Re-power D5N 300

Coloze wrote: Thanks Paul, appreciate your comment, mate I'm 70 think that gives you pretty good idea what I want

Coloze, I'm 70 also, but I wouldn't be wanting to get along at 80 kph, and changing gears to get up hills. In my misspent youth I drove paper trucks with 4 and 5 series Dodges, powered by 318 V8s, with extractors twin pipes, and bigger carby, they went like a shower of sh*t (especially the 4 series), and pretty economical also.

I think most engine/transmission changes are not worth the trouble. The truck manufacturer knew a bit about how to build them.

Old mate's Inter D1510 with original six (don't know what size, maybe 245?) on 17 inch wheels, and loaded with about a ton had a blowout at 110 k a couple of months ago. The tyre was quite a few years old but looked good. (he has now replaced all six) He said a B-Double milk tanker was "pushing" him. I told him I don't let them push. Even if they get up close behind me, I maintain my speed and pull over as soon as possible to let them past.

Thanks John for your input, 318 seems to be popular suggestion, have seen a few on internet though not readily available, not in a hurry will keep searching .

Appreciate your point, reminds me of time I'd catch a lift in WA paper delivery truck when 15 years of age, the West Australian newspaper truck would leave Perth about 10pm heading south to Albany, pick me up at Arthur River just after midnight, truck was very fast, F600, was too young to know what they'd done to it, was running late one night long downhill grade proved it could do 100mph, scared the daylights out of me, been a plodder since

Good point, an option I've considered is to find truck already with V8 fitted, the work involved changing from 6cyl to 8cyl is no small job and as you say maybe not worth the trouble.

Changing anything to V8 is definitely worth the trouble, the only things I own that arent V8 are my forklift(can't physically fit a V8 in it) and bikes. I don't care if the V8 appears a retrograde step, I have a VL V8 when everyone says the turbos are better, I just hate 6 cylinder shit with a passion, almost as much as I hate diesel. However at 70 you might be better off finding one that is already V8 for the sake of simplicity, good luck with it.

I am putting a 318 with a 904 trans into my ab120. Changed a lot of running gear to Dodge so am running a dana 60 with a 4.1 ratio but after speaking to a bloke that has done it all and at the moment tows a fifth wheeler behind his d5n 200 he convinced me to do an upgrade to a 3.5. He had a caravan to tow and he said it did it easy and had good road speed. I am a v8 fan but have to run LPG. To repair the 318 is a lot cheaper than the diesels and more fun. Sound better too.
Graham

Don't jump the gun yet, try it with the 4.1, depending on your tyre size it might be just right, 3.5 can be a bit tall if you've got big tyres on it. Ive got 4.11s in a Dana 70 in my F350 and with 7.50/16s on it it felt too low, since I changed to 19.5s it now seems just right on the highway.

Coloze wrote: Appreciate your point, reminds me of time I'd catch a lift in WA paper delivery truck when 15 years of age, the West Australian newspaper truck would leave Perth about 10pm heading south to Albany, pick me up at Arthur River just after midnight, truck was very fast, F600, was too young to know what they'd done to it, was running late one night long downhill grade proved it could do 100mph, scared the daylights out of me, been a plodder since

100mph? Must have been one of the slower ones. lol

Yep,buy a rusty one with the motor in it.Save a fortune and endless frustration.Little things like the six and V8 having different gearbox spline,clutch bits and a tailshaft you can alter to suit.Go for tubeless tires,lot cheaper that tubed.Does the 300 have the small 8stud wheels?If so,Ford bits will fit.Regards John.