Yeah your used to it then. I went from having a nice big heated garage to none and needless to say I hate it!

 

i did too.. i went from a tow company that had a 5 bay shop with 2 lifts and any tool you could think of to a company that has NO BAYS not even for fleet repair. needless to say, the fleet is suffering, and im sick of driving broke *** trucks.. im tryin to go back to the other company...

 

Holy crap I dont see how you could have a company that makes it money with trucks not have a shop to fix their trucks!

 

haha i had a wrecker blow a PS line a block from a hardware store, 25 bux in plumbing fittings and hi pressure tubing, and a couple tools, i fixed the ps line and got my 150 mile tow done, and the 175 miles back to the dealer to get it fixed the right way.. after a night spend sleeping IN my truck, and a 2 hour wait for the truck, it was fixed.

thats why im rebuilding my dakota, get it configured as a fleet repair truck, ill make more money doing fleet repair, than towing. plus side is that in the rebuild im setting it up for multiple bodies, a dumping rack body, and a utility body.

its gonna have a fullsize 12 head LED lightbar, LED corner heads, LEDS in the grill, and rear bumper. and a Whelen Eng. PA/Air horn system. oo ya, all the LED Systems are also from Whelen Eng.

 

oh and when my dakota is done all built up, i plan on opening my own towing company. i got family that owns a towing company, they will farm me a couple trucks to start up. im thinking 2 flatbeds, and a wrecker.

 

Sounds like its gonna be a pretty sweet truck! I wanna a set of rigid industries lights they are too expensive for me tho. I keep trying to win a pair but never do. I guess it depends on your area if you need a wrecker. Both of the guys I know that have shops just have flat beds. Never needed a wrecker.

 

not to insult your friends, but a skilled operator can tow the same vehicles with a properly outfitted wrecker that a flatbed can. wreckers with indipendant booms can be used as tiny cranes.. coming up on 10 years in towing, i prefer a wrecker over a bed. bottom line both trucks are good.. some more versitile than others. it boils down to the operator and operators preferance.

 

OFF TOPIC SLIGHTLY, when i pulled the motor, i had to remove the exhaust manifolds aswell.. obviously i snapped one or two, i have a full tap set, i am trying to avoid boring the manifold threading.. so if anyone can help please do..

so i called a dealership gave them the part number for one of the studs, they gave me these specs for it, 0.312x18 and 2.25"

im assuming the .312x18 is the diamater and pitch, and the 2.25 is the length.

if some one can check my math, i belive the 0.312x18 is 5/16x18..

thank you

 

Oh I totally agree on the wrecker. They are much better just idk our small town never needed one both the guys I know have been doing it for 20-30 years. To your other question was it threaded into the other flange or did it have a nut on the other side? why not either go with a slightly smaller bolt and just bolt it and lock washer it on there. I know on my dakota the rust ate some of the head and let it start to pull through the flange so I got new bolts and added a washer to it so it would tak a long *** time to pull back through again.

 

so i think to save my self some money, as i am on a budget on this resto... i feel i have found a way to keep the cab i have and keep the structural integrity of the cab. i am adding links to pics of the cab and the body rot issues. i am thinkin of re metaling, and or fiberglassin the issues.

let me know what you think. its gonna run me 5-600 for a boneyard cab that has no issues. ive been told by body shops, and my uncle who is a career body tech (33 years and counting in auto body) saying its not rebuildable, im not looking for show room, im just looking for something that i can use to mock up the body and suspension lift, new exhaust, and all my plumbing and electrical..

i also have to replace the front left cab mount. it rotted off, as well as get the other 3 bolts out of the cab mounts.. and on top of that find replacement bushings and hardware to replace the stock ones i torched to hell to get cab off..

here are the pics, any help or suggestions will me VERY MUCH appreciated


^^^ floor pan ^^^

^^ pass side rocker ^^

^^ driver side rocker^^
both cab corners are just about gone, and there is some rust/rot on firewall, but it is containable..