Hey all. New to the world of Dodge trucks. Just bought a truck a couple of weeks ago (2000 Ram 1500 2WD) and would like to get some A/C installed for the summer. I've installed a whole system in a Honda and Toyota so I'm not too green. Was wondering if anyone has done this and what I should consider before taking this on. Tell you one thing, compared to the previous two cars I've done this on, there is a ton of room to work in here.

 

Welcome to DF.

Just wait until you start taking things apart.

My guess is, you would have to replace the dash, and heater box, and get all the venting, vacuum lines, controls, lines, compressor, etc. If you can find a donor truck in a junkyard somewhere, should be easily doable.

If you go that route though, get a NEW evap core, and while you have it all apart, replace the heater core as well.

 

Thanks for the welcome. I looked at the parts fiche online and it looks like the 1500 has only one evap housing in the database regardless of whether it came with or without A/C from the factory which makes sense. Why make 2 different housings if the only thing missing in one is the evaporator. I'm fairly certain the ducting is the same as well for both models. What are these vacuum lines you speak of? Definitely new heater core and evap. No sense getting deep in there and not taking care of some minor stuff that seems to fail in these.

 

Vacuum lines control air flow across evap and heater core.

 

Yeah, all the doors and such that control where air goes, are vacuum powered. When you look at the box, it will become obvious.

 

i'll tell you how to do the A/C its super cheap and very easy..













ROLL THE WINDOWS DOWN WHEN ITS HOT OUT SIDE



thats just my 2 cents i do this in the summer it works welll oh yeah it helps more if you turn the heater off

 

that only works when outside temp is less than 95degrees and youre going faster than 60mph... florida gets hot, no matter what! My ranger in PA doesnt have a/c tho, dont need it up there.

 

The boxes are the same for A/C and non a/c cars so I'm assuming that the vacuum lines are in place already since I have heat and am able to control where the air goes. Will see in about 20 minutes when I go to work. The only thing my truck is missing in that part of the car is the evaporator (I think). Like you said, when I pull it apart it will be obvious

 

I also like the drying effect A/C has on the windshield in defrost setting so it's not purely just for comfort. Keeps things clear when it's really humid.

 

I've found a couple of electrical connections in the engine bay and one definately looks like it controls the compressor. Can anyone confirm a green plug going into the A/C compressor? This will tell me if the a/c cars and non a/c cars have the same wiring harness. I'm almost 99% sure they are. Doubt dodge would make 2 different harnesses. Most manufacturers run the same harness in all models and just hook up the customer desired components and leave the other ones alone