Just a play on words. Power Wagon Ha Ha

This is my nephew, Christopher's 78 D150 318 that someone put a god awful thumper noisy pig of a cam in.
He has been itchin for a big block, big tire truck so his Dad, my Brother Ricky (Copper Dart on Moparts) built him a very respectable 440. I am tasked with the install and fab for it.

It runs but the rear u joint failed so it does not drive, I had to get creative to work very little getting it into my shop😎

Step one is establish stance, so wheels and tires are first on the list and we are doing the van front LCAs. Ladderbar coil-over rear. Tires are 31 13.5 on 12" Prostars replacing 28-12.5 protracs. tubs were my first cut to make space for the rubber. It will have plenty of room to go bigger

If you take passenger car front spring hangers and mount them under the frame in the same location as the truck front spring hangers, then the same for the rear spring hangers and use passenger car shackles. You can put a stock width (B or E body) rear axle assembly on top of the springs and wind up with a "tubbed" truck for minimal effort and cost.
The truck pictured had 32X14's

That's the first time Ive heard that. very simple solution very clever!!!. I like the Dana too. We decided to go Ladderbar and coil over route for upgrade-ability in the future. i will be centering the wheels in the opening so going to a bigger tire will not be an issue.

NOTE: added a few pics from prior to making this thread, and have edited & inserted some pics for clarity


these pics show the position of a standard front bracket in relation to the rear axle maintaining a level or nose down position for the ladderbars. my new (truck) pattern and the existing front bracket contrasting the difference. ( any interested party I can fab a set for fee PM for detail)

Stripped everything off the frame rails that may be in the way, thr rearmost crossmembers will be bolted back into place temporarily until I get the suspension installed
Then it will come out to install the fuel cell.

Thats how we did it in 1986!

It has been months but work and obligations always come first. I had a few days open so I took the opportunity to get some fab done. I hope to wrap this up by end of February and get this thing driving again. (depending on getting shortened axles)

For driveshaft clearance I sectioned the crossmember, the outer ladderbar brackets were welded on both sides to get complete penetration then I welded the inner bracket to get maximum penetration as welding between the brackets is challenging.

installed the crossmember , modifying and welding the existing chassis members together adding gussets and kickers. there will be more welded in front of the crossmember once i get it off the jackstands.

tacked the inner axle brackets and set pinion angle, mocked up multiple positions to achieve the best initial set -up from here I have use and adjustment to the bottom 4 holes. Had this been a car with a lower stance all 5 holes would be easily achieved. The truck's overall geometry poses challenges for the fitment. My extended front brackets helped immensely and allowed me to mount the front crossmember into the factory framerail.

This ladderbar "KIT" comes with a diagonal link. Curious to those familiar, would you do a Panhard Bar or stick with the diagonal link? this truck is a weekend warrior suburbs of Atlanta. maybe a few passes but mainly street fun.

would the panhard bar pull the rear sideways too much in operation it would impact stress on the brackets, causing weld or bracket fractures ?

Your rear suspension has a lot of adjustability, why not set up to use both?

The diagonal bar would be stable enough and still allow all the adjustability for the few trips to the strip, but probably lacks the stability needed for the street. The Panhard bar adds the stability for the street, but will reduce the adjustability for the strip, but it would have to be added after the primary rear end set up for the street use, for the best street set up.

You can use the diagonal bar to get both the strip and the street set ups, then add the Panhard bar for the street set up. A simple two bolt removal would eliminate and two bolts added would cover which ever option you do or don't need at the time. If you mark the best street set up, and the best strip set up, both could be different, and you could use the best rear stabilizing set up for either use, Panhard bar for the street, diagonal bar for the strip, and the strip setup can still be adjustable for the strip conditions.

Poorboy, you may have a point. There is very little suspension travel so if I were to install both it is likely not to cause any binding. I may tack one in and test the theory. Thanks

Before I weld the brackets to the housing, I am pursuing the upgrade to a Dana, but its not my money being spent

Anyway I tacked the shock mount for placement and went ahead into fabbing the upper shock mount and crossmember. Since it is more street than race and its an easy upgrade to coilovers,

We did coil springs over a shock absorber set up, this will let us get running and driving on a smaller initial budget.

mo pics. this will probably the last installment for a few weeks or more as gotta get back to money generating projects.

So, I reconsidered the idea of the 8-3/4" with this big a tire and the eventual 650-700hp big block. Found a narrowed Dana 60 a few hours away for a decent price with trac-loc and 3.73 gear, had to cut off the brackets and pads it had welded to it.

Took the 8-3/4 out, cut the spot welds off the axle brackets and fit the Dana in its place. it is only an inch narrower than I had planned to cut 8-3/4 so just some 1/2 spacers will all it may need.

An under the bed fuel cell was preferred so I used a steel roundy-round style, i repurposed and moved the rearmost factory crossmember and fabbed a simple 1" angle for the front mount. Basic but strong and has good placement of the filler neck and pick up tube.

Man how the differences in a guy's background produces different insights!

Seeing tires that close to the frame still gives me the willy-nilly's!
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I come from an old dirt track racing background. In that world, the hard rock sidewall tires that close to a frame rail wouldn't last 2 laps! Even with leaf springs and a panhard bar we wanted to see at least 1 1/2" (2" would be better) between the tire sidewall and anything the tire could make contact with. Between the twist in the frame rails, and the tire sidewall flex of the tires coming off the turns, the tire sidewalls could quickly move an inch or more towards the frame/body on the inside of the curve. I've seen the results of that, on a dirt track, sheet metal is the least of your concerns. I haven't had a dirt track car in nearly 20 years, but some things we just don't get completely over.

You might be OK, but I couldn't do it.

PoorBoy well as they say Rubbin is Racin, Not really, couple points that may ease your mind.

The rails on the truck are flat and smooth so if the tires ever do rub, the only thing lost will be the Hoosier white paint, the tires are also canted in due to my wood axle support hitting the sidewall near the floor, I expect from my measurments when the bed is back on and the wheel is mounted we will have the 1.5 to 2" of sidewall clearance.