Hi all! New member long time lurker here. Just did a post in the new member welcome section a week ago...
Please forgive me for resurrecting an already-beaten-to-death horse, but I have yet to find the answers / advice to help me decide on the next steps for "Spud."
You see, Spud is a 3600, and a daily driver 3/4 is sorta not common, and many of the typical answers that apply to 3100s are not applicable to us, or at least don't seem to be discussed often in the online encyclopedia of collective forum knowledge...
We've had Spud for nigh on a decade now, and in that time we have done a lot of mechanical restoration, mostly farmed out to an old-timey shade tree mechanic that lived down the road. I say lived, past tense, because he moved last year several states away....now this particular mechanic had his own very strong opinions about how the fixing up should go, and due to my lack of time, he mostly got his way - that is to say, some things were restored / rebuilt when I think they should have been upgraded to more modern options for drivability's sake...
All this to say, we have spent a fair chunk of change on Spud at this point and have a mostly mechanically restored stock truck.
When we started out ten years ago, I was hoping for some slightly more modern upgrades to improve "driveability", and by that I largely mean gearing and suspension. The ride is harsh, and the rear end is 4.57 with the SM420 trans.
I had originally thought an S10 frame swap would be the best bang for the buck, providing a better ride, power brakes, relocated fuel tank, easier to get parts, etc...I have read MANY threads on the pros and cons of this, and the sacrilege of ditching a perfectly good stock frame. From my perspective, it still seems like a great and very economical option to accomplish many upgrades at once. We would be ditching many things we have already spent money on, such as Tires, rims, rebuilt wheel hubs, bearings, brakes, fuel tank, lines, etc.
This is a daily driver work truck and I very much want to improve ride quality, braking, fuel economy, and remove the fuel tank from the cab.
A mustang 2 doesn't seem like the right path, and is frankly out of our price range. I have read about the Dakota front end, but I don't know how that would work out in the rear to have the same axle bolt pattern.
I'd like a different transmission. 4 or 5 speed. I wouldn't mind switching to a 3100 solid front axle if we could get the ride quality better at the same time.
Spud needs new springs all around, and new kingpins and steering, so it's a good time to figure this out. New leaf packs plus the other parts is going to add up to about $2k, and it seems like I could get some upgrades in there for less money.
The other factor is where I live there isn't much to pull from junk yards as far as front end clips, frames, etc... and there aren't any folks actually working on similar trucks for me to hang around...I'm on my own out here...
Any and all advice / opinions are greatly appreciated! I have learned a lot from this forum already...
Cheers,
Will
