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77 m880

no4low

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san angelo texas
i just bought me a 77 M880 the other day and i seen where they were supposed to come with a 2 brl carb but mine has a single. everything else is right 318 727 44 front 60 rear but single sucker carb is this a special one or is it a 2 barel and jusr a messed up design from dodge but either which way 78k original miles and only droped $1k on it dont think it was too bad of a deal
 

NDT

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Welcome to the site. The carb has one hole pointing up at the air cleaner but if you look down inside you will see there are two barrels. Yup you got a reasonable deal if your truck runs and drives. The truck does not need a 4 -bbl to work it's azz off. Let's see some pics!
 

no4low

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san angelo texas
yeah runs drives legal body is ok has had like 5 different paint jobs on it though it was a national guard unit then went to tomgreen county sheriffs office through som individuals then to me. how ever im not a big fan of full time 4x4 so im gonna run the front end out of a chevy and a dana 300 transfer case to maki it part time. this truck is now a pov fire truck so i need the selectabuility on it and ill get yall some pics of it
 

Elwenil

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Good luck getting any other transfer case to bolt to that 727 as nothing else will fit it. Also note that GM front axles do not directly bolt in as the spring perches are about 1/2" off and you will still have to deal with the GM 6 lug pattern.

If you want an easy part time swap, find a '80-'93 Dodge truck with a small block, 727 transmission and a D44 front axle. Swap in the transmission and transfer case, '80-'87 will have a NP205 or NP208, '88-'93 will have a NP205 or NP241 transfer case. Then swap the rear axle complete and have the gears from your 9 1/4" swapped into it. Then swap everything from the knuckles out from the D44 (knuckles, spindles hubs, stub shaft, etc.) and you will have swapped to part time 4WD, gotten rid of the troublesome open front wheel bearing design, upgraded to the more "normal" 5 on 5.5" bolt circle and upgraded to a lower ratio in the transfer case.

For the rear axle you can sometimes just swap axle shafts and drums but you have to watch what year you are swapping from. At some point in late '84 to early '85 model year, Dodge changed the thickness of the C-clip that retains the rear axle shafts. If you swap shafts from a later axle with the different C-clips, you must also swap the side gears and preferably the spiders also.

There are also the Milemarker part time conversion kits but they are expensive, a pain to install and hard to get parts for if something breaks down the road. With the Milemarker conversion, you keep the odd full time 4WD front wheel bearing setup and end up with some very small, rather odd and somewhat weak locking hubs.
 

no4low

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well im not goin with a 6 lug this truck is a 3/4 ton which means 8 lug and yes the perches are different due to the face that the leafe springs are wider on the chevy and as far as the transfer case goes i have 2 transfercases that will bolt up because on the international scouts have a 727 in them si i know they will work cause ive done it before. im not changin the rear ens cause it a dana 60 gear match so no need to i have done my home work and know what im dealin with.
 

Recovry4x4

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Your 3rd option would be to change everything from the balljoints out. Use the 880 inner axles shafts and the generous motors outters. Welcome to Steel Soldiers Sir. Can I respectfully request that you make an effort to use capital letters and periods? It makes the posts much easier to read for the masses.

Thanks in advance!
 

no4low

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san angelo texas
I would like to d o that but at the same time im torn between keeping that flat top knuicke or swappin everything. I wanna keep the flat top so i can do the cross over steering due to the fact that it iss gona be an offroad fire truck.
 

Elwenil

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Ah, I should have considered that this is an M880. I'm too used to dealing with all the 1/2 ton questions from over at RamchargerCentral, lol. GM 8 lug stuff would work, even Ford stuff but they use a weaker 5 lug spindle. I've found that flat top knuckles are more common on Dodge trucks. It's rare that I find one that doesn't have a flat top knuckle on the passenger side.

On the transmission, I think you are mistaken. The '75-'79 full time Dodge trucks ('74-'79 Ramcharger) use a transmission tail shaft and adaptor that are specific to the NP203 transfer case. It's 23 spline like most other Dodge transfer cases but the length is different and doesn't have enough spline engagement to be reliable with a part time transfer case. The '80-'93 727s use a common spline and bolt pattern for most transfer cases and they will directly swap. The only difference is the NP205 from a manual transmission Cummins equipped truck is 29 spline input. Other than that, the NP205, NP208 and NP241 will all swap with each other on a '80-'93 transmission but for the full time trucks, the NP203 is the only transfer case that will bolt up without swapping tail shafts and adaptors from a later 727. In any case I would personally consider the Dana 300 transfer case to be too light for a 3/4 ton full size truck. In my opinion the NP205 would be ideal, the NP241 pretty good and then the NP208 as a last resort. I would not consider the Dana 300 in any of my builds. Just my .02
 

no4low

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san angelo texas
The most heavy duty action this truck might see is just when it rains its a fire truck now so it will no longer be a toy. The scouts i have are 75 and 76 which should be the same and if not ill swap tranny and everything. This truck is too heavy for a crawler and i have a 97 dodge single short i have for that. I thank all yall for yalls help.
 

tm america

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merrillville in
they sell a part time kit to go in the tranfer case that is in it. and they sell lockout kits for the front axle to. But if you do the part time kit you really dont have to do lock outs unless you are looking to save on fuel . but that would be alot easier and look more original that cross breeding it with chevy parts
 

Recovry4x4

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Not trying to spend your money but they also makke a doubler that uses the range box of the 203 combined with a 205 for a total of 3 different low ranges. Ah, just spewing.
 

tm america

Active member
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merrillville in
ya they do have the doubler to if it was me i would keep the alxe like it is as it is the strongest 44 option out the . most dana 44 lockout are very weak ans problematic. better to loose a few mpg than not have 4x4 when you need it
 

Elwenil

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Sorry but I have to strenuously disagree with the full time 4WD D44 being the strongest 44 option. The weak hub and bearings make it very failure prone if not maintained constantly. I'd take a CAD D44HD over a full time D44HD any day. Or you can always do what I did an swap in a front D60, but that may be overkill and overly expensive for this truck.

I believe in order to use an International Dana 300, you are going to have to tear down both 727s and swap the tail shafts and transfer case adaptors. The assorted AMC and International 727 transmissions do not swap with the normal Mopar 727s as the bellhousing bolt pattern is different for the "Brand X" versions.

On the part time idea, if the reason you are doing it is for mileage, I would just stay full time. The difference in mileage is negligible and you would have to put a lot of miles on it to get your money back out of a part time swap. Check over at RamchargerCentral.com for first hand accounts of the swap and the lack of any measurable mileage gain.
 
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