Monster Van 1972 Dodge Tradesman with a knack for creating low-profile cars

摘要

Jim Oldaker took a slightly different approach to building a monster truck when he started not with a heavy-duty, body-on-frame truck, but a '72 Dodge Tradesman. Back in the April 1985 issue of Four Wheeler, we visited Jim and the van he once called his "aging daily driver." To transform the van into a monster van, Jim began by locating a decrepit tandem-axle water truck. He stripped the truck down to the frame, which he then shortened to 127 inches to fit the van's intended wheelbase. Boyce Equipment was the source of the monster van's axles: a pair of 5-ton military Rockwell steering axles each with 6.44:1 gears and a Detroit Locker. On each end of the axles lived a 66/43-25 Goodyear Terra tire mounted to a custom-built 25×36-inch wheel. Holding the axles to the frame were a set of 10-ton military springs in the front and a 5-ton set out back, attached to the frame by a set of custom-fabricated frame clips. The remaining suspension duties were divided amongst the 16 Rough Country Mark IV shocks, which by our math means four of them per corner of the van. Jim kept the water truck's 426ci Detroit 6-71 diesel for power under the hood as well as the stock Spicer five-speed manual transmission and the Rockwell 5-ton, two-speed transfer case, all in the name of reliability. Besides, if these components could haul the original truck's full payload of water, the Dodge van body and monster rubber should pose no problem.