Help me identify this truck

[ORCA]

It's my roommates and i'm helping him get it running again. He is pretty clueless about it and so am I, but any help would be appreciated! Basically it needs a new front axle. It has a closed knuckles which I hear is hard to find parts for.

 

Anyway, it's a 1968 Gladiator? J2500? With the 327 Vigilante engine, 44's front and rear.. That's about all I can recall. Any info reguarding this truck and possible compatibility with newer trucks with open knuckle front axles is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[panama red]

yep thats a gladiator, pretty nice one too. A cheap front axle would be a waggy or chevy with passenger side drop. any 5/5.5 pass. drop front axle would work 44 or 60.

[mfpdm]

yep thats a gladiator, pretty nice one too. A cheap front axle would be a waggy or chevy with passenger side drop. any 5/5.5 pass. drop front axle would work 44 or 60.

 

:agree: Plus I believe you might try its military counterpart the M715.

[DirtyComanche]

You want the brain power of www.ifsja.org

 

 

They know these trucks.

[ORCA]

You want the brain power of www.ifsja.org

 

 

They know these trucks.

 

 

ahh i've made an account already. waiting for the confermation email

[JeeperjohnfromPA]

Yes it is a Gladiator,

The only other thing I can tell you is

 

I WANT IT!

 

:brows:

[MJ20]

Nice truck. 5000gvwr. 120” wheelbase. Dana 20 tc. That’s all I remember.

 

I am a member at ifsja.org and have a J20. There’s a ton of info about the gladiator. Some of the guys have a lot of info on the post mount springs and what to do if you need aftermarket springs or bushings. Get ready for some fab. That closed knuckle 44 will have to go if you want to wheel or need a decent turning radius.

 

There’s a vigilante club and some other ifsja member websites with some good info, too.

[panama red]

hello to all the other ifsja.org members. fsj's kick @$$

[Kenosha Warrior]

schweet looking rig.

 

4spd or 3? that 327 looks good. Panama red and MJ20 is right, a good pass-drop wag or j/chero axle will work. Just keep the gear ratios close. One small reminder is that anything 1972 (IIRC) is Post-Mount so its SOA, anything newer is SUA.

[MJ20]

The waggy 44 will be too narrow for a j truck and the chero wide track is also 2” too narrow. You need a j truck pass drop, chevy or cucv axles for a 67 to 69” wms/wms. Then do an soa on any of the j truck axles.

 

I did the soa using a dana 60 high pinion and a shackle flip for the rear 60 so no blocks at all. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with the post mount as it reads like a pia.

 

There’s an ongoing write up about wms/wms at ifsja. Look for tadsal and it’s in his sig (url below). Tadsal also fabs the soa conversion kit for j trucks and has a write up for the post mount as well as doing an soa on a post mount and doing a shackle flip (not reversal) on the post mount rear springs to match a front soa conversion

 

Here’s a note from this url. http://members.cox.net/tadsal/WMS.html

 

FSJ WT & JTruck Note:

"The open knuckle WT and JTruck front Dana 44's share the same housing and axle shafts within their respective years (passenger drop and driver drop inner shafts do not interchange but the outer stub shaft will). The difference in WMS seems to be consistent with a difference in the hubs and where that places the WMS."