Project: PolarRAM

[6DoF]

vent door seal:
so i ended up using a 1/2" wide, 1/4" tall, 'very soft' peal n stick. tried a firm foam first and it was not good.

shift tower had all the bolts loose and was spilling fluid down the side of the trans. scared me when i saw a huge puddle of trans fluid, but easy fix. added the dual valve cover vent to hopefully huff less oil on the highway, tired of having to clean it off my tailgate n bumper. plus the engine was 3qt low ...

just got the heated seats wired into switches finally ... during the hottest week this year

door sill trim i ordered when i installed the new carpet has just been sitting around so i decided to also install that. why did i wait!??!!?

power steering pump went in a weird way, it just slowly reduced assistance until it finally started to cavitate at lower R's. big bumps would basically shove the fluid back up i think ... maybe the relief valve died? threw in a 2nd gen pump with the dual returns in case i ever swap to hydroboost.

both tabs for the map light finally broke off using them as a cell phone mount, so i redesigned things to clamp to the dash bezel. way way better solution it turns out.

in an attempt to reduce cabin heat and sound, i popped the down pipe out to wrap real quick. while doing that i found where the exhaust was hitting the floor and fixed that too! quick 'titanium' wrap, and back together where the turbo outlet v-band stripped... and this is where i sit currently waiting on shipping for that thing to show up.

and the best update yet, the one i cant' freakin wait to try out as soon as that v-band shows up, the one-pc drive shaft. getting rid of the absolutely TORCHED carrier bearing, and any possibility of it failing ever again. 1410 CV required a new flange yoke for the 205, that is actually a junk yard find front yoke from an np241 Cummins truck. had to get a new output seal since it had a smaller OD on the yoke, but that's easily available. by FAR the cheapest option was to buy the complete CV from Denny's drive shafts and have it built locally, was only $610 total. club cab/long bed, 5600/205, d80, is only a 70.5" shaft.

[6DoF]

HOLY CRAP!! it's like a whole new truck.

either the 2nd gen steering pump is that different, or the pump i had has been failing since before i bought this truck. everything about the steering is just clean now. well, and i greased everything up there

then the drive shaft, fawk, even the clutch is smoother. i knew the carrier bearing rubber was blown out, but would have never expected it to create excessive clutch chatter. i could drive around it, but now i don't have to. again, i've known it was fubar for about a year, but it's obviously been bad since before i got the truck.

[xj_man_646]

that is awesome!

[6DoF]

you ever do something and then instantly regret it? not cuz it's bad, but because it's going to cost you more money?

so i wanted to try the 35" ATs from this truck on my street rod jeep. same 8-lug, just thinking the lighter 35's might hoon around town better. so while i try that, i threw the 37's on the Ram ... and now i don't know that i can take them off.

if you look back at post #102, i confirmed i could spin the wheel in the tire while towing up my driveway. it takes serious initiative to tow 10,000lbs up. the prior wheels were "street locks" with just decorative rings, the racelines are for realz. so that's a plus. the 37's ride a touch better actually, but mostly they stretched out the gears juuust a little. with the 6spd it's really pretty good. i need to try towing and see how they do, but i feel like that'll be all fine. then it just looks right. slightly wider tire, slightly less backspacing, the MT, the machined face with the chrome ... if i'm going to have a big truck, it might as well just be proper big.

and the nitto's don't pick up and hold stones from the driveway to later throw at the paint when i get on the highway! so i took the mud flap off, it was never right but helped protect from the stones. i'll redo something different this winter maybe.

[MBood82]

If you decide to keep 37s on the truck would you stick with the mud terrains or would you go with something more street friendly for towing?

37s look good under it, kind of like they belong on it. How well do they clear the wheel wells? Looks tight in the front at least, surely you don't want to start getting into cutting on that minty machine...?

[xj_man_646]

Yeah the 37's look great. I'd love to do 37's on my truck someday...I think it needs the 4.30 gear option for that though.

Only down side (for me) is the hit to fuel economy and tire replacement costs. Sure does look good though!

[6DoF]

ya know, i really think i'll stick with the MT's. truck had MT's when i got it and i went to AT's for all "the right reasons" ... but MT's might just be the correct choice. just sux these tires are dated 15th week of 2015 so i'll have to get new in the spring before towing season

[6DoF]

so these pics are at worst case turning clearance, still should be fine for daily/tow mode. it's actually mid- steer, at full lock it's way more room too. it would need clearance before i went crawling with it, but that's not going to be any time soon.

the TJ however has not faired well in this ... ew ... BUT, what i wanted to try that started all this was trying the lighter 35's on the TJ. would that be better for general hooning around, and it is. she holds the road better, a tiny bit quicker, and the gears feel a little bit closer. maybe these tires but with less stupid wheels?

[xj_man_646]

Yeah, I do not like those wheels on the TJ. When is it getting an 8 lug front end?

[Dennis]

I don't like those wheels on a KIA Telluride.
The 37s look great on the Dodge. The racelines are great wheels. Neighbor has them with black centers and the silver ring on his red Silverado, looks awesome.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by xj_man_646

Yeah, I do not like those wheels on the TJ. When is it getting an 8 lug front end?

i actually started designing a light weight fabricated 9" last week!

[xj_man_646]

Niceeeee!. 05+ SuperDuty D60 outers? Get that sweet sweet steering angle!

[wrath]

I think I could fill all the potholes in Washtenaw County with the gravel I have stuck in the tread of my Wildpeak ATs. I pull my arm in the door when it gets above 20mph so I don't take a hit from an escaping stone.

[6DoF]

decided to fix and upgrade the clutch pedal finally. i made an adjustable rod a while back that had a hokey rod end around the pin. the pin was already worn bad, and now that was wearing into the new rod end. the pedal has also been overly heavy since i got the truck, but had extra available throw. it was the same throw and force with the southbend dual disk / g360 and the Valair dual disk / nv5600 using a 2nd gen slave. so i cut the pin off, welded the hole shut, and re-drilled the pin location 3/8" closer to the pivot. that takes the pedal ratio from 1:5.8 to 1:6.8. should reduce force by 15% and increase resolution by taking 15% longer to engage. i'll remake the rod as well to include threaded rod and an actual lubricated spherical rod end this time.

while messing around i added a web brace to the pedal, a little more stiffness never hurt anything.

with the gauge cluster out to pull the pedal pin, i noticed the master bracket moving more than i'd like as well. ended up making a Delrin spacer to sandwich between the bracket and the firewall to support it a little better also.

And ooohhh yeah, it all made a big difference in clutch feel. smoother, slightly lighter, more controllable, just all win. honestly, probably could have gone a full 1/2" move.

[6DoF]

sometimes you just need a little more peace of mind ... new class-V 2" receiver to replace the welded on, cut on, and rusty old thing. it's the small things sometimes.

[6DoF]

after the hitch i got started on the next major upgrade, P7100 swap! i have been waiting for this since shortly after getting the truck, the VE is just NOT up for hot rodding. the more i learned the tuning and control setup in the VE, the more i wanted it out. another big change is ditching the electric fuel pump and going back to all mechanical. i have a whole 2nd gen engine on a stand i striped for the swap, and just ordered the other parts/upgrades.

first things first though, hot-rod lift pump. lucky for me this one i had already was the larger 30mm plunger. i drilled out the internal port to a 7/16" hole (from about 3/16 stock), deburred, ditched the inlet screen, and got everything cleaned up for the COMP 973-1 valve spring. i'll run a washable inline pre-filter just before it, should flow way better than the factory screen. it is also getting -8an fittings both in and out, there will only be one banjo fitting left where the fuel return is.

[6DoF]

then i took a little side bar for a side step. this is going to be a good win. just a basic bed step for a new dodge off amazon, i cut up the mount and fab'd it onto the 93 bed. it's bolted right below the tailgate, directly to the bed. in the corner there is actually a lot of extra support making it nice and solid.

new step is also wife approved! best part is she can no longer refuse to help get anything out of the bed on principal of it being too tall now!

[6DoF]

started donor motor teardown harvesting all the p7100 swap bits i needed. the engine is actually super clean inside, and all the tamperproof screws were untouched on the pump. time to change that! nice to know it's not been screwed with though.

as i was taking it apart, i noticed the KDP was sticking WAY out. then shortly later as i pulled the timing case off the engine the pin just fell out and hit the floor. talk about good timing! this engine was living on borrowed time. i wish i had tried to pull it out by hand first, bet it would have come right out.

to pull the cam, i put a 3mm ziptie on all the tappets to hold em up. was able to scoot the ziptie down to hold them all tight up and worked really well. i actually left them all on there since the cam has to come out again no matter what happens with this engine later.

[6DoF]

"see babe, i had to lift my truck for safety! it's most stable on all 4 tires, and i can still get the transmission out" :LOL:

took the pic with 0.5 zoom on my phone sitting right next to it ... makes the trans look tiny vs the tires, it's weird.

[6DoF]

gantry with electric hoist is way up there on my list of new favorite things!

no electric in The Toy Box yet, with rain it gets dark FAST. i'm also trying to decide what i can do in the engine bay while i can just stand in there to work on other stuff.

also managed to get most things torn down quickly, everything is looking really good.