Sometimes the simplest queries lead us down long and interesting roads. Such is the case with our newest project vehicle: The Long Range Clunker, a '94 Dodge Ram 1500.
It all started innocently enough; our buddy, Cody, asked us to go look at a couple of trucks that might make for decent parts for other projects. After driving 31 miles across the desert (the fastest and shortest route), we arrived at a ranch. The two trucks in question were a '71 Ford with a bunch of oddball parts and this '94 Dodge. The Dodge had last been driven into a guardrail about seven months prior to our seeing it, and had sat ever since.
Even though the old battery did (barely) manage to start the truck after sitting for seven
With a 5.9L V-8, 46RH transmission, and NP231HD transfer case coupled to a front Dana 44 and rear 9.25 axle, it sure was a decent drivetrain. Once we found the key and unlocked the truck, it was clear that some work was needed, but this was at the height of the "Cash for Clunkers" lunacy, so we wanted to see if this old beast would fire.
After some slow cranking, it caught, ran, and idled, so Cody asked our expert advice. We checked fluid levels, and took it for a spin. The tranny seemed to hit all gears, four-wheel drive worked, the power steering and power brakes seemed fine, and the asking price was $500. Even with 170,000 miles on the clock, this wasn't a truck to part out to other projects-it drove with no weird noises; this was a truck to drive.
Once the truck was cranking strong, we turned our attention to the burnt-smelling fluids.
So we told Cody it was a driver and worth the $500 buy-in. Without another word, he pulled out his checkbook, bought the truck, and asked us to drive it back to his place 31 miles across the desert. After checking the fluids closer (power steering and transmission smelled burnt, coolant low, oil smelled off) we topped off the coolant with water from the horse trough, topped off the power steering with ATF, and drove it back.
Along the way we found out the Infinity radio mostly worked, the A/C blew cold, we couldn't get the transmission to slip like the previous owner said it did, all power windows and mirrors worked, and all the lights in the dash worked. This really was a good truck for the price. But Cody already had eight projects going, and the Ram did need some work, so why did he buy it?
While we were concerned about costs, one of the things we didn't want to do was cheap out
We got it back to Cody's place and asked him just that. His response? "Well, you need a truck to tow with, and this one was priced right." Who can argue with a free truck? So, the Long-Range Clunker was born.
The idea is pretty simple: We want this truck to do two things-tow our lighter projects around, and get us out into the desert. Now when we say "tow," we don't mean a couple of hundred miles-we'd rather drive our street-legal projects that far. No, we are going to use this truck to tow our junk to Moab, Utah; Vancouver, British Columbia; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and even further. It will likely stay hooked to the trailer until we absolutely have to be in Florida three days from now. So we want it to be comfortable enough and powerful enough to tow that far in comfort.
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Running into the guardrail took its toll on the tie rod and drag link. Both were tweaked p
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Part of the guardrail joust made the radiator bust a seal at the tank. The busted seal mad
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One common yet lesser-known issue with these Magnum motors is that the plenum seal tends t