My best friend has a Power Wagon and that truck is the best equiped, most capable 4X4 available at any dealership. I think this thread has overlooked a few features of the power wagon that make it a real off roader. First the front and rear locking diffs. When you lock the diffs on that thing, there is no hill to steep to drive right up. You can crawl it righ over boulder strewn dry creek beds. Another is the automatic disconnect front anti-sway bar. The differance in articulation with it disconnected is very impressive. Another thing we have found very useful off road are the skid plates. They cover the entire undercarage and are much tougher than the so called skid plates found on other 4X4s.
The winch is very handy, it's just nice that it's hidden behind the bumper.
35" tires on a PW makes a very capable truck without making it so tall nobody can get in.
Another option that makes off roading more pleasant is the Sirius radiosince it works great no matter how farup in the mountains you go.
So if you want a CTD powered Power Wagon, I'd say you have two options.
1. Start with a 2500 CTD 4X4w/ 4.10 axles. Add a KORE suspension, 35" tires on the stock 17" rims, front and rear ARB air lockers, 12,000lb winch, and some side steps to keep the little woman happy.
2. Do like another guy did, buy a PW and a 2500 CTD and transplant the CTD and transmission into the PW.

 

The power wagons definetly come with a few nice features, but they will never out way the CTD option, buh hahaha .

 

Thank you Steve, sb and dieselram for the additional info you supplied...

Dave, the questions I have asked since starting this thread did not really
address turning a reg 2500 into a Power Wagon functionally, but
rather making a 2500, geared mostly for highway driving, LOOK LIKE
a Power Wagon. I said from the very start that I did not want a Power
Wagon (I have really no use for one of those, which are made specifically
for extreme off-road performance), but that I am so much in love with the
looks and proportions of the PW, that I want a reg 2500 (geared for on-road
performance) that looks like one...

Now, when it comes to the prospect of installing a CTD into a Power Wagon,
I've done a lot of reading and researching on just that, just because of my
curiosity, wanting to know if such a feat was reasonably doable, and apparently
it is a rather foolish thing to attempt, according to the experts that have looked
into it, who gave the following reasons why it does not make much sense,
therefore justifying Dodge refusal to make a PW available with a Cummins in it,
in spite of the tremendous amount of requests for just that with which they
have literally been bombarded ever since coming up with the latest generation
PW (market demand = sales - and yet they won't do it, for pretty good reasons):

1) The Cummins, weighing about 950 lbs., is too heavy (makes the front
of the off-road vehicle too heavy) for the type of terrain the PW is meant
to be driven on. The gas engine weighs only about half of that...

2) They made the PW with a 4.56 gear ratio, which works fine with the
gas engine, but is not a good match at all for the Cummins, which would be
pushed darn quickly into the red. It would also cause an abnormally quick
("neck-snapping") acceleration... And burn way too much fuel...

3) Another, though minor, point is that of space limitations (the winch interferes
with the space needed by the rather massive CTD radiator and intercooler).

There were also other points discussed in the various articles I read which
now escape my recollection, all pointing in the same direction... In light of all
this, I think it much likely that the guy from Diesel Power Magazine who
swapped engines must have later realized that doing so hadn't been such
a bright thing to do...

It would appear easier to buy a reg 2500 with a CTD in it, and then add
the various parts that would turn it into a "power wagon," but not quite
a Power Wagon, after all... You would still have to deal with the lack of
space needed for the winch... The guy from DPM, if I recall correctly,
circumvented this obstacle by successfully installing it on the outside of
the vehicle, so that's an option...

But then, starting with a reg 2500, how would you go about implementing
things such as the front and rear locking diffs, the automatic disconnect
front anti-sway bar, the extra-tough skid plate structure covering the entire
undercarriage... Me, I am very new to all this, but to my knwoledge those
options are not listed as selectable for reg vehicles... If there is a way to
implement them on a reg 2500, I am really curious to know how.

Again, I am totally in love with the way the Power Wagon looks... It's
hard to pin down the reasons why... There's just a sexyness that emanates
from that truck... to the point that I felt very much tempted to buy one as
is. But then, what would I be doing with a truck specifically made for
extreme off-road, and thus expectedly one that performs poorly on-road,
when most of my miles will be highway ones?

Nope, the answer for me (as well as for those who feel the same as I
do and, at the same time, have similar needs) is to get a functionally reg
2500 and make it LOOK like a PW...

Wonder if it's possible to add that type of external details to a reg 2500...
I mean all that rubber in the right places, those bumpers with such a
great personality, the chrome, even the logos...

 

char_ls

I first want to say that you literary typing skills are unbelievable inspiring -
hahaah, just kidding

Anyway I really like the PW fender flares, I like how they don't stick out very far, but they would still protect the body (If they stick out too far then I won't be able to get any mud up on her ). I see PW emblems on ebay all the time (in my opinion though, it would be like a gasser puttin a CTD emblem on their truck, I would imagine that some of the PW guys would be offended).

 

Oh yeah almost forgot, did I just get a nick name up there?
Sweet!!!!! Nobody has ever given me a nick name before.

 

[sm=smiley16.gif]

[sm=smiley19.gif]

Yep, thinking of it, you're right... It would be pushing it too much. [sm=youreright.gif]

 

I am glad you like it... [sm=bounceybounce.gif]

(I didn't want to write "savage.basher," and had never
come across a mention of your RL name...)

Charles

 

I think you are worrying far too much about the small details! Just go get your truck and start accessorizing the thing they way you like it!!! THere are plenty websites where you can buy factory moulding and things. If you are not going offroad you have no need for skid plates and locking diffs. A simple lift and adding tires/wheels is very simple, you could easily buy a set of power wagon wheels if you like, there is a set for sale on another forum right now.

 

As far as gears, you have no worries in going with the lower numerical number. I've got 3.55 in mine and I've got 295R16 75's on mine (close to 34 inches) and I have absolutely no lack in acceleration. Heck when my roommate bought some 280Z's I found out that at 7000 ft my truck will out accelerate a stock 280 Z while pulling one (4500 to 5000 lbs with the trailer). We were rolling to a stop at a stoplight and when it turned green we both punched it from about 15MPH to 50MPH. Good choice on the 6speed, I love mine.

 

I do have gathered enough information, thanks to you guys,
that I am pretty much ready to go ahead and buy one...

About the skid plates, locking diffs, etc. - that was just talk
for the sake of curiosity, as I made very clear, not that I had
any intention to build myself a power wagon... but just to see
how difficult it is for something that gets very close to it to be
built starting with a reg 2500... Even though I do not need a
PW at this time, I am yet interested in knowing stuff like that...

One thing I forgot to ask... Let's say you get a new truck and
right away you begin changing stuff... you know, the tires, the
mods, etc. What do you do with the stuff you have just taken
out of your brand new truck? Is there a way to get back at least
some of the money you have paid for it? Please advise...