Good day all,

Thanks for reading through this post. I purchased the truck with the intent of building a multi-purpose truck to serve needs of the ranch, family camping, trailer hauler and sometimes driver.

To begin with, I ditched the broken bug deflector as the first mod. Then we had a week plus of windy rain and nothing happened.

When I got the RC home:


Today was the first sunny day in seemingly forever, I broke out the tools, and wrenched on my own junk for me. The first orders of business were: 1. removing the early 1990s tires and preparing for newer rubber, 2. inspecting springs, shocks, and sway bars to find the source of bump steer on the street, 3. inspect brake and axles, and 4. to rid the truck of the redneck rear bumper in prep for something more useful.

Here are some cluster pics to mull over.

Tires:






Steering and suspension:




Bumper and sliders:

[img]http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/9372/1390619.jpg[/img] [img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9563/1390620.jpg[/img] [img]http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5287/1390629t.jpg[/img]

In particular:
1. The very old tires are starting to delaminate along the sidewall and one sustained fatal damage while briefly on a tow dolly. The turbine wheels look pretty good, but with 6-lugs, won't be able to replace the 5-lug turbo wheels.
2. The shocks are all shot and leaking. Replace as needed.
3. The driver's side knuckle has a raised steering arm, but looks like it was meant for a 4" lift, not the 6" lift installed...cross-over steering likely will solve this.
4. The rear lift was performed with stacked blocks for a total of 7.5 inches over the axle and these will definitely be replaced with Superlift (or similar) 6" springs.
5. The front and rear sway bar links do not let the bars ride level, rear bar to be removed.
6. The rear bumper mounts were bent and no longer safe, allowing the bumper to flex when loaded with a trailer.
7. The so heavy I have to drag it around Iron Mule folding crane bumper will be a simple simple install and give me the ability to lift things to the roof or simply up. This bumper has a 1500 pound winch and is of heavy enough construction that I can probably add a swing out carrier system to both sides...tires and fuel.
8. Montero Gen I LWB sliders are a perfect length for a Ramcharger, thanks Ray!!

Just a beginning, but here we are.

Russell

Are you considering beefing up the rear frame section for the heavy weight bumper???

What year and engine??

The Ramcharger is an '87 LE model with 360, automatic and all the trimmings. The CAD front axle and 3.21 gear sets are not preferred, and will be eventually upgraded to 3/4-ton pieces.

As to supporting the rear bumper, I will have some modifications to the existing brackets to contain bolting connections along the bottom of the frame. There are cross members and the fuel tank in the way of bracketry over the top of the frame.

My first mod was completed this afternoon, replacing the ancient all terrain tires.




Then it was time to make dinner.

R-

Keep us updated.

Last trip to DMV, now all paperwork in my name!! Now, wait for title and do something else with the current license plates.

just found this thread.
looks like a good project you've started.
bet it will be quite the work horse.
i look forward to developements.

My first work this month, save for putting in a battery, was to further Ryan as a tow beast. He needed a hitch:




I sourced a receiver hitch from a '90 Dodge 1-ton service truck. I'll be going back to the parts yard and grab the 4.10 geared D60DH and the 11k pound rear springs for the free lift. I have some stacked blocks in the current rear suspension to do away with, afterall.

Wow, two months between posts! I was able to drive Ryan for a bit before another age-related problem cropped up, death of a radiator tank and some old hoses. The OE radiator was removed and taken to a shop for rodding and repair...there are only 2 radiator shops in my area, couldn't believe nothing closer than 35 miles away!

About a week elapsed between the drop off and phone call from the shop. The upper tank had too many stress cracks for repair and the tech recommended their house brand 3 core as a replacement...priced at $615!!!!!

Last weekend, I visited the local yard and returned to the truck I sourced the hitch from, and found a relatively new 3 core radiator, heavy duty 7-blade fan and correct fan shroud all reasonably priced. Tonight I installed the radiator and shroud, hoses tomorrow and refill fluids.

About 4 weeks have elapsed since my last drive in Ryan now, but he'll be repaired soon. Once this repair is done, time to save money for rear lift springs and get Pearl repaired.

Once Pearl has a new headgasket, I can return to either plotting her sale or power train donation to Roxy.

Cheers. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Radiator in, new thermostat, housing, and all hoses redone.

Warmed up, everything seems ok...driving to work in the morning for check-see. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I know your pain, buying used trucks is just lots of fun. Good score on the radiator.