91 RAMM'D 150

[SixGun]

Back rack and cargo rack completed, painted and installed. Cargo rack is hinged on the front to tilt up or can be unbolted completely and removed.  Rear facing utility lights to enhance reverse lights. 

Carr old school light bar that attaches to the drip rails is on the way.

[SixGun]

So the Carr light bar came in and I attempted to install it but to my dismay, hear the sadness in my voice, "It no fit".
Ugh, I got a great deal on Amazon for an open box Carr Med-profile model 210701 black light bar.  I wasn't sure if it was the model or the open box that was the issue.  It teeter tottered on top of the Ram's curved roof and didn't reach the drip rails.  Disappointed to say the least.  I emailed Carr and told them the issue and asked about a taller profile one. I mentioned that I have seen Ramchargers online with their light bars. I included my phone number as requested on their form letter.  Didn't expect much if any response.

Wow, to my amazement, within the hour I received a call back from Rhonda, a Customer Service rep. She is going to send me at no charge 2 taller profile end pieces that will fit my bar. All I have to do is send back the ones that don't fit. I'm a Happy Camper to say the least.  Fast and Efficient!! 

[crazzywolfie]

looks good. did you weld that up yourself? also i don't know how you plan on wiring those lights in but i would recommend using a relay if you plan on hooking them up to the reverse lights. it will make them brighter. i actually ended up rewiring all my backup lights to be on the same relay when i added auxiliary backup lights. i also got a switch under the hood where i can turn them on if needed

[SixGun]

I must admit, I need to learn more about putting in relays. My plan was to wire them together and then drop it down to the reverse lights under the bed.  I do like the idea of a switch to turn it on separately.

As for the back rack, I bought the tubing and cut it up and welded it together. Made it to match the front.
The cargo rack was more of a cut down and repurposed bunk bed then bolt it together. The back rack support braces were welded in. The front headache rack had flat bar spacers and hinges welded on. The other side of the hinges are welded onto a piece of box tubing that matches the cargo rack. It has supports welded on that cradles the rack and allows it to be unbolted.  The tabs for the lights were welded on also.

So yep, I've been busy practicing with my new toy. Lol

[crazzywolfie]

relays are pretty much just remote switches. you send power to them to turn them on and they send power through to whatever your powering. just adding lights to existing circuits usually works but the more load you the more likely you are to overload a circuit eventually. plus using relays usually makes the lights brighter.

the switch i added turn both backup and auxiliary lights on. i did this so that the stock backup lights would be powered by the relay also

looks like you will be a pro welder in no time

[SixGun]

Ha ha, thanks Mat.  A lot to learn still but thanks.

I have reading article after article about relays and feel like I've been reading another language. It's just 95% over my head.  Do these relays just get wired inline or is something removed and it takes its place? I even read an article specifically wiring in a relay to aux reverse lights with a switch to turn it on inside. Had to wire in a diode. Wtf are those? So confused now.

[crazzywolfie]

you can wire them inline but you still normally need to run a main power wire to it. a diode is like a 1 way valve. keeps power going 1 way. otherwise the power from the switch would also turn on the stock reverse lights on which some people might not want

[ProjectPW]

Ha ha, thanks Mat.  A lot to learn still but thanks.

I have reading article after article about relays and feel like I've been reading another language. It's just 95% over my head.  Do these relays just get wired inline or is something removed and it takes its place? I even read an article specifically wiring in a relay to aux reverse lights with a switch to turn it on inside. Had to wire in a diode. Wtf are those? So confused now.

Next time you are here I can show you how to wire up relays .... super simple and so many uses

[SixGun]

Cool Beans !!

[SixGun]

So as Tony from RCC would say, Murphy came to visit me.

I recently swapped out my 8-1/4 rear for a 9-1/4.  I kept having a bit of spongy brake pedal that I couldn't seem to get rid of using my handy dandy self bleeder tool.  So I had the wife help me out to bleed the brakes. Going for a second try at them when snap goes the bleeder screw.  Of course, it didn't have enough thread to grab it, so off with the wheel and drum.  Then remove the return springs to sneak the wheel cylinders out.  So put it on a vise and after a bit of fussing with it a T10 torx bit saved the day.  I pounded it in and was able to back it out.  Now the bleeder screw got angry and doesn't want to give me back my Torx bit. Anyways, I found an oddball wheel cylinder that I had laying around and it had the bleeder screw I need.  I am real worried that the other matching wheel cylinder has a cheapo bleeder screw too.  I suspect that this one may have been cracked and was leaking air into the line. Dunno for sure but bleeder screws are only a couple of bucks for piece of mind unless you go to my NAPA.  Bleeder screws there are like fairy dust as is most Dodge parts but that's another story.  So I get the wheel cylinder back in and I go to put the return springs back on and snap, I break a freaking spring.  Good thing I took a page outta Noah's Dodge Whisperer handbook and keep all my spare and extra parts from all the brake work I've done lately.  So back in business but something is binding and not allowing me to get the shoes to close up on the anchor pin for the return springs.  WTH is going on here.  So it looks like the parking brake lever has tension on it and preventing the shoes from closing in.  I loosened the parking brake cable but still nothing. Then, I noticed that somehow the parking brake lever is wedged inside the brake shoe frame.  This is beyond nuts so I break it loose and take all tension off the parking brake cables and walaa....success.  But I did notice that cable does not have play like the other side where you can pull it and it returns like its spring loaded.  It is a fairly new cable.  Looks like I'll be playing with this in the daylight tomorrow again.

[bullboy0852]

Looks like a whole lot of work was put in since I last saw your truck. It looks incredible, sorry I flaked on the wiper motor, everything went south for a while but we're back in business now and starting to pull ahead again.

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

[SixGun]

No problem, hope you get yours running realsoon.

[bullboy0852]

Me too, it's so close but some gremlin is hiding in there and I haven't found him yet...

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[SixGun]

So bleeder screw success! Oreillys had to order them 1/4"x28.  Weird because their books were showing it as 5/16" x24.  Needless to say that it took 2 trips but it came in 2 hours later.

[crazzywolfie]

sounds like it would have just been easier and cheaper to just replace the wheel cylinder with a new one. around here i usually don't even mess with bleeder screws. i sometimes even just bleed air where the line connects to the wheel cylinder. i know it is not the proper way but it has worked many times but then again most of the times bleeder screws are only used once up here. i don't think there is any standard bleeder screw size. you just go by what the wheel cylinder has. i know when i was doing the rear brakes on my dads truck i think we had 3 or 4 different sized bleeder screws between the new and old wheel cylinders.