What I've been wasting my time with lately (Ramcharger rebuild) Pt.1
Long, long, ago, in a Ford far, far, away... :p
Before the Jeep Commander was even a glimmer on the horizon, I inherited this beast, with the intention of making IT, our trail rig/BoV/Cub Scout War Wagon. Over the last couple of months, it is slowly, but surely, coming BACK to life. After sitting in a shed for the better part of 7 years, I've finally gotten the help and resources needed to at least try and get it to pass state inspection!
Here's what I inherited back in the fall of '06 - and it had mostly been sitting for a year & a half at THAT point, after being a daily driver for most of its life.
A nice, but tired, 1992 Dodge Ramcharger LE150 - 318 V-8, MPFI, 727 Torqueflite, NP241 Transfer case, 9 1/4 rear end - indeterminate front axle at this point (I'll post the vin code and data plates on here for Dodge experts to chime in on), and 135,000 miles - not a few of which were Pittsburgh-to-west-Texas road trips, where the original owner was from.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...mcharger-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...2/12/318-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...2/12/CAB-1.jpg
It was ALWAYS going to be a trail rig, as the factory 11mpg city/13mpg highway was a bit much for a daily driver... so last year, I promptly bought my Jeep Commander for a daily driver, that gets 10.5 mpg city...
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...11/DOHHH-1.jpg
THAT said, my local mechanic offered to work on it as a side project at his house, as he knew my children were Autistic, and he wanted to help. I bought the parts, and he did the labor for free. That worked well... for a while... until he took a job in the Marcellus shale fields a few years ago. So my truck just sat in his shed for a few more years. :(
I'd already bought a complete 4 1/2 Rough Country lift kit for it from Top Gun Customz down in TN, as well as five (5) Courser M/T 36" tires for it, and five (5) 15x10 Pacer custom wheels (wanted the matching full-size spare, obviously), and those were still sitting in the garage of my local Goodyear dealer. I'd also bought from Kennesaw Mountain Products in GA (now Tactical Armor Group) a custom rear bumper, with an INTEGRAL swing-out tire gate, built to spec to haul a 36x15x10 spare around on (also has a Jerry can holder, hi-lift jackstorage, cb antenna mount, license plate frame, and D shackles. That was a cool $750, and it was still shrink-wrapped to the pallet it was shipped on - sitting in an empty classroom of my church for the past 5 years! :eek:
Nonetheless, I didn't see a lotta future for the old gal, and was thinking of either scrapping or selling it as recently as this May, but a new member at my church offered to help, after we got to talking about cars one day. He owns a custom shop in Carnegie (near Pittsburgh), and does all manner of metal fabrication there. I told him I had all the parts - mostly just need the lift kit installed, and I'd take care of the rest, but he decided he wanted to do more - including bodywork, sanding, primering, painting, and even building a custom front bumper and new exhaust system for it! :eek::eek::eek:
LAST RIDE! Off to the shop for mechanical work now.
NOW the REAL work begins...
Since some shiitebag TRIED to steal a wheel off of it in the lot (they found 2 lug nuts missing off the left front this morning - the thief either got spooked, or gave up. Since the temperature last night was 5, and the windchill -15, I hope he got frostbite, his fingers fell off, & THAT'S why he quit! ), they rolled it into the garage this morning. I've got locking lug nuts for the wheels, so we still have plenty o' nuts to go around. It's going to REMAIN locked in the garage from now on, until it's finished. :D
Nonetheless, it's my mechanic's day off, but he rolled in early this morning, to give it the cursory once-over, once they got it on the lift. He immediately called me at 8:15am. In a word it's, "not good." :(
FRAME is fine, but ALL the lines underneath it are shot - including the transmission lines. Not a problem, since I was wanting to install a transmission cooler anyways - it was going to NEED new lines. Driveline angles are good, but we probably need to re-do the rear shocks and how they're mounted. Since the radiator HAS to be pulled for some of the work we're wanting to do, looks like we'll go the new radiator route, too.
True duals are going to be a hootenanny to install, as there's an EGR box on the driver's side that needs to be relocated, so that has to be fabricated - hope there's room enough to make a crossover/H-pipe! :rolleyes:
I'm meeting up with him again tomorrow morning and bringing a notebook, as we try and figure out what all needs to be done/replaced. If anyone has a recommendation for BEEFIER rotors for a Dana 44 axle, I'm all ears. Recommendations on a good master cylinder are ALSO appreciated.
Anyone know how difficult putting disc brakes on the rear of this thing would be? Does it help appreciably, especially running 35's/36's? Is it worth the cost?
He's THINKING it can be made road-worthy, and pass inspection, for around $4k, including parts & labor. I remain skeptical - even though he's going to do me some favors on the labor price especially. If I get it done for under $6k, I'll be amazed. https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../shocked-1.gif
This is going to be a l-o-n-g-t-e-r-m project - if it's rolling before June, that TOO, will be amazing. More pictures and updates to follow in the meantime...