I bought this 2001 ram 1500 sport with 114,000 miles for 1000$. It had a fuel leak and had a small fire in the engine compartment, it than just set for years until i bought it. I had to replace the fuel line to the rail and the line across the 2 fuel rails and replaced the plug wires as some had burnt up in the fire but everything else survived the small fire undamaged and with a little fresh gas fired right up and runs like a top. It only had 3 good tires on it and i didnt have a spare so to tow it home when i bought it i ran to the junk yard and got a couple old beat up stock wheals and tires and put them on the front, im sure they are way out of balance. On first test drive i got a real bad violent death wobble, Also learned that the headlights, running lights, brake lights and turn signals where not working. I was able to track the wiring and found the problems to be with the headlight switch and multi-function switch both have failed, i tested this by borrowing the switches from my 2000 1500 (With 340,000 original miles and no rebuild and still my daily driver, magnum motors are bulletproof!) and all my lights work so ill be going to the junk yard and pulling both switches off a parts truck tomorrow. I have been working on the death wobble and the first thing i notice when trouble shooting (Besides worn boots everywhere) is that the drop bracket that was either part of the lift kit or leveling kit moves when you turn the wheal, not much but i feel like it shouldnt move at all, it was held on to the chassis by only two bolts and would rock slightly with the steering. I decided to just have the bracket welded in place on the chassis to eliminate the play in the bracket. I got it welded today and now the wobble is allot harder to trigger and is far far less violent but it does still have a death wobble that i need to fix. i know the wheels and tires i have on the front are not helping at all. I found a pretty cheap kit on ebay with everything i can think of that would cause the death wobble and think i may just go ahead and redo the suspension https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Complet...0/312866658576 I need to do sway bar bushings too cuz they are cooked and my sway bar links look bent (I will upload pics tomorrow of suspension). The parking break peddle is also stuck down but the cable is disconnected so it is not engaged so i need to figure out how to manually release it cuz the handle isnt working to release the peddle and peddle is fully fully compressed. It has 36 12.50 16's super swampers but only 3 of them are still ok and i dont have the budget to buy new ones so im still playing around with some cheap ideas for wheals and tires. I might do a adapter to go to a 8 lug pattern and buy some military surplus hummer wheals and tires, they normally sell with like 90 percent treed, are 37" A/T tires and come with bead lock wheals but they are 8 lug so id have to run an adapter like this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/302294875702 but the wheels and tires are just 150$ each. Let me know what you think of my cheap ram and if you have any advise or suggestions for my budget ride.

 

160 bucks for all the front end pieces???? That would make me nervous about how long they will last.... Track bar is the most likely culprit for death wobble.... I would be real tempted to inspect the front suspension, and see what actually NEEDS to be replaced, and go from there.

Ya missed an opportunity with the drop bracket though. Converting to third-gen style, and getting a good adjustable trackbar, would have solved that issue permanently.

Welcome to DF!

 

Yeah I'd think twice about that kit, it most likely won't last long. Great deal on the truck though. Body looks straight and solid. You'd probably be amazed what a buffer and some 3M compounds would do.

I like Dana Spicer for drivetrain parts. Also SKF and XRF chassis or even AC Delco. I'm not a fan of moog.

 

Can't convert 5 to 8 lug on Dodges. As one of the 5 lugs would have to be directly behind one of the 8 and that means you couldn't bolt the spacer on. Good find! Although I would have done the 3rd gen track bar conversion
EDIT: I fought the same thing on my Ram with the drop bracket. Used some industrial thread locker and ran the bolt that goes into the factory track bar hole on with a 1" impact. Going to tack weld it tonight (00:18) just to see if it solves my death wobble

 

climbed back underneath and watched again as my wife moves the wheel. Now that there is no play in the bracket i can clearly see that the ball joint on the track bar is bad and is definitely what is causing what remains of my death wobble. video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LeC...ew?usp=sharing. I dont see any other play so i think ill just go to local parts store and get their $70 track bar. Here are some pics of ball joints ect. it looks like my sway bar links are bent.

 

That doesn't look bad looks like it's loose. They say the hole in those drop brackets can get hollowed out and the nut keeps need retightening

 

Here he is. went with some 20" stocks and some 35" mud tires. Changed the track bar, sway bar links and bushings and gave it a bath.

 

That's a nice lookin' truck.

 

I second that

 

Me too