ZOMBIE RAMCHARGER (it LIVES!!!)!!! pt.1

[The War Wagon]

This thing is so Sick!

You have no IDEA how bad I'm itching to tool this thing around - especially after the Borgeson steering gets rid of the death wobble!

[redeye202]

Soooo, when's the 5.9 Cummins going in.

[The War Wagon]

Soooo, when's the 5.9 Cummins going in.

There's a few guys OUT there running diesel RC's - say they go like gangbusters offroad with all that torque!

I am exploring have custom rocksliders made for it though! Of course, with an RC, EVERYTHING pretty much has to be made CUSTOM made. Not QUITE the same following as your XJ/TJ/CJ crowd...

[redeye202]

Soooo, when's the 5.9 Cummins going in.

There's a few guys OUT there running diesel RC's - say they go like gangbusters offroad with all that torque!

I am exploring have custom rocksliders made for it though! Of course, with an RC, EVERYTHING pretty much has to be made CUSTOM made. Not QUITE the same following as your XJ/TJ/CJ crowd...

You have a solid truck, with a stout frame, it will take what ever you throw at it, 2x4 or 2x6 steel tubing works well for rock sliders and in place for rotted out rocker panels, we use them on our xjs and hammer the hell out of them.

A 1st gen 5.9 cummins will slide right in the engin bay with no problems, it's the same as putting one in the pickup of the same year as your RC.

[The War Wagon]

You have a solid truck, with a stout frame, it will take what ever you throw at it, 2x4 or 2x6 steel tubing works well for rock sliders and in place for rotted out rocker panels, we use them on our xjs and hammer the hell out of them.

A 1st gen 5.9 cummins will slide right in the engin bay with no problems, it's the same as putting one in the pickup of the same year as your RC.

I've got a good fab man lined up to make them, and the guys who have done them on the Ramcharger forums are giving me good specs to use for our truck, so I think they'll turn out well.

I'm not a 'diesel guy,' but have followed them with mild interest in Dodge trucks since they adopted the Cummins back in the early '90's. I think if I had as many RC's as I have AR's , I'd build a diesel one, just for the experience. Sorta like my FDE AR - I had it cerakoted to try "something different!"

[The War Wagon]

Couple of little things I've picked up for it lately;

A little more "go" option - Just ordered the Hughes intake plenum fix (http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/produ...rtid=27091) and a new O2 sensor(http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/produ...rtid=24001). Mine doesn't SEEM to be leaking - I don't think it's something the previous owner addressed - but I figured, no time like the present, to fix it BEFORE it leaves me in the lurch!

Sumpin' for a little show... my dash mat cover.




And sumpin' for a little OFF-road! JUST got it confirmed last night on some rock sliders. My original builder backed out, so Dave - who has my truck now, & took up tube bending last year - and has started to make some decent looking stuff with his tube bending jig; he's gonna build 'em.

He's only had the truck for 10 mos. , so he should know it INSIDE & OUT by now. I requested .188 wall tube as a MINIMUM, just so the truck doesn't crush 'em by it's OWN weight. AND to add some kickouts!

He was JUST getting ready to bend up some sliders for his Tacoma, so he's gonna bend mine while he's at it! :woot:

OTHER than that... I haven't been messing with it TOO much.

[The War Wagon]

I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.
I think it's the excitement only a Ramcharger man can feel;
a Ramcharger man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.
I hope I can make it to the shop today.
I hope to see my truck, and drive it away.
I hope the Borgeson steers as straight as it has in my dreams.

I hope.

[The War Wagon]

Long story short - it drove GREAT, ALL the way home... & promptly dropped the driveshaft as I backed into a parking space...




To wit.




The engine is GONNA get beefier, and the rear axle has YET to be rotated, SOOOO... we're gonna go with an NP241 slipyoke eliminator from JB Conversions (they've taken my MONEY... I'm just waiting on a shipping/arrival date now) and my local driveshaft man is building me a new 1350 double cardon driveshaft to harness mah POW-AH!!!

On the bright side, Dave - who didn't even fiddle with the driveshafts (my driveshaft man refurbished 'em - my other mechanic installed 'em) - has come by, and tacked everything BACK together here in my parking lot - with a stronger yoke - for the time being. We know there's SOME binding, so we'll just mosey it along the streets (it needs more GAS!!!) for a couple of weeks, until Dave's ready to drop the t-case and install the SYE. Once THAT'S done, we SHOULD be able to offroad it - even flex it a BIT - until we're ready to rotate the pumpkin.

I'll post some pics of the upgrades that DID get accomplished, soon.

[The War Wagon]

The RC is fixed again!

Dave came by tonight and finished up re-connecting the old driveshaft... for the time being... I drove it around the parking lot - backing up a couple of times as well. Then took it for a spin around the block - nothing strenuous. It all held together!

I need to go put some gas in it - probably Monday (there's a little local-owned gas station/garage, and I like to get my gas there - plus it's fairly easy to get in and out of with the RC) - but I'll probably keep it close-to-home until the flange/eliminator and new driveshaft are installed.

And I'm REALLY starting to HATE Photoflubit...

[The War Wagon]

Played with the RC today, as it's my day off. ATTEMPTED to mate an old WJ 318 dual K&N filter intake to it... and Advance Auto ain't GOT enough Spectre elbows to make it fit JUST yet! Trust me... I bought several...

After giving up on that for the day, I grabbed a fistful of $20's, and decided to fill up! Added 12oz. of Lucas Oil fuel treatment, since it was in the shop for 11mos.! My barely functioning tank float refuses to read anything above a half-a-tank; to be safe, I figured it was getting 5mpg. The needle had drifted down to 1/4 tank, and it had 116 miles on the trip odometer since the previous fillup, so I thought it a good time to fill up, treat what gas was left, clean the injectors, and see if another fillup would bust the float loose.

$72.50 later @ $3.79/gal., I calculate that it's actually getting a smidgeon over 6mpg - almost all city driving - so my guesswork on that was just about spot on!

After THAT, I went over to see a friend of mine from church. John had a stroke when he was 47 (my age now) and is paralyzed on his left side. He fights the good fight, and gets about pretty well now some 20+ years later. Back in the day though, he was the crew chief for his best friend, who drove the NASCAR dirt circuit in western PA in the 1960's (Heidelberg, Pittsburgh Speedway, Lernerville, et.al.). John went on to become a mechanical engineer; Dave (the driver) went on to become a bigwig in Chrysler/MOPAR's parts division in the northeast. The three of us have gotten together a couple of times over the years, to go catch some Friday night races at Lernerville (late model modifieds - dirt track racing), whenever Dave is passing through between his summer home in ME, and winter home in FL. They're both OLD-SCHOOL MOPAR guys.

At any rate, I stopped in to see John today, and with some modicum of effort, we got him INTO the RC, went out for a spin, and terrorized his neighbors! As the truck has no stereo currently, we put the windows down, and just listened to the roar and crack of the glasspacks! After that bit of fun, we managed to get him BACK out of the RC, without killing he, I, or the truck!

Nothing special today really. Would like to have washed the truck, but they're calling for rain tonight, so I fought that urge. Just had a good time playing with it, like I've been WANTING to do for almost 8 years now, and took a good friend out to enjoy it too (he's really the only gearhead at our church, and the RC belonged to our church secretary's late husband, so he's been following with keen interest how the progress is coming). After waiting almost 8 years just to GET it to this point, being able to enjoy the little things, is finally some great fun for ME!