The Brodozer

jonathan734

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Hey guys, this is my first post on this username but I originally joined when everyone first left the nation. I lost the login info for the account so I had to start a new user name. Anyways, this is my first big vehicle project ever and I'm naming it "Brodozer"!

I needed a bigger truck for my roofing/metal roll forming business and since every mexican has a dually I decided I needed something better. I bought an 04 International 4400 straight truck with a dt466e and 7sp. Here she is the day I brought her home.

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I then brought her into my father in law's shop and began cutting. I sourced an air ride rear end out of the junk yard, grabbed some new bags, shocks, and bolts and began drilling holes in the frame to move the axle up towards the front of the truck.

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Once I cut the remaining frame off the truck was really starting to get off in the right direction. I measured up how I wanted my flat bed to be and I set off to find someone to build it. After talking to tons of people I finally enlisted Eby, for a rediculous price, to build me a custom aluminum bed. In the meantime I picked up some new 24.5's and welded in a temp hitch to hold me over until the bed showed up.

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Nobody told me these things where so heavy...

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I promise the final harness will look good. The wiring on this thing is giving me fits and I still havent found a good brake tap for the trailer brake controller. Anyone have any ideas?

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Wheels on but I didn't realize I'd need new studs. That turned out to be a little bit of an ordeal between me not really knowing what I'm doing and parts guys in general getting a kick out of how green I was. I figured it out though and really think the wheels make the truck!

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I got busy with work and the truck had a few issues. Ended up getting a new MAP sensor, new spindles, king pins, and calipers. Now she is starting to drive as good as she looks. The new bed showed up too!

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Unfortunately it didn't get built to exact specs and it looks like some mods are going to be needed so it can sit to the cab. Luckily EBY said they would do it all, mount, and wire it for free! Can't beat that. Hopefully this week I'll be able to get the truck to their shop. In the mean time she is hauling the trailer for us.

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So that is where she is as of now. I still need to mount the compressor and air tank, install the exhaust when the bed goes on, tint the windows, and install a stereo.

This winter I'd like to fit up an extended cab to the truck and get some more power out of her. Does anybody know of a tuner for these trucks?
 

Vader's Fury

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I love hate those trucks. Had 3 of them at work for the last 7 years. Got one left and it has been one thing after another. Hope you have better luck. Ours are 9 spd and ext cab. Bout the same otherwise. Injectors, hoop and front cover have been our big issues. One also had a computer failure.

Wheels look good and I like the air ride rear. Bet it's much better than the spring read esp when empty.
 

jonathan734

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Thanks for the kind words. This is my second truck like this and they are definitely nickel and dime trucks. I think I learned a lot of the quirks on the first one and I'm hoping I can can keep this one going a little better.

The drill was a rental but definitely got me in the market. That particular one had a weak magnet, for whatever reason, and I had to hold it when drilling to keep it from walking. A real pain...

Whats the deal with swapping in a mechanical motor in place of the e series that is in here? I've got a line on an older motor and I'd like to make the swap to get some power out of this truck. I don't mind a christmas tree dash but will it mess with anything like the brake system?
 

ja_cain

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Awesome project man! I've got one of those mag drills too with the drill chuck and just love it.

I may start maintaining a small fleet of box trucks and there are a few maxforce dt's, dt466e and duramax tucks. May even be a t444e and dt360 in there too. Anyone have any good online resources for the 466e and maxforce platforms? I was thinking about hanging out on a school bus forum or two.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

sootie

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There is already a "brodozer" build on here fyi...

Why did you put the axle where you did? you may have some issues if you load it heavy with weight balance etc...
 

jonathan734

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There is already a "brodozer" build on here fyi...

Why did you put the axle where you did? you may have some issues if you load it heavy with weight balance etc...

Well whoever did the first one, sorry! I didn't even think to do a search.

I put the axle where I did to get the longest wheelbase I could . The bed itself will never see a ton of weight as all of our trailers are pintle or ball type. I do have a gooseneck we use rarely though. What type of issues do you think I'll run into? Once an extended cab goes on I'll have to move the bed back atleast 24" as well.
 

sootie

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one issue i see is too much weight on the front axle if you load the bed heavy. i dont know if you put a gooseneck hitch on but there are federal requirements on how far ahead of the axle the hitch can be. you are also sacrificing turning radius (not a legal issue)
 

jonathan734

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one issue i see is too much weight on the front axle if you load the bed heavy. i dont know if you put a gooseneck hitch on but there are federal requirements on how far ahead of the axle the hitch can be. you are also sacrificing turning radius (not a legal issue)

Thank you for the heads up. I will look into this and make sure I'm not going to have an issue
 

CATDiezel

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Awesome build. I enjoy random cool builds like this.

Very practical too.

Some undermount aluminum boxes and half fenders over the rear tires and you'll be set.
 

jonathan734

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Thanks guys. I have done some more to it and should have an update up tomorrow. Been super busy with work!
 

ghohouston

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I hope that truck rides better than my service truck does. And the mag drill may not have a weak magnet, the one's we had at my last job, had a certain thickness of metal to magnetize to, otherwise, they wouldn't grab, or would barely grab, and let go once you started drilling. I want to say it was minimum 3/16 thick required on ours, but they were small.
 

jonathan734

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It rides, ok.... The back end is good but the front is way too stiff. The plan is to 4 link it this winter, but I can't decide what I hate more; how under powered it is or how bad my back hurts driving it. Time will tell I guess.
 

jonathan734

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This update has been in the making for a bit but nothing crazy has happened. I about burnt the truck down and upon further discovery my rear calipers are frozen. Should have held out for airbrakes I guess.

Of course everything was froze up so I had to weld nuts to all of the sliders and basically everything that didn't get torched out.

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/jonathan7734/brodozer 33_zpsbg8pmmgq.jpg

Then I had to bust out the big wrench to break them off or twist them out.

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/jonathan7734/brodozer 34_zpskx6gwklx.jpg

These dudes are big!

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/jonathan7734/brodozer 37_zpsl74zfzpn.jpg

Got my real hitch put on as well.

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/jonathan7734/brodozer 39_zpsjld4p5ny.jpg

And for the biggest news, the bed got mounted!

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/jonathan7734/brodozer 32_zpsxahxtici.jpg

I can't say enough good things about the crew at EBY and the work they did. I love the bed. Not sure why I don't have a pic with the undermounted toolboxes but I have 2 36" boxes under there as well.

I'm super pumped on the truck. She is on the job and doing exactly what we wanted it to do, drawing attention and towing our trailers safely.
 

jonathan734

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So now I'm planning the 4 link for the front and keeping my eye out for a donor mechanical truck to do a motor swap with. Anybody know what years dt466 had the p pump instead of the mw? After talking to hypermax they feel with the p pump and an H2 turbo I could make an easy 500 and not have any cooling issues. That didn't seem like enough turbo to me but I am no expert.
 

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