Page 1: My Ram's Background and Buildup
Page 2: My Ram's Specs
Page 3: My Other Vehicles
This page is dedicated to my previous Ram... a '98 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4. While it was traded-in on the purchase of the '06 Diesel I now have, I'm leaving this page up for others to enjoy. The last time I saw it, it was still on the streets of Cheyenne. Only a few mods since the new owner bought it. New exhaust and a rear roll-pan.
We chose this truck over others with more desirable colors because of it's low mileage... only 52K on a '98 rig. We were searching for a Quadcab with rear doors, but couldn't pass up this one.
The first thing I always do with a vehicle is to find out as much of the history on it as possible. I obtain build sheets and service history documents from my local dealer parts department.
Our Ram was built on the 21st hour of August 12, 1997, and had an in-service date of May 26, 1998. It was first sold at Elmhurst Dodge in Elmhurst Illinois. We purchased it in Longmont, Colorado on 5 June 2005.
Exterior:
5 Jun Above shows it in it's 'as purchased' state... improvements are gradually coming. One of the first changes we made was with the tires. The Mickey Thompson tires were tossed in favor of BFG AT KOs, since they were not suited for highway hauling. Plus, the Mickeys were wore out. The 35" rubber rubbed the inner wheelwells slightly on full turns, so we dropped down to 285/75R16s
8 Jun We decided on the BFG AT KOs, because we have had them on our Grand Cherokee for years, and they did well in Alaska's winter weather. Hopefully the rig didn't loose too many cool points with the switch from the 35" Mickeys to the 285/75/R16 BFGs. At least we don't rub the wheelwell liners and the ride is better. We'll save MTs for the Jeeps... gotta get the tow rig squared away.
More pics of the new rubber:
Another change we made was to remove the white 'Ram' tail light covers. I have never liked them, but mainly they were tossed because the passenger side one was broken.
I removed the tailgate trim as well. I think it now has a smoother look without it. Plus, the bent bumper doesn't stand out as much.
The windshield visor must go soon as well.
The previous owner installed aftermarket fog lights. They light up yellow, which we don't really care for strongly, but they'll stay for now.
The bed liner is definately going to the dump... we'll have a Rhino Lining install done soon. Never can understand how folks can think plastic bedliners are a good thing. 
Interior:
We lucked out with the seats being leather. The interior seems to be in great shape.
One big plus on this truck, is the drivetrain. Aside from only having 52K miles on the clock, it also was outfitted with the Snow Plow Prep Group from the factory, which means Dana 60s Front and Rear and the front end level from beefier coils. Sweet!
New Shocks 24 Jun 05
In an attempt to calm down the HD springs some, we got new shocks front and rear. We went with Edelbrocks IAS shocks. The suspension is still stiff unloaded, but they did help some.
Here's the front shock installed. I think the red color also gives the otherwise dark wheelwell some color.
The rear shocks before and after.
New front rotors. The old ones were past 'throw away' thickness, even though the truck would stop on a dime. Fun job, having to seperate the rotors from the hubs.
We finally got the sunvisor removed. Missy called it 'The Unibrow'. If the 12 screws drilled into the roof weren't enough, the previous owner also stuck it down with windshield urethane, which is very hard to remove. There's still a slight dis-coloration, and I had to replace the screws and their caps afterwards, but it's still alot better. If you really must install one of these ugly things on your truck (I don't know why), please use 3M tape and not urethane! Think about the next person that buys your vehicle, and wishes to remove it.
Our transmission started acting up. We would loose Drive after it heated up. Some searching online at DodgeForum.com, and I found out the culprit was the lower tranny cooler line 'in-line check valve'. The spring-loaded ball inside would stick, shutting off fluid flow. If left alone, the transmission would overheat and fail needing total overhauling. Some clean the check ball, and it lasts for a while, but I thought it better to swap out the thing with a new one, since a sticky ball tends to re-stick. Here you can see the check valve (brass colored) on the tranny pressure line.
Here's where you find the check valve in the truck, if you choose to remove and clean just it. I would highly recommend a new one instead. My tranny line was old rusty, and would have leaked soon anyways.
We finally cured our shifting problem, or so we thought, with the replacement of the Throttle kick-down spring, govenor pressure sensor and solenoid. Our spring was broken in two, and was probably most of the problem from the start. But shortly noticed a slip between 2nd and 3rd. Rebuild time.
The Tranny Saga Continues....
Took the truck over to our local Aamco to have them rebuild the tranny, and our original quote was $2002. But, that was with a general rebuild, not including any 'hard parts' that may be damaged. Well, got a call after they removed and disassembled the unit, and now the cost will be $3025, because the following parts had wear...
Pump
Planetaries
Ring Gear
Reverse Drum
Support
OD Housing Piston
Backing Plate
Here's the pics of the parts. You can see the friction wear damage...
28 Oct 05 - We ended up having the tranny rebuild. After it's snow plow duty early in life, the tranny 'hard parts' were chewed from constant forward-reverse driving. At just 55,196 miles, the tranny was rebuilt, and new ring gear, planetaries, pump, backing plate and reverse piston housing all were replaced.
Also had a TransGo TFOD-HD2 Reprogramming Shift Kit installed. The now quicker, firmer shifts will help prolong the life of the tranny.
For X-mas, I told the wife, that I wanted a set of the new Ram emblems to add to the Ram. I like the look of the lower profile chrome emblems.
So, for X-mas she got me the tailgate set. While I really started to dig the smoothed gate, I installed the emblems on there. Here's a shot with just the Ram head under the handle...
And here's with all installed. She looked at the the truck, and says that now we need to get the door emblems, because they look dated with the new gate ones.
Well, for Valentine's Day, my wife surprised me with the 'Ram 2500' Door Emblems. So, I was able to replace these original ones with the '05 ones, for a cleaner newer look.
Here's a shot of the newer emblems installed. Since it was snowing outside, I'll have to get a shot further away later. Our 2nd Gen Rams have a body line midway on the door, unlike the 3rd Gen trucks, but I think it still looks sweet!
Now the only thing left is to decide whether to reinstall the 'Magnum V8' emblems back onto the truck. Putting them back onto the door with the new ones, would not look right I think. Here's an option that I'm considering... putting them where the Cummins badge is on the '05s. Between the corner light and the front wheelwell. I'll have to think on it a while before acting.
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More to come as we progress...
Page 1: My Ram's Background and Buildup
Page 2: My Ram's Specs
Page 3: My Other Vehicles
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