The Bigger Red Pig

[lstzephyr]

I have wanted to put bigger tires on the truck for a long time and I finally went ahead and did it. The back tires were worn out so it was time. They are 315/75/16 pro comp at sport tires. So far they seem pretty good. It has lowered the vibrations at speed, lowered the rpm and smoothed out the ride. I do need to trim the front fenders a little. The truck leans an inch to the left so it rubs more on that side. I hope to get that addressed either with an ez inch/zero rate added to the pack or a spring re-arch. I've struggled a little getting a good picture of the tires as they don't show up well. It looks cool though and I've noticed a difference in the way people react to the truck. I guess it looks like less of a beater and more of an offroad beater. The improved ride was worth the change in tires.



I also went to the Cayman Islands for a week to do some diving. It was gorgeous and I enjoyed playing around with underwater photography.



The steering box has been leaking for a long time so that is next on the to do list. I want to add ram assist to the truck as well as a new steering box and steering shaft. So I'll be posting something about that hopefully soon. I've been doing a lot of driving on forest service roads and mountain dirt roads around Tucson so it has re-emphasized the need to fix some stuff on the old truck.

 

[Bushcoat]

awesome stuff!

 

[lstzephyr]

I got out to do some offroading with the old dodge. One of my friends wanted to do a fairly rough jeep trail to try out my new tires.



I also went up a mountain called red mountain. It has been raining alot in the desert so it was pretty loose but it was beautiful from the top. It is about 20 miles from Mexico and I could see the border from the peak.







I burned up the starter when I cranked the truck over twisted up so it got a new starter. I am very happy with my new tires and the truck's offroad performance right now.

 

[lstzephyr]

I found out that my suspension bushings were completely worn out on the entire truck. I had the rear springs replaced with skyjacker springs that come with new bushings and had a Tucson shop install some new front suspension bushings. I also installed a new hydro assist steering setup with a new steering box. The improvement was intense. The steering is like a brand new car and the suspension doesn't ride like an old rough dodge anymore. It won't be mistaken for a Mercedes Benz but it is not bad at all for a 25 year old truck.

I took a week and flew up to Alaska to look around. I had just enough time to catch Denali National park at the end of the season and to go to the fishing town of Seward as well. Alaska was gorgeous!

I took a weekend and went to Mexico in the truck to do some diving with family as well.

When i replaced the steering box it cut the leaks under the truck down by quite a bit. However it caused me to notice a more important leak from the injection pump which may become a problem.

 

[Bushcoat]

Still enjoying your posts, Sir!

 

[lstzephyr]

The last post ends with me finding a leak in the injection pump. That became a bigger problem the more I drove the truck around. Unfortunately I didn't have the tools to repair it in Arizona and local diesel shops wanted 1500-2000 dollars to repair or replace the pump. I didn't have time to fix it so I drove it from Arizona to Alabama with the leak. It dropped mpg to 14 and coated the exterior of the truck in diesel even though it was a fairly minor leak. The day I finished loading the truck in Tucson to leave I got in and closed the door only to have the driver's side interior door handle snap off.

In Texas I went to Big Bend national park. In the park the truck lost the front left wheel bearing and I had to limp it to a small town outside the park. It took a few days and a few hundred dollars to get the wheel bearing repaired. However I found a nice little resort down the street with a relatively cheap room so I hung around while I waited for the truck to get fixed. All in all it was quite a pleasant breakdown. I got into the park after the truck was fixed. It was the first time I have been happy the National park service always charges for a week admission.





When I arrived to Alabama the weather was bad enough that I didn't get around to fixing the injection pump leak. Also while driving in the rain outside Birmingham the windshield wipers broke. I have lost the small plastic widget that attaches the arms to the wiper motor before however I didn't have time to fix that either. Somewhere in there the passenger side door lock stuck in the locked position and I will need to take the door apart before I can open the passenger door. I took a girl out on a date with only the drivers door functioning and that was less than ideal.

Shortly after that I went to Cuba for a few weeks.





When I came back I made the decision to leave the truck in Alabama with my dad. I flew to my next job in Anchorage, Alaska and I bought a 2013 Jeep Rubicon 2 door with a 6 speed. You may be asking if this is the end of the old truck's story with me. I'm not sure yet. However my Jeep is easier to live with so far and while the old truck's problems were relatively minor it was starting to need a lot more maintenance than I had time to perform. The jeep is a smaller however but it is also much more normal. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. I have owned the truck for 10 years, put over 150k miles on it, taken it to most of the states in the USA, plus I took it to Mexico and Canada. I snowboarded out of it many times and did lots of offroading. I camped out of it more than a few months in total and went to a bunch of national parks in it. As far as projects go it has been a good one. Time will tell.

 

[UHAULER]

Sometimes change is good. The Jeep looks nice and i'm sure drives much nicer than the Dodge. My friend had an old Dodge like yours on stock tires, I swear it was the worst riding truck I have ever been in. I suggested he look into swapping out the leaf springs for some longer and later model springs but he didn't keep the truck very long. Good luck and keep on having fun.

 

[lstzephyr]

I sold the dodge. It was a great truck but I no longer had a need for it. When I bought the truck I wanted a vehicle that would last until I was ready to buy something else. The truck went to a father that bought it for his 17 year old son. I was happy to see it go to someone who would enjoy it. I hope he has fun with it.

 

[Bojak]

Hearing the pig is gone is bitter sweet. I always enjoyed following your thread and the amount of getting out there you always do. I hope you continue to chronicle and share your travels and adventures even in the jeep. You definitely got whatever you paid for that truck back out of it.

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[lstzephyr]

Hearing the pig is gone is bitter sweet. I always enjoyed following your thread and the amount of getting out there you always do. I hope you continue to chronicle and share your travels and adventures even in the jeep. You definitely got whatever you paid for that truck back out of it.

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Selling it was a bit hard to be honest. I really liked that truck but I don’t have a use for it anymore. I did repair all the problems before I sold it. It’s the first project vehicle I finished and that I performed all the things that I wanted to do to it. I was happy to see it go to a teenager however as I imagine he wouldn’t have a chance at a first gen otherwise. I’m glad he will get to enjoy a classic truck. I am hoping that he will like it enough to keep it going and keep the old truck out of a junkyard.

I may start a thread for my jeep. I drove the Jeep from Alaska to Alabama and spent a few weeks in Canada only to turn around and take another job in Alaska. I drove my jeep back across the continent including hitting the Alcan at the start of winter. The thing is that as I am able to go farther more often I really appreciate the modern technology that the pig never had.

 

[Bojak]

I understand. When i first found your thread i had a chevy squarebody crew cab. Loved it, did lots of the work myself, super cool rig. I am 2 vehicles away now in a 2006 crew cab that is luxurious compared to the square. I may end up in a vehicle with an open top and no amenities eventually but for my life now, this works.

Alaska seems like an adventure rich environment. I've always wanted to spend some time there. From the terrain, to the wild life (2 legged included), and the weather you should have lots to explore. Keep on L I V I N.🤙

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