Hello all,
I bought my first gasoline powered Ram 1981 D150 2wd slnt 6 3spd/wOD
I am completely clueless on how to work on these trucks. I bought the truck from an old farmer the body is in decent shape the motor has 140k on it. I drove it home but now it wont idle it just dies. The electrical system is hit and miss. I was hoping to get some help on what to do first. I am mechanically inclined and have the tools to do all the work I need with the exception of fabrication. I bought the truck for $900 I do have somewhat of a budget. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated...

 

Great little truck, I had an 82 that I got 18 to 20 MPG with on a trip. I would start with a basic tune up plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor button etc and maybe look at the carb and spray it down with a decent cleaner. If you do that you can re-evaluate what is really going on. Watch out for heavy loads or starting out on steep grades with the gearing you have it will be easy to burn the clutch if you aren't familiar with the truck.