MY 1600 CRAIGSLIST SPECIAL CUMMINS RAM RESTO

[daytonalo]

I bought this hunk of shit from Craigslist one year ago , it is a 2 wd 2500 with cummins in untouched stock condition . I installed  3 inch body lift , 3 inch suspension lift ,2006 - 2500 ram alum rims . 35 inch Kumbo tires ,4 inch stainless turbo back exhaust, 2001 power heated  towing mirrors ,  painted viper red , rumble bee hood scoop with true ram air , 400 hp , 750 ft pounds , runs hard . will tow a house and have a grand total of 4500

Larry

[daytonalo]

more pics

[daytonalo]

more pics

[tan top]

   nice truck

[daytonalo]

Thanks !! Hard for me to believe its 15 years old

[daytonalo]

more pics

[Silver R/T]

Very nice truck. You should join www.dieseltruckresource.com and post some pics on there. These trucks are gonna last forever

[daytonalo]

It has only 130 k , i'm told the engine will go 350 k

[Silver R/T]

It has only 130 k , i'm told the engine will go 350 k

350K before what? These last 500K before major maintenance. You have to watch fuel pressure on these trucks, stock lift pump fails and that ruins injection pump.

[daytonalo]

On 12 valve engines ?

[charger_fan_4ever]

On 12 valve engines ?

Nice truck

Nah no worries about losing fuel pressure and burning a p pump 12v. On the p pump the bottom half of the pump is lubed by engine oil. The lift pump on the 12v's is mechanical and run of the cam lobe. Its the 98.5-02 24v with the crappy pump and its all electrical . Just an intake heater so no bsing with glow plugs.

I have a 97 2500 4x4 club cab with a 5 speed. Fuel plate slid full forward and afc housing full forward too with 4 inch straight pipe. Can do a second gear burnout and burn em in 3rd too . Thats with 3.55 gears and 33 inch tires

Those 12v's are monsters. Oh and it gets 25 mpg to boot if I watch the passengers mirror to make sure i'm not doing a smoke show from the pipe.

If you have any questions the cumminsforum.com is the best out there for these beasts.

Runs circles around the previous powerjoke ford i had.

[jaak]

Really nice truck 

Jason

[tan top]

Thanks !! Hard for me to believe its 15 years old

yeah that looks soo straight in the before  pictures !!     good plan  red in base & clear  will always look like shiny   no mopping  now & then

[Silver R/T]

On 12 valve engines ?

not on 12v, 12v has mechanical pump so you're good there. However KDP killer dowel pin is an issue on these trucks. I would look into that and see it is has been corrected.

[daytonalo]

I have the dowel pin kit from TST , just never got around to

[charger_fan_4ever]

I have the dowel pin kit from TST , just never got around to

Worth a look

I dug into mine with 200k on the clock. Pin had already come out at some point. It was MIA and you could see where it wedged against the timing cover. Couldn't see any previous repairs to the timing case. Either by luck it fell into the oil pan or else it wrecked havock and the previous owner had to do some major repairs. The dealer said the previous owner had it retimed just before he got it. Maybe was more than the timing gear slipping.

I'm glad I dug into it though as the TST tab kit said to take out the timming case bolts and apply loctite to them. I had 3 timing case housing bolts that you could thread out with your fingers!!. The 2 bolts behind the cam gear were out a couple turns.

[daytonalo]

how big of a deal is it to complete D-pin project?? How tough and how many hours ?

Larry

[charger_fan_4ever]

how big of a deal is it to complete D-pin project?? How tough and how many hours ?

Larry

Not too bad. Just get the a felpro timming cover gasket and front seal. My brother was helping m e and we were about 6 hours.
The pita is pulling the fan and bracket. There are 3 or 4 bolts holding the fan and bracket on. There is 1 bolt kind of behind the fan bracket in the tst instructions it says to use an open end wrench or 12 point. Well lets say the open end does not work. Best way is to grind down a 12 point and break it loose. I had to take the fan off to get to this bolt which was a pita with the rad still in. Without the special wrench to loosen the big fan bolt i had to rattle it with a zip gun.

With the a 12 point ground down on you can get that bolt loose and not have to take the actual fan off the braket. Just need to pull the fan shroud, fan and bracket, then take out all those cover bolts. I marked which one went where as they are different lengths. The next chore was getting the damper pulley off. With it being a stick it could be done without ant special tool. An automatic you'll need the tool to lock the motor. Once the cover comes off you just need to locate the pin and tab it. I'd take out all the timing case bolts and clean and loctite them. New front seal and cover gasket and away you go. I wanted to cure the cover leak so i also used a light coat of permatex gasket maker on the gasket both sides.

Might want to buy an actual dowl pin too. I didn't expect mine to not be there when i got it apart. The diesel guys on the cumminsforum say to put in a new dowl pin)if its gone)and tab it. Apparently can crack without the pin due to flexing . I can't really see how and it was a saturday, so i just put it back together after loctiting the case bolts.

Cleaned up  the leaks from the cover and front seal. Now to get the vacuum pump sealed up, and fix the p/s fluid leak. Has a new pump on it but leaks  


My truck is red too makes we want to copy yours

What kind of air filter did you use ? I want to get a better flowing paper element filter than the fram's. I guess the high flow K&N style filters are a no no on turbo engines. Guess they are know to have dusted a few turbo diesels.

[daytonalo]

Thank you , I agree about why needing a pin . One gasket kit will do everything ? I'm hoping the 3 inch body lift works in my favor on this project , do you think it will help me out ?

Larry

[charger_fan_4ever]

I'd say with the rad support lifted it will be easier to get the breaker bar on the dampner bolt. I can't remember if the fel pro was all in 1 or i ordered them seperate. I got them threw the local parts store. They say the cummins seal is better 

I've always had good luck with felpro over the years. Been a year and its still dry.

[daytonalo]

Thanks for all the help , I will tackle this project in the winter

[69bronzeT5]

Wow...what a difference! Larry, you did a great job on the Ram. Love it!

[GPULLER]

how big of a deal is it to complete D-pin project?? How tough and how many hours ?

Larry

Not too bad. Just get the a felpro timming cover gasket and front seal. My brother was helping m e and we were about 6 hours.
The pita is pulling the fan and bracket. There are 3 or 4 bolts holding the fan and bracket on. There is 1 bolt kind of behind the fan bracket in the tst instructions it says to use an open end wrench or 12 point. Well lets say the open end does not work. Best way is to grind down a 12 point and break it loose. I had to take the fan off to get to this bolt which was a pita with the rad still in. Without the special wrench to loosen the big fan bolt i had to rattle it with a zip gun.

With the a 12 point ground down on you can get that bolt loose and not have to take the actual fan off the braket. Just need to pull the fan shroud, fan and bracket, then take out all those cover bolts. I marked which one went where as they are different lengths. The next chore was getting the damper pulley off. With it being a stick it could be done without ant special tool. An automatic you'll need the tool to lock the motor. Once the cover comes off you just need to locate the pin and tab it. I'd take out all the timing case bolts and clean and loctite them. New front seal and cover gasket and away you go. I wanted to cure the cover leak so i also used a light coat of permatex gasket maker on the gasket both sides.

Might want to buy an actual dowl pin too. I didn't expect mine to not be there when i got it apart. The diesel guys on the cumminsforum say to put in a new dowl pin)if its gone)and tab it. Apparently can crack without the pin due to flexing . I can't really see how and it was a saturday, so i just put it back together after loctiting the case bolts.

Cleaned up  the leaks from the cover and front seal. Now to get the vacuum pump sealed up, and fix the p/s fluid leak. Has a new pump on it but leaks 


My truck is red too makes we want to copy yours

What kind of air filter did you use ? I want to get a better flowing paper element filter than the fram's. I guess the high flow K&N style filters are a no no on turbo engines. Guess they are know to have dusted a few turbo diesels.

I have a '98 12V that the front crank seal is leaking.  Bought the cover gasket and seal from the dealer, made my own tab, havent gotten around to tearing it a part.  I got a little over 200,000 on mine.
Did you pull the rad too or just pull the fan and shroud?  I was a little worried about getting the damper off with out the correct tool also.
I've had a K&N on my truck for 190,000 miles, no problems and I live on gravel roads.  Filter came with the fuel plate and boost elbow that I bought from Jennetty Racing.

[charger_fan_4ever]

I just pulled the shroud and the fan/braket.

I got to thinking even if i had got the 4 fan pulley bolts out i don't think you could put that hidden bolt back in with the fan still in place. Might want to check that. They sell a tool to loosen that big fan nut thats lefthand thread.

You auto guys I dunno any other way to get the dampner bolt off without the tool. With my stick truck in 1st gear and a block behind the tire the truck tried to climb the block with the big breaker bar. For sure is a no go on an auto.

I'm still amazed how fast these 12v's start in the cold. Its instant just like in the summer. Was 7 degrees below freezing this am and it fired right up with a slight push of the pedal.

[daytonalo]

they start but they like a little warm up b-4 driving

[Silver R/T]

A little power service every other tank in winter works great

[charger_fan_4ever]

all my previous diesel trucks I let idle for like 15 minutes before leaving. Read somewhere that idling a cold cummins the egt's get so low that the fuel does not completly burn and ends up going down the walls into the oil pan and contaminate the oil. 

makes sense

If i know i'm going somewhere in the am I usually plug in my diesels once its down to 10 below freezing. Easier starts and less warm up time. The dodge does not like going into second when its cold. Guess the trans fluid is a lil thick lol.

[GPULLER]

The idle time is about the same for all diesels, they don't recommend idling for long periods, fuel will wash the cylinders.  I have a stick in my truck that I jam in between the foot pedal and floor mat to bring the R's up to 1000. 
They are definitely good starters, mine starts in 10 to 20 below without plugging in.  Just have to give them a little fuel when you hit the starter, it's a 12V thing.  I ran straight number 2 fuel during the winter months and just add glug of Power Service at fill up.  It was the daily driver for my wife for the past 5 years, she would run blended fuel or she would blend #1 and 2 when blended wasn't available at the pump.  She never had a gel up.
Now she has an '07 Durango, the Quad Cab just wasn't working any more with 2 kids.  She does miss the noise of the Cummins.  Now the diesel gets parked in the winter and comes out in the summer for hauling pulling tractors.

[daytonalo]

Can anyone help , I want to convert my Cummins from Auto to manual , my truck is 2 wd so it would be simple . From my research V-10 and cummins use the same set-up . One question I take it the trans is a 5 speed , that mean 1st gear is a granny or creeper gear ? Also where is my best pace to find all the parts needed ?

Larry

[charger_fan_4ever]

Hey Larry

Yes 1st is actually L on the stick and its a creeper. With 33's and 3.55 gears i take off in second even on hills.

with 33's and the 5 speed with 3.55's at 55 mph its turning about 16-1700.

For a 2wd the switch would  be easier, but probably not a whole lot of fun. I'd think fairly expensive if you bought piece by piece. Best bet would be a scrapped truck. All would be in place, so the swap would be easier.

I know on the 4x4's guys say its cheaper to just sell and buy a stick. I looked for about 6 months to find a stick.

I was thinking the tranny was different between cummins and v-10. If the tranny is the same you could just find a scrapped v-10. You'd need the driveshaft from a 2wd stick too.

[daytonalo]

I almost bought a 2001-3500 2 wd dually cummins with a 6 speed , I was going to swap trans and then sell the 2001 dually dump . As of tonight the deal is dead

[SG1022]

It has only 130 k , i'm told the engine will go 350 k

350K before what? These last 500K before major maintenance. You have to watch fuel pressure on these trucks, stock lift pump fails and that ruins injection pump.

^What he said

My Grandpa has 1.4 mil on his, uses it to deliver light trailers.


He just maintains it well

[charger_fan_4ever]

It has only 130 k , i'm told the engine will go 350 k

350K before what? These last 500K before major maintenance. You have to watch fuel pressure on these trucks, stock lift pump fails and that ruins injection pump.

^What he said

My Grandpa has 1.4 mil on his, uses it to deliver light trailers.


He just maintains it well

Holy crap. Highest mileage I heard of was 750K miles. Has the pump been rebuilt on your gramps truck ?

[daytonalo]

Thanks for the tips and my new home . Dieselresource.com

Some new pics taken today of my  15 year old hunk of shit  

[dads_69]

Ferrari resto' project? I feel for you man. I did one once, easy job but customer was a PITA.
BTW, your daily driver doesn't look half bad, for a hunk of shit, I'd drive it. 

Mark

[daytonalo]

86 328 with Konig package .

[SG1022]

It has only 130 k , i'm told the engine will go 350 k

350K before what? These last 500K before major maintenance. You have to watch fuel pressure on these trucks, stock lift pump fails and that ruins injection pump.

^What he said

My Grandpa has 1.4 mil on his, uses it to deliver light trailers.


He just maintains it well

Holy crap. Highest mileage I heard of was 750K miles. Has the pump been rebuilt on your gramps truck ?

Just talked to him and he said at 1.1 he got a  great deal on a new block and picked up .   He said that it didn't really need it, but it couldn't hurt. 
Other than that just good matainence, and care. It has had it's interior replaced though!

And I meant to say "Silverlite" trailers earlier, not lite trailers.   He has ran his own delivery business for 25 years.

[NMike]

sorry... didn't read enough of the thread.....