1974 Dodge Ramcharger

Side shots on 35" tires. Also shows what it'll look like without the doors. I may run with tube doors. It will be on 37-38" tires.....a little sawzall work and it'll be no problem.

Rear of my Ramcharger. You can see the shackle flip, the 8" extended shackles and the 4" Skyjacker rear springs with NO blocks.

Front shot.

These are pictures of the Dana 60HD rear axle. It has disc brakes, 4.88 gears, a full spool and uses a 1410 series yoke. It was bored out to accept 1.5" 35 spline axle shafts.

These are of the front Dana 60. It has been totally rebuilt with 4.88's, an OX-Locker and has 4340 Yukon chromoly axle shafts. It also uses a 1410 series yoke. Currently using new Selectro external hubs, but I will carry drive flanges as spares.

These are of the Front Dana 60 installed in the truck. There is also a shot showing the 4" Skyjacker springs and the 1" extended shackles made from 3/8" by 2" cold rolled steel.

This is a shot of the black steel wheels and the current 315 75 R16 Geolandar M/T's. Final build will have 37-38" tires with weld on beadlocks.

Here is the newest toy that will be installed on the rig. It's a transfer case made by STaK 4X4 called the Monster Box. It's a 3 spd transfer case with both a 3.05:1 AND a 5.44:1 low range.

Here are a couple of shots with the STaK 'case installed. Left one shows about how it will sit when the mount is finished. Right picture shows how I need to make some clearance in the floorboard so I can raise the case just a little more. I had to notch out the floorboard and clock the transfer case a little.

Here is how I needed to clock the transfer case in order for it to clear the floorboard and for a better front driveshaft angle.

...and a shot of the 5.9L Magnum engine and 46RE OD transmission that came out of a '99 Durango. Also, this is the Vortech S-Trim supercharger added along with a Crane Fireball Ignition with boost retard. The charge cooler will be installed in the future.

Couple of shots of the supercharger compressor.

Can you say SEXY??!!
Mopar Performance M1 Intake for Magnum MPI engines

Left picture is just after manifold was bolted down and the Right picture is after it was fully dressed. Install was fairly easy and straight-forward. It was hard to spend $70.00 on the "install kit" after dropping $335.00 on the manifold itself, but it did save a lot of headaches and you'll need it if you can't or don't have time to make all the little spacers needed for the fuel rails.

This the reason that many 46re transmissions die young. It has a weep hole from the factory and not a breather tube up high to keep water, mud, etc. out of the transmission.

Here is the solution. I tapped the weep hole and threaded a brass fitting/pipe up through a hole drilled in the housing. On top you can thread a hose barb. I have my rear axle, transfer-case, transmission and front axle all plumbed into breather tubes which ends way up high to keep the bad stuff out.

Another great way to improve the performance and longevity of you auto trannsmission is to install a reprogramming kit like this one from Transgo. Firmer shifts, more lubrication and gear control are some of the benefits.

Here is another good idea for transmission longevity. This deep pan by B & M holds another two quarts of ATF, has cooling fins and even has a drain plug. It also increases the rigidity of the trans housing for added strength. Found it for $120.00 online.

Here is another item you'll need to complete the Magnum engine swap into an older Dodge. I had to replace the gas tank in order to accomodate an electric fuel pump which give the 50psi needed for the injectors. I always try to use factory parts when possible since Chrysler engineers are smarter than I am and get paid to come up with reliable systems. With that in mind, I found a gas tank out of a 1990 Ramcharger. In 1990 they used a TBI system so I could not use the fuel pump module. I found a brand new fuel pump module for a 2001 Dodge van with a 5.9L MPFI engine for $40 on ebay!! It fit right in and after routing new fuel line, it works great!

Here is the radiator after I finished mounting the two Perma Cool electric fans. They are mounted with Aluminum supports I made with strips I bent into 90 degree angles. They are the high output 14" fans and together they will put out just under 6000 cfm. The will be wired on a thermostat and also with a manual override for each fan. Obviously this shot is without the shroud installed.

Here's a shot of the custom wiring harness I had built for the fuel injection/electronic OD transmission conversion. It was built by Squier Inc in Mena, AR.

A shot of the connector which will connect to the STaK transfer case for the electronic speedo. I will be using all Autometer Sport Comp gauges....which will actually work making them a huge step up from the '74 gauges that didn't!!

Here's a shot of the electronic speedo connector which is the same a production Jeep Rubicon connector. Will be perfect since I had my custom harness built with this same connector.

Here is the beginning of my winch bumper. 2x4" box tubing slides perfectly into the frame rails. I angled the bottom for clearance.

This is the actual winch mount that will get bolted to the bumper I made. I bought it from Hansen Enterprises. For $130.00 delivered to my house, I couldn't make better for less. It's even zinc coated so I may not even paint this part.

This picture shows about how the new Warn M8274-50 winch will sit on the bumper. I am trying to save weight wherever I can and the synthetic winch rope saved me over 20 lbs alone. The winch came with 150' of 5/16" wire rope and I was able to get 125' of 3/8" synthetic rope. The synthetic is rated at about 20,000 lbs where 5/16" wire rope is about 9,800 lbs and even 3/8" is only about 14,400 lbs. The hawes fairlead is made from Delrin, a synthetic material stronger than the UHMW plastic fairleads out there. It's from Rockbuggy Supply.

The picture on the left is of the mount pretty much finished, just have to smooth out some welds and weld up the 1" thick by 2" clevis tabs from A-Z Fabrication (shown on right).

Pics of the final product. I still have room to add some tubing to complete it in the future.

Here are a couple of shots of the new stainless steel exhaust system. A friend and I fabbed it up. It's 2 1/4" into the y-pipe and 3" out with a Borla muffler. Much mellower than a Flowmaster, but still sounds pretty good.....and the price was right $0.00!!

Pictures of the next project. Left is of the Hunsaker Sports "Syncro" suspension seats I bought to replace the non-adjustable factory seats. Right shows the Corbeau four point harnesses that I picked up cheap at the Off-Road Expo in Pomona. They will be perfect with the new seats and use regular auto style buckles instead of the typical harness latches.

I obviously still have some interior work to do.......

Here are some shots of the tubework I added in order to tie the seat mounts into the cage. 1 3/4" .120 wall.

A shot of the gauge cluster as it sits.  I'm not sure how long they'll stay as they are since the steering wheel obstructs some of the gauges.  Toggles on the left are for the electric fans, on board air compressor and to the air solenoid for the front OX locker.

Left is of the 2.5 gallon Viar air tank.  You can see the Ingersoll Rand air soleniod that controls the air cylinder to the OX locker.

Right is of the cheap Harbor Freight air compressor.  So far it works and for a normal sized tire it's probably fine, but for the current 35's and future 37/38" tires it takes quite a while  for it to fill them.  It takes about 5-7 minutes to fill my air tank to 120 psi to trip the Viair pressure switch.  Mounting the compressor in the engine compartment is proving to not be a good idea and it shuts down quickly due to the heat.

Above are shots of the air activation conversion for the OX locker.  I converted the locker because I could never get the cable/lever to lock the OX reliably.  I know people use the cable all the time with no problems, but I am not one of them.  I did the whole conversion from standard parts I got from Grainger/Harbor Frieght for about $65.00 and it works PERFECTLY everytime I flip the switch.

The above pictures are from the first mini shake-down run I have had it on. 

The good - It flexes pretty decently for a leaf sprung rig.  The STaK T-case worked well and if it weren't for the oil leaks, I would really be happy with it.  I will say that the 65:1 gearing that the STaK provides coupled with the fuel injected engine makes it sooooo nice to crawl most anything.  The OX air conversion worked great for the 5 minutes that factory airline fitting stayed on the Harbor Freight air hose.....fixed with a hose barb and clamp.

The Bad - It was over 100 degrees that day and the poor Harbor Freight compressor ran for about 5 minutes before it shut off due to the heat in the engine compartment requiring about 15 minutes of cooling before it would run again.  The engine ran at about 210 degrees, up to about 230 when climbing grades so I will have to redo my shroud to see if that helps.  My power steering hose gave up as we were about to leave and greeted my every turn with a huge plume of white smoke as the fluid boiled off my headers.  Lastly, I think I finally figured out my intermittant bearing noise as it became less intermittant about 15 minutes from home.  When I pulled over I felt my rear axle diff cover and I couldn't hold my hand on it due to the heat.  I think my pinion bearing is shot.  I'll post pics when I tear it down.

8-24-09

Here is what I found when I inspected the gears.

I found a bunch of small shavings.  More than I'd like, but I know that since the gears are new that a lot of this is normal due to the coating of the new gears wearing off.  The pinion bearing feels perfect and the wheel bearings look/feel good.  I could not find anything that looked bad and all the bearings felt fine.  The only thing I found that might have been causing my bearing noise was that one of the wheel bearing spindle nuts had backed off a little.  I bought new bearings, races and a seal with brand new spindle nuts.  So far it has not made any strange noises.

Now who tears something apart without upgrading whenever possible, huh?  This is the new differential cover I got from Solid Axle Industries.  They were running a special for $65.....a smokin' deal for a nodular iron cover with hardware and a tube of RTV.