Yeah Sam,

Bleeding those ElDo calipers is a beach! I probalby don't need a brake booster, but at this point, I'm sick of screwing with it piece by piece... Now that I've addressed All of the pieces! I should be ok, but I really hope that the MC fitting sizes are the same as the '77 MC... Hope you are staying warm... It's cold enough in California, so I can imagine Colorado is getting pretty cold!

John, if your calipers are like mine, you have to 'use' the e-brake to take up the slack in piston travel.  The e-brake is a ratcheting style, and each click mechanically moves the piston out, and when it get's tight against the rotor (when actually using the e-brake to keep the truck from moving) it is done.  Then, when you press the b-pedal the piston is right where it should be.  Hope that helps??

- S

Thanks Sam... I figured that the e-brakes weree my issue early on... The problem is that I still didn't have brakes after they were installed and adjusted... although they were better.

Thanks for the link... I'm going to email Santa right now and ask him to get it for me! I have no doubt that a 4 wheel disk MC will solve my problem for good.

Is there anything you can do to keep your door from binding on the fender?

Is Trevor's truck getting fixed under warranty? I sure hope so.

I'll bet it's tough to stop when you have the pedal to the metal and a 451 stroker... I only have a measley 440!

I've been meaning to inquire as to Sam's set up ever since Moab (October 07). I forgot to go look at it when it was 30 feet from my cabin door! There were some pretty cool corvette style universal MC's I found, but the bore may have been too small. I didn't want to get stuck buying something that didn't work. It's probably not all that complicated, but I like to make things complicated... I'll post up after I get the new parts and get them installed. Happy Holidays!

Well I dunno my MC is just the regular disk front/drum rear gig for an 84 RC - nothing special or expensive, but I do have the brakes plumbed directly off the MC, no factory proportioning valve in the system at all, just the manual Wilwood one in-line with the rear brakes.  So far so good but I'm still tuning it.

I have the front clip figured out and I have to do some adjusting to the latching and positive stop system.  More tuning...

Unfortunately Trevor's rig is past warranty, but he did get it all fixed up.  He got a few other go-fast goodies installed while the truck was in the shop and he's making very, very big hp now.

- S

Have you had the chance to play with it in the snow? If so how did it do?

Whew - been a while  .  Haven't had it out at all until this morning.  Took it back over to KAZ motorsports to get the EFI dialed in on Kenny'd chassis dyno.



After about 14 pulls and 4 hours of troubleshooting and tuning we were able to dial in 30 more hp and around 50 more lbs of torque.  Final numbers were 142 hp and 206 tq, at the tires, at 6800 ft altitude - that's from a relatively stock (though freshly rebuilt) all-iron 440.  Not too bad.  The 35's soak up so much power - like having two gigantic flywheels on both ends of the axle. 
Biggest issue is the gear ratio - I've decided to go with 4:10s - the best compromise for better acceleration and good top end. 
It definitely runs quite a bit better and the detonation is gone.  It needed lots more fuel and timing, mostly fuel.  Now I can go full throttle without worrying about damaging anything.  Pretty cool - dyno time is the way to go
Discovered the air filter is holding back 5 hp, and the exhaust is not robbing any hp at all.  The filter is too close to the opening to the air intake tube so I'm going to search for a narrower filter, and try to get that 5 hp back.

So now I can focus on getting in the rear glass and hatch so it won't be quite so chilly driving it around on these 22* days (brrrrr)....and THEN.... I can go play in the snow .

BigRam - Yep I used the TSM kit w/ e-brake, and my m-cylinder is a stock '84 3/4-ton Ram unit with the 4500 lb axles.  Front and rear are plumbed directly into the m-cylinder - no factory pro valve.  But I do have a wilwood manual pro valve in-line with the rear brakes line.





I'm still tweaking the brakes, adjusting the pedal, etc.  It's real important to get a good vacuum feed from the engine to the brake booster - I have mine coming directly from the intake manifold.

- M2

So you're just running the line for the front brakes straight to the axle? I was gonna run dual valves but didn't know if it would help/hurt. I do have an adjustable valve in the rear line but I also have the stock one still in there too. Maybe it's being proprotioned too much with the 2 of them? I'll have to try getting rid of the stock one and see what it does. My vacuum is coming off the manifold also. Haven't checked to see what it's got for vacuum tho. I'll have to dig up the master/booster setup that came off my one ton parts truck that my axles came out of. It's an easy enough swap if the valve trick doesn't work. Then it'son to the ebrake setup.

Yup the front is direct from the m-cylinder, and I also bet your is being proportioned twice.  I'd pull the factory one and use a manual one for the rear.



Mike, yeah they are the #452's - no frills or oversize valves just good refresh.  The engine is really pretty mild.  The cam is the Crower 'torque beast'.  If I crack the engine open I will swap to aluminum Edelbrocks and do a roller cam conversion, and thost two things combined I would guess I could gain 30-40% power.  I've also been thinking about a Vortec supercharger.





One the dyno we didn't get into full throttle until right around 1800rpm or so, and the cam starts to shut down right around 4000 rpm.  For this truck the cam is dead on for the power curve, peaking at 3400 rpm.  Realistically there is no need for more rpm so we went with a stump-puller cam profile.  We need to talk to Edelbrock to try to get more timing in the engine - I think we were only able to get 24* total which isn't bad but we'd like about 10* more.
A roller cam will make quite a bit more power, and add aluminum heads it cam flow the big air numbers and that'll really add up.  If I do it I'll just mill the quench area off the top of the KB pistons already in the engine, and bolt on the power parts.  Now that I've seen what a small block can do (Pat's 408 stroker - 451 hp at the crank) with aluminum heads and a roller cam...well let's just say I won't build another V-8 without aluminum heads and roller cam.
Of course I have also thought about selling this 440 as is and building another one with the other profile.  No sense wasting a good setup that makes good power.  In a B-body Road Runner or Charger this 440 would be totally different then how it is in my RC.

- S

After re-reading this I would strongly recomend going with the 4:56's

3400 rpm is well inside the safe zone. I like 4:56 for the simple reason that you are moving a lot of weight right off the line. You will  have quicker acceleration in traffic and it will be easier on your trans.

I plan on using mine mostly for trail riding, mud slinging, camping with the family, and will drive it on the highway. I went with 4.88's and 38" tires because I most likely will not drive 75 mph w/tall tires, camping gear, and family loaded (not that safe). Reduce your speed to 65-70, and the 4.56's will be no biggie.

However, if you want to pass someone, while you are at 60, your acceleration to 75-80 will be much better. Drop it back to 70, and hit the cruise. 

Sam I have 4.11's in my ram, and I really wish I would have went with 4.56's... AT LEAST! The 4.11's with my 2.70? t-case ratio and 35,s is still too high.  unless you go with an atlas or something along those lines I would go with 4.56's.  You can always run a little slower on the interstate, but you can't just drop a gear on the trail, and slow down!

the 56's  prolly will also change your mind on any power additives to the engine. the "seat of the pants"  will definitely notice, and the Nacho won't even care if you have 3k# in tow either.

You can always put a Gear Vendors overdrive unit in the truck and go with 4.56 or 4.58's.
Or modify a 2wd 518 trans to fit with your divorced t-case.

I vote Gear Vendors. You would have 1st, 1st high. 2nd 2nd high and so on. Basically 6 forward speeds plus 2 reverse. Then the 4lo speeds.
It can take a lot more abuse than a 47RE also. The factory overdrive is the weak point. That way you can keep the trans that you have now without the adapters.

I was thinking the GV would go on the trans (like a 2wd) and you would get a new shaft made for your divorced t-case?

http://www.transmissioncenter.net/dodge.htm

edit: for the adapter plate only, i hear that PATC's tranny's and customer service suck. (Pirate4x4 & RippOffReport)

I sent you a PM Sam.

Are you going to tow much with the Nacho Sam?
If not you shouldn't have any trouble around here with the ARB front Detroit rear combo, that's what I ran and was happy with it.
If you are going to tow I would do the ARB rear too like OBX suggested for better onroad handling.

someone correct me if i am wrong, but dodge/gm 205's are the same with the exception of the input spline, so why wouldn't the lomax work?   John

As I understand, the Lomax will currently only work with a mated 205 - something about the input shafts on the divorced units being different...

the lowmax comes w/ 32spline female input only. dodge 205's use 23 or 29 spline male. i personally called them and asked why just the gm and they said they didn't see a market for a dodge or ford version. so if you want to run one you'll need a custom 32 spline transmission output shaft or do like "TheRamChargerMan" and do the 203/205 doubler with the 203 having the right output.

While I was out I also had the RC weighed - 6200 lbs - not bad, actually a bit lighter than I thought it'd be.  Drove the Ford, and while I think my RC does have more power the Ford was heavier.  It was a '94~ish F250 with a big plow in front and a bed full of wood.  It drove pretty good, certainly better then the RC.  Then, I asked him to drive the RC, and he said "as responsive as this thing is...I wouldn't put 4.56s in this - you'll like 4.10s".  That's coming from the guy that'd net more $ from installing 4.56s.  So, there's the info - I'll decide later. 
- S

well as far as the rear locker goes...the Detroit (and i love mine don't get me wrong here) but it's not as forgiving in some situations as an open one would on pavement..and they have the weave factor too when they lock and unlock at highway speeds.

if it were me and the truck was gonna see 50/50 usage, and if other people besides myself were going to drive it i would rather have a selectable rear locker. that's my 2.