I blew up my plow truck. Now I need parts! Anybody?

[Doc Lava Roc]

Hey Gang: 

 

I thought I would reach out here first.  I was plowing a neighbors' driveway yesterday on the arm (an old widow) when I grenaded the rear driveshaft that subsequently punctured the fuel tank (after filling it up, of course).  You know the saying: 

 

No good deed every goes unpunished!

 

Needless to say, I now have a boat anchor.

 

I am looking for a plastic fuel tank (30-gallon) and a rear driveshaft for the following:

 

1989 Dodge W-350 Automatic 3-speed 4X4 360 EFI with an 8 foot bed.  The driveshaft is roughly 4" in diameter and is 5 feet, 2 inches long from center of rear u-joint to the center of the front u-joint.  It is a rather large driveshaft.

 

I may have located a tank, I'm not sure as of this posting.

 

Any help, ideas, thoughts, or direction to web sites and/or businesses would be greatly appreciated.

 

Ciao

[Kris]

Black text on a black background does not work very well. Might want to change it.

[Doc Lava Roc]

I don't know haw that happened!

Hey Gang:



I thought I would reach out here first. I was plowing a neighbors' driveway yesterday on the arm (an old widow) when I grenaded the rear driveshaft that subsequently punctured the fuel tank (after filling it up, of course). You know the saying:



No good deed every goes unpunished!



Needless to say, I now have a boat anchor.



I am looking for a plastic fuel tank (30-gallon) and a rear driveshaft for the following:



1989 Dodge W-350 Automatic 3-speed 4X4 360 EFI with an 8 foot bed. The driveshaft is roughly 4" in diameter and is 5 feet, 2 inches long from center of rear u-joint to the center of the front u-joint. It is a rather large driveshaft.



I may have located a tank, I'm not sure as of this posting.



Any help, ideas, thoughts, or direction to web sites and/or businesses would be greatly appreciated.



Ciao

[Doc Lava Roc]

Thanks bro. I took off what was left of the driveshaft today, and I think I can rig up a JB Weld patch for the gas tank. A new driveshaft will cost me about $400.00 to have it fabricated from scratch. I am having no luck locating one. Oh well, shit happens.......

[mandysbus]

is your old one totally wasted or does it just need a new u joint? i did the the same thing and they welded a new end[yoke] on it and i put a new u joint in it.....and balanced it and it was under 100 bucks...

[Doc Lava Roc]

Driveshaft is snapped in half. There is no fixing this, but thanks for your info anyway MB.

[LampHead]

Doc ask around locally for a good drive line shop, we have several drive line shops in Chicago but most of them are a joke, there is one that has been around 40+ years that takes on jobs that the other shops will turn down, they end up being the cheapest because they have the proper equipment. You should be able to get a new shaft made up with U joints for $ 200 to $ 300. Chicago Driveline is the company if your interested in pricing it.


LampHead

[Doc Lava Roc]

Hey Spence, hey Lamphead, hey Astrobaby:

I went down to a machine shop this morning. It will cost me around $350.00 to have a new driveshaft built. I was hoping to avoid that by asking around. Oh well, shit happens.

There are no more junkyards in my area and the one's I did call laughed at me due to the fact that it is an 89 Dodge 1-ton. These trucks are never sent to the bone yard due to the heavy-duty expensive parts associated with them. Most people just part them out. Hell, I can get $1,500 to $2,000 just for the axels alone (Dana rears). They are the strongest trucks out there (they just look like shit.)

I bought two tank repair kits this morning (a type of JB weld) and just finished sealing the quarter size hole. I hope this will work for the rest of the winter. Come spring, I planned on removing the rotted out bed and installing a flat bed. When I do that, I will replace the tank. I was also thinking about shortening the wheel base (length of overall truck) in order to increase it's turning radius. An 8' bed on a plow truck is a hindrance, not a help (especially for plowing driveways and tight places.)

I estimate that I can shave off 3 to 4 feet off the rear. By doing this, I will have to cut the frame, reposition the leaf springs (or remove them entirely and retrofit coils), set up a different fuel tank system, and last but not least, cut the driveshaft (AHHHHHHHH!)

Weld it all back together, and off I go…..Mr. Plow…..DOH!

Thanks for your support.

Doc