RamCharger.net

here's some photo's of that bad tire and my spare . beauty rings make the stock steel rims look way better. that bad tire is still making me wonder how the heck it got so bad just sitting in my driveway.

i almost wanted to just light this thing on fire and walk away today. for me this ramcharger has just been one huge pain. it has required so much more work to keep it moving than a normal vehicle. thankfully my 1 neighbors came home at a good time and helped me get the fitting out of my spare power steering pump. i ended up swapping fitting from the spare pump into the ramchargers pump and i am now running that brand new power steering line that i had. i am also not sure how it happened but the front drivers side tire got messed up to the point it was scary to drive even at super slow speed. definitely made the steering feel extremely strange. at least it is all fixed now. with the new-used tie rod i have been able to get the toe close to where it needs to be. still has a slight pull to the right but nothing like it was. i think with a bit more fine tuning of the toe i will get it driving perfectly straight. i was just in such a rush to just get it done before we get that snow. suppose to end up with 30cm's of snow eventually.

have i ever said how much i hate this ramcharger some days? nothing is as it should be on this thing. i went to replace the high pressure power steering line and the line i have does not have the right fittings on the 1 end. i look at the 2 power steering pumps that i have around and 1 has the 16mm fitting like it should and the other has the 18mm fitting like the RC. i don't get it. i was thinking about trying to swap adapters in the back of the pump with the pump that had the 16mm fitting but can't get it separated from power steering line. i ended up just cleaning up around where the steel line was leaking and sealing it up with some 2 parts epoxy and hope it holds. now this it not the worst of it. that power steering leak has cause the brake pads to wear out prematurely. on top of that with the 1 side lifted up it was impossible to miss the very worn out tie rod. i am just swapping out the tie rod with and adjustment sleeve all together with a spare from the parts truck that i had. it is just such a pain in the @ss. i am going to have to get out there early tomorrow morning to finish up. it started getting too chilly to really finish anything else.

i think the color of the light that is put out is different. the Sylvanias xtravision lights look like put out a whiter light which makes things seem a bit brighter compared to the standard sealed beam lights. i think i have some standard spare bulbs kicking around. i could try comparing them one night. i have been meaning to re-aim my headlights anyway so it would be a good time to try out a different bulb.

Quote from: SixGun on February 21, 2016, 08:33:11 PM
Yeah I did a search on RCC and came up with a guy using those.  They have very good reviews for the most part.  Very pricey though.  There seems to be some in between that use the bulbs instead of the sealed beams.  Low beams on these old boogers are terrible but high beams are ok. Did you see the harness that LMC sells fairly cheap with the relays to run them straight to the battery.  Clean setup as opposed to making one. I guess this bypasses the fusible links if I understand it correctly.

i have seen the led bulb setups but at $100 for the lights plus the cost of some decent housing you are still looking at about $200. it would be questionable if the light output would be $200 worth better than stock.

the relay harness is just better so that the shorter the distance that the power has to travel the more is making it to the light. it can make the lights a bit brighter in some cases.

i think i have read that led headlight are nice but definitely not worth the price they are asking for them. when buying headlights don't buy the cheapest normal ones that the store sell. i an currently running sylvania xtravision h6054 and pretty happy with them. just have to make sure they are aimed properly

as far as the relay harness goes i like them. they take all the load off the stock wiring and switches which are 20+ years old and getting weak. both my vehicles have the headlights on relays. i personally like making my own relay harness. then i can wire it to keep the low beams on while the high beams are on.

led headlights are still almost a bit too expensive for what they are.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Pair-of-Truck-Lite-27450c-Jeep-Beam-5-X-7-Rectangluar-LED-Phase-7-Headlamps-/271521478062?hash=item3f37f0f5ae:g:GtoAAOSwBvNTmyA2&vxp=mtr

yes there is. i ordered as much as i could without having the shipping/duty jump a huge amount. even got a set of brake pads and brake shoes along with a couple other brake related parts. i have almost been thinking i need to setup some shelves to organize and display all the parts i got so that it is easier to find what i need,

what a great day for working outside . almost starting to feel like summer around here. got around to doing some work on the RC but there is so much left to do. changed the distributor cap since it was looking crusty last time i was in there. also go a new mechanical oil pressure gauge hooked up. my old one crapped out on me a while back. sometime this week i got to see about tackling the leaking high pressure line on this thing. it was leaking pretty good on Wednesday up until i topped it up with some real power steering fluid. leak seemed to slow down after that but i was able to see where it was leaking from. got to fix it since it is a pretty good leak when it wants to plus i already got another hose. i ordered it for my 81 and i know it is a bit different but i know the same fittings are used on both ends and it is longer than the stock one so it should do the job.



also i don't know if anyone else needs any but Rock Auto has Trico 16180 wipers on closeout. the set on my RC are just starting to not do so good and it has been about 2 years since the last time i replaced them. even after shipping, taxes and US to Canadian conversion they came out to less than $5/wiper with all that i ordered. if i was to go into any place that sells wipers it would probably cost me at least $20/wiper for something similar locally. the parts i ordered also came from Texas so i would guess that is where they are keeping all the closeout parts. some of you guys might be able to save some more on shipping since the parts don't have to come quite as far. they also got some other part on closeout.
http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1097210&m=wc&l=en&html=true

it has taken a lot longer than i though it would but the ramcharger now officially has working cruise control . now just need to wait for the weather to get a bit nicer so that i can actually use it. the servo from the jeep works perfect plug and play but the cruise control cable from the jeep is too short to the point it held the throttle open a tiny bit. i ended up using the cruise control cable from the an 03 caravan since i could get it for free. needed a bit of modification to work and is a bit on the shorter side but it works. does not hold the throttle open at all.

since this was the biggest issue i fought with i figure i would share. the switch and wiring was the biggest thing i fought with which ended up being super simple after finding a thread on DTR. it was a bit difficult understanding what they were posting at first because the colors of the wires in the steering wheel that hooked to the switches were different than the ones on the wiring diagram but once you look at some of the pictures and diagrams it starts making sense. they also post how you can get away with using cruise control with a couple cheaper switches if can't find a working cruise control switch or don't want to pay the expensive price that goes with hard to find parts sometimes. it would also make installing cruise on something without cruise a bit easier and cheaper since you could install the switches else ware and not have to get a clock spring which is expensive.
http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/forums/1st-gen-ram-all-topics-93/cruise-control-switches-296465/#post3099200

it was such a nice day out today i decided to try installing cruise on the RC. i only got about half way done. i am using the cruise control servo and cable off a 96 jeep grand Cherokee. the cable is a bit on the shorter side but the servo plug is the same and i think it should work. just have to hook up the vacuum lines/reservoir and hook up a cruise control switch. i am hoping one of the 80's van cruise control switches that i have will work. i just have to remember where i put it.

that is a nice looking RC. i might have to come down there one day to get my hands on one. finding one that is remotely decent around here is nearly impossible.

that looks like a pretty nice score. that harness looks like it is practically brand new

well actually i think there is a box under the dash that the switch is hooked to that controls the function but ya. motors should be the same. the looks of them did change a bit between 85 and 93 but they all got the same connector. same wires on the diagrams. when parts shopping at the auto recycle and you see a 85-87ish dodge with delay wipers you may want to see about grabbing the wiper module as a spare. when they go bad they can be hard to find. they look like this and are usually right beside the buzzer under the dash

i don't think it makes a difference if it has variable speed or not. it is the same motor either way. not like on the 84 and older truck where there is an extra wire on the motors with delay.

if you are interested in getting a FSM rockauto can possibly get you one for a 75 or 77. there does not seem to be one listed for 76 like Richard said. you can get it in cd or hard copy but the hard copy is about twice the cost of CD. a lot of the time tho the basics are pretty much the same accross the board. all you need is a multi meter and you can solve nearly all the issues on these old truck. they are really pretty simple until you start upgrading them like me. then they become a nightmare for anyone other than me