Project Durango
Project Durango
Well, I know this is for Dakota's, but I thought you guys would enjoy this too. I've been working with a buddy who bought an '03 Dodge Durango for $950 CDN. The catch was, the frame is severely damaged. The previous owner had lent it out to a friend, who ended up driving it drunk and put it into a ditch. The truck didn't roll or anything, but it did bend the front crossmember (where the power steering rack bolts down) pretty bad, and pushed the power steering rack up into the oil pan. To get the body ready to be removed, we took out the front and rear driveshafts, the front diff, the front fenders, the front bumper, the hood, unbolted the tie rod ends, dropped the fuel tank, dropped the transfer case, pulled the motor and trans, and loosened all the body bolts off, and put 4 back in hand tight. The drivetrain is a 4.7L v8, 4x4 automatic with 223,xxx KM Here are pics:
The front of the truck with the hood, bumper and front fenders off:
The front passenger side missing the front diff and axles:
The broken lower control arm on the driver side:
A view of the driver side of the motor with no fenders on:
The bent up front crossmember:
The rear diff missing the driveshaft:
The empty space where the driveshaft and fuel tank should be:
The empty space where the transfer case belongs:
The back of the transmission:
The transmission out and sitting on the floor:
The motor on the motor stand:
The empty engine bay:
Now, he has bought a second Durango that has front end damage, but no frame damage, so we are gunna do this all over again to the second Durango as well. I will post pics of the tear down of that one when we get to it, but we still have to pick that one up. We started this tear down on Thursday, and finished on Sunday, and we didn't even work on it yesterday. We are basically building 1 good truck outta 2 smashed ones. I will also be sure to post pics of the reassemble, and the finished product. Might be a while before I update again tho, not sure when we are getting the second truck..
The front of the truck with the hood, bumper and front fenders off:
The front passenger side missing the front diff and axles:
The broken lower control arm on the driver side:
A view of the driver side of the motor with no fenders on:
The bent up front crossmember:
The rear diff missing the driveshaft:
The empty space where the driveshaft and fuel tank should be:
The empty space where the transfer case belongs:
The back of the transmission:
The transmission out and sitting on the floor:
The motor on the motor stand:
The empty engine bay:
Now, he has bought a second Durango that has front end damage, but no frame damage, so we are gunna do this all over again to the second Durango as well. I will post pics of the tear down of that one when we get to it, but we still have to pick that one up. We started this tear down on Thursday, and finished on Sunday, and we didn't even work on it yesterday. We are basically building 1 good truck outta 2 smashed ones. I will also be sure to post pics of the reassemble, and the finished product. Might be a while before I update again tho, not sure when we are getting the second truck..
Yeah, I posted it in the Durango section just now. It was getting late, so I didn't wanna put up both the posts at the same time, just wanted to get at least one up, so I chose to put it in the Dakota section to show you guys first
well, as it stands, he is just waiting to get the other Durango. With Christmas at hand, money has been a little tight. But in the new year, we will be getting the other truck, stripping it down, pulling the body up as high as the garage will let us, and roll that frame out from underneath the bad body, to under the good body. Then we will be getting the good body and good frame into the shop, and then we will begin mismatching parts to make one good one! I honestly can't wait for the finished project. It really cool seeing, and being a part of this process! And it will be good experience for some of the things I have planned for the Dakota
UPDATE:
We got the second truck! The first day, we picked it up, hauled it home and winched it into the garage with our newly purchased 3000lbs winch for 70 bux! Stripped the frame of its wiring, pulled the motor, trans, transfer case and rear driveshaft (front was already removed) in less than 24hrs. After everything was out, we pulled the body mounts, took 2 floor jacks on each side in the front on top of milk crates, lifted the front of the body, slid 2 8 to 10 foot pieces of 2x8 in between the body and frame, lowered the body back down and did the same to the rear. With the body lifted, we pushed the truck out of the garage, out and into the outside parking spot (This was all done before the 24hr mark of picking the second truck up!). The next day, my buddy put cardboard under the truck, lifted it and took the tires off, dropped it down on the bare rotors, lifted the body off and rolled the frame out from underneath. The body is actually sitting outside on milk crates right now! Once the body was off, he put the tires back on and pushed the frame into the garage. Later that day, we borrowed the trailer we used to pick up the two trucks, loaded up the frame and took it to a wand wash where we washed the frame down. Today, I worked on taking the wheel bearing, rotor, caliper and protection shield thing off the smashed frame and put just the bad wheel bearing back on with the wheel. My buddy worked on painting the frame. We tried to get parts for the motor (Oil pan gasket, rear main seal, tranny output shaft seal, front diff output seal, and tranny filter kit) but only came out with a tranny filter kit. No parts in stock for this truck, nor were the warehouses open. We will get all that done tomorrow, and by this time tomorrow, I wont be surprised if we have the front end re-assembled, the good motor, tranny and transfer case all installed. We will see tho.
Pics will be coming soon! Didn't get any pics of the tear down of the second truck, it all went too fast, but I will be getting pics of the bare frame, and from this point forward!
We got the second truck! The first day, we picked it up, hauled it home and winched it into the garage with our newly purchased 3000lbs winch for 70 bux! Stripped the frame of its wiring, pulled the motor, trans, transfer case and rear driveshaft (front was already removed) in less than 24hrs. After everything was out, we pulled the body mounts, took 2 floor jacks on each side in the front on top of milk crates, lifted the front of the body, slid 2 8 to 10 foot pieces of 2x8 in between the body and frame, lowered the body back down and did the same to the rear. With the body lifted, we pushed the truck out of the garage, out and into the outside parking spot (This was all done before the 24hr mark of picking the second truck up!). The next day, my buddy put cardboard under the truck, lifted it and took the tires off, dropped it down on the bare rotors, lifted the body off and rolled the frame out from underneath. The body is actually sitting outside on milk crates right now! Once the body was off, he put the tires back on and pushed the frame into the garage. Later that day, we borrowed the trailer we used to pick up the two trucks, loaded up the frame and took it to a wand wash where we washed the frame down. Today, I worked on taking the wheel bearing, rotor, caliper and protection shield thing off the smashed frame and put just the bad wheel bearing back on with the wheel. My buddy worked on painting the frame. We tried to get parts for the motor (Oil pan gasket, rear main seal, tranny output shaft seal, front diff output seal, and tranny filter kit) but only came out with a tranny filter kit. No parts in stock for this truck, nor were the warehouses open. We will get all that done tomorrow, and by this time tomorrow, I wont be surprised if we have the front end re-assembled, the good motor, tranny and transfer case all installed. We will see tho.
Pics will be coming soon! Didn't get any pics of the tear down of the second truck, it all went too fast, but I will be getting pics of the bare frame, and from this point forward!
Last edited by RockGuardedDak; Jan 8, 2012 at 02:19 PM.
Well, didn't manage to get pics of the bare frame either.. Phone was dead 
BUT, I do have some bad pics of the body 3 milk crates high in the air in the garage, with the good frame under it!
The view of the front passenger side up in the air!
The view of the front driver side up in the air!
And this is the rear driver side in the air!
These are the only pics I have. As of Midnight the other night, the truck was running. As of 3pm ish yesterday, the truck was out of the garage under its own power. All thats left is to put the hood back on, put the plastic wheel well fender things back in, vacuum and clean the interior, and dispose of the garbage frame and body! Took it for a little drive up the back lane yesterday, taking it for a longer drive today to do the final test. Truck is driving straight!!! A little bit of rub on the tires, but thats because the plastic fender "flares" were loose and hitting the tire. That problem already got fixed too! But after all said and done, I now have a new found respect for milk crates! 4 of them, 1 in each corner, supported the bad body for 2 weeks now in the cold. The milk crates also supported the good body when we had it 3 high in the air! We only broke one milk crate, and that was while dropping the good body back down, my buddy didnt compensate for movement, and didnt have the jack set up right, so there was too much pressure on one corner of the milk crate, it stated to crack, then let go, and took my jack down with it! Scary stuff, but glad its done, and the truck runs! I will take pics of the finished product either today or tomorrow after we wash it!!
BUT, I do have some bad pics of the body 3 milk crates high in the air in the garage, with the good frame under it!The view of the front passenger side up in the air!
The view of the front driver side up in the air!
And this is the rear driver side in the air!
These are the only pics I have. As of Midnight the other night, the truck was running. As of 3pm ish yesterday, the truck was out of the garage under its own power. All thats left is to put the hood back on, put the plastic wheel well fender things back in, vacuum and clean the interior, and dispose of the garbage frame and body! Took it for a little drive up the back lane yesterday, taking it for a longer drive today to do the final test. Truck is driving straight!!! A little bit of rub on the tires, but thats because the plastic fender "flares" were loose and hitting the tire. That problem already got fixed too! But after all said and done, I now have a new found respect for milk crates! 4 of them, 1 in each corner, supported the bad body for 2 weeks now in the cold. The milk crates also supported the good body when we had it 3 high in the air! We only broke one milk crate, and that was while dropping the good body back down, my buddy didnt compensate for movement, and didnt have the jack set up right, so there was too much pressure on one corner of the milk crate, it stated to crack, then let go, and took my jack down with it! Scary stuff, but glad its done, and the truck runs! I will take pics of the finished product either today or tomorrow after we wash it!!
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