Project Sno Ball....85 RamCharger

thrashingcows

thrashingcows

Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Here is a little back story on me getting the RC, for those who don't follow my life story. ;) My family and I have decided to move about 500 miles north, and I was looking for something the wife could use to clear the driveway and yard of snow...since we will actually be getting major accumulations of snow. ;)

So was cruising CL one night and using a broad search engine and a listing for a Ford crewcab came up. So clicked on the link and it showed the Ford for sale, and then a Ramcharger. But what caught my eye was the fact that the RC had a front plow attachment. Thought this would be a great idea for the wife....I can leave it plugged in and warm, and then all she has to do is hop in, fire it up and then go clear the driveway.

So many e-mails, pics and info were swapped, then trying to co-ordinate schedules so we could meet up. So yesterday was the big day....I traveled over 500 miles round trip to get it, up over two 4000+ ft mountain passes through WA state, with long grades of 5-8%, and all in about 15hours.

So without further delay here is my RC....who I am tentatively calling Sno Ball. Since it's a factory "Sno Commander" optioned vehicle.

Pics from the sellers...





Couple nice pics at the top of one of the passes on the way there....about 4*C (40*F)...





And loaded up behind Ol' Patches....



 
Ol' Patches did great pulling as usual...but the turning in of the fuel screw one full turn a few weeks ago sure made a noticeable difference in the power the cummins was making. ;)

Some pis of scenery while driving...







Don't think I saw EGT's over 750*....and that was only because i lugged it a bit and then started to power up again. Most of the pulling my EGT's were in the 600-700* range!
 
Couple pics at the same summit....







Learned some valuable lessons though on this trip through the mountains. NEVER use a rental trailer with surge brakes! I went down most of the long steep grades in 3rd gear, ding about 30 mph, and the RPM's up around 2500rpm. Even then I still had to ride the brakes a fair amount, and could smell my rear drums heating up more then a few times. I know my drums are glazed now so will have to pull them and sand the surfaces to break through the glazing.

If I had an Exhaust brake it probably would have been a lot better, but having electric brakes on the trailer would have made a huge difference....oh well made it through without incident, so lessons learned. ;)
 
And a couple pics of the Sno Commander option and plow....







The Ram Charger is a full load too....A/C, Cruise, 360/auto, 4wd, power windows and locks, and obviously the plow option. Interior is a bit beat, but buckets and console, the driver seat back broken and laying flat...but hit a couple wreckers today and found a seat matching seat from a ram van in the same basic color....and in decent shape! So that will get swapped ASAP.





Drivers PW needs some lovin, and there is a few engine leaks that will need to be addressed. And the biggest issue is the tranny is about toast, which they told me about. It will "just" move itself around on the flat, but try and go up the ramps on the trailer and it powers out. Fluid is dark and smells like an old camp fire. So a new torque convert will need to be sourced, and a full rebuild kit. So will have to get on that quickly as well.

But it has brand new winter tires which was nice to see....

 
I had to leave it at a friends business across the border, so Now I have to clear all the paper work at the Canada/USA border...should have that finished next week some time, then I can get it home and start working on it. need to get it safety inspected before I can register it in BC....so would like to get that done before I move up north.

Will be digging into my Dodge ram parts hoarding to help get Sno Ball back in shape.
 
Anyone know where to get a decent priced torque converter for a 727 behind a 360? That has been the hardest thing for me to find so far for the tranny rebuild.
 
TheIronSausage said:
That's pretty clean for a plow truck!
Click to expand...

Helps that it came from the high desert region of eastern WA. ;) Other then the rear bumper crunch, and small hole by the drivers side rocker...just to the rear of the door opening...it seems to be in mostly rust free condition.
 
thrashingcows said:
Anyone know where to get a decent priced torque converter for a 727 behind a 360? That has been the hardest thing for me to find so far for the tranny rebuild.
Click to expand...

Just had a thought....what about a torque converter for a 318, since they are essentially the same (?) but without the counter weights, and considerably easy to come by....then run a B&M conversion flex plate like I did in my 70 Sport fury when i put the 360 in there with the 904.
 
that thing is insainly clean..and a hell of a nice find..and you know how much i HATE the 80s rc's

as for the converter cant you get a 318 unit and knock off the balance weight..or was it put one on...i dont remember but i do know there is/was a flex plate with a balance weight to be able to make up for it or something..the whole things fuzzy as hell..i know doc will chim in on that one and correct me

looks like you headed out to yakima or spokane for it judging by some of the sceenery and the condition of it

do yourself a favor..check the rocker boxes under the floor pans(i think the 80s still had them) pull the drain plugs and clean em out..secondly clean out the cowl drains....oh and 70/80s chevy trucks use a MUCH improved door seal

oh and ill second the rental and add something.."most" rentals will have uh..tires?..well i say that cause they are so hard and soooo biased ply that they are rolling rocks of polyurethane in the wet....
 
The trans is always the most vulnerable point on any plow rig. Make sure to run a good trans cooler and a trans temp gauge. And when plowing, watch the trans temp gauge religiously. :naughty:
 
actualy do yourself a favor..put the BIGGEST cooler you can find on it..preferably the size of your rad..now put an electric PUSHER fan on it..that will keep the trans temps at bay no matter what...this is what had to be done on the f350 i was using...cow..you remember that hill climb to the 40..pack down 15k behind the truck and some of those slow crawls its bound to cook the trans..cooler+pusher ment even the "overloaded" runs at the slowest speeds kept the temps under control
 
Yeah I plan on adding some super cooling for the tranny....A big cooler unit mounted with an electric fan. I will wire it into the 4wd light circuit so once the 4wd light on the dash comes on, the tranny cooler fan will fire up.

Yeah your thought was the same as mine 69....the 360's all ran a weighted converter, since they are an externally balanced motor. The 318's were all internally balanced, so they did not run a weighted converter. B&M makes a weighted flex plate...that is what I used in my 70 Sport fury on the 904 tranny converter when i swapped in the 360 from a mid eighties truck. Same basic set-up I'm thinking about. The 318 727 converters seem to be a lot easier to find.....and cheaper. ;)
 
And your right 69...found it in Omak WA....so high, dry desert out there....that is why it has survived this long as a plow truck. They told me it has been plowing it's entire life....68K miles on the odo.
 
Nice score! I was looking for one for a hunting truck, but around here they're either 2wd, junk or massively over-priced.
 
71ChargerRT said:
Nice score! I was looking for one for a hunting truck, but around here they're either 2wd, junk or massively over-priced.
Click to expand...

same here but the 2wds almost never show up....every once in a blue moon a "cheep'ish" one will come along that isnt a total basket case for around 2500 and its gone in under a week

id kill to find a total basketcase for dirt cheep even a PU...just to rip apart for all the hardware ..all the moves etc has left mine missing most of the hardware and lots of little bits...the kind of stuff that kills you to replace bit by bit
 
Unfortunately I have moved most f my spare dodge ram/ramcharger parts to PG already. So will have to make a shopping list and grab everything next time I go up with a load. Would like to get it safety inspected, and registered for road use before the move.

Having said that I ordered all the goodies for a full tranny rebuild yesterday. Since the tranny is cooked....I will be doing the full master HD rebuild on it, plus new torque converter. I will also be adding a super duper external tranny fluid cooler....with thermostat and electric cooling fan.

You'd poop you pants if you knew what I paid for Sno Ball....;)
 
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