I've got an old 86 dodge ram D150 Royal SE, single cab, long bed. Its got a 318 motor in it now. Its 2wd. This truck was my grandfathers old farm truck for as long as i can remeber and i got it from him in august, ive been trying to work on the looks just cause that has been cheap. I would just like some advice on how to enhance it's performance. Also any comments about the truck would be appreciated.

 

As for performance,if you can, remove all the emissions crap.
Four barrel carb and intake,headers,dual exhaust.
Gears will go a long way.
What is your budget?

 

Aight, as for budget i don't have a whole lot, 200 hundred dollars a month but my birthdays coming up and my older brother and some relatives are sening me some money so i'll have some money now. i really like what you did with your exhaust. I was think about doing that. How much did that cost you?

 

at $200 a month it might take you a couple of months to for you to save up enough to buy these things. the cheapest headers i found were at summit for $120. i'm not even sure how dual exhaust would cost. a 4 barrel carb and intake could run you about $500.

 

just a thought and a question has the truck been tuned up, runs good, and in good mechanical conditions?

as your on a budget...id make sure the truck runs good before i would invest in aftermarket parts or, say, if the exhaust needed to be replaced already, then go for aftermarket.

 

Side pipes were $90 on ebay.
You can get a used manifold for around $125,a used carb for around the same.
Check on ebay and craigslist for some deals.

 

The truck probably needs a tune up but runs just fine not any real problems. I occaassionally have to pop the hood and spray some carborator cleaner in the carborator to get it started but other than that its ok. I have only 2 other problems. First the shift between first and second is kinda slippy if you try to accelerate too quickly. Second the air conditioner doesn't work. It blows air but it is hot air all the time. There is one belt missing that is supposed to be connected to something(that could be part of the a/c problem) but im not really sure what it does exactly. It dosent effect the running at all though. the exhaust however has been replaced lately. A few months ago just got dumps put on it just for a short time until i could get what i really want because they were cheap and the pipes were almost rusted completely and needed new ones.

 

Before you try to add more power that will exacerbate your problem. I would adjust the bands in the trans rather than watch it destroy itself which is what the slipping will do. It takes an additional 15 minutes when you are changing the tranny filter and fluid. Sure beats replacing the trans.

 

Ok, now how exactly would i go about doing something like adjusting the belts?

 

If you are going to work on your truck you need to buy a manual. I have never seen a manual that did not explain this procedure with pictures so that you can identify the parts. If I explain the procedure you will still not know what I am talking about without the pictures to ID the parts but here it is. It is a matter of loosening a lock nut and adjusting the set screw with a torque wrench and then backing out that set screw a certain number of turns and then retightening the lock nut. That is all and you repeat that procedure for both bands.