Adventure Build: 2001 Dodge Cummins QCSB

[Direwolf]

So I have finished up my initial phase of projects and have gotten the truck to a comfortable level where I can enjoy it and not have to worry about any potential issues. The truck needed shocks bad, so after much debate and research I ordered a set of Thuren Overland shocks and figured I might as well throw on some of his 2" front coils as well. The front got about a 2.5" lift, so it sits about dead level and takes big bumps and dips so much better. No more bottoming on the bump stops.

At this point my wife decided that we were going to take the truck somewhere for spring break so I better make sure it was ready to go, which meant I needed to slap some new tires on it and get an alignment pronto. I had been set on Cooper AT3's, but felt they were a bit too civil looking after seeing a set in person and pulled the trigger on the Cooper ST Maxx in 285/75-r16. Having not seen them in person, when I first saw them I thought they may have been too aggressive looking, but I have grown to dig them. I threw on a Bilstein 5100 steering damper and called it good.

For our first shake down adventure we decided to check out the South Coast Ridge Road just south of Big Sur off of Nacimiento Ferguson Rd.

We set up camp in San Simeon for the night and I am so glad we don't have to play Tetris and cram all our camping gear into our IS250 anymore.

All in all it was a good first outing.

 

[bloodyWEST]

truck looks great, trip looks great! sounds like you had fun.

its always awesome when the woman gives a green light to spend $ on the truck

looks like a fun/mild road. i need to pull out a map and look it up. 2wd the whole way?

 

[Direwolf]

Yep you can do it all in 2wd. We threw it into 4hi and low just to get used to it. Although the 4low was helpful on the descent to save the brakes. I kind of wish there was an in between gear as 1st seemed to slow and 2nd was too fast.

 

[redthies]

BW is correct. Truck is looking good! Can you get down to the water in that area? Camping there?

 

[bdshort86]

Nice build! It's very similar to what I'm doing on my tow rig, a stout low lift rig. Hope to see more progress here soon. I'll try to get my build thread going here soon...

I'm sorry about all the ******** hitting the fan with DOR, I was the one that gave him the heads up actually. I didn't think it would go that far, but I hadn't read the part where there was talk of reproducing them or reselling them. I don't want to keep this going any further, but didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression of DOR or DJ himself either.

I completely understand modifying something that didn't fit and taking ideas from other people's stuff, that's what these forums are all about. The problem is that DOR is a very small business with maybe 2-3 employees, the owner, DJ, had invested ALOT of money and time in getting a patent and covering his butt so he could quit his regular job and do this full-time. He made that transition and quit his 9 to 5 just a few days ago and DOR is now his sole income. He has put a ton of blood, sweat and tears into this business and he has defend it against this kind of stuff. I don't think you intended to do anything to hurt his business and based on your response, I know you understand what kind of guy he is.

I just want to make sure everyone knew what really happened before boycotting DOR. DJ will go out of his way to work with you on getting you whatever you want for your truck, make custom one-off parts, anything he can do to help a customer or a fellow wheeler/builder. I think most of us can understand how hard you have to fight for every dollar as a small business owner, even harder in offroad and custom truck parts. It is a huge leap of faith to quit your day job and do what you love, especially in this market, so I hope anyone who had concerns understands better now. If you're not convinced, call and talk with him about what you're looking to do and I'm sure he will help change your mind.

Sorry again for making things crazy in your thread, but just trying to watch out for my friend.

I was keeping up with this thread before, but hadn't checked in for a while until just now - only to find drama. I'm quoting swirvin here because I want to make sure his truth gets read and reread instead of the asinine fits from a few ignoramuses. Danny is absolutely right for making the comments that he did, and he was not harsh or rude about it - that can't be said of a couple others if you. Danny is as much a pioneer of what he does as Don Thuren and Sage Carli, and he deserves 100% credit for his designs (as well as profit). Anyone in business of making a product can't allow a precedent to be set of allowing their product to be freely copied - otherwise their business will suffer greatly. Thankfully, in this country we have laws pertaining to unique designs and copyrights to protect such things as they should be.

I am a small business owner myself, and I have also built many Dodge diesel 4x4's for off road use, and I can attest to the fact that Danny is both an extremely conscientious business owner as well as an excellent fabricator, and just an all around good guy. I don't think you'll find a single bad word spoken about him anywhere (which is rare for any web-based business) - of course making an exception for those who don't know what they're talking about and lash out in their ignorance. There are plenty of aftermarket companies I have no qualms about bashing on (and I've spent many thousands of dollars with bunches of them), but Danny's Dodge Off Road is not one that deserves anything but praise. Listen to Danny's life story sometime if you're ever privileged enough to do so, and you'll hear the story of a good man.

 

[Direwolf]

BW is correct. Truck is looking good! Can you get down to the water in that area? Camping there?

Thanks. There are areas you can get down to the water. That area is still mostly steep cliffs with the occasional beach opening. We stopped at moonstone beach closer to San Simeon and walked around which was very nice. As far as camping there are tons of camping opportunities along that whole stretch. The South Coast Ridge Rd, as well as many of the others have primitive campsites with fire pits all along them. Some of the sites at the top had some awesome views.

 

[redthies]

Cool. I last drove that stretch in '05, and didn't see much in the way of camp spots that were appealing. I guess you gotta know the right roads to go down. We might go that way on our annual trip down to Ventura. I'll be sure to do a bit more looking around first.

 

[swirvin21]

How are you liking the Thuren shocks and front coils? I'm in desperate need of some shocks on my truck and am constantly trying to decide between standard Bilsteins, jumping to $100/ea shocks or really going all in on a set of rebuildable $200/ea shocks.

I have a good plan on the rear suspension: removing bottom leaf to install KORE mini-packs, doing a shackle flip and removing block, new perches to shift axle back. Not sure how much lift that will give me, but hoping it won't be too much. Trying to decide how to do the front, want progressive coils, but nothing short enough IMO.

How are you feeling about your setup? Anything you would change? This is my tow rig/dd hay hauler/camper/etc and don't want to go bigger than 33" tires or 4.10 gearing. Be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Direwolf]

Hey swirvin21, I had much debate about progressive Carli w/ 5100 or Thuren w/ his overlands. I went with Thuren mostly because of cost and that I don't have enough of an idea of my final setup to warrant going for fox 2.0 or something. That may come later. My truck had no shocks at all and would bottom out easily. The new setup was noticeably firmer on small bumps mostly because it now had shocks so it may not be a fair comparison, but it is by no means stiff or anything like that. The consensus is that the 5100 are stiffer than the Overlands and I am not sure I would want it much stiffer than it is now. The biggest improvement is on the bigger dips and bumps where the extra travel allows it to soak up the impact instead of causing me to brace for impact. The springs only raised it 2.5" with is perfect for me with a stock rear. I am happy with it although at moderate lock the tires grab the front mud flaps on occasion, a result of the bigger tires, lift, and stock control arms. Longer control arms will probably be the next suspension upgrade, but that's a ways off. Hope that helps!

 

[swirvin21]

Thanks for the info. I thought about it and ended up ordering some Rancho 9000's with the idea that I could start at the middle setting and adjust from there. Figured it would be nice having something I could adjust when between running unloaded vs a full 4 horse w/ living quarters. I'll let you know how it goes...hopefully well.

 

[Nicaragüense]

Very Nice build. How is that pump/filtration system working out so far. I have been wanting to beef up my filtration system in my old dodge and this setup interests me more so than the fass/AD style.

Sucks that DOR came in and started a mess in your thread. Hope you keep bringing updates and pics as you try new ways to improve your setup.

 

[John E Davies]

I'm following this thread eagerly - I just bought a white 2006 RAM 3500 Quad Cab Short Box with the 5.9, and it is very nice, with only 77K miles. I want to bullet proof it so I don't have to worry about pesky electric pump failure far from any town. I pick it up in three days, and I can't wait.

Yours is a very slick pump installation. Do you mind commenting on why you picked the MITUSA pump over the very similar Glacier Diesel Power Fuel Boss pump? What was the pricing? They don't publish that for some strange reason. Here is the GDP pump:

http://www.glacierdieselpower.com/product.aspx?pf_id=FB-05007

My plan is to install a mechanical pump, plus an additional 2 micron spin-on filter in between the OEM filter (7 microns, I believe) and the injection pump, retaining the coarser OEM filter element/ water separator as a first line of defense for that expensive injector pump......

http://www.glacierdieselpower.com/product.aspx?pf_id=MK20306-RM

I would rather have nothing but a strainer in back where rock damage or icing might occur. I figure that in arctic conditions the inside of the engine bay behind a buttoned down winter front is as cozy a place for a filter as you could find on these trucks.

I was amused to see how similar your truck is to mine. I am planning to install Discovery A/T3 tires ASAP, since the truck has weather checked tires that need to come off promptly! I am running a new set of these on my LX450 and really like them. While nowhere near as aggressive as the ST Maxx tires, they have very excellent road manners and they perform well aired down, with no sign of sidewall damage. They should do better in winter, a major deal here in Spokane. They are more skittery on loose gravel than my old STTs, but it is not a big deal. I hope you will comment further on your ST Maxxes after you have put some miles on them.

BTW, GDP is located about 10 miles from my home, so I suppose it would be best to buy their pump, to support the local guy. Though MITUSA is just across the state on the Wet Side. A curious coincidence...

Thanks for any comments. Nice darn truck!

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[Direwolf]

Hey John, sorry for the delayed response, I've been out enjoying my truck! The GDP and MITUSA are very similar, but do differ in how they are plumbed. I originally wanted to go with the GDP because it kept the stock lift pump useable as a backup. However, there was a wait as they were dealing with the machine shop making the pulleys and I had a dying lift pump so I went with the MITUSA. The MITUSA is much simpler, so much so that I thought there were parts missing. It is one line from the tank with a "manifold" that has a pressure bypass in it. Any excess fuel that the pump delivers is bled right back into the supply side of the manifold. Very simple design. The GDP utilizes it's own return line that you need to plumb into the filler neck. I was skeptical at first, but I have had no problems with it at all. Never drops below 15psi. It was a little cheaper, around $480, but it doesn't have all the switches and fittings the Fuel Boss does. I don't think you can go wrong with either, but I definitely think mechanical is the way to go. If you need any more info give me a PM.

The fuel filters are tucked out of the way pretty good but I debated making a shield for them, but don't think it is necessary. Cold weather may be another issue regarding the placement, but I haven't been anywhere that cold yet to cause problems.

How do you like the AT/3's? I was debating between those. Maybe the next go around if I don't need something as aggressive.

 

[taylorf16]

This thread made me laugh.. I'm the new owner of a 98.5 Cummins 5 speed and the first thing I noticed on this thread was a new fuel filtration system, and Dodge Off Road is a **********. After further investigation of his product, it looks like it's rough cut with a plasma and left with jagged edges. To be honest, I'd rather build my own bracket out of paper clips than deal with him and his shi**y looking product. To DOR: You may think you're being intelligent, witty, and defensive about your product and patent, but you most likely screwed yourself out of quite a few business deals. You didn't think of anything that's never been done before, you were just the selfish a**-hat that decided nobody else could make them without paying you.