Howdy, Folks:

I just bought a black 1998 2wd Ram 1500 Club Cab. It needs a bit of TLC, but I got a pretty decent deal on it. I just wanted to say hi. I'll be full of questions (cause its my first Mopar), but I'll try to read up so I don't ask things that have been beaten to death.

I'm a "go-fast" kind of guy and my daily driver is a 10 second 95 Mustanf vert. Unfortunatley, I have a tendency to break that car often and needed a back-up vehicle. Thus, the truck . . lol.

Tad

 

welcome to the boards, and im sure if you have a question it could be answered here, there are alot of skilled vets that frequent these boards that have seen nearly everything...

its a 2wd, so are you gonna make it into a decent street truck, or is this just a beater backup?

 

Well . . . I initially thought it was going to be a beater. But. I really like the truck a lot! So, I'm gonna start modding. My stang is supercharged and I'll probably do the same thing to the truck (but I won't run 17 pounds of boost and water/methanol/nitromethane injection like the stang . . lol).

First things first, the rear end is howling pretty good . . so I need to address that issue (prolly do some gears at the same time). I also want to do a leather interior and get some nice tires on it. It's going to be my tow rig for the drag races . . . so I may have to paint flames on it or something . . lol.

 

Sounds like you have a nice project ahead of you. My advice would be to sit down and write out everything you want this truck to be able to do. Then research what you need to do to accomplish that. Nothin annoys me more than just a bunch of random mods that don't even make sense together. If you start with a plan you can't go wrong. Also don't be afraid to try things others have not and ask any question you wish. There are alot of smart people here.

 

Sounds like a nice truck. Howling from the rear end is most likely the bearins going out. So getting some new gears and a master install kit should stop that problem.

What size tires you running? Stock 245/75R16's? Also what gear ratio do you have right now and what are you looking to get?

 

Thanks, man. I'm still formulating my plan . . . but there definitely will be one. For example, the plan for my stang was to have a 10 second street car that looks as stock as possible and retains all the creature comforts. That goal was attained.

Initially, I didn't plan on driving this truck, much. But, because I've found I like driving it, I'm going to put some work into it. I don't think it will be an off road truck (I have a 4x4 Expedition for that) but I don't want it to be a slammed street ride either. So, I'm currently thinking about a mild street truck that looks good but can still tow and haul.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I've only had the truck for about 24 hours, so I haven't really been under it yet. But, I did notice some fluid staining on the outside of the diff. I'll get after it in the next couple of days. This truck was kind of a "mechanic's special", which is why I got a good deal on it. But, it has a lot of potential.

The tires are stock and I'm not even sure what gears are in it. I'm going to want taller tires and shorter gears, I'm sure.