My '88 Ram 50 extended cab 4x4 musings

[steve1814]

Well, I figured I would start to chronicle the work on my Ram 50 4x4 to keep track of all the things I am replacing, rebuilding, modifying, and cleaning.

I bought the ram 50 back last year sometime to use just as a pick-up , I bought it for $2,000 which was a bit high, but the body had no rust and the frame very little so I figured I was ahead of the game... at least here in the northeast where you can hear your car rust away.

The Top end

Things were OK for a while, but I noticed that the exhaust was starting to leak around the manifold and I discovered that one of the exhaust studs had snapped off and the exhaust was starting to blow out the gasket. I figured I would just pull the head off and have a machine shop extract the stud since it was broke off up inside the cylinder head. I did some reading about the MCA jet's/cracked heads and figured I would just get a non-hydraulic/no jet head from Clearwater.

Once I got the new head, I dissembled the intake manifold to have it media blasted and discovered that the threads on the thermostat outlet were stripped. The the PO rigged a "fix" by inserting a bolt through the bottom of the outlet and putting a nut on the housing. while it did work, I did notice that there was a persistent leak around the bolt and I was not happy with that. I then set out to procure a new intake housing. once located and delivered, I took the replacement intake and the valve cover over to the machine shop to have them cleaned and continued the disassembly of the original head. During the disassembly I also found that the fuel pump was blowing fuel out of the weep hole and that the plastic isolator was missing. The fuel pump was mounted directly to the head with a TON of permatex acting as a gasket - another PO "fix"... So Rockauto and I were becoming fast friends.

Once having all the parts needed to get the head ready for installation I went ahead and replaced all the sensors, gaskets and EGR stuff. What I could refurbish (nuts, bolts, brackets) I did, everything else was new.

[steve1814]

The Bottom End


Never one to leave anything as is, The top end was looking so nice, I decided to pull the engine out and and give it a good cleaning and re-spray. While I was at it, I decided to replace the timing chain, water pump, oil pump, alternator, and clean-up/respray the oil pan

[steve1814]

The Frame (so far)


Now that I had the engine out, I could see just how 30 years of crud can make things look absolutely filthy, so I pushed the truck out of the garage and bought a case of oven cleaner and went nuts. Unfortunately, I did not think to take pics of the before and after but the difference was like night and day once done.

The frame was looking a bit crusty with rust, so out with the wire wheel and naval jelly! This was very time consuming, as I went all OCD and decided to completely remove the front suspension and rebuild everything (sigh). I used Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Primer and then Chassis Paint and thought it turned out alright.

[steve1814]

The Suspension

So this is where I have really slowed down. Between ordering parts from MOPAR, rockauto, amazon, Ebay and overseas coupled with having difficulties with the frame bushings (next post), and going nuts with rust removal and painting, I am at a crawl. I'll just dump the photos I have so far on the suspension as they are pretty self-explanatory





The beginning of the Front diff refresh

[steve1814]

Bushing woes

Since I am replacing all the rubber bits on the suspension, I figure it would be a good idea to to buy the Mitsubishi Special tool used to remove and install the rear lower A-arm bushing to make the job go easier.




Having the FSM at hand, the removal of the old bushings using the tool was a snap. getting the new ones in.....not so much.

Procedure is to use the tool in the following configuration and apply soapy water to the bushing to ease in installation




Well, After 4 attempts, I have the passenger side done, using up two Febest units and then going to MOOG.



The second MOOG i used on the drivers side (in the middle in above pic) was a no-go. I just placed my 5th order for the (hopefully) last unit today. I think the problem is that I broke the spin bearing that is part of the Mitsu tool when trying to install the febest units-they were really tight and basically didnt fit. I over torqued the tool trying to get the bushing in and that cracked the bearing. I also believe the metal lip that catches the Mistu tool is of a lesser diameter on both the febest and MOOG versus the OEM and that is causing an issue as well. I'll definitely take it slow on my next attempt.

[geezer101]

You are being very thorough which makes a big difference. The Mitsubishi bushing tool reminds me a lot of the gadget I use to cut holes in stainless steel sinks for mixer taps minus the cutting die. It's too bad it got damaged. Maybe try putting the bushes in the freezer first for a few hours to get them to shrink a little (hey, if it works...)

[WarStryker13]

This is an excessive amount of attention to detail, and I love it.

[steve1814]

It is a labor of love and sometimes frustration

[steve1814]

The Mitsubishi bushing tool reminds me a lot of the gadget I use to cut holes in stainless steel sinks for mixer taps minus the cutting die. It's too bad it got damaged. Maybe try putting the bushes in the freezer first for a few hours to get them to shrink a little (hey, if it works...)

You are talking about a greenlee knock out punch for the sinks. I have used that tool many, many times! Wish they made one with a bigger diameter as I suck at cutting round holes.

I’m going to try the the freezer trick with the bushing, May even heat up the mount to get it to expand as well.

[steve1814]

Front Diff work

Today I worked on getting the front diff cleaned up and primed. Had to buy a couple of new wire wheels to finish the job, but it turned out good.



After that, it was masked up and sprayed with the first coat of primer. the Primer needs 24 hrs to dry before the top coat, so this is all I am doing today.

[steve1814]

Bushing update:

The new MOOG bushing came in Friday so today I installed it -no issues whatsoever.

Last night I took some 600 grit sandpaper and polished up the exterior to get rid of any high spots and to smooth it out and then popped it in the freezer to shrink it a bit. This morning, after the garage was warmed up, I also sanded the inside of the bushing mount and heated it up a little with a propane torch for about 20 seconds to let the heat radiate and expand the metal.

As I remarked earlier, my Factory Service Tool had a bearing crack on it when I was trying to install the Passenger side bushing, so I earlier this week I went to my local Ace Hardware (best place for nut & bolts and misc) and found a replacement bearing that I hoped would work. With the tool properly set up I put a little soapy water on the bushing and damn, that bushing slid into the mount as easy as pie.





I think the prep work and the new bearing made the difference. Highly recommend this method!

[steve1814]

The Front Diff

The Front diff is all refurbished now. I finished the painting and went on to install the new seals. The installation was pretty straightforward. I had bought a generic seal install kit which made the job easier.





Once the CV extension was done I moved on to the diff itself



The Diff as it sits now. I still have to work on the hardware and CV axles before I completely reassemble.

[geezer101]

Excellent. Everything looks nice and fresh and I'm glad the freezer trick worked for you this time around. Wish I had the resources to get my drivetrain looking this good..

[steve1814]

The CV Joints


Started replacing the boots on the CV Joints. So far the tear down has revealed no surprises other that the cage and bearings look like they were never used. The boots weren't torn, but they were cracked from time so like everything else on this...while I am there...




I also decided to put a 2" body lift on the truck while I was at it. I got all the pucks installed, and am presently making a couple of brackets to relocate some brake and PS cooling lines. Since the body is now further from the frame I'll also need to construct some relocation brackets for the front bumper. So far, I have just pulled the tow hook off the frame and getting it prepped for a re-spray.



till next time.

[steve1814]

CV Joints Pt 2


Now that the CV ends were stripped and repainted it was time to get them assembled.



I bought the wheel side kit from Mitsubishi, and the Diff side is an aftermarket brand from Japan (very well made) that saved me a few dollars. The Mistu kit came will all the bands, clips and grease needed to do both sides of the CV Joint.




The first part was to get the wheel side boot on and lube up the bearings. Then use the remainder to fill up the boot.


Once that was done, it was on to the straps. The factory ones are preset so it is just a matter of bending the band over and cinching it down-super easy to do.



With the Wheel side done it was to the Diff side. First I needed to grease up the race and bearing retainer, then reinsert the balls and grease them up, packing the assembly with more grease.



Then on to filling the CV housing with some Grease followed by inserting the assembly into the housing and using up the rest of the grease.


Finally the outer cover for the wheel side boot and the dust rings.



And finished!




Since the passenger side is basically the same, I'll forgo the step-by-set and just show the finished product when done. That's it for now.

[steve1814]

CV Addendum

In case anyone needs the P/N's for the boots, these are what I used:







I also started on the Passenger side- disassembled and wire wheeled. Still need to do the final masking and then primer.




And the Final Product

[steve1814]

And now for something completely different:

Since I am doing boring, clean-up and replace work on the Ram 50, even I need to take a break from the mundane and fiddle with things that have a little more impact. I really didn't want to add an aftermarket radio to either the Ram 50 nor the MM since I don't drive them as much, but not having a radio that work well was out of the question. I like the look of the old Double DIN radios that Mitsu used to put in the upscale models and thought it would be nice to add one.

One day while looking for parts on eBay I came across a seller that was advertising some Mitsubishi radios that looked quite nice, brand new in fact, so I thought I'd try one out. The radio was everything it was advertised to be and looked to be NOS (new, old stock). After ensuring it worked I promptly ordered another to have one for each of my trucks. While I was buying the second one, I had an idea, so I also looked up micro BT (Bluetooth) modules and order and pair.

The Radio bezel for the Double DIN is different that the standard ones, but I was lucky in that the parts truck had the Double DIN bezel in it and I sourced another for the MM from another person on FB.

A little bit of poking around the guts of the factory radio to get the lay of the components, I was able to tie the BT module into the "CD" input on the radio and run power to the module from the radios' power bus. Everything fit internal to the radio, so if you didn't know it, the radio would look (and act) completely factory.

So, with everything soldered up I buttoned up the unit and installed it in the Mighty Max (this is my second project truck):


click to play video

[geezer101]

That is a nice custom touch

[xboxrox]

Steve, Mitsubishi might be hiring ..?

Do you think Mitsubishi made a good truck or just threw a bunch of (too many) parts together..?

[Chargerx3]

Fun link. Interested in what BT module you purchased. I have an external cd unit myself I would like to do this to as well. Have a link?

[steve1814]

Sorry for the delay-been taking a break from the truck to work on my other toys.



here is the link for the BT module:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-4...-/182092055980

for those interested, I will be posting pictures of the reassembly soon.

[claych]

^^^
Superlative idea !!
As to the other work, see post #7.

[steve1814]

assembly and mounting of front Diff

Finally got all the components finished to assemble the front differential, Now on to assembly:



How it looks assembled:



Choose to fill it with synthetic GL5:



The mounting turned out to be more of a chore than I expected, and I dropped the assembly on my wrist while trying to shoehorn it back in place. luckily I didn't break any bones, but my wrist has swollen and a bruise is forming - I am sure I will be in pain for a few days. But, with the help of my jack I got it back up in there and fastened down.



I've got to work on my Suzuki Samurai this weekend, so I probably won't get back to this for a week or so.

[geezer101]

Looks spectacular. Too bad you had to take a beating to get it back in - these things happen.

[StarquestMan]

Wow this is looking awesome! I hope to restore mine in this level of detail someday! I like the hardware being refinished in its original color gold (yellow zinc I think is the name), what are you using to do so? I thought about using a paint product from Eastwood but have wondered if the stuff could be re-plated and for a reasonable cost etc.