ok. .. i have ordered the plenum and picked up the water pump... thermostat.. distributer and all the other gaskets.. the kit i got for the plenum is just the intake gasket itself (upper) i DID NOT pick up the lower gasket.. hope i dont need it.. oh yea.. got the new bolts too.. now.. i will replace all this on saturday.. hope all goes well wish me luck.. but after all this is done.. i am thinking on putting a wheel lift on the truck.. i reposess cars for a living.. with all the newer cars and trucks out there.. getting a key made is next to impossible.. or i can pick up a wrecker.. but then that blows my element of surprise.. what i have is a 99 ram 1500 5.9 2wheel drive. I am almost 100% positive that i am going to need to reinforce the frame some to acomodate the weight of the other vehicle behind me.. what would be the best way to reinforce the frame.. and where exactly should i do it at? any ideas?

also.. if theres anything im not thinking of by adding this lift that i should do.. please let me know

 

you shouldve got a plenum kit. have you done a search on the plenum? there has to be a billion threads on it. thats because a billion trucks have plenum problems. its common. if you dont make it stronger you'll have the problem again. think about all the time youre gonna waste. by the lower gasket do you mean the gaskets that seal off the front and back of the lifter valley? if so than yes you'll need them.

 

i got what was posted in another thread that someone linked me too.. but when i went to advance to look it up.. they had another one too.. they had what looked to be like a 5 piece gasket set.. the main one.. then 4 more

 

might as well do the plenum fix while your at it.. chances are your gonna nneed it sometime or another.. might as well knock it out while your torn down..do it once ..

as for the lift..

your gonna wanna box in the frame with the same size metal.. (i think 1/8 mild steel) .. you should really box the whole frame but thast alot of work ie: total removal of bed and cab motor tranny tcase etc etc

your gonna need to beef your suspension.. i would put an air bag system in the back.. so it will stand and act some what stock with no car on but when you load it down with a vehicle you can pump the bags up and still keep it driveable..b/c i can garuntee that kind of wieght,, youll be smashing the bumstops

knowing that kind of lift needs some hydralic power.. your gonna need some kind of pump.. instead of having to fab up a braket and try and make a standlone pump work of the motor and supply your switching vavle body.. i would run the pump off a small high HP or vtwin lawn mower motor and make it small self contained seperate unit .. someing generator size.. like a setup from a log splitter adapted to run the main ram on the lift

these are just a few ideas that just popped in my head

i think the idea is great.. covert ,,, people wont think twice about a dodge ram driving around w/ no trailer or anything.. most people will be oblivious to why a lift is on a dodge.. nice idea!!!

 

dishdude, several years ago I watched a repo man pick up a car from my old apt parking lot. He had a Gen II Ram, probably a 2500 I think. Anyway, he had this lift that fit under the bed of the truck. It was super super slick and hidden. The controls were under the driver's seat. I saw this from a distance but it was quiet and nobody would have noticed but I did since at first glance I thought someone was driving my Ram so I took a second look. I don't know where'd you start for looking for that set up or if it was homemade but it was nice. It looked like a regular truck and then he rotated the forks out from under the bumper and then spent a little time in the driver's door while the forks came down and I think out. He backed up, lined them up, lifted, left and must have attached it better around the corner. It was badass for repo work I thought.

 

if your looking into using your truck for repo work i would consider going to the auto auction and looking into purchasing a used wrecker for under 3500.00 if you have the money. thats all you need is to go repo a car/truck and have the owner come out with a gun and start shooting. it would be better to run with the wrecker than your personal truck.

 

this doesnt make sense to me... is it because it's friday or what??? either you did or you didnt get an intake plenum kit... what do you mean you ordered the plenum???

if you take the manifold of for any reason you SHOULD look into the bottom of the intake to see it's condition. if you can tell which gasket you have, then determine whether you should swap it or not. if i'ts an older manifold, chances are it's a paper type gasket and it's leaking. even the updated gaskets leak. The felpro gasket is the only way to go...

 

ok..this is what i got.. i had to order it yesterday so i could get it this evening from a stor in DC.. like 6 hrs away ... no1 had it around here.. ahh hell..it wont let me add a pic.. but anyhow itsa FELPRO on the back.. contents are .... 1- part number 95462 - Upper Intake Gasket Set.

thats what it tells me.. im pretty sure i got the right one.. hoping so

 

well if you get the intake off and look real good @ the bottom and there is no oil in any corner... you are probably ok, but I still say if it's off and old, it may be worth the change.