Cummins into chevy 1500 swap advice
- Thread starter 97 D-Tec
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Its a mid 90s chevy 1500 single cab short box 2wd. He just basically wants a B/A street truck so no need to back half it or anything like that. He wants to know if he can use the stock trans thats in the truck. im not sure what auto cam in those trucks but hed like to use itfor now at least; or if he should just get rid of that too and put in either a 47 or 48re. Right now hes just looking into it sso like i said all advise would be helpful (cause impressed him w/ my dually on the high way :rockwoot
z79outlaw
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He'll need a 47 or a 48 definetely, the 4l60 will never hold up. If its just going to be 2wd, it'll be the easiest route. He wont have torsion bar brackets and alot of other clearence issues. Tell him go for it, someone that knows more will have to chime in. I wouldnt recommend doing the swap though before doing every once of research that you can and reading about other people swaps and doing all the planning before he even purchases a single part, it'll make it alot easier and less headache for him.
thedirtymax
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chevy cummins swap
ok im wantin to do a swap too.
a 12v nv4500 swap is exactly what im wanting to do.......but i want to put it in a 2001 silverado 1500 z71 ex cab short bed but i honestly dont know where to start as far as gauges and stuff like that goes. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
ok im wantin to do a swap too.
a 12v nv4500 swap is exactly what im wanting to do.......but i want to put it in a 2001 silverado 1500 z71 ex cab short bed but i honestly dont know where to start as far as gauges and stuff like that goes. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
z79outlaw
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Gauges are easy use your original harness, make the GM sensors work with the cummins. For instance, use your original oil pressure sender, and use whatever adapters you have to use to make it thread into where the Cummins originally had the dodge oil pressure sensor.
The hardest part and by that I mean maybe it'll take you a day, is making the engine fit far enough back that you can run a mechanical fan if you desire too, yet still have enough clearence between the engine and firewall, yet not let the transfer case interfere with the torsion bar bracket. My swap was with a 98 GMT-400 platform so I cant give you any specific answers, but I'm more than happy to help point you in the right direction.
x2 on the gauges. Just keep all your sensors from the GM and adapt them to the cummins. The only concern I have with the C1500 is the weight of the cummins. On a K you could put 3/4 or 1 ton torsion bars in it I believe. Worst case I'm sure you can find some heavier springs for it.
Tell him to start reading up on what people have done and just keep an eye out for a 12 valve. It will save him a lot of money to wait until a good deal pops up rather than going out to get one. I got mine with trans for $1000, just waiting around for about a year until a deal came up.
x2 on the 4l60 not holding up as well. He'll need to go to a nv4500 or use a 47RH auto. I'm assuming he wants a 12 valve. A 24 valve has been done many many times and its not as hard as people make it out to be, but it is more work than a 12 valve and you'll probably need a complete donor truck to make it work. There was some setup on the late 12 valves to run a 47RE, but I have no idea how they work. The only other way is how JK_Auto did it, which is getting the ATS standalone controller for the trans which is quite pricy if you don't find one used for cheap.
Tell him to start reading up on what people have done and just keep an eye out for a 12 valve. It will save him a lot of money to wait until a good deal pops up rather than going out to get one. I got mine with trans for $1000, just waiting around for about a year until a deal came up.
x2 on the 4l60 not holding up as well. He'll need to go to a nv4500 or use a 47RH auto. I'm assuming he wants a 12 valve. A 24 valve has been done many many times and its not as hard as people make it out to be, but it is more work than a 12 valve and you'll probably need a complete donor truck to make it work. There was some setup on the late 12 valves to run a 47RE, but I have no idea how they work. The only other way is how JK_Auto did it, which is getting the ATS standalone controller for the trans which is quite pricy if you don't find one used for cheap.
rs359
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We are in the process of doing 2 2wd Suburbans and used the 47rh you can use the 47re but it will require a stand alone controler or using the Dodge computer .
It is best to make your own motor mounts to set the engine lower in the frame. We got away with no body lift and were told that it would be needed we did not cut the firewall but did fold the seam flat against the firewall this was only to give more clearance for the trans bolts once it was together . There is not enough room for the ac compressor to clear the frame so you will need to make a bracket or use a Freightliner bracket . As mentioned by Z79Outlaw use the gm sending units on the gauges except the speedo and tach . Make a bracket and use the GM alternator it will allow use of the factory tach with Diesel clusters. If you have a gasoline cluster you will need an adapter for that a Diesel tach interface from Dakota Digital.
You will also need a Dakota Digital Speed sensor signal adapter to make the speedo (sgi5) work with the Dodge speed sensor . Rich
It is best to make your own motor mounts to set the engine lower in the frame. We got away with no body lift and were told that it would be needed we did not cut the firewall but did fold the seam flat against the firewall this was only to give more clearance for the trans bolts once it was together . There is not enough room for the ac compressor to clear the frame so you will need to make a bracket or use a Freightliner bracket . As mentioned by Z79Outlaw use the gm sending units on the gauges except the speedo and tach . Make a bracket and use the GM alternator it will allow use of the factory tach with Diesel clusters. If you have a gasoline cluster you will need an adapter for that a Diesel tach interface from Dakota Digital.
You will also need a Dakota Digital Speed sensor signal adapter to make the speedo (sgi5) work with the Dodge speed sensor . Rich
z79outlaw
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I've actually found it easier to just mod the the Dodge alternator. Any shop can add a tack up to your alternator, they just tap the stator. It would probably cost less then $10. Assuming your alternator is good it should cost about $50-70 dollars to add an internal voltage regulator and tach pick-up to your alternator. The advantages to doing this would be your able to run the wider serpentine belt that the cummins has, theres no alignment issues or anything that may or may not be involved with making your own bracket.
rs359
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Cummins has a 8 groove pulley for a chevy alternator . It was used on some of the Freightliners which is what we are using so the 8 grove is retained. I dont know if the dodge alt will still be a bolt on after the freightliner bracket is used to raise the compressor to clear the frame. It may be easier to make a bracket for the Dodge alt but we did not try.We wanted the GM alt because of the Tach issues .
This is something to look into. Rich
This is something to look into. Rich