89 d50 4x4 new to me questions

[cnatsu1]

Brand new to me d50 owner, just bought this little rig for me and my son to work on and have several questions for those of you in the know. Engine sounds good and carb looks new or rebuilt. Can't find any numbers on the carb, can anyone tell me from the pics what it is?

5 spd manual tranny stuck in 2nd. I'd rather not do this more than once. Haven't seen a good writeup, did I miss it? Should I rebuild or have the tranny and transfer case rebuilt? Other seals or maintenance that should be done while the tranny is out? I know from experience on other cars I've worked on that certain areas are problematic to certain models while others are rock solid.

Thanks in advance for any input/feedback. It's going to be a couple of weeks before I can start working on it. Trying to gather some info before we tackle it.
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[cnatsu1]

Oh, and clutch appears to be working. I can drive around and start and stop just can't shift or change gears.

[pennyman1]

Try pulling the bottom cover off to see if you can unjam the forks. The carb looks to be the stock mikuni.

[crvtec90]

Dont forget to change the rear main seal on the engine when u have the trans out

[Acuta73]

Is a Mikuni Carb, Trans looks like mine from my 2.6, chain drive transfer (KM145?). Assuming you have a 2.6l G54B, even though I can't see the front of the engine.

Tranny cost me about $300 to rebuild 10 years ago. No idea if parts are even available anymore. Betting not. If you do just a light rebuild with linkage adjustments, bearings, seals, and brass you should be OK. Stripped/pitted gears will be a headache without a donor.

Penny probably spot-on with forks comment.

[pennyman1]

rebuild kits for the tranny are available on ebay - can even get forks from the one seller.

[cnatsu1]

Thanks for the feed back! Rear fork moves freely, front fork won't move. Not only that but the oil fill bolt was rounded off and is in so solid I can't get it to budge - bolt extractors, huge channel locks, vice grips and hammer, torch. Nothing worked. Finally got started pulling the tranny today (been out of town). I have manuals and was making good progress until I started taking off some of the wiring. Was going to ask how to take them off, went out to look again and just discovered that what looked to me like clear plastic solid butt splices are actually connectors that pull apart. I have a donor tranny and transfer case but not sure of it's condition. It does shift through all the gears.

Debating on what to do... Would love to replace all seals, clutch, rebuild tranny and transfer case. BUT what if I do all that and it turns out the truck has other major issues. Guess I'm leaning towards putting in the donor tranny and see how it works. Hate to do all that work and then have to redo it again though. Will definitely replace the rear seal and check clutch condition while I'm in there. As always for me, money is not in abundance.

[cnatsu1]

OK, so pulled the tranny. It was hitting the firewall before it was all the way out, spun down while I was trying to reposition the jack, then I just pulled it out. Saw another thread where a rear seal sleeve was recommended, but wasn't finding any in google searches until I changed my search term from dodge to mighty max.

Do most of you pull the seal retainer to replace the rear seal or just pull it out and tap in a new one?

[LSR Mike]

Pull and Tap, I have a huge socket that I used...

[cnatsu1]

just got my fel-pro repair sleeve, p# 16275. Any tips or techniques for installing it without buying the $30 16300 installation tool? I kept reading about an installation tool, but couldn't confirm a part number until today when I got the sleeve.

[cnatsu1]

Pulled the seal retainer tonight, but the seal won't come out. Tapping out from the rear with the retainer on a couple of wooden blocks. Seal is starting to deform and I'm afraid of breaking the retainer...

[abeemanator]

Welcome to the site!! I was actually looking at buying that D-50 on CL, it was in Idaho City if I am not mistaken, Did you actually pay the $1000 that they wanted for it? As for the tranny, well I have never pulled a tranny apart besides taking the tail shaft off of a 2WD tranny. If you cant get it rebuilt I have a tranny from a 1987 2wd witch uses the same internal parts, just a different bell housing that I would be willing to sell cheap or I have a 1987 Automatic Long Box Power Ram 50 Custom that the engine blew up in and I have all of the parts to convert yours to an Auto tranny, Would rather not part it out yet because I am looking for a 2.4l FI engine to put in it, but I might be willing to sell it to a Mightyram50 member, I have a 91 2wd with EFI and it whoops any 2.0 or 2.6 truck I have ever driven, If you need parts I am not very far away and I live near 2 scrapyards, one I know that has 8 87-89 D-50's.

You have a 2.6l with a stock Minuki carb on it, most people upgrade to a Weber 32/36, I personally have had too many issues with the webers, I actually had a weber on a Toyota pickup I used to have that said it was properly jetted for my altitude and for the 22R engine, come to find out it leaned the engine out and it burnt the engine up, it now belongs to a friend of mine and it is running a 1976 20R out of a Celica GT. Most people have luck with their Webers, but I really don't like them IMO.

Anyway sorry for such a long post, I just think its cool there are now 3 People near the Boise area on Mightyram50.net!

[cnatsu1]

Had a long email exchange with the guy who was selling the truck but he sold it to someone else before I could make it up there, the new owner listed it in the next couple of days and I bought it from him for $650. Drove it home on the back roads stuck in 2nd gear. Figured worst case scenario, I could easily resell it for that. Just hit the junk yard tonight and found a couple of parts.

Been a rough week, hopefully can make some progress on it this weekend before it gets too cold and wet. This little truck has potential, as long as I can get it running and my son doesn't wreck it right away.

[abeemanator]

Yeah I was interested in it because my 87 Ram 50 has a bad 2.6 in it, and I wanted to put the one from that truck in, or I thought maybe I could put my Auto tranny in it, and all my cool chrome stuff on it, and my Limited Slip rear end, but then I scored on the 91 Ram 50 that has been on Craigslist for quite some time, he wanted 900, but I paied 650 for it, there were a few things wrong with it but most were cosmetic, (Exept the whining noise the tranny makes while accelerating, and a collapsed lifter) It has an extremly clean interior and the body is in pretty good shape exept where a tree fell on the cab, I was originally planning on taking the 2.4l EFI engine and putting it in my 87 4x4, but the little 2wd is bad ass, gets great gas milage and it is FAST. I am quite sure a 2.6 that is well taken care of, or is properly rebuilt from the ground up would be pretty quick and have nice torque too, good luck with your truck.

Also do you have a picture of the extended cab part from the inside, can people sit back there like in a ranger?

[cnatsu1]

No seats or room to sit in the extended cab, just extra space, plus I like the look of it.

Made some progress this weekend - rear main seal, oil pan, flywheel and clutch (oil pan is a PITA - lift the engine, blocked it up redneck style with wood blocks, both motor mounts only had one bolt each in them, passenger side motor mount behind the heat shield is awful). I've read about the top tranny bolts are difficult, but I have an cheapo ratchet with an extension handle that got in there without much trouble. It's about $20 at home depot with sockets. The motor mount was worse in my opinion.

Now, I've just discovered that the donor tranny that came with it was for a hydraulic clutch. So get one from the junkyard or have mine rebuilt?? Wish I could get it rebuilt for a good price.

[pennyman1]

Swap out the arm for the throw out bearing for the one from your truck tranny and remove the hydro slave cylinder - you got a tranny from a conquest / starion - good choice.

[abeemanator]

What ever happened to this truck? I swear its sitting at a junkyard in payette now