The War Pig (formerly: "School me on 1st Gen Rams")

[TheAlmightySam]

WOW!!!:Wow1:That is a SWEET truck. If you don't mind me asking..... how much did you give for it?

Metcalf, don't look, but it wasn't cheap. With all the goodies he included, like the toolbox, factory bucket seats, and a whole mess of spare parts, I paid $6500.

DANG! :wings:

SCORE! I don't even want to know what you paid....

4.10s or 3.54s?

Power-Loc rear?

Does anyone remember project:Tugboat in FourWheeler? That truck very much reminds me of it. While no vehicle is ever 'done' I think your pretty dang close with that one. It looks like you went back in time and bought one at the dealer!

Well Done.

3.54s with Power-Loc. Gonna take some getting used to - we stopped for lunch in a very rainy Grants Pass (if you're ever out this way, check out the Wild River Brewing Company. The food's meh, but the beer is great!) and I broke a tire loose coming around a tight corner. Gotta remember to keep the throttle light on tight corners

Thanks for the compliments, everyone! I'm really, really happy with it. More pics momentarily!

 

[Rot Box]

With all the goodies he included, like the toolbox, factory bucket seats, and a whole mess of spare parts, I paid $6500.

3.54s with Power-Loc. Gonna take some getting used to - we stopped for lunch in a very rainy Grants Pass (if you're ever out this way, check out the Wild River Brewing Company.

That truck would have sold very quickly around here for $6500. I think you did very well on the purchase.

The Power-Loc is one of the better stock limited slips imo. You'll be glad its there off road--driving around iced covered streets is another story though. Its not a bad idea to keep the hubs in if you aren't planning on driving very fast lol.

And yes Wind River cranks out some very tasty beverages that's for sure! :elkgrin:

 

[BKCowGod]

In the bay area, most Cummins under $7k have 300k and rust. You done good!

 

[Metcalf]

Don't forget to check the steering box bracket and surrounding frame area. That is really the only problem I have had with mine. If you look in my build I list the part number for the new $20 bracket from Dodge. Its worth having an extra. I might have something a little better in the works.....

 

[Terrainist]

You have chosen well..

 

[teleturns]

Holy crap!!!! $6500 is a smoking deal for that truck. I paid $6,000 for mine and it is no where near the condition of your truck. From what I have seen that truck would sell all day over $10k on ebay. You got an amazing deal!!! If I saw that truck for that price I would be all over it.

Congrats and welcome to the club

 

[bouts]

I'm running a white 92 W250 Cummins, absolutely love it! There's nothing that sounds like a Cummins shifting! You'll love it, just keep your chiropractor on speed dial, apparently compliant suspension was not offered as part of the deal!

 

[TheAlmightySam]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

The Power-Loc is one of the better stock limited slips imo. You'll be glad its there off road--driving around iced covered streets is another story though. Its not a bad idea to keep the hubs in if you aren't planning on driving very fast lol.

This brings up an interesting question. On my Cherokee, the front axle has no locking hubs and no axle disconnect. The axle shafts and driveshaft are turning all the time regardless of whether the transfer case has 4WD selected or not. I realize this probably causes accelerated wear on the u-joints and diff gears, but really, my Jeep has 188k on it, and the u-joints are fine.

That makes me wonder why I ought to leave the hubs unlocked on the new big fella. More than once in the Cherokee, I've snapped the transfer case lever back to 4HI in a panic and pulled the truck out of a spin, and it seems awful nice to not have to climb out of the truck in the snow or mud to lock the hubs.

Don't forget to check the steering box bracket and surrounding frame area. That is really the only problem I have had with mine. If you look in my build I list the part number for the new $20 bracket from Dodge. Its worth having an extra. I might have something a little better in the works.....

The previous owner mentioned this specifically. I'm off to Dodge in the AM to grab a new bracket or two and toss them in my trail spares bag. The one that's on it is good condition, but I don't trust it. I'll keep an eye on your thread to see what you come up with.

I'm running a white 92 W250 Cummins, absolutely love it! There's nothing that sounds like a Cummins shifting! You'll love it, just keep your chiropractor on speed dial, apparently compliant suspension was not offered as part of the deal!

Yeah, I noticed that. A little stiff. My previous rig was a Cherokee with a Rubicon Express 2" AAL lift, so I'm used to stiff-as-a-board, but still... it's a bit much. Some weight in the rear should calm it down a bit. I can't even imagine driving a W350 with its big-*** springpacks.

Also, for your viewing pleasure, I couldn't help myself but to snap a couple photos:

The *only* dent I can find on the truck is a little tiny one on the tailgate trim panel, so small you'd miss it if you weren't looking for it.

The interior is pretty much spotless, though that tape deck has got to go.

Lots o' tread on these fellas. Seems like the STTs are well-liked. We'll see this summer when I go bang on 'em in the Black Rock Desert.

Rawr.

The modifications start first thing tomorrow! I've got an H4 headlamp conversion waiting to go on, as well as a pair of Hella 500s. The toolbox isn't going to work, as I need a canopy (looking for one of those too), so maybe I can sell it for a box that sits under the bedrails. Stay tuned!

 

[teleturns]

Now I am depressed. I paid the same amount for my truck and then put about 5k more into it and your truck is still nicer than mine.

That is one sweet truck!!!!!

Keep us updated on the mods....

 

[Sock Puppet]

Awesome buy! Congrats on a great truck at an amazing price!:wings:

 

[Metcalf]

I drive around for most of the winter with my hubs in, I will take them out if I have to go above 60-70mph. With a factory style CV driveline you should be fine. The lift in front will affect the angles a bit, but you should be ok.

My truck does amazingly well with in 2wd with the rear power-loc. You have an even longer wheelbase than I do so it should just fine. Adding the weight of the topper on my truck does help a bit. Its probably only 200lbs or so...but it does seem to make a difference.

One thing I learned right quick with the diesel/manual combo in 2wd, is don't chop off the accelerator when its slick! The diesel has enough compression braking to EASILY brake the rear tires loose when its slick. I have to plan and slowly let up on the accelerator when slowing down. Things are most sensitive when your in a lower gear with the RPMs up at all.

I built a longer shift knob for the 4wd. This lets me reach the 4wd lever sitting almost straight up. With the knob on the passenger side of the tunnel I found it almost dangerous to bend down to get the factory length lever.

 

[ExpoGeorgia]

Does your W250 have a 2 inch leveling kit?

Also I drive a W350 dually and it rides rough, almost like its on nails haha but the simplicity and strength of these trucks make it totally worth it. I'm looking into getting a W250 extended cab for traveling, but if I keep the dually I'm trying to upgrade it to a 3rd gen Cummins suspension so I can use the AAM axles. Great looking rig :drool:

 

[pulltilbroke]

Wow, 6500 for that!!! You got a good deal on a real nice truck.:drool:

Like Metcalf said keep a spare box bracket with your spare parts and another thing to address is the steering shaft, either buy a Borgenson or build one like I did and get rid of the junk factory coupler.

Here is a link on another forum that shows how to do it and where to get the steering joint.

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/fixed-bad-stock-steering-t93363.html

You will love the reliability of your old Dodge, My old junk has almost 400,000 miles on it and about 150,000 of that has been with a very agressivly tuned pump and I wouldn't think twice about hoppin in it right now and driving anywhere in the country with it.


OK, Now about the axles offered in 1stgens

89-91.5 with the 727 had a Dana 71 with 3.07s and 35 spl shafts
89-91.5 with the Getrag had a Dana 70 with 35spl shafts and either 3.54s or 4.10s
91.5-93 had a Dana 70U with 32spl shafts and 3.54s of 4.10s

There are a lot of misconceptions about the axles used in the 1stgen trucks, alot of people think that the rear axles under the early (N/IC) trucks were Dana 70HDs, they were NOT, they were just a strait up D 70, a Dana 70 HD will have a huge 4" axletube like a D80. The 70HD was the predacesor to the D80.

From my personal experiance all 89s and very early 90s had D61Fs with external hubs in front, Selectro's to be exact. Then about mid year 90 they still used the 61F but they used internal hubs which are much stronger. Then somewhere around mid year 91 they went with a 60F which also used the internal hubs. Al front axles in 1stgens were 35spline inners and 30 spline outers.
The difference between a 60 and a 61 and well a 70 and 71 for that mater were the 61 and 71 had more carrier offset to allow for the huge pinion gear on the higher gear ratios.

Hope that clears some stuff up.



Another good 1stgen site is 1stgen.org Lots of good info and real good people.

 

[Rot Box]

From my personal experiance all 89s and very early 90s had D61Fs with external hubs in front, Selectro's to be exact.


The difference between a 60 and a 61 and well a 70 and 71 for that mater were the 61 and 71 had more carrier offset to allow for the huge pinion gear on the higher gear ratios.

The Selectro front hubs are just plain cool!

My brother swapped a 4 speed auto into a early 91 with the factory 3.07 gear ratio. It doesn't pull all that great with a big load (stockish motor) but it gets insane fuel mileage around 25+ with a light foot :Wow1:

 

[TheAlmightySam]

Does your W250 have a 2 inch leveling kit?

Also I drive a W350 dually and it rides rough, almost like its on nails haha but the simplicity and strength of these trucks make it totally worth it. I'm looking into getting a W250 extended cab for traveling, but if I keep the dually I'm trying to upgrade it to a 3rd gen Cummins suspension so I can use the AAM axles. Great looking rig :drool:

Thanks for the kind words! It does indeed have a 2" leveling kit.

Not tons has happened on the truck, since I'm pretty happy with it the way it sits, but I did do a little wrenching on it today. The factory dash lights were hilariously bad and just about unreadable under anything but pitch darkness.

Um....

Yeah, that's full brightness. Per the suggestion of some threads on DTR and elsewhere, I chose to replace the six 194 bulbs behind the gauges with these.

I got into the dash, pulled out the gauge cluster, and removed the six or so Torx screws holding the circuit board to the back of the cluster assembly. Ordinarily, to replace the bulbs, one need not take this extra step of removing the circuit board, but in order to achieve the sickening tinge of green Dodge was so fascinated with until recently, they inserted six blue bulb covers in front of the gauge illumination bulbs.

That's them at the outside edges, as well as toward the inside of the cluster...

...and one of them removed.

I could have left them in, I suppose, but there's two problems with that. First, my new LED bulbs would not fit with the bulb covers in place, and second, with a bright white bulb in place, they would turn the gauges a disgusting shade of blue, for which I have no love. Out they must come.

Once out, the dash went back together. I replaced the bulb in the HVAC assembly as well with an LED bulb. Unfortunately, in this case, there is no bulb cover, and the back of the HVAC faceplate is covered in a blue film to alter the color. With the LED bulb in place, it's a very light blue, not terribly obnoxious, but I may still fiddle with it and see if I can't make it match. Clearly I need to have my OCD medication changed.

Some shots of it all assembled and illuminated:

It's a dramatic improvement in readability, to be certain. Also shown is my new CD player, with thanks to my lovely girlfriend for the Christmas present. I'm in the process of installing new door speakers and sound-deadening the cab, so a writeup on the stereo will be forthcoming soon.

Also on order is an Isspro tachometer, so that'll be installed as soon as it arrives.