The missus decided we are not going to a condo and we are staying in our house forever, she's retired and I'm working on it... So I of course need a truck... for stuff.... that's my excuse and Im sticking with it... after having a near heart attack looking at used truck prices, I finally found this 2003 Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4, 5 speed manual(love that)... for REASONABLE MONEY.. Previous owner was in the process of fixing it up when he had to sell 1 of 2 trucks.... so got a decent price, didn't even dicker, there was a guy with cash pulled in behind me within minutes of me getting there... and i was waiting for the owner to get home... crazy...

it's nearly rust free except for some rust on a rear quarter as a result of some crappy body work in the past for a minor accident.., the rest is solid. I added some wide bushwackers to cover up that rust spot for the short term...

previous owner Lifted it 3 inches... had to install some power steps so the missus can get in without using the redneck 5 gallon bucket step...

fixed a few minor things, new gas gap took care of the evap code...

new front switch plates ... they had broken tabs, but i know see the door panel itself it too flimsy for the tabs to catch anyway, looks like a pain in the butt project for another day...

weird ? front light reflector had fallen off inside the lens ? weird and real pain to figure out how to fix it... bit it got done...

typical Florida sun clearcoat is toasted... thats a someday fix... maybe...

Next projects:

rear pinion seal, seeping not dripping...
shifter not centering., very loose.. it doesn't self center between 3-4 when in neutral. Pops out of first if not firm.... 5th is questionable when it goes in, just not a solid click... unsure what the issue is will look into it
wheel is off by at least 20 degrees, happened when he lifted it he says... it droves fine, wheel is just not centered...
seat cover got a burn hole, already got a new seat cover from us auto seat cover, stock covering

Other than that, drives good

will try to be a good forum citizen, no promises

Mike in Sarasota




As bought..

After i got bushwackers installed..

 

Now that is sharp. Should be able to adjust the drag link to re-center the steering. Verify the axle is centered under the truck first though.

What engine?

 

5.7 hemi, hit 109k today.... incredibly dry drive train except rear diff pinion seal...

certainly needs more power lol

oh boy, will check the axle location lol

Thanks!

Mike

 

Needs more power???? What gears in the diffs? I thought the hemis' were decent right out of the gate.

 

Welcome to DF!

 

ok well that's cool, was trying to run the vin to get the window sticker to see what rear end is in this... apparently when ya sign up at the mopar site you can get all your details .. Nice.

3.73 btw...

1st gear in the 5 spd tranny is really low, it will start off in 2nd gear easy enough...

I should explain why i think its slow.... my daily driver SUV is pushing 600+ hp/tq.... so comparatively a corvette is slow to me LOL

Mike

 

The Bushwacker's looks great on your truck.

 

Thanks! It does kinda break up all that Red

We have started calling it Clifford....

Mike

 

Ok, yeah. Then there is only ONE answer. Hellcat swap!

 

LOL............. well..... I got the truck to use for the house reno, that's my excuse and im sticking with it

When that's done i thought about sending the 5.7 to Arrington possible future project... was gonna send my old 5.7 from the 06 grand Cherokee before it ate a valve

Right know the tranny worries me a little...

Hard to get in 1st, occasionally pops out if you don't get a solid click.
5th gear goes in but again not real solid click.
doesn't self center between 3rd and 4th when in neutral like i think it should ?
The whole thing is a mystery to get into gear...