This may have been discussed on here somewhere before but I'm relatively new to the site and haven't gotten to look around a whole lot...

I have an 02 Ram 1500 2WD with the 4.7 and while under the truck changing oil I noticed the front hubs are splined and ready for the 4WD axles so I'm thinkin dodge may have left some other things in my poor 2wd that would make it pretty darn easy to do a drivetrain upgrade to 4x4.... has it been done?? Anyone else think of trying it?

I love my truck and really never needed 4wd much in the past so I went with the 4x2 and now that we've moved to the mountains of WV I'm finding that 4wd is a necessity! Of course I checked about trading it in on a 4x4 but the dealers and car lots wouldn't give me squat because its a 2wd or as one guy said "half a truck"

I was thinking of finding a totalled 4x4 ram and just swapping over the front axle assembly, transfer case and etc. Is it a divorced transfer case or am I looking at a tailshaft swap on the trans?

 

you could find a front end of a dodge ram that is 4x4 and swap them out. Some one on the forum did it with a 2nd gen dakota i believe... not for sure who it was but know its been done.

 

dude if i was you i would go straight for the solid axel swap. forget independent it is great for on road use and such but no where near as strong as a solid axel and it would end up costing the same probably......solid axel all the way

 

its more work than it sounds like.... definitely with todays stuff to... a lot of electronics.... its not a simple okay im gonna unbolt this and then bolt this up....

 

yea u'd need the new axles and front end then you'd need a transfer case and then have to cut up ur floor to get the lever up into the cab for it or you'd have to run wires and make a switch if the tcase woudl be electric. then you'd need all new driveshafts since you now added the tcase. alll in all it's a lotta work but if you are game for it I say do it.

 

Thanks fellas, can anyone tell me if the 02 had electronic shift 4wd? or was it just a manual lever on the floor? What years am I looking for as far as solid axle vs independent? Iassume my 02 was independent due to the hub design thats on it now.

 

thats why i bought the 1500 mega! 3/4 ton running gear,solid axle,8 lug wheels.
gotta love the mega!

 

Sounds like it's time for a radiator cap upgrade.

 

The Rams in 02 also had the electronic 4X4. Granted a 4X4 looks killer but you will spend way more more money than you can even think. What ever you thought it would cost you can double it and you might be close. IMO it would be a lot cheaper to get yourself a beater 4X4 and just use that when you need to go snow drift bustin.

 

true.. btw great avatar!!! LMAO

thats y i bought a 2500