Helpful Ideas?

[Mopar Man1]

I'm going to have about $500 to spend here soon and I need some help. Not help spending it just help in what to buy for the truck. My truck is in the classifieds in case anybody wanted to buy it for the full asking price but I'm going to do what I want to do to the truck like its not for sale. I'm going to be adding side-boards to the flatbed so I can haul small things easier. My truck is a automatic,I was wondering about possibly buying a converter for it? This truck is used as a daily driver to school(maybe a little smoke show every once and a while ) Then to pull our car trailer and my trail truck. I only have about 500 to play with and want to spend it to the best I can,to help the truck out and to extend its life as much as I can. One thing I'm going to have to do it pull the rearend cover and see whats up with my rearend,it has a clunk when put into drive and whines just a little at low speeds. I've talked to some people and have come to believe the clutches in the LSD may possibly be eat up,and or the spider gears coming apart. Need to find out what and fix it before I start driving it more when I start back to school. Otherwise give me some ideas,I'm probably going to hold off on gauges because that will eat up just about all my $$ for now,the motor is moreless stock but I'll get to them asap. Thanks yall



Jimmy

 

[dan brooks]

First thing I'd do is pull the diff cover and see how much of your $500 will be going to get that fixed... or should I say, how much you'll have to come up with in addition to the $500.



If you luck out there:



The gauges may eat up half of the money, but they really are a necessary investment. Even before I tweaked the pump I could exceed 1200* on the pyro when towing the Jeep or hauling the camper. Kinda scary thinking about how things may have been before I got the gauges... .



I really like the Hughes converter and it made a nice difference over the stock one. If you're pulling the trans to change the converter, swap in a later model flexplate at the same time. They're supposed to be stronger, but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't tell any difference between the original and new ones when we swapped mine.

 

[tugboatphil]

Jimmy,



I've had that "clunk" before and it was worn U-joints. Check the small stuff before you go getting opinions fof the big stuff.

 

[Mopar Man1]

Naw its in the rearend,u joints are tight,I believe the pinion nut is pretty tight. I'm going to pull the cover as soon as I can and see what the problem is then see what I got to go with from there. I'm really wanting to put a converter in it because its not getting any power to the ground really,or it seems anyhow.



Jimmy

 

[dpuckett]

Check the U-joints

I've had u-joints that when I tried to move them on the truck, had NO slack, then when I took them off, and took out the end caps, powder came out instead of roller bearings. I've also had that clunk be the rear diff. Do you have a LSD? If the clutches are bad, or if it has thrown a carrier shim, you could need a rebuild, in which case, the $500 will cover a goodly part of it, but not all.



As for your power, have you got gauges yet? No? GET SOME!!! I have driven a few stock trucks, and after driving mine that will top 30psi in 3rd, they seem DOGGY as all get out.



Daniel

 

[y-knot]

First things first. You need to come to the decision of weather you are going to keep this truck or not. If you want to sell it, then do so, but know one who was convened they were not going to keep their truck, would stick more money into it in the way of goodies.

Next thing..... you have several issues that need attention. These are major issues that will only get worse with time. They should be at the top of your to do list. Also, the items mentioned are all EXPENSIVE. I suspect this is why you are considering the sale of your truck?? Don't expect to get the "full asking price" when you have several serious problems, all of which require large sums of money to fix.



Last... not to be harsh, but $500. 00 is nothing, especially when you are talking about Torque converters, and low power problems. You should take your money and make the necessary repairs, or at least take it and save up till you can make the repairs. Accessories and go fast parts are great, but the truck should be in good running order before any extras are added.

 

[Mopar Man1]

Originally posted by y-knot

First things first. You need to come to the decision of weather you are going to keep this truck or not. If you want to sell it, then do so, but know one who was convened they were not going to keep their truck, would stick more money into it in the way of goodies.

Next thing..... you have several issues that need attention. These are major issues that will only get worse with time. They should be at the top of your to do list. Also, the items mentioned are all EXPENSIVE. I suspect this is why you are considering the sale of your truck?? Don't expect to get the "full asking price" when you have several serious problems, all of which require large sums of money to fix.



Last... not to be harsh, but $500. 00 is nothing, especially when you are talking about Torque converters, and low power problems. You should take your money and make the necessary repairs, or at least take it and save up till you can make the repairs. Accessories and go fast parts are great, but the truck should be in good running order before any extras are added.

You have made some really good points,and your not being harsh. I got my pappy to crawl under the truck and me put it in gear and watch the u-joint and he said it had some play in it,could see it move so now I'm lead to believe that that is my problem. I've also decided that I do like this truck but that I am going to sell it. Soon I'll be needing a good dependable truck to get back and forth to school and just tow my trail truck which my 93 would do all of these but I want to mod it a lot and right now I just can't afford it. I have been told before that to make a 1st gen. scream is more expensive and then rebuilding the automatics if need be and I just don't have the money to do either. So I reckon a newer truck is in order(as I posted in the 2nd gen. topics about one I've found) I know of several people here in town that really would like to own my truck and they have all told me if I decided to sell to come to them. So I'm going to go talk to some people tomorrow. Sorry to be jumpy and asking millions of questions all the time yall and I know it's had to bug several. But thanks again for all the help yall have given me! I really appreciate it



Jimmy

 

[dpuckett]

Doesnt take that much to make a 1st Gen scream. Ok, maybe not scream, but make a lot of noise anyway. Mine would do almost 80 in a 1/4 when I got it; pulling a 40ft GN flatbed, I coudl get 55 by the 1/4mark (this was on the odometer). THis was before the turbo, head gasket, EDMs, lift pump, etc.



As you get newer, the upgrades get pricier. Plus the auto isnt much stronger in a 2nd Gen than a 1st Gen, from my understanding.



-DP