New (to me) Truck

[71ChargerRT]

Well, Ugly is going away... It's been a good 5 years, but it's time to kick her on down the road. I see some major stuffs coming down the line, none motor related, well except the turbo, but with 285,XXX on the chassis it's only a matter of time 'fore she eats me out of house and home.

So I upgraded, to the best lookin' truck that Dodge has ever produced IMHO. I've been looking on and off for the last couple years or so for a solid, used Ram, requirements were '98-02 Quad Cab, 8' bed, 4X4, and, it pains me to say it, not diesel. Well I just picked up an '00 Ram 2500, QC, 8' bed, 4X4, V-10/auto SLT Plus(or is it a Laramie?), it's loaded down with all the niceties, power everything, leather, etc., not to mention disgustingly stock, not even a K&N. She has a 160,000 and looks like the previous owners pulled a camper or something with her, there are small airbags on the leaf springs and notice the box tubing welded on either side of the hitch. There's also a small reserve fuel tank with a transfer pump mounted in the bed. Dash, like all, is cracked, but still in place. I replaced the headlights and fog lights right after bringing her home, right side was full of water when we looked at it originally so I ordered a new set after leaving the deposit. Ah, no car payments either.

Few pics, sorry about the shadows.

 

[69.5CUDA]

pretty good looking and cared for..the paint doesnt even look fried...repainted?

 

[71ChargerRT]

Doesn't seem to be repainted, there are a couple of really small bad spots on the roof along with a silver dollar sized, bad, touch up on the right fender opening.

 

[71ChargerRT]

I just ordered my stroker bottom end kit. Forged pistons and all that. 408 is coming soon.

 

[Jester]

Stroker V10? Cool!

Is this the same V10 used in a Viper?

 

[71ChargerRT]

No and no. There is almost zero aftermarket support for the truck V10/488. Cam, headers and cold air intake are the most common things I found for it, there is also very little in the way of replacement parts for it as well. When I grenaded the V10 I stuck a 318 in, which I proceeded to fatally wound. I had considered a Cummins swap, but ruled it out for now due to cost and lack of interest. I am now in the process of assembling a 5.9 which is getting a 4" stroke crank and a .030 over bore to bring it to 408. Mild torquey motor that will occasionally pull a trailer. And I'll get 12-13MPG, which is almost double the mileage V10 gets.

The Viper/SRT-10 is a completely different animal sharing only the bore and stroke dimensions. That would've been a cool swap, but the $10k+ estimated cost got it shelved just as quickly as it was considered.

 

[Jester]

Ah, 10k is a lot just to say "It's got a Viper motor in it", and a stroked 5.9 should work as great as the big white Ram looks...

 

[71ChargerRT]

Wow, been a while. I built the 6.7l stroker, 410 ci, .040 over 360 with a 4" stroke. I screwed something up somewhere, filled the oil pan with coolant and trashed the main bearings. Anyway motor is back on the stand and going back together, hopefully reunited with the truck by the end of the year. Next time I'll buy the crate motor and be done.

If all goes well this time around maybe I'll look toward forced induction for the next big improvement.

Dodge Ram/Durango/Dakota w/5.9 Magnum (1998-2002) – Single Charger Kit | TorqStorm

TorqStorm Supercharger system mounts on the passenger’s side of the Dodge Magnum series engines.

torqstorm.com

While I had everything apart the first time I swapped parts around and built/rebuilt a transmission for it, I had a '00 46RE that gave up the front half. I took the 47re rear and transfer case, swapped in some Red Eagle clutches and a shift improver kit, it works great. Not sure I want to mess around with another transmission, but I did it once. I also swapped on 3rd Gen Ram HD 14" rotors, and GM 1-3/16" wheel cylinders. I'm running a 4" exhaust from the catalytic convertor through a diesel muffler out the original tail pipe from my '03.

I did acquire a NV3500 with an NP20? along with pedals for a manual swap, or another project. I would've used it but it's not a NV4500.

I'm also running a set of Cadillac DTS electric fans, wired in through relays, one comes on when the A/C compressor engages, the other is on a toggle switch at present, planning on making that automatic soon. They're mounted on the V10(Cummins) radiator with a hacked up fan shroud. I just got a Posi-Lok 4WD engagement kit for it, early Christmas gift, that I'm going to install before the motor gets in my way.

What I really want to pick up before I start on interior modifications, Caddy SRX buckets, a Gen 4 Ram center console/jump seat and rubber floor covering, is a unbroken dash, (in Agate for the northern folks that can find '98-01 intact dash assemblies, but I'll paint one if another color pops up). I need the complete frame and top pieces.

I have a large by huge tool box in the bed, I have an old compressor I took the tanks from to get onboard air. If anyone knows of a quality 12v compressor for decent money let me know. I am using this for my load leveling air bags, onboard air and air horns. Yes air horns, too many idiots driving around here with their faces in tablets, phones, etc. that need to pay attention, this should do it.

 

[Dr.Jass]

What I really want to pick up before I start on interior... is a unbroken dash, (in Agate for the northern folks that can find '98-01 intact dash assemblies, but I'll paint one if another color pops up).

Junkyard full of Rams within a couple of hours, but not a single dash cover is agate. Every one in the yard is plastic.

Color... we need a color. Grey? Tan?

There is, in my experience, no such thing as a "good" 12V compressor. The best I've seen are the OEM airbag units, seconded by the Air-Lift-style aftermarket trash. It'd take a month of Sundays to fill any kind of tank and you'll never run air tools with any of 'em.

Back in the good ol' days, the hot setup was to use a pre-'77 Mopar AC compressor (RV2 preferred, but the big single would work too), with the clutch connected to a Hobbs switch. 'Course, back then you had a lot more options for mounting & drive, what with V-belts and all that room under the hood. On something like your truck, I'd think you'd be looking at (potentially) facing the compressor backward to get the pulley aligned, and using a clutch from a later model to get the serp drive setup. Then, of course, you'd have to determine what belt would work.

 

[TheIronSausage]

I believe LMC truck is selling repopped dash plastic for the second gen ram. I have a customer with a ‘01 2500, and he needs one in barfy beige. I seem to remember find them in their catalog for under $threehundo. Jass, I think agate is spanish for grey..

 

[Dr.Jass]

In those years there are actually two grays, on considerably darker than the other. The beige/tan ones are a bit tougher to find, at least 'round here. The last time I was at the boneyard, my friend pulled two light gray ones--one for himself and one for a friend. One had developed a small crack by the tie he arrived home in GA. He sold that one online and still got north of $100 for it. I don't know if he's even aware of the LMC part, and I'm guessing others aren't either. There's certainly no reason to prefer OEM since they're virtually guaranteed to disintegrate in any climate south of WI, but Kev got two with all the hardware, an OE CD/tape head unit, a perfect cupholder and a bunch of other miscellany for $60 if memory serves.

It's nothing on 71ChargerR/T personally... "agate" is just a really stupid name for a color. By definition it's a type of rock formation known for its wildly-differing colors. When I was a kid playing marbles, agates (aggies) were almost always multicolor and virtually never black, gray, or tan.

 

[TheIronSausage]

I was just screwing around. I really ought to consider using emojis.. Even my mom uses them, but I’m apparently set in my ways.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I didn't think about it either way... I was just pointing out the silliness of naming a single hue after something that often looks like clown vomit. Admittedly, some of the seat material from that era looks like the driver farted confetti, but still...

I am going to let Kev know about the LMC piece, but he'll probably just wait until he's here again and go back to the same yard. He's thrifty like that. Up this way they're still not brittle, what with the sun hiding 270+ days of the year.

 

[71ChargerRT]

Ha! Yes, the color is dark gray in English. While truck my has one of the nicest 2nd Gen Ram dashes I’ve seen down here, the top and the frame both have cracks and it’s brittle. The LMC piece is nice, $259, but I need the frame too and they do not have that bit.

I’m not looking to run tools, primarily air bags and horns with the possibility of airing up a tire if need be. I have a nice 18v Milwaukee to remove a tire. Maybe I’ll look into sourcing an OE, probably a Ferd Expedition unit.

 

[71ChargerRT]

Here’s my fan setup, I’ll clean it up a bit before reinstalling, along with a couple pics of my huge tool box.

 

[Dr.Jass]

So you need the entire dash structure itself? Yeesh... that's a ton of work. DiplomatWagon did that when he was here--took the whole shebang, wiring harness and all since the donor truck had options he wanted to add. It still wasn't expensive, but I can't recall what he paid (since I didn't have to pay it). Top of my head I'd guess between $100-$150 for everything betwixt the door hinges.

Shipping would be absolute murder, for the record. It cost me well over $100 to ship my Challenger dash pad out for restoration... closer to $200 if memory serves. That's both smaller and lighter than an entire Ram dash. The bigger issue is the box, though. I literally paid ABC Moparts to ship me an empty box for my dash pad. Just that cost me nearly $80 and he didn't charge me for the box.

 

[71ChargerRT]

Yep, I need it all, might grab a second one too, just because. For something like that I'd take a drive, shipping and fuel costs might not be much different. Might grab a certain Valiant grille at the same time.

 

[Dr.Jass]

A quick burn around the block in Agnes might do your soul some good, too.

 

[71ChargerRT]

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind dragging her back with me.

Finished assembling my motor. Work on getting it back in place this week. Excuse the mess, too much stuff going on lately and not nearly enough time.

 

[Stretch]

I replaced the entire dash and structure in my father-in-law's truck. Remember how brittle that was Jass?