Posted: 9/15/2009 9:45:14 PM EDT
| Got a 95 Dodge 1500 truck. It has a 5spd man transmission and a v6. I want to put a diesel in it, I was told by a family friend that i could do it (with the same year dodge cummins) for around 1500 bucks. One just has to buy the engine, bell housing/mod mine, fix/coat the fuel tank and re route some lines, and get a bigger clutch. Now, is this possible? I asked about torque on the drive shaft and he stated it wasn't a problem. Furthermore, he also stated with upgraded brakes, a brake controller and compression brake it would have more than enough stopping power. Is this true? |
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A running cummins turbo diesel is about a $2000 engine for the motor alone. Another thing to concider is how poorly your 1/2 tone front suspension wlll handle the weight of a 1000 lb motor Yeah, he stated I would need to upgrade the springs. He works at a jy, I guess and gets 50% off, so a nice cummins for 1k sounds in order. 
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A running cummins turbo diesel is about a $2000 engine for the motor alone. Another thing to concider is how poorly your 1/2 tone front suspension wlll handle the weight of a 1000 lb motor Yeah, he stated I would need to upgrade the springs. He works at a jy, I guess and gets 50% off, so a nice cummins for 1k sounds in order. It's not merely springs that would have to be upgraded to handle an engine 2x the weight, Control arms, steering linkages, ball joints, bushings, shocks, sway bars, brakes.........EVERYTHING The general rule of thumb for engine swaps is to take your best estimate of cost and multiply that by a factor of 4  and then you MIGHT get halfway done before running out of cash. In your situation it would literally be cheaper and easier to buy a 3/4ton dodge that's already diesel powered
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| visit Dodge owner forums and you'll get all the help and support you need as well as discounts on the stuff you will need. |
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Ever heard of the old chevy trucks with the diesels? I think it may have been a half ton, but it was a long time ago... I remember trying to align it. It had shim packs in the front control arms that were just insane. They had to put longer bolts in so they could fit even more shims in the control arm to correct the camber. Why all this? Because the frame was sagging under the weight and pulling the control arms inwards.
Great big diesel in a little half ton? Bad idea. It isn't designed to cope with that kind of wieght. Besides, once you get it in there, what are you gonna do with it? Its still just a half ton. You aren't going to be able to treat it like a 3/4 or 1 ton truck and you lost a lot of capability. You've eaten up much of your wieght capacity already with just the engine. |
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Yeah..as cool as it would be with a diesel swap i think it'd be 1. cheaper 2. Wayyy easier to do a gas V8 swap. I'm sure you can pick a flavor. The amount of frame/ suspension/ drive line parts you would need to modify, and then fix once you got it in with a turbo diesel would offset the cost of trading your truck in and finding a ram diesel of the same year. That being said..enjoy this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh45CBDc5iw |
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check out the turbo diesel register http://www.turbodieselregister.com/. its a forum ALL about the Cummins/Dodge combo and they have a cummins conversion forum. I bet you could fine out real fast there is it would be worth it monetarily. FWIW I'm guessing and this is just a guess is that even if you could get a good deal on a Cummins engine that you could not do this for under about 4-5k.
Just a quick google search puts the clutch kits at 500-1000dollar for what you would need for middle of the road and I'm sure if the 1500 5 speed is different than the Cummins 5 speed, dont forget you are going from about 200lbs/ft of torque to over 500lb/ft of torque (aprox). You would also need a new ecm and pcm and they are not cheap. Not to discourage you as I think it would be very cool to have a Cummins powered 1500 but its gonna cost you just for the engine stuff not to mention the front suspension/steering/brakes (dont forget the cummins engine alone weight 1000lbs) upgrades. hope this helps J- Also not sure what the model year has to do with this as the 1500 never came with a cummins so the engine mounts will not be the same, ecm/pcm will be different. If you physically could, you could shoehorn a brand new 08 cummins in. you are basically starting from scratch either way. |
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Buy a Cummins powered truck and put the aftermarket stuff from your 1500 on the 3/4 chassis IF IT WILL FIT. The frames are different, the axles are different, the transmissions are different - the bodies are pretty much the same IIRC.
There is a reason your family friend works at Jiffly Lube and it isn't because he's a stellar mechanic...... Brian |
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I'd strongly recommend NOT doing this. -1500 chassis is not strong enough -substantially more work than one would initially believe. -can you weld? do you have fabrication skills? you will need them. -you can buy a cummins equipped truck for cheap -Your driveline was built to handle a v6, not an inline 6 power house. If it is a 4x4, you have a dana 44 up front and a chrysler 9.25 in the rear. These are NOT strong enough. The Transmission is an NV3500, which again, is not strong enough to handle the cummins. Garunteed the transfer case isn't up to the task either. This is not only a huge task, but its really a poor idea. |
| I'll chime in and repeat basically what everyone else has said - every single part of your drivetrain will need to be replaced because none of it is up to handling the power of a stock 12V Cummins, which IIRC was 400-450lb-ft (horsepower doesn't mean shit which is why I left it out.) If you get a 98.5-up 24V Cummins you'll need the computer as well. Whichever one you get you'll need a new radiator, probably a new radiator support, and 8-lug wheels. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches and money by simply buying a diesel truck. |
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$1500 ? That's ridiculously cheap. I'd be wary.
You'll probably need to box and cross-member the frame as well as stiffen the suspension considerably. It may also be necessary to body-lift the truck to fit the engine a couple inches, as the CTD is taller. The 5-speed will die in short time. There's no doubt about that. You'd need a ZF-6 or NV4500 manual to not grenade transmissions every couple thousand miles. You'll probably want to upgrade to a 1-pc. aluminum driveshaft, as well as swap axles in the rear if you're smaller than 9" out back. |
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This is much better. Truck is already a 2500 and can handle the extra engine weight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA6eWqhGErI |
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I'll chime in and repeat basically what everyone else has said - every single part of your drivetrain will need to be replaced because none of it is up to handling the power of a stock 12V Cummins, which IIRC was 400-450lb-ft (horsepower doesn't mean shit which is why I left it out.) If you get a 98.5-up 24V Cummins you'll need the computer as well. Whichever one you get you'll need a new radiator, probably a new radiator support, and 8-lug wheels. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches and money by simply buying a diesel truck. Good advice! |