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LT's Wild RamCharger

LT is new to the board, He just joined up. He is from my hometown of Los Alamos NM and we both wheel up here in Utah alot. He is a wild guy. He has been into wheeling along time. He has owned several built to the hilt CHevys, and a few Dodges. Right now he has a 87 Dodge Ramcharger which he calls his beater. The motor is a 360 bored over 0.3. He got real happy with the Sawsall and cut tons of the body off, including the roof, and front and fenders. He has a roll cage that is under fab right now. He now has a dana 60 going in for the front and a Corp 14 for the rear. He has Hydr. steering and a bunch of other stuff. He has new tires, 42 Irocs and beadlock rims.

I let him tell you about it. Here are his pictures:
 

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L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
I guess that my only concern is that if I wait to do the steering then it will be almost impossible to drive while at EJS. See, now I am in a different mode of operation. I need to get the beater back on its feet so that I can make the trip. The steering will have to be done in order to make the trip. I really do want to get the rear fourlink done first but, I think I need to be a little more patient with this. I am at a crossroads and I am unsure of what to do next.

LT.
 
774x4ram

774x4ram

Member
Location
Lindon Utah
I would definitely do the steering first I went to moab with my RC and stock steering and it sucked big time :mad:
when I did the cross over it was so much better .
If you want quick flex in the rear do a shackle flip and some revolver's :p
or just the flip and remove some of your spring pack, works really well
thats what I did but I was also using chevy springs so my wheel base stayed the same .
 
notajeep

notajeep

Just me
Location
Logan
Having wheeled full manual steering, power steering, power steering with hydro assist, and now full hydo, I would absolutly say go for the full hydro now. IMO you can't beat it, and with a good matched system it will bo no issue on the road at all and a joy on the trail.
 
A

ATOYA4U

Cheating is trying!!
Location
Hooper
LT if you want a cheap way to do your hydro assist order all your parts and ram from here http://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp?UID=2006032711142211 I ordered my ram, lines and fittings from them. I paid $70 shipped to my door. All my friends have done the same thing and are very happy with there rams.. Just a cheaper way to fix your steering problems and get your four link done. You can upgrade to full hydro later!
 
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LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Okay, after much debate and thought I am going to source a hydraulic assist kit. The reason is because I still run a carb for now. If my truck dies on the trail I will need to be able to get it off the trail and I will not be able to do that with a full hydro steering. The engine needs to be running to get the fluid to the ram on a full hydro kit. With the cross over and assist I will still be able to tow it off the trail. If CasperCustoms and ChestonScout are able to get their 44" Pitbull Rockers to work with this kind of steering then I have no doubt that I can make it work just as well or maybe even a little bit better, because I weigh a lot less then either of them.

If any of y'all have something else that I may have missed please tell me. I think that this is the right decission becasue I think that I will only have to do this one time once properly configured.

LT.
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
The coil springs showed up yesterday. They sure are purdy.:greg: I am guessing that the shocks should be here sometime next week. If I only had the steering fixed.:( I swear, it is like I am starting to have the same luck as ChestonScout, now.:rofl: Everytime I take the beater out I end up breaking something else. So, from now until EJS I will not be taking the beater out anymore. Then at EJS I will be testing the durability of all the new improvements. Wish me luck.

LT.
 
T

turbosniper1

6x6x6 / Commando
Location
(CLASSIFIED!!), CO
LT. said:
The coil springs showed up yesterday. They sure are purdy.:greg: I am guessing that the shocks should be here sometime next week. If I only had the steering fixed.:( I swear, it is like I am starting to have the same luck as ChestonScout, now.:rofl: Everytime I take the beater out I end up breaking something else. So, from now until EJS I will not be taking the beater out anymore. Then at EJS I will be testing the durability of all the new improvements. Wish me luck.

LT.
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You won't be disappointed!!!!! Trust me!:D
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
I just sent another email to FOA to find out the status on my shocks. I placed the order on December 3rd and to date I have only gotten the springs, no shocks yet. FOA did quote me 10 to 14 days and it has been 14 full days as of now. I am wanting to have the parts because I have already paid in full for them. I guess that I am just getting a little ancy because that was a lot of money.

Next week I am planning on ordering the cross over steering kit with the high steer kit from Off Road Design. I just need to finish off this weeks crazy amount of over time first. I think that I have already worked 60.5 hours as of now. By Saturday I will have worked 86.5 hours or more. Maybe I will even have enough hours to go ahead and order the hydraulic assist kit as well.

LT.
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
LT. said:
Rocker guards are for those who fear body damage. Those souls who are uneasy about some trail scars. No rocker guards for me. This vehicle was chosen to be my offroad vehicle for a few reasons. First, price. Second, it was available. Third, it's ugly and already had a dent in it. If you are going to wheel something and you want to wheel a full size then you have a few choices. You can either call it quits when the trail gets tight or you can adapt and overcome. I choose the latter. I also chose this rig because I don't think that there are too many vehicles out there that are uglier than 80's Dodges. That being said then anything that I do to it is going to be an improvement.

LT.
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Actually rocker panel guards serve two purposes, 1) protect body, 2) movment assist- crumpled metal doesn not slide across rocks as easy as a smooth unbendable bar. So when you put your side into a rock, tree, or dirt pile it you can use it as leverage, or to slide across smoothly. On the other hand body panels crumple, catch, hang up, stick, send ripples through other panels, bend, tear, cause sharp edges, and you can not use as leverage or to slide....;) something to think about bro. This is not at all about being macho and showing scars, but functionality. its a tool. Also a great winch point for those tough extractions.
 
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L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
sprueitt said:
Actually rocker panel guards serve two purposes, 1) protect body, 2) movment assist- crumpled metal doesn not slide across rocks as easy as a smooth unbendable bar. So when you put your side into a rock, tree, or dirt pile it you can use it as leverage, or to slide across smoothly. On the other hand body panels crumple, catch, hang up, stick, send ripples through other panels, bend, tear, cause sharp edges, and you can not use as leverage or to slide....;) something to think about bro. This is not at all about being macho and showing scars, but functionality. its a tool. Also a great winch point for those tough extractions.
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Good point! And some day when I have the funds I think that the Beater will be getting boat sides to not only get rid of the low hanging panels, scars, torn metal, and so on, but also give it a little bit of a tummy tuck. There are so many things that I really want to do but, first things first. Rocker guards is not even on my list yet. My plate is already a little too full as it stands. Someday maybe, but not now.

LT.
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
I ordered the cross-over steering and the high steer kit from Off Road Design today. I called them at 1600 hours and spoke to the owner Steven Watson himself. He told me that he would have to call me back because he needed to hand out the bonus checks and folks were leaving for the day. 30 minutes later he called me back and after some small talk about holiday season I ordered all the parts. He said that there was a fella there in the shop that was running a Dodge front 60 so he could get all the measurements for me. Total with shipping to my door was at $760.00. They should be shipping them out right at the new year.

LT.
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
ChestonScout said:
Is that with the hydro assist as well?
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No, no hydro assist yet. I am going to have to wait until I can get some more overtime. When I spoke to Steven Watson (of Off Road Design) I had told him my idea to purchase a rock ring from Poison Spyder Customs and weld the tabs to the rock ring for the hydro assist. He told me that Poison Spyder Customs was out of buissness and that Off Road Design made a tab just for the hydro assist. Steven Watson also wanted me to take a look at the PSC hydro assist system that he had in stock. I don't know which system to go with. I am still thinking that I want the Red Neck Ram from West Texas Off Road because they tell me that I just need to tap and drill my box and run a few lines. Nothing special.

LT.
 
ChestonScout

ChestonScout

opinions are like Jeeps..
Location
Clinton, Ut
Man......you sure are spending a lot of cash!


It will be sweet when its all together. Im just all about doing things as cheap as possible. I have about 400 bucks in my whole high steer system and that includes hydro assist. Corey is cheaper into his I think. Not nearly as nice as ORDs though.


I did buy my high steer arm from ORD. I wanted to talk to him at the vendor show at EJS last year to thank him and was planning on buying another high steer arm from him at the same time. I stood there for 25 minutes while he talked to a friend about nothing. Finally the friend told him you better help this guy, hes been waiting patiently. So Steven says what do you want in a very aggravated tone. I said nothing and walked off. I wont buy anything from them again.

If you decide to get the PSC stuff, I think Corey can get it. If not, call Summit Machine here in Utah. He is a vendor on RME and makes some SWEET stuff. He carries PSC. You should call Corey about the rams he has been getting. They seem to work very well!

The mounts are very easy to fab. No sense in buying a pre-made one

I cant wait to see the beater after all the upgrades! Gonna make the rest of us look stupid
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Y'all have much nicer rigs than I could even hope for. So, making anyone look stupid is out of the question. As of now I am wanting to add the hydro assist but I am unsure of what I really need. I think that my box is fine I just need to drill and tap it for the hydro lines. So, then I guess I need the lines, ram, some fab work, and voila'. Some have even said that my current pump is up to the task. Some others have also hinted that I should get a cooler. This would also increase my fluid volume and help things stay cooler. What do you think?

LT.
 
ChestonScout

ChestonScout

opinions are like Jeeps..
Location
Clinton, Ut
Im not 100% but I think you need to get a 2wd steering box to run the crossover steering. Seems like the 4wd pushes front to back. With crossover you need side to side hence the 2wd

But yes.....either box you will be able to drill and tap.

Your pump will be fine to. Just run a cooler. Im just using a cheap tranny cooler and I think it does the job.

Merry Christmas!
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
ChestonScout said:
Im not 100% but I think you need to get a 2wd steering box to run the crossover steering. Seems like the 4wd pushes front to back. With crossover you need side to side hence the 2wd

But yes.....either box you will be able to drill and tap.

Your pump will be fine to. Just run a cooler. Im just using a cheap tranny cooler and I think it does the job.

Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas to y'all as well. As far as the 2wd steering box goes you would be correct for a Chevy. The Dodge uses the same box but, the box for the 4wd is mounted to a bracket. The bracket is what I broke. I just need to remove the bracket, move the box towards the steering wheel four inches, and mount it in the 2wd location (there are already holes for it there). Then I already purchased the correct pitman arm and the cross over steering set up. Then I need to drill and tap the stock box. The frame needs to be boxed and braced for the steering due to the tremendous amounts of force it will see. Next up is the hydro assist ram and the cooler.

LT.
 
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