1988 ramcharger conversion

[TTennyson]

labor day weekend i am finnally starting my conversion by tearing down the 89 donor truck. the only thing i am uncertain of is the mounts for the engine. the donor is 2wd and the ramcharger is 4wd. i am going to change out the trans. tail housing and throw in the engine 727 and 205 tcase together. is all i need to do drill new holes in the ramcharger cross member like i am guessing? any help would be killer

 

[MMiller]

I'm willing to bet the engine mounts out of the diesel will go right in to the ram charger. They look identical on my 93 compared to my 75. I would take all the engine mount even the isolators and put them in the charger. Remember how you orient the isolator. Dodge used the same one from a slant 6 to a 440, but they were flipped and turned for differnt engines.



I don't know on the trans mount, but yeah if it comes to it drill new holes.



There is another guy here that has swapped into a cummins. He can help you too. Search about dana 44 questions. He had one not long ago.



Are you gonna use the 3. 07s in the 2wd? Or the axels from the ram charger?



Michael

 

[TTennyson]

i knew they all use the same engine isolaters. just unsure if slots are in same position for the gas vs. diesel engine.

im useing the 70 from the 89 and going to find a front 60. the stock 1/2 ton axles wouldnt last 5 minutes with the cummins and 4. 10 gears with 39. 5 inch tires

 

[Paychk]

Go here, there are several guys that have done the conversion and will answer any q's you have.



http://ramchargercentral.com/boards/index.php?board=117

 

[Thierry]

Ramcharger with a Cummins

I you are interested I completed a 1991 Ramcharger and installed a completly rebuilt 93 Cummins 6bt , I have just over 10k miles on the motor and It runs great.



If you need any info email me dzlram at yahoo.com



Thierry

 

[TTennyson]

well hell... i was going to throw up some pictures but the files are too big. i ordered new motor mounts and t-case mounts aswell as the required gaskets. the rc should out of the body shop monday, and if all goes according to plan it will be cummins infested by friday night. then i get to spend the rest of the weekend dismantling the 89 donor truck.

 

[TTennyson]

ok getting ready to pull engine and trans today. brought up a question. : i have a 727 2wd trans it has the bolt on yoke and it seems to have the shorter than usual tailhouseing. the 4wd tailhousing i have is the original 1 out of the r/c . am i going to have to change my trans main shaft or did the cummins 4x4 have a special tailhouseing that was shorter then gas transmissons/

 

[mike r]

I'm thinking you may be able to unbolt and remove the tailshaft from the 2wd and put the 4wd tailshaft on that transmission. You'll need the pliers for the c-ring. I believe the 518 and 727 are the same in the back.

 

[TTennyson]

well i got that monster bolted in finnally on saturday. it was alot easier than i thought it would be, i just had to grind a 3/8 tab of the passenger side mount and drill 6 new holes for the trans. cross member since it sat about 3/8 " further back. the tailhouseing from the gas transmission bolted right up and the t-case sleeve seems to fit over the threaded part of the transmission main shaft. i didnt put the t-case in yet since i plan on pulling the trans back out in the sping for a rebuild. but it leads to my next question: has anyone had troubles with there 205 case breaking the aluminum transmission houseing? or is there a type of brace? the 241 t-case had a brace on it originally in the r/c

 

[Kirwin]

Ramcharger conversion

Hey TTennyson. Congratulations on your conversion. I have an 85 Ramcharger 4X4 that I converted in 1992 to Cummins power. Its not too hard, the holes were already in my frame for the relocated transmission mount. I just moved the hole crossmember back about 6 inches and everything bolted right up. As you probably know by now the engine mounts will attach to the frame using all the original hardware in a 4X4 truck. I rewired the truck from the fire wall out and installed a engine control computer to control the automatic shift to 4th. It also controls wait to start and water in fuel lights but doesn't really do much else. The most difficult part was mounting the NP-208 transfer case to the A-518 transmission. New Process said it would bolt right up, and it did, except the outpuit shaft bearing on the transmission hit the input shaft bearing on the t-case about 5/16" before the case halfs came together! I have 115,000 miles on it since the conversion and get around 17-18 MPG. I have the 3. 21 axle ratio and the A-518 was a non lockup torque converter so I could probably get better if I were to put in another transmission with a lock up feature but it has worked for my needs. I did install new snow plow springs for a W-150 over the Dana 44 in the front end. So far no issues with any bearings or king pins in the front end. Everything else is still stock in the front end. Both drive shafts were modified, and I extended the transfer case skid plate. I did away with that brace under the transfer case you refered to with no adverse conditions developing. With your tires I'd say a Dana 60 should hold up well under the front end of a Ramcharger. Quite a bit lighter than the front end of a loaded pickup! I don't know what Dana 60 you would use to get the correct spacing though. Ken Irwin.

 

[TTennyson]

any single axle front dodge dana 60 will fit, the most common is the 89-93 cummins. i figured youre 208 would fit on a 518 directly. i am also suprised youre front cad dana 44 held up to the cummins. i am an over the road truck driver so it will take me some time to get my old beast finished, i figure by feb. ill have the 2 wiring harnesses integrated and the new fuel system in it and get the dual optimas installed in the back. after that it should be ready to fire up again. but then i have to rebuild the trans. afterwards and put in the new suspension , the front d60 and all the other seeming never ending small things.

 

[Kirwin]

Front axle longevity

Well I don't abuse the Dana 44, but I have used it numerous times mostly to pull my 89 2WD out of my front yard or my mother-in-laws front yard. I'm running the 31-10. 50/R15 Michelins M/S. They last a long time is this application. I'm sure the Dana 60 will treat you well. Is the stearing arrangement the same as the Dana 44? As far as the NP-208. It did fit directly, just the larger bearings caused and iterference that did not allow the case halfs to meet up prior to the input shaft/output shaft bearing hitting. Like I said I had a 5/16" aluminum washer shim made using the gasket that Dodge used between the transmission and the transfer case on the 727/208 original set up to gain the clearence I needed. I also ended up making a telescoping ring set up as the alignment boss inside the transmission didn't engage the land on the transfer case extension so there was nothing to hold the transfer case centered after I installed the washer shim. It must have worked OK, that was 115,000 miles ago and so far I haven't needed to take it back apart. Ken irwin

 

[TTennyson]

ok this is frustrateing i have 30 pictures and i havent figured out how to reduce there size so i can post them

 

[MMiller]

Don't feel bad, I am trying to load up some pics of my crossover steering setup, and I'm on dial up too!



Michael

 

[TTennyson]

this is the beast released from its home given by the factory

 

[TTennyson]

here is the beast in its new home. it went in much easier then i thought it would. the hardest part was moving around the 1300lb engine and transmission. Oo.

 

[Willys]

Email me the pics at john_galt27 at yahoo dot com and I'll resize them for ya. I've only gotten the software(and knowledge) recently so I know the feeling of having pics and not being able to share them...



awesome project by the way. Where'd you get the engine?



Andy

 

[Willys]

posting pics for Thomas...

 

[TTennyson]

ok i have been looking but cant seem to find a 727 4x4 mainshaft for my trans. the 2wd is threaded on the end from where the yoke bolted on and the 205 coupler seems to fit over the threaded part but i want full spline engagement. anybody have any experience with this?

 

[Willys]

more pics of Thomas' beast coming together