Well I'll be towing the '96 that I just bought home this week (with luck) from my father's place. This truck has been sitting for almost 2 years without being started, and besides some cosmetics, I wantg to get all mechanical services out of the way. This truck has a little over 200K on it, and I have no idea of the history of it, so I could use some advice on what I shoudl be doing first, considering the mileage and the fact it has been sitting. This is a partial list of what I have planned...any additions or changes that are advised would be great, as well as any particular brands of parts to avoid for this particular truck?

-All fuel filters
-Oil & filter change
-Air filter
-Belt (pulleys are somewhat rusty, so I know the belt will get chewed quickly until the rust wears off)
-Front brake pads & rotors
-Rear shoes and turn the drums to remove rust
-Most likely U-joints because it was sitting so long
-4 tires, because 2 are shot and the other 2 have some weather cracking
-Tranny filter and fresh Mopar fluid
-Front and rear diff fluid, since I don't know when (or if) it was ever changed
-t-case fluid
-Batteries

Anything I missed, and any preventitive things I should do at this time? Thanks

Jim

 

OK you got a list on your hands here!

Welcome to the 12V world and to this site! I see you are ahead of the game in filling ur sig already, nice... OK ill cut to it

Fuel filters, i go with fleetguard, i cannot give u a part number off the top of my head but its the brand i go with

Oil filter i go either baldwin or fleetguard, both work just as well and are very effective. I use rotella 15W-40 year round at 5000 mile intervals.. you can go longer tho on rotella synthetic i believe...

Airfilter.. I have a K&N but i most ppl get mixed reviews on them. I would suggest an AFE filter or a scotty. Or if you must go paper.. i hear baldwins are great!

Belt, i bought the gatorback? i think its called payed 35 dollars for it at Autozone..

I cannot make reccomendations for brakes, cept get anything with lifetime warranty.. i do and just take em back!

Tires.. Any good ten ply tire for a dually possibly 215's or 235's, which are taller... Ive had real good luck with goodyear atd ten plies.. on a previous rig.

Auto tranny cannot help you sorry

Front and rear diffs, anything synthetic is said to last longer and give you better mileage.. thats a good question.. anyone have any reccomendations?

T case fluid.. I use Dexron Mercon....

Batteries.. Optima gold tops, or nascar excides, or Diehard golds.. all have good enough power to crank your engine..

Maintainance... well go ahead and ask.. thats what we are here for to help you.. Thanks

Tx

 

TAB THE DOWEL PIN ASAP!!!!!!! it ain't fun if it backs out on you!!!

don't forget to slide the fuel plate and AFC housing forward and loosen up the starwheel on the pump

 

Thanks for the info! The auto tranny is already pl;anned to be replaced by a NV4500 at some point, but I would like the auto to last for a little while until I get the parts rounded up, and make sure the mechanicals are good enough to be building off from.

I'm sure it has been rehashed over and over, but for some reason I can't get the search to work...what exactly is "tab the dowell"? Can someone point me to a thread about it?

Same goes for the starwheel...I have heard a little about this on the 4bt list I'm on, but I would like a little more info...more power is always good!

I would also like to know what exactly was changed why the auto motor puts out less power than the manual tranny motor? Since the auto trans is going to be replaced with a manual anyway, I want a bit more power, as long as it doesn't do too much harm to the fuel economy.

Funny thing though...I have always believed in the principal that more efficiency doesn't just give more power, but also better economy. This was kind of proven when my buddy and I drove to Ohio in his '01 Superduty diesel from N.H. We kept track of aproximate mileage on the way out, then while there we had free time, so we hit Summit Racing. We picked up a programmer and bumped up his power a good bit for the drive home. We then pickup up the car we went to get, and headed home. It turned out that not only did the programmer get rid of the 90mph limiter, but the truck has tons more power. But the really funny thing was that we got better mileage coming back with a loaded trailer than going out with an empty one!!! I think because of the increased power, we were able to cruise easily using a lot less throttle for the same speeds, resulting in better mileage.

Jim

 

do a search on the forums and or the internet for "killer doewl pin" or KDP. Lots of people will tell you to use a jig and set-screw the dowel, but the timing case bolts can also back out and cause all kinds of havoc. the BEST way to do it and do it right is just pull the timing cover, locktite and re-torque all the timing case bolts, and tab the dowel pin so that it can't ever back out on you.

the star-wheel is a setting on the pump that brings the fueling in quicker.

dodgeram.org has some good tutorials and instructions on maintanence and modifications for the old mechanical trucks.

Forrest

 

Basically the same thing happens when you modify your 12V. The reason the auto has less power though is since it can't handle nearly as much power as the NV4500 can in stock form.

 

front and rear main seals probably are going to leak after some time of sitting. seals dry out become a major irritation