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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.
Yesterday was a truck work day pretty much all day- and a little of the day before. spent about 12 hours total.
1) had to put some cheap *** mud flaps to pass safety. Cost me 20 bucks, will come off when I get passed and then in storage til next year.
2) Fixed tail gate- this took some time and welding. The hingle part that the tail gate sits on broke and I had to reweld it on- wasn't easy, had to make some backer metal etc- but tail gate secure and working now!
3) Fixed squishy brakes issue (has it's own thread) that litlte to do with the brakes themselves, other than one loose fitting up close to the mastercylinder
Also did inspection of everything pretty much at the same time.
I need to rust remove on the frame and repaint behind the spring mounts in the rear.
Front shocks need replacing.
Also found a carry rack in a local metal bone yard for cheaper than what I could buy new metal to build myself! Got it home, painting int this week, will make it a permanent fixture pretty much this next weekend.
Trying to get my truck road ready.Got a drag link from Autozone made in China had cheap Rubbers and the nuts were 2 sizes smaller than original.So took it back got one from Napa it was made in Turkey the rubbers were cheap the nuts were small also but the one nut wouldn’t go down past the cotter key hole here the threads were larger from the cotter key hole down.Then ordered a Moog from Summit and believe it or not it was made in the USA the rubbers were like the original and the locking nuts were the same size I heard Moog was going down hill but the drag link was a winner
Trying to get my truck road ready.Got a drag link from Autozone made in China had cheap Rubbers and the nuts were 2 sizes smaller than original.So took it back got one from Napa it was made in Turkey the rubbers were cheap the nuts were small also but the one nut wouldn’t go down past the cotter key hole here the threads were larger from the cotter key hole down.Then ordered a Moog from Summit and believe it or not it was made in the USA the rubbers were like the original and the locking nuts were the same size I heard Moog was going down hill but the drag link was a winner
I agree. I got Moog parts for my CRD Jeep from RockAuto. I still like my NAPA too.
My Napa is still a "mom and pop", so I buy from them whenever I need something right away. Best bunch of guys who've worked there for decades. When I'm there it's almost like being at home, although there's no beer and pizza, just a shop kitty named Turbo. Struts, TRE's, BJ's, SBLinks, ETC.
Napa used to have all the best parts, usually very good quality as well. I recently replaced the front struts in my wife's sequoia, and they had them in stock. Several months later, they're sagging, and the bushing is squishing out of the bottom end. No I didn't pay dealer pricing, but just a couple months, and they're proving that China isn't what it's cracked up to be.
My NAPA isn't that far removed from a Mom & Pop. Owners sold the company to a guy that has several but most all the employees stayed, including Mom & Pop's son. And I still get my discount - they ring me up under the county road department.
So, I get in the truck to take the recycling to the dump, and I notice the gauge on the dash says not charging.
Well, I have a couple spare alternators which I know are good, so I swap out the alternator, which changed NOTHING.
I look down at the relay patch on the fender, and I notice the wire looking chalk / greenish. Remove the coatings, and find that the Feed wire to the relay is broken. I also found another wire partially cracked.
Well yesterday we got my son-in-laws 93 W350 clubcab into the shop, wheel nuts cracked loose then up on the lift to crawl around and check things out. Going to need a bunch of work but vast majority is just maintenance stuff that is typically left undone.
I tore apart one of the front hubs since I've never dealt with a dually before and was unsure how the spacers worked on the front. Well turns out we are going to either need to find another front axle, SRW unit, or get SRW front hubs and outer axle shafts to make this axle a SRW unit.
Plan is to swap the body from his 2wd truck onto this chassis and keep everything SRW.
Seat upgrade today out of a 99 standard cab. Now I don't have to choose between carseat or wife, we can all pile in. I'm sure there's been more elegant solutions, but I just drilled some fresh holes in the seat frames and ran angle iron between the bases and drilled for the center seat.
2nd gen seats can work pretty well in the club cabs. Looks good.
As a tall guy I do not find them comfortable in a regular cab. Once I move the seat bottom back enough that my legs are comfortable, I have to have the seat back straight up and down as it hits the back of the cab.
Well after looking into the price of new/used hubs and the other parts required to swap from DRW to SRW on the front axle we decided that it would be cheaper to just find another front axle. Started looking around online and finally came across a guy selling a 92 reg cab W250 roller that had mostly been stripped of motor/getrag wiring, interior etc for cheaper than what most people wanted for just one axle. So hooked up patches to my trailer yesterday and did a 1350Km, 20hr day to go get it.
Guy had a winch on his 4runner so we used that to drag it up onto the trailer....
All loaded up and ready to go...
He asked if I wanted this green box as well...it has one rusty side and one really good side...I said absolutely since I can just cut off and save that good box side!
...Ben
