1991 Dodge Questions
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1991 Dodge Questions
I bought a 1991 Dodge D350 4x2 SRW w/ 360 and about 65,000 original miles back in 2002. The truck has some dents and dings but overall, it's perfect. I've put about 20,000 miles on it since I bought. I'm not going to say I haven't had problems but the truck sat for several years. Really, the only problems I've had have been the A/C (spray can overhauled "remanufactured" compressors) and swollen phenolic brake calipers.
However, I have a couple of new "nagging" problems.
1) This week, I filled her up and decided to check fuel mileage so I cleared the trip odometer and the trip and main odometer quit working. The speedo works fine, just no odo. It has the electric speed/odo. Anything I need to look for? Prolly going into it tomorrow.
2) Last summer, it developed a BAD "shimmy". Since I'd already had the aforementioned "brake problem", I thought I probably needed to replace the other one. I replaced the "other" brake caliper and same problem. I had an alignment done, still had problem.
When I bought the truck in '02, it had brand new tires on the front but still had the ORIGINAL tires on the back. The had 65,000 miles on them so not much tread and BADLY dry rotted. Since this was going to be a "farm truck" and not a daily driver, I opted to go the cheap route and bought a set of Mexican-made "brown walls" for the rear. (This will be important later)
OK, back to my story.... I've had the alignment done, brake caliper replaced. As a last ditch effort, I rotated the tires. Now the "shimmy" turns into a bounce on the rear. BAD TIRE. I inspected the tires closely and the one on the left side was about to come apart. So I bought some (this time BETTER Kelly Springfield) tires on the rear and left my Mexican brown walls (Honestly, the tires were dark brown when I bought them) That got rid of that particular problem but NOW the truck handles TERRIBLE. The steering is very touchy and light and it tends to wander anytime there's any irregularities in the road surface. Before all this work, the truck handled like it was on rails. Seriously. This has been the smoothest running, easiest driving, "big" pickup I've ever driven. Now, it's down right scary. Could it be the brown walls up front (tires) or did Bob -The alignment man get something seriously wrong. I have an old Jeep CJ with sagging front springs that handles much the same as my truck and it's a caster problem. Is that what this sounds like? Do I need to try rotating the brown walls to the back or do I need to go back to the alignment shop and whoop Bob with a used fan belt?
However, I have a couple of new "nagging" problems.
1) This week, I filled her up and decided to check fuel mileage so I cleared the trip odometer and the trip and main odometer quit working. The speedo works fine, just no odo. It has the electric speed/odo. Anything I need to look for? Prolly going into it tomorrow.
2) Last summer, it developed a BAD "shimmy". Since I'd already had the aforementioned "brake problem", I thought I probably needed to replace the other one. I replaced the "other" brake caliper and same problem. I had an alignment done, still had problem.
When I bought the truck in '02, it had brand new tires on the front but still had the ORIGINAL tires on the back. The had 65,000 miles on them so not much tread and BADLY dry rotted. Since this was going to be a "farm truck" and not a daily driver, I opted to go the cheap route and bought a set of Mexican-made "brown walls" for the rear. (This will be important later)
OK, back to my story.... I've had the alignment done, brake caliper replaced. As a last ditch effort, I rotated the tires. Now the "shimmy" turns into a bounce on the rear. BAD TIRE. I inspected the tires closely and the one on the left side was about to come apart. So I bought some (this time BETTER Kelly Springfield) tires on the rear and left my Mexican brown walls (Honestly, the tires were dark brown when I bought them) That got rid of that particular problem but NOW the truck handles TERRIBLE. The steering is very touchy and light and it tends to wander anytime there's any irregularities in the road surface. Before all this work, the truck handled like it was on rails. Seriously. This has been the smoothest running, easiest driving, "big" pickup I've ever driven. Now, it's down right scary. Could it be the brown walls up front (tires) or did Bob -The alignment man get something seriously wrong. I have an old Jeep CJ with sagging front springs that handles much the same as my truck and it's a caster problem. Is that what this sounds like? Do I need to try rotating the brown walls to the back or do I need to go back to the alignment shop and whoop Bob with a used fan belt?