New Old Truck

[guldam]

Flew from Sacramento to Santa Barbara today and picked up my new old 97 Dodge Ram Laramie SLT CTD 2500 CC, long bed, 4x4, auto. It is relatively young with 180,000 miles. TDR member I bought it from was it's original owner and took very good care of the truck. Few flaws... paint, rust under driver door, front edge of headliner rotting, but other than that the truck is sweet.

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First impressions. .
1. completely stock this truck seems a bit anemic climbing hills and under acceleration.
2. Front end has been previously rebuilt, but wanders all over the place. It's not to the point of being dangerous, but I'd certainly like more precision.

Going to live with the truck for a while before doing any modifications. Want to tow my boat up a mountain first and see how it does.

Till then I'm just plain tickled pink.

Guldam

 

[Grey Wolf]

Nice find

 

[guldam]

I'm making a list of things I want to address on this truck.

1. Steering - I wander, wander, wander all over the place. No death wobble, but this truck has the worst steering I've ever experienced on a vehicle, other than an over loaded 60's vintage Dodge truck with a bed full of dirt. The front wheels left the ground a few times and thus had no steering. That was scary. The steering on my new 97 Dodge is not quite as scary, but I can see it getting that way.

a. check tire inflation and adjust.

UPDATE: BFG LT285/75R16D on this truck and they were under-inflated at 55psi front, and 50psi rear. I bumped both up to 61psi and the steering is definitely better, and now the truck rides like a truck and not like it has pillows on it's front and rear tires.

Funny, sticker inside driver's door says 80psi for rear, and 65psi for front tires. Max pressure on tire sidewalls says 65psi. Makes me think the BFG's are under rated tires for this truck. Wonder what other folks are running their BFGs at.

b. check all front end components for wear. Replace what is worn out with superior parts.
c. Install a steering box brace.
d. see how it steers after this.

2. Install new hinge pins and bushings for droopy driver side door.

3. Get estimates on painting driver side of truck bed. I have almost a square foot of peeling paint. Paint it. Maybe just paint the whole truck.

4. Truck power is anemic at best. Don't think the injectors have ever been rebuilt on this at 180k miles.

5. Kill the EGR. Screw California. Replace intake horn with 49 state version.

5b. Buy and install gauges.

6. Order and install a moderate power fuel plate. Perhaps a #10 or #8. Hope I don't kill the transmission. Don't want smoke, so need to be conservative here.

7. Go over truck with fine tooth comb and replace, or repair any broken bits I find.

8. Sand, prime, and paint the bottom of the door frame at the rear of both doors. Driver's side is pretty rusted. Passenger side is not bad. Better to get it now before it eats through.

9. Enjoy the truck. The sound of the 12v running makes me smile and very happy.

10. Once I am happy with front end, and general power, look into adding a 100 gallon tank to the bed and all the bits necessary for running WVO/SVO.

11. KDP

GulDam

 

[Missouri Mule]

Tires are probably Load Range D instead of E.

Do the KDP first you will sleep better or ask prvious owner if it was already done.

 

[guldam]

I have all the repair and maintenance receipts for the truck and I've not come across any receipts for KDP fix. I reckon I need to get to it, and fix this thing. I'm in Northern California, wonder who has one of the jigs.



GulDam

 

[EWalshak]

Nice ride.

 

[guldam]

Update on the new old truck.

Front end wander - went to a front end shop today and described my wandering front end, and then the mechanic put the truck on the lift and while he was underneath the truck, had another guy pulling and tugging on the front wheels, while he pulled and tugged to find the loose bits.

Verdict:
Shot lower end ball joints - 221. 26
Drag Link - 196. 00
Track Bar - 363. 47
tax - 65. 39
Labor $540. 00

Total $1386. 12

Prices for Moog parts.

Yipes.

 

[Crowhurst]

Once the front end is sorted, these are my top ten for you, as I recently posted on the 12v forum:



1. Replace and preferably re-route the fuel return rubber hose which is invisible behind the fuel injection pump, before it fails totally in the middle of the Everglades while towing a travel trailer, on vacation with the DW. You need fire extinguishers handy.



2. Get JoeG to send you his fuel system email attachment and follow his advice concerning fuel system overhaul, including trashing the fuel heater before it catches fire. Definitely have the fire extinguishers on hand. The cab will fill with smoke if it ignites. No need to check diagnostic codes!



3. Clean the fuel solenoid and fit a new rubber boot, before it sticks and stops the fuel flowing in a dark parking lot at 30 degrees below.



4. Make sure the KDP (killer dowel pin) fix has been done, rather than seriously smash the front end of the engine at a cost of thousands of dollars.



5. Clean the TPS (throttle position sensor) so that torque converter lock-up is stable. I find removing and dismantling the best way to do this.



6. Change the brake fluid. Pressure bleeding using a spare tire is good.



7. Change all the coolant hoses, including all the small ones, like the thermostat bypass hose and the ones on the line to the trasnsmission fluid heat exchanger and the cab heater. There are a lot of them.



8 . Fit heavy duty contacts in the starter before it fails, as it will if it hasn't been modified. LarryB has them. Also check the insulators where the live battery cable attaches to the starter. I was lying under the truck tryin to work out why the starter was causing a problem. I waggled the cable, it arced, and a fire started in the oil and grease on the engine, and the dry grass caught fire around my head and shoulders. I called to the DW "Get the fire extinguisher from the trailer". I heard noises, and then the reply, " It seems to be stuck in its bracket. It's a good job there isn't a fire. " My reply : "There is a fire. "

I think we can laugh about it now.



9. Check for broken springs on the front of the A/C compressor clutch, before damage is caused to the rest of the clutch.



10. Overhaul the alternator before it fails. A simple piece of preventative maintenance with the right kit of parts. (Fostertrucks, aka Larry B)



Nick.

 

[guldam]

Front End parts ordered.



Upper and Lower Ball Joints. Ordered Moog.



New Bilsteins ordered.



My mechanic buddy checked out the front end and he agreed with the initial diagnosis. He also pointed out my serpentine belt was cracked. Ordered.



Ordered a complete set of Luke's Links. Fingers crossed I haven't made a mistake. Most postings were in favor of Luke's Links, and the ones who had complaints were mostly a long time ago.



Trying to talk myself into doing the KDP earlier rather than later, but not looking forward to taking all that stuff off the front of the truck. With two little kids, and both Mom and Dad working full time in demanding jobs, time is an issue.



Still... life is good.



GulDam

 

[guldam]

Thanks Nick,

this is a comprehensive list I've put on my todo list.



GulDam

Once the front end is sorted, these are my top ten for you, as I recently posted on the 12v forum:



1. Replace and preferably re-route the fuel return rubber hose which is invisible behind the fuel injection pump, before it fails totally in the middle of the Everglades while towing a travel trailer, on vacation with the DW. You need fire extinguishers handy.



2. Get JoeG to send you his fuel system email attachment and follow his advice concerning fuel system overhaul, including trashing the fuel heater before it catches fire. Definitely have the fire extinguishers on hand. The cab will fill with smoke if it ignites. No need to check diagnostic codes!



3. Clean the fuel solenoid and fit a new rubber boot, before it sticks and stops the fuel flowing in a dark parking lot at 30 degrees below.



4. Make sure the KDP (killer dowel pin) fix has been done, rather than seriously smash the front end of the engine at a cost of thousands of dollars.



5. Clean the TPS (throttle position sensor) so that torque converter lock-up is stable. I find removing and dismantling the best way to do this.



6. Change the brake fluid. Pressure bleeding using a spare tire is good.



7. Change all the coolant hoses, including all the small ones, like the thermostat bypass hose and the ones on the line to the trasnsmission fluid heat exchanger and the cab heater. There are a lot of them.



8 . Fit heavy duty contacts in the starter before it fails, as it will if it hasn't been modified. LarryB has them. Also check the insulators where the live battery cable attaches to the starter. I was lying under the truck tryin to work out why the starter was causing a problem. I waggled the cable, it arced, and a fire started in the oil and grease on the engine, and the dry grass caught fire around my head and shoulders. I called to the DW "Get the fire extinguisher from the trailer". I heard noises, and then the reply, " It seems to be stuck in its bracket. It's a good job there isn't a fire. " My reply : "There is a fire. "

I think we can laugh about it now.



9. Check for broken springs on the front of the A/C compressor clutch, before damage is caused to the rest of the clutch.



10. Overhaul the alternator before it fails. A simple piece of preventative maintenance with the right kit of parts. (Fostertrucks, aka Larry B)



Nick.

 

[guldam]

Update: Bilsteins installed. Some improvement, especially on big dips on big sweeping curves. The truck behaves much better.

New upper and lower Moog Ball Joints. Slight improvement in steering.

Trackbar up next. I have a feeling I'll install all new bits on the front end and I'll still end up having to do the steering box.

GulDam

 

[rMetzger]

Borgeson steering shaft? Mine's nice.