Hello,
I'm getting 2 dodge 4x4 1/2 ton trucks on wednesday and as i am a jeep guy i know little to nothing about these trucks. first off one is a white 91 and the other is a red 93. The white one is has a 318 with an auto tranny and the 93 is a 318 magnuim with an auto tranny. These trucks are going to be used as work trucks. the 91 is problem free but the 93 will need a new axle shaft and hub as well as the tranny has major problems with shifting and is pretty much undrivable as you may not get into gear or if it's in gear you never know which one you'll get. the old owner said he thinks it's a plate of some sort in the valve assembly alowing to much fluid to go through out causing intermintent shifting and such. Has anyone heard of such a problem ? should i just replace the whole tranny or just the valve assembly ? from what years can i score a tranny or assembly from ? also I'd like to lose the auto hubs and go manual, is this easy to do ? what parts will i need and what years and makes can a score some from in a wrecking yard ? These trucks will also need to have heavier duty springs installed can i score one tone or 3/4 ton spring and just swap them in ? thanks alot guys

 

With every thing you are talking about you must first identify exactly what type of systems are in each truck.

Trans: The problem is obviously in the valve body. The valve body is the brain of the trans. This problem is highly unusual for a torqueflite. If the rest of the trans is good, which you will not know until this is fixed, a good quality shift kit should fix this problem. The 727 is the heavy trans in our trucks. If you are planing on pushing the load limits the 904 will not make you happy.

Hubs: First are you sure you have any locking hubs to replace? That may sound silly but a lot of these trucks have locking axles instead of locking hubs. If you have auto hubs replacing them with manual types is pretty straight forward. You remove the autos and bolt on the manuals.

Springs: You have not said why you want to replace the springs. I assume you want to increase load limit with these being work trucks. Without knowing what differentials are in the truck I wonder how much you will gain by replacing the springs. Heavier springs will mean any overload will only show itself with broken axles as they will become the weak point if you have standard differentials.

 

I recently put ¾ ton springs on the rear of my ½ ton. I did it because I was having trouble with broken leaves. I found springs off of a lighter duty ¾ ton. You can check the GVWR tags. There is only a few hundred pounds difference between the different trucks.

You will need to use the steel plate that goes on top of the springs that holds the U-bolt in place from the original springs to keep the U-bolts straight up and down. I think springs off of a 1 ton would be overkill.

I was amazed at how much a slightly heavier spring “jacked” up the rear of my truck. If I get to it I may take the spacers out from under the springs and cut them down an inch or two to lower the box down and make the truck set level.

 

you are corect in me wanting to increase the load ability as both trucks will be used for dump runs, gravel hauling,ect aswell as plow trucks next winter.

When i get the trucks tomorrow i'll figure out what system it has he claims the trucks both have auto locking hubs.

as for the valve body do new shift kits include replacement valve bodies ? i'd rather try replacing this valve body first if they don't before installing such a kit. I've never played around with auto tranies other then taking one out and putting one in, and it's been along time since i've done that.
also are the valve bodies hard to replace ? can someone walk me through it or point me in the right direction ? thanks again guys

 

are the manual locking hubs off a ford or chevy 1/2 ton truck the same ?

 

The best manual on these trannys is the factory manual. Here is a guide that explains about these trannys. It should answer most of your questions.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/transmis...-tom-hand.html

 

I took manual locking hubs off a1976 Chevy and put them on a 1984 Dodge. They fit right on.

 

will the hubs fit a 91 and 93 ? My trucks arival has been delayed a few days so i'm still waiting to find out if they are auto locking hubs or in the axles.