RamCharger.net

We've ALL seen those threads somewhere with GREAT comedic value - the Canadian thread on the Oriental neighbor's EPIC shed build; the guy with the UGLY girlfriend posing by his ride, etc.

I figured we needed a place to post some of our own, so here's my initial offering - from Pittsburgh Off-road.com.  A man, and his Lil' red truck, and thank goodness, it AIN'T a Dodge he's blaspheming! 

http://pgh-offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?21367-Little-Red

The winch mounting ONLY gets "better"... 

Anyone tried one with a 318 Magnum?

Anyone tried one at all?   

Saw this last night on my evening newscast here in Pittsburgh tonite!  It's MY favorite Army/Navy store - about 40 minutes south of my house.  I usually pop in 2-3x/year, for 30mm/40mm cans, if nothing else http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/da-raid-california-army-navy-store-nets-more-750k-/nbsWw/   They have a tremendous website & fleabay store, doing business across the country.  Their website is still up - http://www.calarmy.com/ - but who knows for how long. 

I posted this on a PA website last evening, and a guy across the Commonwealth points out, that NCIS justed busted HIS favorite Army/Navy store as well!  http://www.shipnc.com/articles/2013/11/13/news/doc5282372d46076656827649.txt   

Seems like SOMETHING'S 'rotten to the Corps,' but NC is a long way from PA to fence this stuff!

Here's a better news story on it, with more details on the California, PA store raid, with an embedded TV news segment & interviews - http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/11/14/charges-pending-after-ncis-raids-washington-co-army-navy-surplus-store/

Anyone done one on their RC?  Got a writeup of it?

9 1/4" rear axle disc brake conversion plans ALSO welcome! 

496 years & counting!

From your friendly, neighborhood, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod 4-wheeler.   

Ok... so Bushwhackers are only 2", and overpriced.  That, and they work GREAT... with the original 285's... 

Whose fabbed up some 3"+ fender flares for their BIG meats?  Or KNOWS of some someone fabbed up once... somewhere... and has photographic evidence of same?

Would love some Jeep-style FLAT fender flares on my RC, but I'll take what I can get at this point.  Post 'em if you got 'em!

NOT mine, first of all - I was cruising CL ads for cAi's  and came across it.  It's such a rarity, I just wanted to share it!

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/pts/4057362178.html



It would be 31 flavors of AWESOME in an old CJ, or my Commander, or a Gen.1 Dakota or Durango, or most anything you dropped it in! 

Any good in our RC's - epsecially the Stage 1 module, which is what I'm looking at for mine?  To wit;

Quote

Click to view a larger picture of the Dodge/Jeep Module | Stage 1
view larger
   Dodge/Jeep Module | Stage 1
Part #: 90002

The JET Performance Module for Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles is a JET exclusive. Dynamic Spectrum Tuning provides power gains across the entire power band-not just at full throttle. Point by point air/fuel ratio, ignition advance and various other tuning points provide performance gains of up to 25 horsepower. Improves throttle response, acceleration and low end torque. Simple, plug-in installation in less than 30 minutes. More Details     Installation Instructions



Stage 1-For stock or mildly modified vehicles. Fuel and timing curves are modified for optimal performance and mileage using less expensive, lower octane fuels. Programming is designed to burn fuel at peak efficiency, which results in improved performance and mileage. Daily drivers can use lower cost regular fuel for potential mileage gains, but for optimal performance gains use of mid-grade or better is recommended.


   PRICE: US$319.95

   
Tell a friend  /  Question about the product  /  Save wishlist  /  View Compatible Vehicles

Since there aren't but two years worth of Magnum RC's out there, it's something of a specialized question, BUT...

Anybody tried one of these (or another mfg's clone) on their RC?  http://www.carid.com/2000-dodge-durango-air-intakes/aem-brute-force-air-intake-system-252837.html

VEDDY, VEDDY, NICE '91 RC for sale CHEAP!  NOT mine, but looks like a great truck for stock or a project, and the price is RIGHT!

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/4027607067.html

It's GOOD to drive a 43 year old Dodge... 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mSHo3j72fIo

I know nobody actually MAKES one for RC's, BUT...

... has anyone played around with retrofitting one to THEIR rig?  Especially to the '92 - '93 Magnum models?

I know K&N makes a kit for late '90's model Dakota's.  Has anyone tried to fit it to an RC... with SUCCESS?

Or has anyone just snaked a hose off the air cleaner, over to an opening in the core support?  I'm cheap - I'd give THAT a try! 

Ok... so it's NOT a Dodge, BUT... got CLASSIC offroad iron?  Now you can acquire some - Steve McQueen style!


http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=LA0713-164217





Makes for an EMP-proof BoV, too!

My OTHER truck, is a Jeep Commander.  So I moseyed up for the Jeep Cruise-In Friday afternoon/evening.  This was the Third Annual one, but my first.  Butler, PA is where they made the ORGINAL Jeep - Bantam Motor Works - back in 1940.  Ford & Willys had more capacity, so they eventually took over the production, but the Bantam was the FIRST, and it was made here in western PA.

Had a LOTTA fun up there that afternoon... while it lasted... save for the Autistic kid, who kept yeling about "dog monsters," and, "we've got to go - we've GOT to GO!" the whole time...     Next year, #3 son is going - #1 son can stay home and watch Thomas the Tank Engine videos....

At any rate, as I figured (correctly!) that XK's would be few & far between, I figured, I'd better vacuum mine, and hit it with a quick wash before proceeding. I mean, you can't go show OFF a dirty Jeep, can you?!?!




That done, it's time to try and figure out HOW to get around downtown Butler, where I hadn't been in 9 years!!! It's only one county away, and not that big a town (20k? Maybe?), but I wasn't familiar with the route, or the gameplan. Hmmmm... I think I'll follow THIS guy!




So I get there, park, and here we is!




Lo & behold, the second of what would be three Commanders, is about 3 carlengths behind me!




Yeah - the blonde went with the Commander - so did her husband (NOT pictured)...




Across the street from, Our Hero...   




The THIRD Commander, was the star of the SHOW! And he wheeled in from NH!





I'd LOVE for my XK to look like this someday.  Probably AFTER it's paid for, and the warranty has expired! 

There were a few WK's represented - some stock, some mild, and some wild! Including;





Mine wasn't the only stocker!

Great Granddad... with his newest grandson. 




Couple of "late model" Waggies - for sale! Two '89 Models.





Some nice old Chiefs, J10's & Comanches represented, too.






Talk about BRAVE! I don't know HOW this snuck in! I think it won, "ONLY in Class!" 




With four small kids, bigger is BETTER (Commander, Ramcharger) in my book... but that's not to say TJ's, YJ's, JK's etc, aren't interesting - ESPECIALLY the ones that roll into an event like this! Here's a few that caught my eye, for various reasons.




This one even turned #1 son's head!




Ruger Firearms' Jeep!




Guns & Jeeps ARE a good combo!





My picture doesn't do the paintjob on this one justice!




I REALLY love the rack setup on the back of this one!




Of course, it's hard to have a Jeep gathering, WITHOUT noting their military history. Bantamfest was started for that very reason. LOTS of restored military Jeeps, and military-themed Jeeps were out in force!










I think the Boombox was optional on this model... 

MORE military Jeeps!





Not QUITE "G.I.," but nicely-themed!





Our English cousin!    Some sort of "Rover," from the early 50's, I think...




And finally, GREAT-Great-Grandpa - the progenitor of us all. A Bantam Jeep.





EWWWWWWwwww... DIRTY Jeeps! 







LOTS of crowd, even at 4 in the afternoon - I'm sure it only got MORE crowded as the night came on, and the parade began. Passed a LOTTA Jeeps headed north, while we were heading back to Pittsburgh.

Southern end of festivities, looking north (we were parked on the FAR north end)




A little north of the center of town, looking southward.




When we first arrived, looking south.




NO shortage of XJ's and WJ's!





But as my first four wheeling experience, was in a high school buddy's CJ-5, I always have a soft spot for those. This is an '80 model - my buddy's was an '81, but was this exact same color! His had aftermarket rims that were close to this, but it's practically a dead ringer for my first four wheel ride.




A nicely displayed '74.




This might've been the best LOOKING Jeep of the show, though. Clean enough you could eat off of it!





AMC... I remember them... 

And of course, LOTS of classic AMC & Willys iron - especially Jeepsters, trucks, and wagons!











This one was particularly sharp!




It was refit with a lot of modern amenities. I'm not sure on the engine, but it now has A/C!!!   

Some other "interesting odds 'n' ends!  Classic NON-Jeep iron!




SERIOUS mudders!!!





And... I have NO clue what this is... or was... but it was here, so I snapped a pic of it.




And the... WHUH?!?!?  Why?   




And THEN there was the gal with all the toy/stuffed dogs bolted to her TJ. I had the camera aimed, centered... and... couldn't do it. I'm sure even Compass owners would rightly shun such a person...   

WRONG end of the Commonwealth for me, but I have a line on an older RC (has the removeable roof, so it's an '81 or older!) that runs, at a GREAT price.  If someone on that end of the state (or VA, MD, DC or NJ even!) is interested in transporting/storing it for a while, maybe we could work out a deal for parts off it, or...

Drop me a line and let me know, if this sounds interesting.  Pics to follow... as soon as I get some!

 Four (4) 16" axle limit straps and mounting hardware, NiB! Bought this from East Coast Gear last month - turns out it's not needed. My mistake is your gain.




Cost me $130.95 - $110 now to you!



K&N panel filter for factory airbox - Jeep Commander XK and Grand Cherokee WK (may fit some Dodges, too) - NiB



$20 FTF



Factory spare from my '92 Dodge Ramcharger - standard Dodge 5x5.5 15" wheel (fits some Jeeps and Fords also). ALWAYS stored in the rear of the truck until 2012 - now stored indoors. NEVER seen pavement!




$40 - FTF ONLY!




Actron code scanner & instruction manual - works on pre-'96 V-8 Ford/Lincoln/Mercury products - Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Thunderbird/Cougar/MK VII/MKVIII/Town Car and possibly some full-size trucks.



$20 FTF



NO reasonable offer refused - TRADES considered - I need THIS stuff outta here!!! PM or e-mail - it's ALL good! 

A Hemi-powered horn/siren!!!

Presenting the historic
CHRYSLER AIR RAID SIREN
The Most Powerful Siren Ever Built



http://www.victorysiren.com/x/index.htm

QuoteWhat you see pictured above is a Chrysler Air Raid Siren, the most powerful siren in the world. It's the size of a car, measuring near 12-feet in length and standing more than 6-feet tall. It also weighs twice as much as today's typical car. This gigantic siren is powered by an 180-HP Chrysler Industrial V-8 HEMI® gasoline engine. The super-duty engine directly drives a three-stage compressor that blows 2,610 cubic feet of air a minute, at nearly 7 PSI, into a giant siren rotor. The compressed air screams through the chopper and out through six giant horns with an exit velocity of 400 miles per hour. The result is an incredibly loud 138 dB sound (measured 100 feet from the siren). The loudness of this siren is unmatched by any other warning device ever sold, ever. It's also considerably louder than the largest steam whistle or horn. As if that were not dramatic enough, the whole unit, engine and all, slowly rotates one and one-half times a minute on its iron turntable base.

QuoteA few hundred of these monstrous Cold War sirens were produced and sold during the 1950's. Many remained in service for twenty plus years, sounding only for routine tests. Most people who lived in major metropolitan areas during the 1950's and 60's will remember the siren tests. Those particularly, who lived in or near Los Angeles, Seattle, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New York and even Miami could hear the haunting siren wail of a Chrysler Air Raid Siren.

Listen here - http://www.victorysiren.com/x/wav/sound.htm

Here's the story on the Pittsburgh sirens - and dang - I'm only a couple miles from the Carrick one. Just 50 years too LATE to go nab it!

QuotePittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh had ten Chrysler Air Raid Sirens that were installed in 1953 at a cost of $100,000. The location of only two of these sirens has been discovered. Both of these sirens are now owned by collectors. During the late 1950's and early 1960's Pittsburgh's sirens were tested every Monday morning.
» Carrick High School - Roof (3 floors) - 12-0 engine cowling - Now owned by David Stall in
Texas, presently residing in Pennsylvania [ story ] [ photo ]
» Prospect Junior High School - Roof - 12-0 engine cowling - Model IND-20A; Type 480;
Serial Number 5699 - Now owned by Harry Barry in Pennsylvania [ article 1 ] [ article 2 ]
[ photo ]

TEN sirens, eh?  HMMMMMM... I think we have a basis for a SCAVENGER hunt - at least here in Pittsburgh! 

Anyone doing a RETRO restoration?

I have the rear speakers (the front ones were un-salvageable) & grilles, and the factory AM/FM/Cassette player out of my '92 RC - all of which worked fine when removed.  The speaker cones are complete and NOT blown.

If you're going RETRO, than these are for you! 

Well... it's GETTING there... 

It is slowly, but surely, coming BACK to life. After sitting in a shed for the better part of 7 years, I've finally gotten the help and resources needed to at least try and get it to pass state inspection!

Here's what I inherited back in the fall of '06 - and it had mostly been sitting for a year & a half at THAT point, after being a daily driver for most of its life.

A nice, but tired, 1992 Dodge Ramcharger LE150 - 318 V-8, MPFI (first year for the 318 Magnum!  ), A518, NP241 Transfer case, 9 1/4 rear end - Dana 44 fron taxle, and 135,000 miles - not a few of which were Pittsburgh-to-west-Texas road trips, where the original owner was from.





I inherited this beast in the fall of '06, with the INTENTION of making it a trail rig, as the factory 11mpg city/13mpg highway was a bit much for a daily driver... so last year, I promptly bought a Jeep Commander for a daily driver, that gets 10.5 mpg city...



THAT said, my local mechanic offered to work on it as a side project at his house, as he knew my children were Autistic, and he wanted to help. I bought the parts, and he did the labor for free. That worked well... for a while... until he took a job in the Marcellus shale fields a few years ago. So my truck just sat in his shed for a few more years.

I'd already bought a complete 4 1/2" Rough Country lift kit for it from TopGunz Customz down in TN, as well as five (5) Courser M/T 36" tires for it, and five (5) 15x10 Pacer custom wheels (wanted the matching full-size spare, obviously), and those were still sitting in the garage of my local Goodyear dealer.

I'd also bought from Kennesaw Mountain Products in GA (now Tactical Armor Group) a custom rear bumper, with an INTEGRAL swing-out tire gate, built to spec to haul a 36x15x10 spare around on (also has a Jerry can holder, hi-lift jackstorage, cb antenna mount, license plate frame, and D shackles. That was a cool $750, and it was still shrink-wrapped to the pallet it was shipped on - sitting in an empty classroom of my church for the past 5 years! 

Nonetheless, I didn't see a lotta future for the old gal, and was thinking of either scrapping or selling it as recently as this May, but a new member at my church offered to help, after we got to talling about cars one day. He owns a custom shop in Carnegie, and does all manner of metal fabrication there. I told him I had all the parts - just need the lift kit installed primarily, and I'd take care of the rest, but he decided he wanted to do more - including bodywork, sanding, primering, painting, and even building a custom front bumper for it! 


In early August, he took his rollback over to my former mechanic's house, and picked up all the pieces. Here's a small photo retrospective of his work to date!

Passenger side UP!





Interior needs work now (some of the "handiwork" by moi - with a stereo HALF(ass)-installed... )




Of course, a LOT of its own parts and pieces are being stored inside itself at this point, too.

Here it was lifted, by mid-October!





Some closeups of this custom front bumper (spot welds and temporarily clamped to evaluate fitment)




Made of box steel, it drops low enough to pass state inspection - the center part will be cut out, and a shelf installed, suitable for mounting a winch recessed into the bumper!

Bumper is now finished, save for setting up the recessed winch mount





Here's some pics after it got bondo'd (meh... it's a trail rig  ), and is almost ready to be painted!






You get a good look at the custom rear bumper this way!

To sand, primer, and paint this monster would be $4k+ at any reputable shop. I'm getting it for free, but STILL didn't know what color Jimmy was going to use at this point!    I knew "silver" will be a large part of it, but beyond that...    Beggars of course, don't get to be choosers!It's off to Monro Muffler for new brake and fuel lines (the originals rotted away), and whatever other work we need to get it to pass inspection after the first of the year.

Assuming Obama doesn't confiscate ALL our tax refunds this year  , my INTENTION is to do a ring & pinion swap (to 4.10's - it's currently factory 3.50 geared) and add a Transpak to the tranny. I might splurge for the winch at that time, too. Long range plans include tearing down the engine (which still runs strong, holds compression, etc.), adding new heads perhaps, new pistons, torque-ier crank, etc. I've got some Warn lock-out hubs ready for it too. ANY extra mpg's in THIS beast will be appreciated, and I figure the lock-out hubs will make GETTING to the outdoors a little less costly!

I'd like to do re-do the interior completely (droopy headliner has GOT to go - welcome to the late 80's/early '90's and the droopy headliner flashback!  ) - doing the seats in some sort of faux leather, that cleans up easily. I'd LOVE to tear out ALL the carpet and just rhinoline the entire floor - make it so you could run a hose and WASH the truck out... but that may not be ENTIRELY feasible, given how many wires run along the floor in even a '92 truck. I think I WILL rhinoline the cargo area though, as this will still be our Boy Scout War Wagon - suitable for throwing backpacks, gear, chuckboxes, and the like into. Getting that factory spare OUT of the cargo area REALLY opens 'er up back there!

It'll be a zombiecrusher for certain - a good BoV, if it comes to that. But she's DEFINITELY a zombie herself, having come close to the scrapyard THREE times now (it got hit in the passenger side when the original owner had it, but he refused to have it totaled, and got it repaired instead - when he passed away, his wife was about to scrap it, when she offered it to me instead. I ALMOST scapped it this spring, but found some much-needed help in the nick of time). It might FINALLY see the out-of-doors yet!

Any & all feedback is welcome and appreciated. And if you're handy with a wrench, engines & drivetrains, and live in Pittsburgh - gimme a shout!!!