The overland beater: Dodge 1500

[kraven]

Steering is fixed. Pulled the pump and found broken stuff in it that the rebuild kit wouldn't fix. So, I just got another. Cleaned out the pressure line and reinstalled. Now it drives ok.

Gonna get it inspected and plated tomorrow, hopefully.

I do have a downstream o2 sensor. I'll remember that trick with the non-fouler, if I need it.

Truck still feels a little sluggish. Need to do that fuel sync and adjust the TV cable. Probably a few little maintenance things ahead of me.

But, it runs and drives, stops and steers. The trans shifts up and down no sweat.

 

[kraven]

Time to get my steelies squared away and start accessorizing.

For the sake of trivia: this crappy, busted, awful, garbage dash in this thing, that's broken and busted, doesn't really rattle. Like, at all. :coffeedrink:

Final total for the mechanical bits to get it back on the road (safely): $2690.31
That breaks down to $805 for the heads, assembled by me, 969.02 for all of the assorted parts, oil, filters, etc., and 205.45 for tools and supplies.

Tools I added to my drawers permanently from this project are the neato valve spring tool from Lisle, a pulley pull/install kit, and a security bit set. Also the little OBD2 bluetooth doohickey that connects to my Android.

Got a bottle jack for the truck, since the OE jack is long gone.

 

[justcuz]

*non-fouler


I used one of those on my old S10 to kill the check engine light. Do the downstream O2's affect fuel trim? I thought it was just the up streams.

From what I have gathered the rear O2 sensors test the health of the cats, however if the cats are bad then the rear sensors should almost mirror the fronts. My experience is they do not and have some influence on LTFT, if anybody knows otherwise for sure I'd be glad to hear about it. I've looked at a few diagnostic sites and they say down stream O2's do influence LTFT when the cats are not functioning properly.

 

[Buddha.]

From what I have gathered the rear O2 sensors test the health of the cats, however if the cats are bad then the rear sensors should almost mirror the fronts. My experience is they do not and have some influence on LTFT, if anybody knows otherwise for sure I'd be glad to hear about it. I've looked at a few diagnostic sites and they say down stream O2's do influence LTFT when the cats are not functioning properly.

Well $hit. My old S10 used to get 28mpg highway, I thought removing the cat might improve things but it killed mpg's, low to mid 20's. I figured it affected exhaust gas speed and exhaust scavenging. maybe it was the o2.

There didn't seem to be any changes with my Mustang but I had the o2's shut off.

 

[kraven]

Interesting. I'm not clocking the mileage on this thing yet, but I probably should. Just to compare with other rams and see if there's a difference.

Gotta put an exhaust gasket on the DS manifold. I think it got steam cut and has a small bit missing, because it just has a small tick to it. So, I have extra manifold gaskets sitting around that came with the set. I'll throw one on it and see if it shuts up with the ticking.

All that's left on the punch list is the oil change, pump pickup, oil pump spec, oilpan gasket, and new radiator installation. I'll wait another 1000 or so to do a trans fluid change and filter, along with the next oil change.

About a day's worth of work, if I take my time.

You can see in this pic that the front tire has an odd abrasion down to the white layer below the outer black layer. That makes me nervous. I'm no tire expert. But it seems like a great way to have a blowout.

Probably need to get serious about tire shopping after I get the punch list squared away.

 

[C W]

Great work man! Keep it up.

 

[kraven]

Thanks, CW! I'm tryin'!

Put gaskets on the manifolds. Usually with iron manifolds I can just do it without a gasket, which I did. And then it leaked. So, I just pulled them apart and put the gaskets in from the full set I bought.
Things are nice and quiet now, underhood.

Changed the oil.

Got a nice bump in the oil pressure. That oil I drained was toast, and the garbage quickie lube filter was totally sacked.
Wix is my standby. Made here in NC by people who care. Good filter media, silicone anti-drainback valve, shiny black paint.

Installed the new radiator. The old one was shot. New one, made by Spectra, was a perfect fit.

So, now the fan shroud is back on, replete with coolant overflow can and wiper washer reservoir/motor. Gotta get the washer motor hooked back up.

I was going to swap the oilpan gasket during the oil change, but the oil was so dirty I want to run this batch for a bit and change it again to get the junk out of the engine. Then I'll swap the pan gasket next time.
Next up is a trans pan gasket and filter. It leaks. I ain't having that. And it's probably full of all the wrong ATF, if the previous mechanics of this truck are any indication.

I'm also thinking I want to put a new muffler on it. The old one is getting pretty rusted and I can put a flowmaster or a cherry bomb on it pretty easily. I love this truck. So much room for activities and mechanic work.

But I'm almost at the end of wrenching by necessity. Soon I get to wrench for fun on accessories.
Let's not forget that not long ago it looked like this:

Priced some General AT2 tires. Think I may go with those. Gotta get them ordered and mounted on the steelies, when I make a final decision on size and which tire.

 

[kraven]

Took the beater for a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, after the cooling system and oil change work, so I could road test the rear end and transmission on uphills and grades and stuff. Also wanted to kind of see how the suspenders were doing on some curves and whatnot. And see if anything broke, busted, or fell off.
The Parkway is a good workout for a project vehicle.
Temp, oil, alt, and all that stayed steady. No problems. The only moment of panic I had was when I was pumping gas and looked down to see a puddle of water come from under the front tire. That turned out to be the previous customer's A/C condensation puddle. So, I shouted "clear!" and hit myself with the paddles, and drove on.

El Beaterino (if you're not into the whole brevity thing) did great. Had a few little niggles with hunting for a gear, mostly due, from what I've read, to the 3.55 gearset being really high for townie and 35/45 zone driving. Once you get it over 55 or so, it seems to do okay. So, I guess that's normal? Seems like it.
I'm already hunting Craigs for a 4.56 gearset for the front and still looking for a Dana 60 to put in the rear with some of the same.

 

[justcuz]

You'll have this thing all ready to hob nob with the high brows at Overland Expo East at the Biltmore in October!
Not sure what your long term plans are but I like the pickup platforms guys are building that allow a tent to set above the bed rails.
The bed is used for all their storage and the tent is set up at night leaving the storage intact.

 

[kraven]

Right on, man. Hopefully I will have added a few more dings and a lot more miles to it by then.

I like the sound of that tent platform. I'll have to check that out. I really like how much useable space this truck has.

 

[kraven]

Shopping off-season for the beater netted me some tire chains for free.

Getting the trans filter changed and a drain plug installed in the pan this week. Tires probably this week too, fitted on the steelies. It's about time to go get the beater dirty(-er).

 

[kraven]

Had some time this morning to get back to the beater's punch list and re- remember what I need to finish up.

Added to the list is a trans filter, inline, and a replacement for the missing pan bolt, as well as a drain plug install in the pan. I already ordered the pan gasket and filter, and it's sitting in the shop waiting. If you're wondering, I prefer the ATP kits because of their "3rd hand" gaskets that have 4 bolt holes undersized on the gasket so that you can insert enough bolts to hold the gasket in place. And their gasket is a "swell to fit" type that uses the ATF to help expand the gasket. It's a pretty good deal if you want zero leaks. I want zero leaks. And a drain plug is a must. On the board for the near future is a new set of solenoids, if this trans turns out to not be on its last legs.

Ordered a TCase saver for the 231. Waiting for the final billing and shipping notice. Should be able to get that on this week. The Tcase is drippy, slightly, from the center case gasket. So, at some point I'll be taking it apart to fix that an inspect the chain and whatnot.

Tires are happening this week. I found some good pricing on some General Grabbers and Kumhos. I'll probably just flip a coin. Probably going to go with stock size, since it's super popular and if I have tire trouble on the road I can easily source a replacement. It doesn't give me more clearance, but you have to draw the line on a budget build at some point. After I use this truck offroad some, I'll have a better idea of which way I want to go with mods. Or if I just want to use it as a camping/overlanding/lumber hauling kind of rig.

So, the list right now is:
Oilpan and rear seal
Oil pump
Fuel synch
T case saver
Trans pan gasket and filter
Tires
Track bar and alignment

So, that will leave me at about 3200 for the grand total, after 500 or so for tires.
800 bucks left for whatever else I need.
Thinking about the recovery gear for this truck, since I essentially have all the camping gear I needed already to do overland stuff.
Current assets: comealong, tow strap, jack
With this being such a big full size pig, and the fact that I have that disconnect front axle, which kind of prevents me from LSD or locker if I want to do a lot of highway miles and not get 10mpg, I feel like this thing needs a winch.
So, the big conundrum is that I need a mount and a winch, but I am closing in on the budget ceiling for this project. I started looking around and a used Warn is 4 or 500 bucks. And then I have a used winch. So, I found the Superwinch Tiger Shark and see that it doesn't have a lot of bling but has good stainless hardware and uses a steel cable. You can't use a synthetic cable due to the drum brake design making the drum hot (Superwinch says too hot for synthetic but steel cable is a-ok). I'm ok with that. I like the steel cables just fine. It's a big chunk of the budget, and I'm fairly certain I can fab an opening in the front bumper for the cable and fairlead, while keeping the winch concealed somewhat. The Tigershark is only 300-350, depending on where you buy it. And the mount is like 200. So, that'd be a big bite out of the remaining 800 bucks. I also have the feeling that there might be some details that bite me in the mounting process.

All I'll need now is a couple of good straps and maybe some carpet segments. I have a big list of wants, like a spare tire rack and jerry cans and whatnot. But I think a winch is maybe something I should do first to avoid problems and getting stuck. I thought about a hi lift, but I'm not sure it's worth the time and money to buy and mount.

So, it's decision time with the offroad goodies while I wrench on the requisites.

 

[PhilipE]

A high lift is nice. With your stock bumpers you really do not have a place to use it. Your front bumper is to rounded for the short lift point on a high lift. The rear bumper isn't much better. Untill the time you make some good lift points on your truck. I would pass on the high lift.

 

[kraven]

Good points, PhilipE. I'm gathering some stuff to make a tube bumper for the rear, since the original is slowly returning to the earth. But I haven't considered a front yet. I thought for a while I might weld some jack points on the front, but in a dynamic situation I'd probably find they're useless.

Plus I see a lot of guys talking about how their hi lift is never used and I see a lot on craigs that are "never used" or "only used once" type parts.

 

[Brewtus]

I exclusively use Harbor Freight's 27k straps. Very recommend.

As far as winches go, I'm a big proponent of getting a hitch mount for the winch. I picked up a front mount hitch receiver from a scrap yard for $20 and got the $80 something hitch winch tray from harbor freight. I happened to have a lot of heavy cable around to make up leads to the front and back with Tweco plugs. It's a bit of a phaff to get it out and hook it up, but it's very versatile, and it keeps the winch out of the weather until you need it.

The front hitch also gives you a solid connection point for strapping.