A Dodge Registry "Dark Thunder"

A friend of mine gave me this 1998 Dodge Ram 1500. The transmission wouldn't get out of 2nd and it needed some basic maintenance. He wanted to give it to a junkyard, but he called me up at work and asked if I wanted it. I said "Hell, yeah!" and brought it home a week later.


Specs:

5.2L V8 (230HP @ 4400RPM / 300 ft.lb. torque @ 3200RPM)
46RE 4-speed Auto
2WD
Single Cab Long Bed
3.55 Gear Ratio
9.25 Chrysler Rear Axle
ST w/ Cruise, A/C, and fogs
126K miles
Towing Capacity of 8000 lbs
Exhaust cut off after Cats
Class IV Hitch 10,000lb GTW

When I brought it home:

Now:

Flexing

Future Mods

Powertrax Lock Right Locker
Dual Battery setup
Better seats

That's pretty much it. I want more MPGs out of it than the measly 10-12 it has around town. The Scan Gauge will help with logging MPG gains and RPMs, and the filter will allow the engine to breath a little better.

Why is the truck jinxed, you say? The answer is simple. I cannot go 2 weeks in a row without something going wrong, be it my fault, general maintenance that's been ignored, or paperwork that's not been done right.

1. Title and Registration issues kept me from driving the truck for 6 months.
2. In trying to get the truck running, the battery craps out
3. When I finally get the truck legal, the radiator blows out on the highway.
4. That same week, I hit a guy who didn't pay attention to traffic, crunching in the fender and destroying the signal lens.
5. While that is being hashed out with the insurance company, the ball joints decide to do the rumba with my steering.
6. Took a while but got the joints done and then did a slide into "home" at 45, because the wheel fell off due to my negligence in checking the lugnuts.
7. With a destroyed knuckle and lower balljoint, I get the pleasure of fixing it in one of Houston's coldest winters.
8. Engine overheated. Nearly zero coolant in reservoir.
9. Transmission slipping out of gear randomly due to Powertrain module
10. While pushing the Explorer up on a trailer, the Ram gets a nose job from the trailer hitch when it kicks off the front rail.
11. Took the Ram on an unscheduled detour and while hopping a curb, I got stuck on the tranny cross member. Getting off required turning the the cross member into a pretzel.
12. Water pump blew out right before I left for Austin to get the part to fix the Explorer.
I know I should be getting the hint now, but I can't get over my attachment to this truck.

Maintenance 'n Mods

Interior
Replacement cup holders
Dash cover

Sound
Two 6x9 Kenwoods
Sony CD/USB/Radio head unit

Suspension/Steering
New Ball Joints
Refurbished driver's side steering knuckle
New inner and outer tie rods
New Gabriel Ultra shocks
New Pitman arm

Brakes
New Rotors and Pads

Drivetrain
New Governor and Governor Sensor for transmission
4 qts Valvoline Synth ATF w/ 1 qt of Lucas Tranny Fix
New Filter and Pan gasket for the Transmission

Engine
New Spark Plugs
New Filter
Oil Change every 4k
New Belt tensioner
New Belt

Exhaust
Cut off after Cats

Body
Fixed floppy antenna
New Wipers

Cooling/Heating
New Radiator
New Water Pump
Drier replaced
Liquid Line replaced

Wheels
265/70/16 Michelin LTX's
Chrome Stars

Lighting
Sylvania Silverstars Headlights
Fog Lights

Accessories/Mods
A.R.E "V" Model Bed Cap
Two 10k lb. Reese Tow Hooks
12v Power Socket in Truck Bed
CB Radio
Scan Gauge II
AEM Brute Force Cold Air Intake

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

I approve

 

[MrQ]

Well I was forced into the ram a little early due to the fuel pump going out on Red. It's a big difference in driving between the two vehicles. The ram is huge on the inside but its been lowered a bit with the new tires. Anyways I'm glad I have it as it would have been tough bumming rides off my brother to get to work.

 

[MrQ]

Last week I tried replacing the pitman arm on the dodge. Boy was that a mistake. After tearing out most of the steering parts so I could just pull the arm, I couldn't get it off. Here I was using my big impact on this pitman arm puller pushing 125psi, and I couldn't get the damn thing to budge. I broke one bolt for the puller, replaced it and proceeded to then, after repeated hits with the impact, to bend the puller.

At this point I just said "screw it", and put everything back together. I called the local shop to see what it would cost to pull. First they said that it would be $50 in labor, plus $80-$100 for the part (which is complete BS) and another $80 for the alignment. I popped his balloon and said I already have the part and I don't need the alignment right now. A little exasperated he said in the end it would just be $50 in labor. I figure that's a pretty good deal for what it would take for me to get it off.

 

[MrQ]

Okay, got the pitman arm replaced and installed the cup holders, ashtray and stereo. So far so good. That arm really tightened up the steering.

 

[MrQ]

And right before my trip to Austin the water pump decides to fail. The whole bearing just gave way and pulley was just wobbling on the shaft. Tore up my belt pretty good.

I got the replacement water pump, but I can't seem to find the right tool to get the fan off the water pump. Its not a standard configuration.

 

[MrQ]

Now the pump is fixed. Turns out one of those strap wrenches works pretty well for a make shift tool to hold the pulley.

Old pump/New pump

Damage on old pump

In the process of putting everything back together I found the culprit behind the water pump failure: a bad tensioner. Apparently the belt had gotten loose and wasn't sitting properly on the pump pulley causing stress on the bearings and eventually destroying it. I wasn't too happy about spending another $70 on a new tensioner, but I guess it had to be done. At least I found it before it destroyed my new pump.

Also a new addition to the Dodge. Got this from Kris while I was in Austin :

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

Digging the work youre doing!!! Keep it up!

 

[MrQ]

After spending a good part of last Thursday working on this thing, I now have the freeze plug replaced and the truck is no longer leaking coolant. Turns out that the only thing keeping the coolant in the truck was the sludge that had built up over the freeze plug. Once removed I had a damn waterfall. Seems like I got it just in time as there was a hole the size of a penny in the 1.75" plug. Anyways, it was replaced with one of those rubber plugs since the local AZ didn't carry the regular brass or steel ones anymore. But its holding and now is my daily driver. Sufficed to say I feel more confident a weather beaten, fender damaged ram is less likely to be broken into at my new place than a bright red, lifted explorer on 33's.

 

[MrQ]

Well it seems that coolant leaks continue to plague me, now I have a leak around the water pump I just put in. Apparently when I replaced the bad freeze plug I changed the pressure in the coolant system causing the gasket that held before to start to leak.

 

[MrQ]

Over three months later and the Dodge is still going. Unfortunately a couple of weeks after I lost my job, I was driving the truck to get gas, and I rear ended a trail blazer. Just for the record, I was paying attention and the brakes were fully applied. Apparently when I was trying to stop, my brakes locked up on me. We had just had a light rain so the asphalt was pretty slick and I hydroplaned into the back of the chevy. Fortunately there were no injuries and the Dodge took the most of the damage.

The reason that the damage is so bad is that I hit the trailer hitch sticking out of the blazers bumper. It essentially acted like a small ram (lol) took out the bumper, foglights, the radiator support, condensor, radiator, fan shroud and bent the fan blades. Took a bit of work, but thanks to Dodge not being miserly with their body construction: aka no welds, the whole front end was disassembled in 3 hours. I scrapped over a 100lbs of metal. But I still had to hunt down a new radiator support and bumper. It seems that supports in good condition are pretty rare and good bumpers are even rarer. I did find the support for $100 and just last week found (but haven't picked up) a good bumper for the same price. In the meantime I drive it in its partially assembled state with no front bumper and no a/c. I swear this truck looks horribly redneck, but I still find pride in driving it. Anyways on to the pics

Accident

Removal

Assembly

Current

 

[reapereviltwin]

"Dark Thunder" is going back together niclely, Dan!!!!!! :biggthump

 

[MrQ]

Thanks Mike. Its a good truck and it is worth it getting it back on the road.

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

You're coming along nicely on it man!

 

[MrQ]

Surprisingly after all I have put this thing through, it starts and idles so beautifully and still has tons of power. Sigh...

I wonder what Red bull would be like with this engine? :

 

[robdominic]

well maintained truck...

 

[rookieshooter]

This economy has hurt many. I have a friend who owns a pawn shop and he says it's sad to see so many people coming in to sell things that he has to offer them a very low price for cause nobodys even buying.

IMO, your doing the right thing.

 

[MrQ]

Nearly 4 months later and the Dodge is still with me, thank goodness. I finished rebuilding it and you really can't tell the difference between before and after. Props to Dodge for making this so easy.

Still no A/C but with my job being what it is that is just a matter of time.

Future mods are just better gears, the powertrax no slip for the rear as well as disc brakes. I also need to do a mod to the transmission cooler lines to improve fluid flow.

And that is about it. I'll check back in within a few weeks.

 

[MrQ]

Its been a bit more than a few weeks, but what can you do? A recent trip to Austin (about 200 miles) lugging my parents Explorer certainly gave me a lot of appreciation for this truck. I believe I added up the weight and I wound up towing about 7000lbs. Now my brakes did not like that, (I desperately need abs and rear discs) and the RPMs were higher than I like (Towing with OD off), but nothing broke, busted or fell apart. Sliding through a left hand turn at an intersection aside, there were no issues (Raining all day).

It sure strengthens my belief in Dodge trucks. They are going to be the only way to go for me.

And for proof.

 

[MrQ]

The a/c is finally fixed in the Dodge again. It just took me some time to get to it. It's not my daily driver so it was on the back burner for maintenance. Even with all the abuse this thing is still not giving up.