2000 Durango 4wd swap.

Ok, bear with me. These pictures are very close up, and kind of hard to follow. I have had a ton of questions about shift linkage. The 6l80/90 transmission has the shift cable connecting from the rear of the transmission forward. The cable is really, really long. I used a Silverado cable for the LS DAK, but it was a pain to get under the dash and replace it, and then run it under the carpet, under the truck and wrap it all the way around to the bracket.

This time, I want to use the original Durango cable, with linkage to connect it to the transmission. It will have to reverse the direction of the shift, but I have plans for that. Today, I wanted to get the original Durango bracket firmly mounted to the 6l80 transmission. Here is how I did it.

Diving into my junk drawer, I pulled out an Umbro curtain rod bracket. If you think this is a recurring theme, it is because we had 12 windows in the house that got new curtains when we bought it. So I have a lot of these brackets.

I cut it down to just the angled end, so I could attach it to the bottom bolt on the transmission bell housing.








Here is the original Dodge bracket, as it started. The angle bracket I made from the curtain rod bracket is on the lower bolt of the transmission.






I drilled out this flat area on the upper drivers side of the 6l80 transmission. I think it is a pry-point to separate the transmission from the engine. Now it will hold my new bracket.




Looking up from the bottom, towards the engine bay. Transmission pan is on the right, and front driveshaft is on the left.




There wasn't enough room to get a t-type tap handle in to thread the hole I made in the transmission, so I had to make another tool. take the handle off of the tap handle, weld a nut on the end, and use my drill to tap the threads.

















New hole, tapped for M10X1.5 bolt.





Now I found a rusty exhaust hanger from something. It was in the back of one of my trucks.






Attached to the new hole, it locates the top of the original Dodge bracket. the bottom hole has the curtain rod angle piece to locate the bottom of the bracket. A little welding, a little paint. Now the cable is firmly secured to the transmission.










Remember the other end of that exhaust hanger? I needed to lengthen the transfer case linkage by about 1 1/2 inches, to it went to use on that.

Transmission linkage. This is a very common question that I get. Every build is going to be different because of the differences between the truck (Durango/Dakota 2WD/4WD 46re or other transmission), and the chosen transmission (4l60, 4l80, 6l90).

The basic plan for transmission linkage, in my opinion, is as follows:

1) Try to avoid changing the original shift cable. The main reason for this is that I hate crawling under the dash. Period. There is an adjustment on the transmission selector that moves the pointer. On the LSDAK truck, I have it pretty close, but it's not perfect.

2) Establish a firm point for the transmission end of the cable. This has to be much more stout than you would think. If it begins to deflect, it will be hard to get the trans in the correct gear.

3) Conversion from shift cable to transmission lever. In my opinion, this is easiest done with welding. Using the parts you have, and adding or removing length seems to be the best way to go.

Here is how I did the Durango. I know some of this is duplicate, but I am going to post this again as its own thread.

Original Dodge cable and bracket on the Durango. This is typical of the 46re mounting bracket for 2wd and 4wd.





Locate a place to mount it. On my 6l80 transmission, I used this flat whatever it is to drill and tap for M10 bolt.


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Attach the bracket at one more point. I used leftover exhaust hanger to attach the top of the bracket to the hole I created. The other end was attached to the bottom bolt on the transmission bell housing.Cardboard templates come in handy here, so you can cut pieces to fit. Creativity is key.





Here, you can see the top of the bracket with a the exhaust hanger welded on, attached to the top hole that I made using a M10 bolt. The bottom has a tab welded on, and is attached to the bottom driver's side bolt on the transmission bell housing.









Original shift lever on the 6l80, flipped over (And the link ball, whatever you call it, has been ground off). Man I love new GM stuff. A reversible shift lever. How easy is that? No place to mount the cable though. A boss would have been nice.






Parts are assembled. I have the shift lever from the 6l80 with the attachment ball ground off, leftover piece of exhaust hanger with the rubber mount removed, leftover T handle from the tap I converted for use in my drill (see post above), and the kick-down lever from the 46re transmission.





GM lever attached to kick-down lever, using the T handle as a pin. This is spot welded on both sides, and cut off flush, allowing these two pieces to pivot.






Exhaust hanger rod used as extension, welded on with front half of old shift linkage from 46re welded to the front. This way, I know the attachment ball matches the cable. Easy.





When I fit it up, I realized that the shift linkage needed something to bump on when it was extended past drive. Otherwise, it would flip up on itself. Back to my massive supply of Umbro curtain rod brackets. Along with a 6 mm stainless bolt with the head cut off, a nut that is larger than the 6 mm bolt to act as a spacer, and a 6mm nyloc nut. Followed by a bunch of pictures.




Stud threaded in. Nut as spacer. linkage installed in final position.

Ok. So it feels like my build has come to a crawl. Really, I am just focusing on little things. When I did the LSDAK, I was pretty sloppy with the fuel lines, electrical, intake, etc. Mostly just zip ties, duct tape, hardware store parts (ok, I still use hardware store parts), and sometimes just leaving stuff tucked into cavities and flopping around.

Here are some pictures, in no particular order.



ECU ended up mounted under to the bottom of the cab, directly under the passenger seat. I didn't really like where it was in the front corner behind the passenger headlight, because I would have had to extend the DBW lead, OBD lead, and a few others that have to reach into the passenger compartment. If I attached it to the firewall, the leads for it were way too long. They would have been difficult to shorten, and I didn't want them rolled up on the firewall. So this flat spot under the passenger seat worked fine.





I tried to use cushion clamps everywhere. This is the starter main lead and starter trigger lead. They are the original Dodge cables, which reached exactly where they needed to go. I did have to cut the end off of the starter trigger lead, and extend it about 6 inches. Then add a ring connector to fit the LS starter.





Positive battery cable from rear to front. This is inside the frame on the drivers side. Also, this is the front axle vent tube.






LS harness fuse box. I welded a small shelf onto the corner support in the engine bay. Also seen is the heater hoses with Gates Powergrip heat-shrink clamps, and tubing going to front and rear window washers.








Front of the engine. I snaked the positive battery cable through the front crossmember to hide it as best I could. Also, this is the final belt arrangement.





Here is the original fuse box. I pointed it down, and attached positive battery cable, alternator and starter with heavy-duty wire. This will all be hidden under the intake tubing when it is done.





Solder-on lugs. I like to solder these on big-gauge wire, and put heatshrink over them. A throwback to my car audio days.














Welded bolts on the frame. I can't stand drilling holes in the frame. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just takes too much time and hurts my arm. So I weld 1/4 inch x 3/4 inch bolts where I need them. I buy them by the pound at Tractor Supply.






Remote battery terminals. I mounted these to the inside of the driver's side fender, so I can jump or charge the battery from inside the engine compartment.








To mount them, I used push-in door panel clips. I could have used bolts, but they would rust later on. I had to clip the edge of the clips to fit, and open the holes up a little.


This.





Or this.

I'm glad you started your build. It's fun to follow along with someone else.


Here was my weekend. It's about 105 in my garage, but accuweather tells us it feels like 109 outside. Not sure what it felt like in the garage, but it was hot.

First project of the weekend. I am running all of this wiring, but the smaller wires don't necessarily need a cushion clamp. Also, they are bulky. I remember Dodge used these really neat clips on the original harnesses. I had a few, but needed more. My wife sat down at her 3D printer and made a pile of them. The reason I like them, besides being very neat and flat, is the wire loom (corrugated or expandable) slips over. So if you have to get to the wires, you can peel the loom back and do what you need to do, then push it back over.










I know these look a little rough, but that's how 3D printing is. She could have increased the resolution, but it would have taken much longer. A pile of these clips took something like 15 minutes. Beats mail-order or driving somewhere (I wouldn't even know where to buy them). The other advantage is that she made them in different sizes by scaling up or down.









Attached to the wires with 3M electrical tape.







Loom slipped over. Now I just need to weld a 1/4 inch bolt on.






Next I primed the power steering with a 3/8 hex bit and drill. I like to test all of the systems before first start up. My son turned the wheel lock-to-lock. (Ignore the belt, I had removed it, but forgot to get a picture. So this is after I was done).




Next I hooked up the vacuum pump to bleed the brakes and test for leaks, while my son pumped the pedal.




And I tried to pull a vacuum on the cooling system using a silicone coupler and test plug with a nippled drilled through it. Couldn't get a vacuum, but I ran out of time. Have to revisit this one.




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And finally, tested the fuel system and set the pressure. With the pump energized, The AN6 feed and AN4 return allowed me to dial down to 40 psi. That gives me plenty of headroom. So I set it for 60 psi.









I also started mocking up the transmission cooler lines. I used the original tubing on the radiator, and attached new hose so I could make the corner onto the frame. I use a PEX crimper to hold the hose on. I have done this for years. Never had a problem.








Want proof? I did these when I bypassed a leaking transmission cooler about 5 years ago.





And some final pictures for the weekend. Intake is in place, beginning of the upper radiator hose is seen here. You can see the breather hose attached to the intake in my usual fashion. Brass elbow drilled through. I had to order a couple more elbows to finish the upper radiator hose. They are in the mail.





And here is a little bracket I made to keep the breather hose off of the supercharger pulley.

I found the pictures for the Bubba Keg modification. For the lid, I used a 1/2 MIP to 1/2 flare, and cut the flare nut so the fitting acts as a hybrid bulkhead fitting in this very thin lid. I don't know what I did with the pictures for the bottom, but I drilled a hole through, and put 1/2 x 2 inch pipe through, and sealed it with blue rtv. The keg is mounted on the flat part of the fender with 10 mm bolts drilled into the edge of the keg. If they start to get loose, I will probably just run some bolts right through the bottom, and seal it up with rtv just like the outlet nipple.


Bottom of the keg tapped with pipe, and brass elbow. M10 bolts screwed into the edge to hold it on the fender.




Pump mounted to 3 inch pipe cut in half, with bolts welded on to act as legs. Radiator clamps hold it in place, and make it easy to service if need be.



Brass elbows have a pretty small orifice. No big deal. Use a drill press and 1/2 inch drill bit and open them up.






Final keg assembly. I painted the brass fittings black so they wouldn't stand out as much.





Here is how I cut the top off of a flare nut to make a bulkhead for the thin lid. The upper one is unmodified, the lower one has the nut cut, and is screwed all the way down.





And here it is in the lid, with the cut side of the nut facing out.

That engine cover makes the whole engine bay scream badass

Check out the video of the first start up. Runs kind of OK on a completely wrong base-tune. Right now, it has open header pipes that are about 2 feet long with 02 sensor bungs welded in. So it is pretty throaty at the moment.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzyimKwx5Eo