Few More Questions

[Mopar Man1]

Howdy yall



I own a 93 W350 with a big a$$ flatbed and all that good stuff. I'm thinking of possibly selling it but if the man doesn't give enough $$ then it is going to stay with me. I love the Cummins power and all and I've worked on Dodges all 17 yrs of my short life. But these are a whole new breed to me. Some things I'm wondering,I'm having a headlight problem. The headlights are going off while going down the road,they will come back on within about 5 seconds,then maybe stay on for a good while then go back out for about 5 secs,this will go on and off for awhile. I put a headlight switch in it,but I ain't going to drive it in the dark with the heads doing this,waiting to see if the lights go out or not. So I'm in a pickle here,has anybody else had this problem,everything else will work,JUST the headlights will go out. ???



Right now the truck has a set of Hancock I believe M/T tires,yes they are new and all that good stuff but they ride like a sack full of rocks. I like having 4WD but I will rarely need it for this truck,what kind of A/T or just STREET tire would yall recommend for me,remember I live in Alabama,just lots of rain,no snow,ice or any of these problems. ???



One other thing is,the turning radius SUCKS on this truck! I mean I hate the way it turns,I've drove long trucks before towing a trailer etc etc but this takes the cake. I believe it is about 3 full turns of the steering wheel from lock to lock and thats it:-{} Is there anyway to fix this horrible turning radius? Thanks for listening to my complaining and questions

 

[dan brooks]

Not sure if these trucks use a separate headlight relay or not - haven't had any issues with mine (knocking on wood... ). I think there was a thread in the last month or two about a similar problem, so a search might turn up some good info for you.



My truck is a 2WD, but I'm running Michelins and I'm very happy with them... other than the price that is. I've been in some very heavy rain storms and don't have any complaints about how they've performed. They seem to wear pretty well, too, so that probably justifies the price to some extent. Mud tires do ride rough, and ditching them in favor of ATs or more of a street tread will help to some extent, but the leaf sprung front end is a bigger factor. The rear can be softened up a bit by carrying about 100 pounds of extra weight in the bed. Until I added the camper shell I had two 50 lb. sandbags behind the fenderwells and it made a significant difference.



There isn't much that can be done with the turning radius - any long wheelbase vehicle is gonna take a lot of room to turn around. Going lock to lock in 1/2 a turn wouldn't make it turn any tighter, but it would make it a real handful to drive. AGR has different ratio boxes available for some applications, so you might find something that will suit you a little better. It won't make the truck turn any tighter, it just take fewer turns of the steering wheel to do so. It will also improve your performance -- and maybe even increase your MPG -- because of the weight savings (your wallet will be much lighter).



The 2nd Generation 4X4 trucks ride a little better thanks to the coils up front. You just have to figure out if you're willing to part with your truck and fork out the extra $$$ for one.



Without a doubt, the 2nd Generation trucks are more refined than 1st Gens. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I probably would have gone with a '96-early '98 4X$ instead of my '92 2WD. Still, my truck is much better than what I had before and serves my needs 90% of the time. You just have to decide what is most important to you and make the right decision for your situation.

 

[Philip]

If yours is a 11k GVW truck. It will ride rough. Unless the springs are worn out. The best improvement I did on mine for ride was a set of American Racing alumn rims on it. It didn't help the ride in the rear. But it cut about 30% of the chop out of the front axle with the lighter rims. Any time you can remove unsprung weight it will help the ride of a vehicle.



On your head light problem it sounds like you have a wire going to ground. The head light circuit has a circuit breaker built into it. That is why it comes back on instead of blowing the fuse. I would pull the column shrouds and check for chaffed wires in there first. Other members have had problems in this area. Not on head lights. The head lights do go threw this area for the dimmer switch.



If everything is good in that area. I would then head out around the grid heater relays and see if the wiring bundle has rubbed against anything.



If you have a service manual. Page 8W-88 shows the head light circuit.