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Thread: What I've been wasting my time with lately (Ramcharger rebuild) Pt.1

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    Senior Member Getting Dirty The_War_Wagon's Avatar
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    Exclamation What I've been wasting my time with lately (Ramcharger rebuild) Pt.1

    Long, long, ago, in a Ford far, far, away...

    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.





    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...




    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!

    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!
    '07 Jeep Commander, Rocky Mountain Edition - 287 V-8 - Superchipped - aFe Stage II R-5A CAI - Flowmaster Super 44 - 2" Daystar lift - Spidertrax spacers - 32x10.5x17 Cooper A/T's - Fastman throttlebody - Skyjacker 8000 shocks

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    Senior Member Getting Dirty The_War_Wagon's Avatar
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    Pt.II

    Pt. II


    In early August, he took his rollback over to my former mechanic's house, and picked up all the pieces. Here's a small photo retrospective of his work to date!

    Passenger side UP!





    Interior needs work now (some of the "handiwork" by moi - with a stereo HALF[size=x-small](ass)[/size]-installed... )




    Of course, a LOT of its own parts and pieces are being stored inside itself at this point, too.

    Lift is done!



    '07 Jeep Commander, Rocky Mountain Edition - 287 V-8 - Superchipped - aFe Stage II R-5A CAI - Flowmaster Super 44 - 2" Daystar lift - Spidertrax spacers - 32x10.5x17 Cooper A/T's - Fastman throttlebody - Skyjacker 8000 shocks

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    Senior Member Getting Dirty The_War_Wagon's Avatar
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    Pt.III

    Pt.III


    Some closeups of this custom front bumper (spot welds and temporarily clamped to evaluate fitment)




    Made of box steel, it drops low enough to pass state inspection - the center part will be cut out, and a shelf installed, suitable for mounting a winch recessed into the bumper!

    Bumper is now finished, save for setting up the recessed winch mount and painting.




    Here's some pics from last week - it's now bondo'd (meh... it's a trail rig ) - and almost ready to be painted!






    You get a good look at the custom rear bumper this way!
    '07 Jeep Commander, Rocky Mountain Edition - 287 V-8 - Superchipped - aFe Stage II R-5A CAI - Flowmaster Super 44 - 2" Daystar lift - Spidertrax spacers - 32x10.5x17 Cooper A/T's - Fastman throttlebody - Skyjacker 8000 shocks

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    Senior Member Getting Dirty The_War_Wagon's Avatar
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    Cool Pt. IV

    Pt. IV


    It's getting down to the nitty-gritty now - it gets painted this week (to sand, primer, and paint this monster would be $4k+ at any reputable shop. I'm getting it for free, but STILL don't know what color it's going to be! I know "silver" will be a large part of it, but beyond that... Beggars of course, don't get to be choosers!), and then it's off to Monro Muffler for new brake and fuel lines (the originals rotted away), and whatever other work we need to get it to pass inspection at THIS point.

    Assuming Obama doesn't confiscate ALL our tax refunds this year, my INTENTION is to do a ring & pinion swap (to 4.10's - currently 3.50 geared) and add a Transpak/Shift kit to the 727 this spring. I might splurge for the winch at that time, too. Long range plans include tearing down the engine (which still runs strong, holds compression, etc.), adding machined 360 heads, new pistons, torque-ier crank, etc. I've got some Warn lock-out hubs ready for it too. ANY extra mpg's in THIS beast will be appreciated, and I figure the lock-out hubs will make GETTING to the outdoors a little less costly!

    I'd like to do re-do the interior completely (droopy headliner has GOT to go - welcome to the late 80's/early '90's droopy headliner flashback! ) - doing the seats in some sort of faux leather, that cleans up easily. I'd LOVE to tear out ALL the carpet and just rhinoline the entire floor - make it so you could run a hose and WASH the truck out... but that may not be ENTIRELY feasible, given how many wires run along the floor in even a 20 year old truck. I think I WILL rhinoline the cargo area though, as this will still be our Boy Scout War Wagon - suitable for throwing backpacks, gear, chuckboxes, and the like into. Getting that factory spare OUT of the cargo area REALLY opens 'er up back there!

    It'll be a zombiecrusher for certain - a good BoV, if it comes to that - & hopefully more than up to the task of cruising the Alleghenies. But she's DEFINITELY a zombie herself, having come close to the scrapyard THREE times now (it got hit in the passenger side when the original owner had it, but he refused to have it totaled, and got it repaired instead - when he passed away, his wife was about to scrap it, when she offered it to me instead. I ALMOST scapped it this spring, but found some much-needed help in the nick of time). It might FINALLY see the out-of-doors yet!

    Here's those vin code/data plates/sheet, if anyone is an expert in reading these things - if someone could give me an idea of what all I have here to start with.






    That sheet under the hood is REALLY faded, but I figure the same info is coded on the data plate.

    Any & all feedback is welcome and appreciated. And if you're handy with a wrench, engines & drivetrains, and live in the Pittsburgh area, gimme a shout!!!
    '07 Jeep Commander, Rocky Mountain Edition - 287 V-8 - Superchipped - aFe Stage II R-5A CAI - Flowmaster Super 44 - 2" Daystar lift - Spidertrax spacers - 32x10.5x17 Cooper A/T's - Fastman throttlebody - Skyjacker 8000 shocks

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    Super Moderator Getting Dirty 07JeepXK's Avatar
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    Nice!! I like it. How are you only getting 10mpg in your Commander? I'm lifted running 33 inch mud tires and am getting 14.1 mpg!
    2007 4.7 Liter XK | Front Modified OME HD Lift | Rear 4" Superlift | JBA UCA's | Rusty's Rear Adjustable Track Bar | Rysty’s Adjustable Upper and Lower Rear Control Arms w/Heim Joints | Mickey Thompson Classic III 17x9 Wheels | 315/70R17 Goodyear Duratracs | Airflow Snorkel | Flowmaster 40 Series Muffler | Superchips Flashpaq | Mopar Skids | 4xGuard Belly Guard | American Rebel Rear Diff Cover | Rear Powertrax No-Slip | Front Electronic Locker | Rear Heat/AC Delete

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    Senior Member Getting Dirty The_War_Wagon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 07JeepXK View Post
    Nice!! I like it. How are you only getting 10mpg in your Commander? I'm lifted running 33 inch mud tires and am getting 14.1 mpg!
    Driven the urban hills of Pittsburgh much?

    I was only getting 9 mpg, until I put 40lbs of air in my tires! It's probably the stop signs and stoplights strategically located every 5 feet, that are killing my gas mileage. And I'm mostly just making short hops around the South Hills - usually less than 10 miles a day!
    '07 Jeep Commander, Rocky Mountain Edition - 287 V-8 - Superchipped - aFe Stage II R-5A CAI - Flowmaster Super 44 - 2" Daystar lift - Spidertrax spacers - 32x10.5x17 Cooper A/T's - Fastman throttlebody - Skyjacker 8000 shocks

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    Lifetime Member Getting Dirty 06JeepXKHEMI's Avatar
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    I love PITTSBURGH!! Die Hard STEELERS fan here and those hills will kill any cars MPGs, especially the south side, but its an awesome area and where I want to be! I was just down for the Ravens game and Jets game, might be going to the Bengals game.. Next time I come down we will have to grab a beer! Love my IC Lights


    Had to get the throwback this year!!
    2K6 Limited Jeep Green Metallic/Saddle Brown Leather XK HEMI QDII Old Man Emu HD Suspension w/ Fox Emulsion 2.0 Rear Shocks 1.5" SpiderTraxx Wheel Spacers 265/70 GoodYear MTRs w/Kevlar True Dual Exhuast w/IMCO 50 K&N 63 CAI Diablo 91/Performance Transmission Tuned SA Belly Skid MOPAR Gas Tank Skid, Transfer Case Skid, Suspension Skid Front Tow Hooks 6k HID Lows/3k Fogs

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    Super Moderator Getting Dirty 07JeepXK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The_War_Wagon View Post
    Driven the urban hills of Pittsburgh much?

    I was only getting 9 mpg, until I put 40lbs of air in my tires! It's probably the stop signs and stoplights strategically located every 5 feet, that are killing my gas mileage. And I'm mostly just making short hops around the South Hills - usually less than 10 miles a day!
    Damn that sucks! Well even though you are only getting 10 mpg at least your driving an awsome vehicle. I love my Commander!
    2007 4.7 Liter XK | Front Modified OME HD Lift | Rear 4" Superlift | JBA UCA's | Rusty's Rear Adjustable Track Bar | Rysty’s Adjustable Upper and Lower Rear Control Arms w/Heim Joints | Mickey Thompson Classic III 17x9 Wheels | 315/70R17 Goodyear Duratracs | Airflow Snorkel | Flowmaster 40 Series Muffler | Superchips Flashpaq | Mopar Skids | 4xGuard Belly Guard | American Rebel Rear Diff Cover | Rear Powertrax No-Slip | Front Electronic Locker | Rear Heat/AC Delete

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    Lifetime Member Getting Dirty 06JeepXKHEMI's Avatar
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    Im getting 13.2 with my heavy foot all city
    2K6 Limited Jeep Green Metallic/Saddle Brown Leather XK HEMI QDII Old Man Emu HD Suspension w/ Fox Emulsion 2.0 Rear Shocks 1.5" SpiderTraxx Wheel Spacers 265/70 GoodYear MTRs w/Kevlar True Dual Exhuast w/IMCO 50 K&N 63 CAI Diablo 91/Performance Transmission Tuned SA Belly Skid MOPAR Gas Tank Skid, Transfer Case Skid, Suspension Skid Front Tow Hooks 6k HID Lows/3k Fogs

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    Super Moderator Getting Dirty 07JeepXK's Avatar
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    I want to meet up and go wheeling with that ram charger!!! that thing is a beast...
    2007 4.7 Liter XK | Front Modified OME HD Lift | Rear 4" Superlift | JBA UCA's | Rusty's Rear Adjustable Track Bar | Rysty’s Adjustable Upper and Lower Rear Control Arms w/Heim Joints | Mickey Thompson Classic III 17x9 Wheels | 315/70R17 Goodyear Duratracs | Airflow Snorkel | Flowmaster 40 Series Muffler | Superchips Flashpaq | Mopar Skids | 4xGuard Belly Guard | American Rebel Rear Diff Cover | Rear Powertrax No-Slip | Front Electronic Locker | Rear Heat/AC Delete

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