Picked up a new daily

71ChargerRT

71ChargerRT

Well-known member
'99 Durango, 2wd, 318. Needs some TLC and maintenance, but for a 400 long block straight across swap I feel I did pretty good.





When I get home I'm going to fire up the hairdryer and scrape off that "DJANGO" shit they put on the doors.

Once she's up and mechanically correct I'm swapping in some DJM 2" drop LCA's and 3" drop Belltech leaf springs along with a set of KYB MonoMax shocks.


In other events I pulled the plug on the Gran Torino deal and put my Challenger up for sale. So I am down to just my Valiant shell, my son's Duster and the DD's.
 
Good deal! I forgot they made these in 2wd.. but I'd be careful about scraping the name off the door, you just might piss him off..

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It's going to need an engine swap, but I'm still in a good place financially with it so no issue there.

Next weekend a trip to PickNPull for a 5.9 and an ECM. Possibly a grille and front bumper, if the right color is available.
 
Hey Charre glad to know that you're still around. You should stop in more often so we can get caught up.
 
Not a single 5.9 ECM in the yards. I guess I need to check in more often. There was a correct color Durango out there, but the entire front clip was gone, maybe next time... I also bought an Explorer Sport for my wife, needed a new set of tires and shocks, all in for less than a grand and she's happy she doesn't have to drive a minivan every day anymore.
 
If that Exploder is the SOHC version, beware the timing chain guides and tensioners. Ford expected you to pull the motor every 70k to access the ones in the back, (19 hour job) or they expected you to enjoy your bent valves. Pull up a schematic of the timing chains.. If it's a 4x4, I think it's got six! Yet another example of stoopid band-aid fixes the big three are all guilty of. "Everybody else has overhead cams, what should we do? Develop a new motor?" "No, let's just drag the same one we've been using since 1962 into the 21st century kicking and screaming. That should buy us some time so that we can drop the ball again in the next decade or so."
 
TheIronSausage said:
"Everybody else has overhead cams, what should we do? Develop a new motor?" "No, let's just drag the same one we've been using since 1962 into the 21st century kicking and screaming. That should buy us some time so that we can drop the ball again in the next decade or so."
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:bwuhaha:
 
That Exploder is the SOHC version, and it sucks, but it runs and since my Ram has been down I've been driving it. That really sucks because I went through a lot getting my truck right, prettying up the interior with a new dash cap and radio, fixing the AC, etc. :wtf:

Anyway, here's a quick story of where my Durango is presently
New motor version 3, (first was blowed up, second had a bad piston, probably from detonation and every damn one had bad heads!)
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Then here,
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Sucked my cool valve covers and alternator needed to share the same piece of real estate :doubt:

Installed, sorry it's sideways...
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Everything works the way it should, I charged the air last night and even the rear blows cold :giggedy:
Just need to round up a fan shroud, coolant overflow bottle and a radio. Replace the hubs and tires and I should be on the road by next Friday!
 
Well, she runs and drives. Not legal yet but I'm close, my last hurdle is lack of hazards and turn signals. I replaced the flasher and multifunction switch with known good parts, still nothing and I have checked the fuses, all good, so if anyone can point me in the right direction it's much appreciated! Oh, yes the bulbs are good and the parking lights work.

Right now I am swapping the seats with some nicer pieces, went back to the JY to retrieve a nice set of black leather seats but that Durango's been flattened, they turn up regularly, but this particular one had a set of buckets that weren't trashed.

I did pick up a set of 16X8 aluminum wheels, for less than $100, I went with a 29" tall 255/65R16. I'm looking to lower it 3-4" for a nice, aggressive stance. I'm gathering parts for that now. Doc what do you think about sliders on the rear of it? I'm not towing anything with so that's non-issue.

Presently there's a loathsome Flowmaster and it must go! If anyone has an opinion on mufflers I'm listening, something mild at cruising but screams at WOT. I plan on JBA mid pipes and a 3" tail pipe, just need to find one or find someone locally that can bend one for me.
 

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wait..whats my explorer doing sitting next to it?

check the hitch wiring, see if its factory or if its someones hack job
 
69.5CUDA said:
wait..whats my explorer doing sitting next to it?

check the hitch wiring, see if its factory or if its someones hack job
Click to expand...

Hitch wiring was an add on, plug in deal from Hopkins, already removed it.

I'm going to try the brakelight switch, I just saw this morning they don't work. Hopefully that's it.

I bought that Explorer for my wife because she was tired of driving a minivan. It's a $500 beater, we put new tires and shocks and have been driving it, lucky we have since my truck broke.
 
those lil exploders are good lil rigs..to a point...

got mine for free from a military friend who went away and needed a place to store it, when he came back i gave it to him for a few months and his dad got him a brandy new jeep and i got it back...all it needed at that time was a rad and some other misc small stuff, since then ive cranked up the t-bars(much like our mopars) and tossed in 80s f150 springs in the rear for a nice suprising amount of lift...the f150 springs was less for the lift and more for the sloppy ass saggy lopsidedness they get, axed the runnin board thingys....and ive learned a miles worth on the 4wd system and its twerks, put some new tires on it and its been a moto hauling beast....wish it was a 5spd
 
Mine's a 2wd/auto, runs pretty good. Belonged to the son of a friend, he just graduated college and took an opportunity to teach english in China so I got it cheap.
Thanks for the tip on the rear springs, I'll have to grab some on a trip to the JY I can't stand the sag on the rear of that thing.
 
the thing with the springs is you re-use your main leaf, as for what you use after that its up to you, i used half of the 150s and half of the explorer and mixed n matched every other for the most part..just do youreslf a favor and MARK the springs as they are different side to side as the driver is made to be a lil stiffer due to driver and fuel..also double check your spring width

all said n done i got a good bit of lift OVER stock out of it, but i used 4wd 150 springs..what id read was the 2wd 150 springs will get you back to roughly oem, dont use 3/4 ton tho unless you want stiffer///what i ended up with was only a smidge stiffer than it was, and honestly it was too soft anyway so i suspect i got back oem stiffness and what measured out to something like 8inches of lift but i had 3-4 of sag

first 2 is the left/right sag which is totaly different side to side, as if there was 400lbs of crap in the driver rear...but its on level ground with nothing in it and a neer empty tank

next is with the 150 springs all sorted and done

last is new shoes and t-bars turned up to match

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Sweet! I think we're going to give this to my eldest son, he'll be 18 in November. There is some stuff he wants to do to it as well, but we will level it out and install the rear shocks first.
 
as much as i hated it at first its been a GREAT lil rig...it sits all week and gets used on sunday to haul a bike trailer with my xl600r and wifes 400ex, deep into the woods..i wish it were a 5spd..and if i knew i was going to keep it indefinatly id swap it....since i have hauled some "light" cars behind it and encountered a hill where the trans did slip before the tires did
 
Bad brake light switch, now the only issue I have is the left rear turn signal. I think it has something to do with the circuit board in that particular light which is probably the original source of all these problems. I want to go back to the old days with separate pigtails for each light, these are the SUCK! I hated them on my Ram too. I'll eventually end up swapping both sets out for LED versions.
 
Mostly done. Finally.

Looks much better in black and white.
 

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