time line evolution of the first generation

[JDMills]

I have been woundering about the changes that Dodge made to these trucks durring the 89-93 production run.

Having abit of a restoration twich in me I am curious to learn more.

I saw a 93 in a salvage yard this fall, and noticed it had some parts which were different than my 90. what I was most curious about was that the vaccume pump/power steering pump was different.

Which reminds me, about the first week I was driving the truck, some one asked me if my truck was a 89? but since it is titled as a 90, I responded as such. Then got to woundering how he could tell the difference?



Any one have imput as to what changes were made? as related to what model year?

For instance: CTD introduced in what month of 89?

How did the trim/exteror change , each year?

When did the O/D automatic get introduced?

Different injector pumps?

Were all trucks offered with a bench seat?

Did the 89/90 trucks have cruse control?

were the 89-early 91's mostly alike?

what are the different trim model names. (basic work truck, to most decked out, cloth seats, am/fm cassette, cd player?)

intercooler, smaller injectors, (second generation head in the late 93's)

could you get traction lock from the factory?

what color interor's were avalable?



And any thing else that every one might know, as relating to how Dodge sent them out the factory door.





Jason

 

[sparks57]

One thing I can always use to tell the difference between earlier and later first gens is the different grill and exterior moulding.



The injector pumps were the same, however the injectors are different. The earlier non-intercooled models had larger injectors.



Limited slip units were available, but I don't know when.



The trim level are just LE and some work version that was all stripped down from what I have been told.

 

[bgilbert]

Jason, lets see what i can come up with in my head to answer some of your ?'s. As far as what month the CTD was intro'd, well I have a 89 DOM 03/89. Trim/exterior, one thing I can tell ya, I believe the 89, 90's have the 'old' nameplates/emblems, and grills. Such as the 'big' Power Ram emblem on side as apposed to the smaller Power Ram emblem on 91-93. Plus 'Cummins Turbo Diesel' was on 'top' of the emblem, bottom of the emblem, 91-93. 89-90's have the old school grill, 91-93 newer style,-shiney fancy chromed out look. -transmission's 89-early 91 A727 3sp auto no od. 91. 5-93 A518 4 sp od. -As Chris said, VE pumps same. -Not sure about the bench seat deal, seen both bench and split captains etc. -Dont know bout cruise on 89-90's. -were the 89-early 91's mostly alike?- yes as far a engine, transmission, non-intercooled, getrag, 727. Early 91's had the updated grill. Smaller emblems. -Yes you could get trak loc/limited slip, my early 91 has LSD.

-Dana 60 fronts Dana 70 rears NP 205 transfer case. Not 100% on gears, I believe 3. 07, 3. 54, 4. 10. Getrag 5 speed manual 89-93. A727 89-91. A518 91. 5-93. ... Lots more info , can't think of anymore at the moment. Bill

 

[Greenleaf]

Two interior colors

What are they guys..... Gray and ... . Red maybe?



No cd player. Or was there?... . I don't think so.



VE pump only... ... . with three different "versions" as it was slightly changed time to time.



The two (types of) cylinder heads... .....



that funny rams head thingy



anything else?



-S

 

[JLEONARD]

Tach available 91. 5 and up

Intercooled with cross flow radiator 91. 5 and up

Not to mention the turbo housing size changes. . too numerous to list

 

[bgilbert]

So whats the deal, did Dodge stop with the 'goat head' in 91+? Anyone buy a 91+ new and it have a Ram hood ornament on the hood? I know I've seen 91+'s with it but, my 89 didnt have one, so I just drilled 3 holes and installed one. My 91 does not have one. I'd like to put one on the 91, but will not if Dodge stopped after 90? Bill

 

[tugboatphil]

My 90 has the old emblems on the side, as listed: large square rams head with 250 under the head, Large lettered "Ram" on the upper right of the previously mentioned square, with the orange CTD under the word Ram. Rams head is mounted on the hood. Square lettered "Dodge" emblem on the hood, right above the grill, centered.



93 has the smaller lettered "Ram 350" emblem with CTD underneath. It came with a rams head on the hood, but I guess a previous owner put it there. Don't know why they did away with them.



For those of you looking for one, do an EBay search for "Dodge Truck". They almost always have one. Bidding seems to start around $25-30.



Question; did all the 91-93's have the stainless plate across the tailgate, or are there any plain ones out there?



Also, would the newer vacuum pump be a bolt on swap for the earlier 2 pump version?

 

[AMikonis]

Actually, the tailgate plate is aluminum. I'm pretty sure that it's part of the LE trim package...



Also, there are tan interiors, too...



Andy

 

[MUDDY]

89 only had the selectro free-wheeling hubs. 89 and 90 had the ram head hood ornament

 

[bgilbert]

I like my selectro hubs compared to the ones on the 91. Bill

 

[JLEONARD]

I have a plain tailgate. Actually the truck has no options other than the leaky cargo light and the leaky sliding rear window.





Jay

 

[dpuckett]

tugboatphil-

Yes, the vacuum pumps are a bolt on replacement. No mods needed to the pump, housing, etc, itself, but you would have to trim a little off the throttle bracket. Been there, done that. Works fine, so far. Got the vacuum and P/S pump as a unit for $100.



Another difference is no club cabs on 89-90 models, or so I've read here.



Delivery valves and injector lines are different from non-IC to IC, as are the injector tips- 9mm/ 4 hole vs 7mm/ 6hole in newer ones.



Non-IC trucks have no PCM, manual voltage regulator, behind the turbo/ downpipe on the firewall.



Brakes dont have that vavle 6" under the MC like the newer ones.



Older downpipe has no heat shield; newer do.



I can look at the two trucks sitting in my drive way, and compare if anyone wants a real close comparison.



Daniel

 

[blacksheepdiesel]

Yep, tan interior on my plain-jane '89, small outside rear views, NO RAM'S HEAD on hood and don't want one! The Selectro hubs are nice units. My truck is two tone brown with upper and lower aluminum moulding which won't let me add newer style mirrors without surgery. Some idiot ordered it w/o lsd! Does have a/c though!



Trent

 

[JDMills]

Thanks for all your imput. trying to sort it all out. which brought up a couple more questons.

My 90 does not have a Ram's head on the hood, I feel slighted. .



Did the Le models have carpet on the floors? and a wood grain dash? My truck has a pull vent by the drivers foot area, did all first generation trucks have that? (a cool throw back to when trucks did not have 'air' and other reason I HAD to have it. )



Did all first 89-93 trucks have window vent 'wings'?



What is the lowest mileage first generation truck you have seen. I personally don't get to see enough of them. .

Now I know why my heater insulation on the fire wall has melted through... heat sheld had not been invented yet.



jason

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

The frame was made larger around 1992?

The club cab was made available about that time because it was made only in Mexico since about 1983 when it was discontinued in the US, and Mexico initially did not have assembly line equipment to install the diesel.



The 1989 model year began about June or July 1988. By December, all 15,000 Cummins engines that Dodge had committed to (for a 3-5 year period) had been presold. Cummins managed to produce about 1700 more engines for the 89 model year, for a total of 16,700. This stuff about the number of engines is in an early TDR issue, but I will have to search to find it.



One of our members, Walt Koziarz of Rome NY, has a stripped, red 1990 (and a second gen HO). No AC!

 

[RMcGuffey]

I have a '90 LE w250. It does have carpeting,A/C ,PW, PL, the woodgrained dash, ram's head on the hood. The A/C trucks had floor pull vents only on drivers side, where as non-a/c trucks had them on both sides. The '89 & '90 trucks also had a "Cummins Turbo Diesel" id plate on the tailgates.

 

[jeff77indy]

My 1989 W250 CTD has a blue interior,ac and no LSD.

At 330,000+ miles it's the best truck I've ever owned.

I like my wife's 2001 2500 CTD but it just isn't the same.

Jeff

 

[Case500D]

Here is my 1993 W-350 with a DOM of 11/92.



Jeremy

 

[MUDDY]

Originally posted by RMcGuffey

The A/C trucks had floor pull vents only on drivers side, where as non-a/c trucks had them on both sides. .

and the non ac trucks had a good place to stash a whiskey flask inside the vent dor and to the right. cool and out of site

 

[TSuter]

I thought the first gens weren't available with an LSD. I was told by two different dealers ( one in '89, and another in '93) that it wasn't available and voided the warranty if one was installed? Something about turning the driveshaft into a pretzel .



Oh yeah and it depends on when in '90 your truck was built as far as where the Cummins bvadge is. Mine was under the Ram, and early '90s were over. Seems like Dodge just continued with what was in stock until they ran out then switched mid-year. Not that they've ever done that before.



Tom