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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.
Filled up in Flagstaff, then topped off in Gallup NM. I slowed down a bit, and found a 53 footer to draft behind, who held 64-66 MPH the whole way. The only Time I downshifted to 4th, was when a convoy had a bottle neck with trucks merging in from the rest area. 12.5 MPG on this stop! Woohoo, finally double digits! Hubs on the truck and trailer are around 105*-110*, rear diff showing 126* and the front is showing 94*. Measured as soon as I jumped out of the truck, before pumping fuel. So far, so good. Hope to get into town late tonight, unload in the morning, then double back to get 2 more trailer loads. I’m going to be exhausted by round 2 1/2 I bet. Oh, and I wonder if I should trade my crew cab for the motor home pickup that I saw here at the fuel station in Gallup.....
Filled up in Flagstaff, then topped off in Gallup NM. I slowed down a bit, and found a 53 footer to draft behind, who held 64-66 MPH the whole way. The only Time I downshifted to 4th, was when a convoy had a bottle neck with trucks merging in from the rest area. 12.5 MPG on this stop! Woohoo, finally double digits! Hubs on the truck and trailer are around 105*-110*, rear diff showing 126* and the front is showing 94*. Measured as soon as I jumped out of the truck, before pumping fuel. So far, so good. Hope to get into town late tonight, unload in the morning, then double back to get 2 more trailer loads. I’m going to be exhausted by round 2 1/2 I bet. Oh, and I wonder if I should trade my crew cab for the motor home pickup that I saw here at the fuel station in Gallup.....
Sheesh. I thought my mileage was bad. I can barely go up some hills at 40 miles per hour and have 3.54 gears and only get 13.5 I’m hoping that I get a little better mileage after some pump tuning. I just need to get around to getting the sensor wires routed through the firewall and get the gauge mounted. My gauge is 60mm, so I bought a gauge plug for my pod and I’m going to use the bolts on the back of the gauge to bolt it to the gauge blank. Won’t be ideal, but I couldn’t find a 60mm gauge pod for these trucks.
Finally installed my old Icom dual bander 2m/440 amateur radio. Put a little hook for the mic up on the aftermarket gauge display. I welded a bracket on the headache rack I built for the antenna and ran the cable down through the transfer case shift hole.
It was pretty humid today in Northern AR, so after unloading the trailer, bed and cab (I removed the passenger seat and rear bench to fit 7 moving boxes) I smelled to high hell. I decided to go take a swim in the lake when I was done. Hop back in the truck and the Auto Meter tach is fluttering rapidly. Hmmm, I’ve got 13.8 volts on the gauge... pop the hood, move the pick up sensor on the alternator and all is back to normal. Then, I go fuel up, turn the key and the truck just cranks and cranks without firing. The pin that the FSS rod hooks to, popped off the bracket, so the solenoid rod moves up and down, but the arm on the pump is stuck. I manually pushed it and made it to Walmart in Harrison AR, where I found a #8 screw to replace the pin, installed it and put some red RTV on the threads. Hopefully it holds until I get home, so I can reinstall the pin and put a big fat tack weld on it. Apparently, the aftermarket FSS kits only have a pin that is peened to the arm, like a rivet, while the factory ones are welded. I bought a few extra screws and some baking wire.
My fuel tank started leaking around the top of the tank somewhere, I’m only filling up to 3/4 of a tank for a little safety. The aftermarket steel 50 gallon tank was the first thing that I loaded in the trailer ironically. It’s coming back to Commieland with me, so I can install it under the truck before heading back with the next load. The down side is that it came out of a gas truck, so I need to modify it for a pickup and return line, as well as install the small 5 bolt sending unit. It’s been airing out for about a year, so it should be safe to weld on by now. Well, back on the road, heading Wesr. I made it 1650 miles, in 38 hours without too much trouble. Here’s my FSS pin that broke loose...
It was pretty humid today in Northern AR, so after unloading the trailer, bed and cab (I removed the passenger seat and rear bench to fit 7 moving boxes) I smelled to high hell. I decided to go take a swim in the lake when I was done. Hop back in the truck and the Auto Meter tach is fluttering rapidly. Hmmm, I’ve got 13.8 volts on the gauge... pop the hood, move the pick up sensor on the alternator and all is back to normal. Then, I go fuel up, turn the key and the truck just cranks and cranks without firing. The pin that the FSS rod hooks to, popped off the bracket, so the solenoid rod moves up and down, but the arm on the pump is stuck. I manually pushed it and made it to Walmart in Harrison AR, where I found a #8 screw to replace the pin, installed it and put some red RTV on the threads. Hopefully it holds until I get home, so I can reinstall the pin and put a big fat tack weld on it. Apparently, the aftermarket FSS kits only have a pin that is peened to the arm, like a rivet, while the factory ones are welded. I bought a few extra screws and some baking wire.
My fuel tank started leaking around the top of the tank somewhere, I’m only filling up to 3/4 of a tank for a little safety. The aftermarket steel 50 gallon tank was the first thing that I loaded in the trailer ironically. It’s coming back to Commieland with me, so I can install it under the truck before heading back with the next load. The down side is that it came out of a gas truck, so I need to modify it for a pickup and return line, as well as install the small 5 bolt sending unit. It’s been airing out for about a year, so it should be safe to weld on by now. Well, back on the road, heading Wesr. I made it 1650 miles, in 38 hours without too much trouble. Here’s my FSS pin that broke loose...
Glad you got it squared away. I'm not familiar with the P-pumped units, and how your FSS functions, so got a closeup of the area in question ?
Yep, that would be the culprit! Right about now, I’m wishing that I was able to find a VE pumped donor within my budget. My swap would have been easier and I bet I would get a little better MPG. These P-pump motors are great for more power and all, but I’m paying at the pump. Hoping to find a decent intercooled 2wd 5 speed in the future, for a second truck. Right now, my main concern is making these trips of 1650 miles each way, without any issues. Getting through Oklahoma on I-40 right now, almost to Texas. Still about 20-24 hours to get back to the old shack so I can reload the trailer. Then, back on the road again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a thumbs up, or people rubber necking. It sure is a good feeling though, being that I’ve cut the roof off this truck, cut the frame in half, swapped out cross members, moved motor mounts and it’s all working out pretty well. I buried the right pedal in 3rd gear and pulled a long grade for almost 10 minutes with a few up shifts to 4th in between. I know that if I still had the big block 400 and 727, she would have blown a head gasket. Plus the mileage would probably be 4-6MPG and it would take another 12+ hours to get there. I’m totally impressed with the brute strength of these Cummins motors. Maybe next year I can do head studs and bump the timing up a tad. Sure couldn’t hurt. I seem to be running uphill both directions. Lots of 12-17mph winds too. She’s making me work for it, that’s for sure.
Yep, that would be the culprit! Right about now, I’m wishing that I was able to find a VE pumped donor within my budget. My swap would have been easier and I bet I would get a little better MPG. These P-pump motors are great for more power and all, but I’m paying at the pump. Hoping to find a decent intercooled 2wd 5 speed in the future, for a second truck. Right now, my main concern is making these trips of 1650 miles each way, without any issues. Getting through Oklahoma on I-40 right now, almost to Texas. Still about 20-24 hours to get back to the old shack so I can reload the trailer. Then, back on the road again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a thumbs up, or people rubber necking. It sure is a good feeling though, being that I’ve cut the roof off this truck, cut the frame in half, swapped out cross members, moved motor mounts and it’s all working out pretty well. I buried the right pedal in 3rd gear and pulled a long grade for almost 10 minutes with a few up shifts to 4th in between. I know that if I still had the big block 400 and 727, she would have blown a head gasket. Plus the mileage would probably be 4-6MPG and it would take another 12+ hours to get there. I’m totally impressed with the brute strength of these Cummins motors. Maybe next year I can do head studs and bump the timing up a tad. Sure couldn’t hurt. I seem to be running uphill both directions. Lots of 12-17mph winds too. She’s making me work for it, that’s for sure.
Fuel isn't cheap anywhere but it's really getting high here in Taxifornia! The wife and I have been talking about getting another 5th wheel with a toy hauler back end. We could put a little smart car in there for running around in when we're parked. Anyway we're thinking about full timing it in the RV. I wonder how my 89 will do being it's not intercooled. If it won't hack the hills then could I get an intercooler or would I be better off with a newer truck?
Glad to hear you're doing OK so far. Sounds like it will be an epic trip.
I'm in the middle of fixing the seal on the left rear of my truck. The PO damaged the seal when he put it in and it wore out prematurely. I got the new seal but I had to order the proper installer for it from AutoZone. I hope it's the right one. They said after I used it I could sell it back to them for the same cost. I hope so because the set cost $188.00 and change.
I still have to get the vent tube out and check to see if it's plugged or not.
Edwin, I just use a bfh and a piece of wood to install mine. As far as a toy hauler 5th wheel why not not rig yourself up like the dude did in post 6376 that 73CrewCab posted
Edwin, I just use a bfh and a piece of wood to install mine. As far as a toy hauler 5th wheel why not not rig yourself up like the dude did in post 6376 that 73CrewCab posted
I saw that and my wife had a good yuk yuk.
If the tool from AutoZone isn't right I'll go get a chunk of 3/4 plywood and cut it to size with my scroll saw. I already have the bfh. In fact I have everything from the tinyfh, lfh, mfh and bfh. I also have the hmfh. I wonder how an air hammer would do? I have a couple of them. I also have a fence-post driver.
I just hope the other side isn't as bad as the left was. I cleaned out the vent tube also since it was plugged. WD-40 and a little screwdriver put that right.
Well, AutoZonk let me down. The seal installer tool that was supposed to be in at 5:30 missed getting put on the last truck of the day. SO they told to wait until Monday... sooooo I got my money back and went to Home Depot and got the universal 3/4 inch plywood 2'x2' square for $10. I cut a circle the same size as the seal and then pounded it in with my 2.5# BFH.
I saw that the inside dual was wearing down faster than the outside so I swapped the right side tires to the left side and vice versa. That way the tires roll the same way but the inside dual is now on the outside and the outside dual is now on the inside. And BTW... the Tardis is bigger on the inside than is is on the outside. According to Who? Yes, that's Who.
