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1st Gen. Ram - All TopicsDiscussion for all Dodge Rams prior to 1994. This includes engine, drivetrain and non-drivetrain discussions. Anything prior to 1994 should go in here.
Hitched a car trailer to it and towed my '71 Dart to the body shop to get some issues with the new paint job straightened out!
Can't wait to start swapping some straight body parts onto the truck it so I don't have to drive with a bag over my head! LOL
welcome to the forum Butterball. Nice truck too! Fair warning, this forum is addictive with all of the information, knowledge and friendly folks on here. Once you start swapping parts on your 1st Gen, the games begin. Before you know it, that truck will look new!
My Brother in law is selling one of his 71 Challengers for $25k. It’s one of 87 built with a factory sunroof so I’m told. Just a little more Mopar eye candy for the forums.
Never seen a Challenger with a sunroof. My brother had a '73 & '74 Challenger in high school/college.
I had a '76 Duster with a sunroof, called a Space Duster, back seat folded down and a 1/2 vinyl top. That was in addition to my '62 *****'s CJ-3B. While at college I lived on my uncle's farm where he raised tobacco and boarded horses. After he sold his Poppin John we used his '74 Dart to disc ground and drag pastures...
OK, guess none of that has anything to do with what I did with my 1st gen today - just drove it...
Well, it rained last night. Then the sun came out until about 4:30pm and it started raining again. Went to Lowes to grab some grass seed and steer poop... I figured it would be a good idea after I saw some mud plop down from the frame of my truck and one of the guys said “looks like cow schtuff”. I saw this big mud puddle and since I was done early today...and my truck was clean...and I had nothing else to do... and I DO have a pressure washer.... I figured that it was “Figure 8 Tuesday”.
Today I turned the pre-boost screw 1/2 turn. Seems like it made a slight difference, but this truck definitely needs more help in the tuning department. I am waiting for the GlowShift 3 in 1 gauge I just ordered today to come and get installed before I do anything else though. If the truck would do more than 70 miles per hour and stay going a little better up hills I wouldn't mess with the pump. Unfortunately it struggles to do 60-65 m.p.h. on even a slight incline. That is about all it wants to do on the flat too. I'm guessing that the pump is turned way down by the previous owner, and that that is why it is struggling so much. It doesn't seem like it is really revving much at all to go 70 if I get it there, it just doesn't seem to want to stay there. This is with the O.D. and torque converter both locked in on the 47RH that I absolutely hate. I can't imagine it is slipping, but maybe the main clutches are slipping or something. Regardless I am keeping my eye out for a good deal on a nv4500 that I could rebuild myself to save some money vs. buying a rebuilt one. The fuel gauge still doesn't work either, so I just fill up every 200 miles or so as I seem to only be able to get 12-13 m.p.g., even on the highway. Truck must just be working hard to go highway speeds or something. We'll see what happens when I start fiddling with the pump and when I get around to fixing the fuel gauge.
About 20 years ago, when I was a private in the Army, I had a '71 Dodge Dart Swinger Special with the same paint as yours (but with Bumble Bee stripe), a 440 big block with a 292/501 cam, Holley 750 Dominator, and a 727 with a 3200rpm stall converter and Stage-3 shift kit. It also had a Six-Pack style hood scoop, and was pristine inside and out.
It would lift the front tires off the ground when it shifted into second.
When I had to deploy to Bosnia in '99, I left it with my best friend for safe keeping. I came home to find it with the rear axle housing missing. Apparently, he had been letting everyone and their grandma try to pop wheelies in it and the pinion snapped clean in two.
It doesn't seem like it is really revving much at all to go 70 if I get it there, it just doesn't seem to want to stay there. This is with the O.D. and torque converter both locked in on the 47RH that I absolutely hate. I can't imagine it is slipping, but maybe the main clutches are slipping or something..
Check your line pressure and TV cable adjustment. There are a bunch of threads on the 2nd Gen side of this forum that cover both. I had similar issues with my 47RH, and I had a billet triple disc converter, billet “pan off” upgrades and a Transgo shift kit. My issue turned out to be a warped valve body. I figured if I needed to replace the valve body, I’d be better off doing a full build, which I’d have to pay someone to do. With one NV4500 rebuild under my belt (put it in a 68 Chevy C20 step side, behind a 383 stroker), I prefer to have something in my truck that I can build myself. NV5600’s are the cat’s meow, but I hear that they’re much harder to build.
Check your line pressure and TV cable adjustment. There are a bunch of threads on the 2nd Gen side of this forum that cover both. I had similar issues with my 47RH, and I had a billet triple disc converter, billet “pan off” upgrades and a Transgo shift kit. My issue turned out to be a warped valve body. I figured if I needed to replace the valve body, I’d be better off doing a full build, which I’d have to pay someone to do. With one NV4500 rebuild under my belt (put it in a 68 Chevy C20 step side, behind a 383 stroker), I prefer to have something in my truck that I can build myself. NV5600’s are the cat’s meow, but I hear that they’re much harder to build.
I’ll look into that. Maybe I’ll see about having my mechanic neighbor help me do a filter change and band adjustment as well. Transmission only has about 30,000 miles on it, but at one point in time before I bought the truck the transmission cooler lines blew somehow and the transmission got a little warm to say the least. I had to have all the seals replaced as it leaked so bad I couldn’t even really drive it and the atf from filling it up a few quarts after every drive was adding up quickly. It still shifts, but I don’t like it. Not enough gears and it still doesn’t shift on its own. I’d rather push an extra peddle than deal with the switches and less gears. I like the nv4500 trucks I’ve driven more. The 47rh isn’t as great without spending a bunch more money as people made it out to be. Until I find a 5 speed to put in the truck I’ll just do a few adjustments on this and hope it doesn’t blow before I find a cheap 5 speed.
Something is out of whack. You need to narrow it down to engine or transmission (or both) and then narrow down again. I can punch mine cruising on the interstate at 70mph and feel the jump or climb any hill here (granted - nothing like the mountains you have) and never drop below the speed limit. Towing a load would be a little different.
Once you have your gauges start playing with all the adjustments in the sticky like you planned, probably just stock settings like your guessing.
Today I turned the pre-boost screw 1/2 turn. Seems like it made a slight difference, but this truck definitely needs more help in the tuning department. I am waiting for the GlowShift 3 in 1 gauge I just ordered today to come and get installed before I do anything else though. If the truck would do more than 70 miles per hour and stay going a little better up hills I wouldn't mess with the pump. Unfortunately it struggles to do 60-65 m.p.h. on even a slight incline. That is about all it wants to do on the flat too. I'm guessing that the pump is turned way down by the previous owner, and that that is why it is struggling so much. It doesn't seem like it is really revving much at all to go 70 if I get it there, it just doesn't seem to want to stay there. This is with the O.D. and torque converter both locked in on the 47RH that I absolutely hate. I can't imagine it is slipping, but maybe the main clutches are slipping or something. Regardless I am keeping my eye out for a good deal on a nv4500 that I could rebuild myself to save some money vs. buying a rebuilt one. The fuel gauge still doesn't work either, so I just fill up every 200 miles or so as I seem to only be able to get 12-13 m.p.g., even on the highway. Truck must just be working hard to go highway speeds or something. We'll see what happens when I start fiddling with the pump and when I get around to fixing the fuel gauge.
Check to see if there is a tear in the AFC diaphragm, this almost sounds like you are in valet mode.
I just had a low power issue, could not get over 800* EGT and I found the steel AFC line from the manifold was cracked, pump never got the boost signal.
Check to see if there is a tear in the AFC diaphragm, this almost sounds like you are in valet mode.
I just had a low power issue, could not get over 800* EGT and I found the steel AFC line from the manifold was cracked, pump never got the boost signal.
I can now hit 1300* in an instant.
I was driving in valet mode.
Jim
That sounds like a likely thing as the truck gets more oomph when the boost kicks in, but the truck does not even blow hardly a puff of smoke ever. It more just a very slight haze when I punch it from a stop to clear a intersection or something. I’ll have to look into it. This is why I love this forum!
