 PM
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From a 75 to a 93 pickup is basically the same body style. Unless you have a body that is absolutely mint, including the paint, there's no way it will be worthwhile to swap it onto a 93ish frame. Just get a nice 93, sell the 75, and be done with it. You'd save yourself a ton of work and have the same or better results in the end for a whole lot less money.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: Hemi_Joel] #3036765
04/25/22 12:23 AM
04/25/22 12:23 AM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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I don't want a 93 and it's not about the value, it's about what I want. If I wanted a newer pickup, I'd have kept my Rumblebee. If my Rumblebee would have had the same frame, I might have just used it rather than sold it.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3036789
04/25/22 05:56 AM
04/25/22 05:56 AM
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ruderunner Offline
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The point Joel and I are making is that a 93 donor isn't going to get you much in improvement. It's basically identical suspension and brakes, just rebuild what you have. The donor is probably going to need that stuff too anyways.

There's enough difference in wiring between the eras that you might be better off with a universal kit.

Ac, cruise, power windows etc are all available in aftermarket form.

For body panels, the fenders need to match the doors, the core support and grill needs to match the fenders. And grill needs to match the core support..

Fwiw, I think you're better off fixing your existing truck, swap in an automatic and go from there.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3037066
04/25/22 07:54 PM
04/25/22 07:54 PM
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Unless the frame on the 75 is junk, you will be farther ahead to just install what you want on that truck.
Shocks and springs will determine the ride quality. The 93 would simply have softer springs for a better ride, but those parts are also likely wore out as well
.
The truck 4 speed, the manual steering, and manual brakes are just parts you can update to get what you want. The 75 probably has the same rear axle as a 93 would have, most of this stuff would need to be rebuilt or replaced on a 93 as well. Add in the condition of the motor and it sounds like your looking at a drivetrain swap. That 5.7 you have sitting sounds like a great place to start.

I've built a few trucks over the years, a 93 heater box is not going to bolt in where a 75 heater box was, if your looking to add AC, you might want to look into an aftermarket heat/AC system, they are pricy, but complete units solve a lot of problems, including duct work and air outlets. Finding a new heater core for an AC Dodge heater box may be a challenge by itself, the aftermarket AC system might be cheaper!

The door window cranks and inner window lift structures changed somewhere in the early 80s, so the old parts and the newer parts will require some work to get them to work, but if electric windows are the desire, and you want factory stuff, you will need to find power window stuff for the doors you have, or install aftermarket stuff. Look into the power door locks at the same time, you can get aftermarket power window and power door lock kits that have everything you would need. If you don't buy the cheapest crap you can find, some of those aftermarket power accessories are pretty good stuff. (Don't buy auto-loc stuff!)

If your doors need to be patch, buy the patch panels, the odds are any door from that era truck you will find needs the same areas patched.

Donor trucks for the 73-93 trucks are not plentiful or cheap, the older they are, the worse they are in both price and condition. Unless your pretty lucky, you can probably buy the parts you need cheaper then finding a donor truck with the parts you want or need. Donor Dodge trucks tend to sell for the value of the remaining parts, deals are pretty rare.

Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ruderunner] #3042501
05/15/22 01:17 PM
05/15/22 01:17 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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I'm revisiting some of my old posts, and this one caught my eye. You said that you have done the dash swap and you wouldn't do it again. I'm just wondering about how much (exactly) was needed to make the dash fit. I'm not concerned with the wiring at all due to, the fact that it will be a complete swap, including the wiring from the donor truck. The only thing that would change on the donor vehicle is the metal cab and box. The dash along with all the wiring (complete vehicle wiring harness) as much as possible, would be included with the swap, so only the dash fitment is my concern, at the moment.


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: trw1982] #3042512
05/15/22 02:32 PM
05/15/22 02:32 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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I don't have a donor vehicle yet. I'm just trying to gather enough information to choose the correct donor to get everything that I want with the least amount of time and money involved if I do decide to make the swap. According to information that I've received, 94 and newer frames pose additional problems due to a rise in the rear frame rail. Can you enlighten me on what problems I would have to overcome if I used a 94 or newer donor? I would really like to go 04 or newer to be able to get into a Hemi donor vehicle. I do realize that the frame would have to be shortened with anything 94 and newer. Also, are there any track width issues, or frame width with the newer vehicles? Did the frames ever differ in width, throughout the years?


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Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3042540
05/15/22 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by ledft79
I'm revisiting some of my old posts, and this one caught my eye. You said that you have done the dash swap and you wouldn't do it again. I'm just wondering about how much (exactly) was needed to make the dash fit. I'm not concerned with the wiring at all due to, the fact that it will be a complete swap, including the wiring from the donor truck. The only thing that would change on the donor vehicle is the metal cab and box. The dash along with all the wiring (complete vehicle wiring harness) as much as possible, would be included with the swap, so only the dash fitment is my concern, at the moment.


Been a few years but short list: heater box and ducts are different, not all the holes are there. Cutout in firewall is close but not perfect. Lower bolts for dash are in different locations. I had problems getting the steering column and dash bracing to cooperate. Firewall Cutout for wiring is different. Lots of little things that don't come together like you'd think.

I'm debating going back to the 70s dash now that I have a good one to install.


Angry white pureblood male
Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ruderunner] #3042587
05/15/22 07:17 PM
05/15/22 07:17 PM
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Planning on swaping a '79-'80 Dash in my '81 when I tear it apart this year. Can't beat the look of those.


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1981 Dodge D150 360 auto
Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: ledft79] #3042606
05/15/22 09:06 PM
05/15/22 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by ledft79
I don't have a donor vehicle yet. I'm just trying to gather enough information to choose the correct donor to get everything that I want with the least amount of time and money involved if I do decide to make the swap. According to information that I've received, 94 and newer frames pose additional problems due to a rise in the rear frame rail. Can you enlighten me on what problems I would have to overcome if I used a 94 or newer donor? I would really like to go 04 or newer to be able to get into a Hemi donor vehicle. I do realize that the frame would have to be shortened with anything 94 and newer. Also, are there any track width issues, or frame width with the newer vehicles? Did the frames ever differ in width, throughout the years?


A 94 is a completely different truck then a 93. Wheel base, truck width (94 + suspension is wider, but the frame under the cab is narrower), suspension mounting points, and actual suspension parts are completely different. Nothing old or new will interchange. The old (before 94) are pretty much straight frames with straight crossmembers with changes in height under the cab and box. The new (after 94) are curved side rails, the change in width, and height continuously from the front bumper to the rear bumper. Shortening the wheel base requires adjusting for different frame heights and widths with as little as 6" removed. You can't cut it, remove a few inches, and weld it back together, the rails will not line up! If you have to shorten the wheel base on a 94+ frame, more then 6", the fuel tank will no longer fit. The Hemi EFi requires that tank, pump, & wiring. Finding a new location for a Hemi compatible computer fuel tank will be an all new challenge.

The next issue will be the placement of the cab on the frame in relation to the motor and front suspension, especially when you are talking 5.7 Hemi. The newer trucks have the motor sitting way back under the dash. When you get the old cab positioned on the new frame, your going to find you need to use the firewall, dash (and gauges), the wiring, the gas pedal, and the computer for the Hemi, and that stuff fits so much better on the Hemi firewall and floor pan.

My son and I mounted a 92 Ramcharger body on a 04 Hemi Durango Chassis. (The Dakota/Durango frame updated in 2003 (or 2004) to similar to the 94 & up full size truck frame from 94 and newer) The Durango was a driver truck, he bought complete (the guy drove it 60 miles to my son and sold it to him). The Ramcharger was a pretty nice rolling body with a tired 318 auto trans. The thought was to shorten the wheel base on the Durango, use the Durango firewall and floor pan back to behind the front seats (and everything thing else we could), and join the two together. Pretty much what you are considering.

We had 2 solid weeks (nearly 80 hours!) just merging the two firewalls and floor boards joined together. The Ramcharger body is 4" per side wider then the Durango, and the firewall from just above the gas pedal to the windshield had to be completely fabricated to be able to use the Durango instrument cluster the computer wants to see. (I had just retired from my welding shop at the time, this was real, hourly, shop time hours). I am not new to this stuff. I've done several older bodies to newer chassis before and driven them well past 50,000 miles each. This Ramcharger is currently being driven (licensed early last year), it can be done. Still needs to be "finished" but that is my son's deal, I was involved to get it to the running and driving stage.

Hind sight is 20/20. I can tell you I wouldn't do this again knowing what I now know.

If you choose to go this direction, my son may, or may not have any pictures of the Ramcharger process. I can talk you through what I can remember. Check out my build thread 49 Dodge on a Dakota chassis to get an idea what you are looking at. The Dakota /Durango frames updated in 2003/2004 to a very similar frame used from 94 and up on the full sized trucks. Gene

Re: D100 to Ram 1500 interchangeabilities. [Re: poorboy] #3043458
05/18/22 11:27 PM
05/18/22 11:27 PM
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minot north dakota
ledft79 Offline OP
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Thanks and very informative. I know that your skill level and mine are not in the same ballpark at all. I did read through your 49 Dodge on a Dakota post which also was informative, interesting, and had a lot of insight. I would really love to do this, but I'm sure that I'd just end up with 2 junk vehicles, unwanted bills, and a wife that has her bags packed. Thanks for all the information and I think that I'm better off giving this one up before I even start.


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