hello, im new here and really could use some help, i recently bought a 1996 dodge ram 4x4 for a tow rig, it runs great and shifts great, everything works. i was very happy with the purchase untill a few days ago i been reading up on this site, now im terrified of this truck. i was planning on going on a long trip ( 2000ish miles) in a few days. but now i dout i will go. i have a few questions i was hopeing someone could help me out with. i was wanting to change all the fluids on this truck and jus hit the road. i changed the motor oil and filter, than i was going to flush the trany oil cuz it looks brown and smells burnt, but i was reading if i flush it i might cause the trany to fail and i dont want that. what should i do about the trany ? this truck has 190,000 plus miles on it i have no past records on it. i changed the oil in the transfer case with ATF 4 when i drained it, only like 2 ounces of dark brown nastyness came out ( that kinda worried me) any help would be great, thanks in advance.

 

whats yr budget? that would help alot!

 

 

my budget? oh no now im really scared....lol well so far i spent 200 on trany oil, motor oil, gear oil for the axels, trany and motor filter, diff gaskets and trany pan gasket. and im not even sure if im going to use it all or if i got the right stuff. jus hit me with it, tell me what you recammend. i know nothing about this truck besides its 4wd and has a 360 motor. what kinda trany does it have?

 

ikd a pice of $hit one lol if yr going to keep it for a while and tow with it get a tran cooler! i need to get on and a trans tep gage. check yr air filet to see how its breathing. exhaust,superchip i wouldnt go 1.7 if yr not keeping it long ortb52mm. what kinda of oil did u put in?

 

yes i was going to ad a trans cooler, i was thinking about doing a mod jus like this one
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/diy-do-...acinfan83.html

should i flush the trans oil?

 

you'll have a rh46 transmission. i see a drain plug in the pan. i don't think thats original, so its been changed at least once. its likely been rebuilt somewhere along the way.

this is just me, but i'd change fluid and filter with atf+4 and drive it a lot for at least a few days. then i'd change it again. the reason i'd do that is because changing the fluid only gets out about half of it, plus, the new fluid has new detergents that get all the sludge stirred up. its my suspicion that the stirred up sludge clogs the filter and causes the failures that occur after transmission service.

 

yea flush that sob! when i got my truck it had 37,000 and yr should flush it at 40,000 took it in at 38,500 the trans fliud was $**** brown!!!! i put amsoil in the trans front and rear diff and the trans fer case.

 

im looking at getting this
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...3+&appfilter=1
u might want to look at plugs and wires cap rotor and colil.

 

dhvaughan do you say flush all the oil ?