2001 Dodge Ram 2500 mods

[WanderingBiker]

finally got a tow vehicle.... price was right and I knew it needed some work..... good thing is there is zero rust on the frame and one tiny spot on the drivers side rocker.... cab corners are solid

I have already put new upper and lower ball joints in.... (was a tough job taking out original 17 year old rivits) but got the job done...


Still have a few mechanical issues to take care of...the inner and outer tie rod ends need to be replaced, look original as they have no grease fittings.. the pitman arm and idler arm have already been replaced with greaseable joints.  The radiator has a small leak, but with plastic end caps, will most likely replace it...got a valve cover gasket that has squeezed out so need to replace them.

Of course all the basic stuff, oil change, trans fluid change/filer change, new plugs, wipers, etc....

and of course one new front and two new back tires.... 

seems like a lot of work, but I can do most of it myself, thats why I got it so cheap.....

started getting the extended section ready for HD, by copilot.... first thing was to remove the drop down back seat, brackets, and seat belts.... 


next is getting a custom platform to fit the humps and bumps to make a smooth level area for HD to stretch out on our trips. it will be covered with carpet and will have storage under it with hinged side lift up panels.

started taking measurements and doing a rough sketch and will start building this pretty soon...


Here is the platform in the 04 dodge I am driving right now

 

[Bobflhtc]

My tow vehicle is a 2001 Dodge 2500 4X4 with a V10

 

[WanderingBiker]

My tow vehicle is a 2001 Dodge 2500 4X4 with a V10

Pickings have been slim for the last few months... this wasnt my first pick, but will make due.... if all else fails, I will put it up for sale if I find
a vehicle that fits my situation better....

 

[WanderingBiker]

Florence is long gone and things are starting to closer to normal... lots of trees down, major roads still flooded.... to many houses destroyed.... we will recover, it will take a while... but it will happen

had a few days of sunshine so decided to get back on the silver beast.... previously I pulled out the back seat and brackets etc in preparation for putting in a platform so HD will have a level space to sit and lay down on the up coming trip to Texas.

first thing I did was to make a pattern of the center hump for the front stringer.... After determining how long this would be, I transferred the pattern to the stringer and cut out the unwanted section...





After getting the front stringer cut and fitted



next were the lateral supports....First thing is to make a pattern to match the contour of the floor. Its a cut and fit sort of thing.... get close and then modify it until your happy with the fit.  








once I was happy with the fit, I transferred the pattern to some pine and and cut out two of the lateral supports....  one good thing about making a pattern you can easily make sure that both sides match. In this case, the drivers seat base (which is bolted to the floor) is exactly 1" further towards the back, than the passengers seat.  so it was an easy fix to modify the drivers side lateral beam.  The two inner supports were different enough that I had to make a few changes to the pattern to make them fit.

Once all the pieces were cut and fitted, I drilled and screwed them together to make the support frame work. 



the frame fit extremely well so I proceeded to cut the plywood cover... because the drivers seat bracket was 1"  further back than
the passenger seat, I had to make the front edge angled....while keeping the back corners at 90 degrees, no big deal just a matter
of laying it out on the plywood... 



final step is to insulate the back of the cab, (its just sheet metal) and cover it with carpet...

Look who couldn't wait to try out his new platform !!!!!!



next is replacing the inner and outter tie rods.... all the front end parts are original....step by step....

 

[WanderingBiker]

Worked on the Silver Beast today.... now that things are somewhat back to normal...after Florence....

replaced the outer tierod ends, a previous mechanic or owner rounded the nuts so had to cut the side of the nut off to get the tierod 
off... (the entire front suspension is original), 


New tierod ends... ready to go..


cant get the inner ones lose as I dont have a lift, so will
let my mechanic do those... 

The radiator is leaking and with the plastic end caps, no point in trying to repair it.... it will just leak someplace else.. so a new
one is sitting in the garage and will install this week depending on the hurricane Michael which will go over us here as a tropical 
storm, with high winds and a short burst of rain (just what we need)

as soon as the front suspension is done, time to get an alignment.... going for the lifetime special.. so I dont have to worry about
those bad roads 

the rear platform is done, just need to cover it with carpet for "HD" and do a complete truck cleanup...

once the truck is up to par and road worthy, will be selling my 04 dodge dakota...

more to come soon....

 

[azmike9]

Looks great. Thanks for sharing your project.

 

[WanderingBiker]

Now that I have a brand new front end on the dodge, it should last a while.... everything was original and completely worn out... luckly I can do most of the work myself....

After the front end and back seat platform install the next thing on the list is the radiator...


the existing one has those plastic end caps and everyone suggested replacing the entire thing instead of trying to patch up the old one which I agreed with...

Ordered a new radiator and proceeded to put it in.....



as with any vehicle repair work, your always going to have problems... the first was trying to get the trans lines off the radiator....they were the 
quick connect type (not the quick disconnect type) the nut was to close to the female connection, so couldn't get the release tool in there



So I had to unscrew the line from the radiator and then grind down the nut so I could slide the release tool in to release the connection.

That's just the way it is with older vehicles,  if you cant do most of the work yourself, then it's better to buy a much newer one....

next is changing the valve cover gaskets... on gasket has squeezed out and leak a little..  Usually this is a pretty easy straight forward procedure, but not on a dodge ram 2500 V10, you have to take off the plenium/air box - Intake, whatever you want to call it. 

you have to take this off because it overhands the valve covers and they wont come off without removing it....

no biggie... a 30-45 minute job will now take 2 hours... or more...


next is the basics, oil change, plugs, trans oil change, a couple tires on the back.... tighten up the exhaust (it squeeks) then find a toy hauler....