My 1996 Dakota: “Baby Ram”
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04-10-2018, 12:22 AM
Join Date: Aug 2017
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My 1996 Dakota: “Baby Ram”
Hello everyone. I’m new to the site, but have spent a decent amount of time on jeep forums over the years.
This past summer I decided I wanted to get a nice 4runner, so I put my pathfinder on Craigslist, thinking it would take a few weeks to sell it. Well, it sold in a day and I had no car. I couldn’t find the right 4runner for me, so I decided it was time to get a streetable “woods truck” to hold me over until I could get my sightly more practical 4runner. That’s when I found Baby Ram.
Baby Ram was named by he previous owner who built the truck with his dad as a high school/ college hobby on the West Virgina - Ohio border. The high schooler’s touch is very much alive in the stickers, spraypainted interior parts, homemade hood scoop, and more. It’s quite conspicuous. On my way out of his town I had several locals wave to me! Unfortunately (lol), the homemade hood had flown up and smashed the windshield at some point, so the “Baby Ram” sticker is no more. How are people going to know it’s me?
Mechanical: 1996 regular cab 4x4. Originally it had a V-6. They swapped in a 318 from a 1979 D100, and mated it to the stock 5spd transmission, which I’m considering swapping for an automatic (feel free to chime in with your thoughts and suggestions). Edelbrock 750 carb. Stock internals, I believe. Stock axles, not sure of the gear ratio, seems low based on the crawl speed in 4low. It’s amazingly rust-free, and hasn’t been abused from what I can tell. Tons of new parts. Custom tube bumpers he made in HS shop class (I’m skeptical about using them as a recovery point) Now if I can just find a flame red fender and get the truck back to (mostly) one color, I think I’ll have a pretty sharp ride!
Feel free to comment, add suggestions, or poke fun wherever you want. If swapping an auto into it is a realistic possibility, I plan to make this my off-road toy. Next would be some 33s and, who knows, maybe a straight axle swap. My mechanical background is somewhat limited, though. My most extensive projects were all on my Jeeps in college, and axle swaps are about as complicated as I get. I really know nothing about engines and transmissions. Hopefully this will become a fun thread!
Pics to follow as as I can’t seem to upload them from my phone.
This past summer I decided I wanted to get a nice 4runner, so I put my pathfinder on Craigslist, thinking it would take a few weeks to sell it. Well, it sold in a day and I had no car. I couldn’t find the right 4runner for me, so I decided it was time to get a streetable “woods truck” to hold me over until I could get my sightly more practical 4runner. That’s when I found Baby Ram.
Baby Ram was named by he previous owner who built the truck with his dad as a high school/ college hobby on the West Virgina - Ohio border. The high schooler’s touch is very much alive in the stickers, spraypainted interior parts, homemade hood scoop, and more. It’s quite conspicuous. On my way out of his town I had several locals wave to me! Unfortunately (lol), the homemade hood had flown up and smashed the windshield at some point, so the “Baby Ram” sticker is no more. How are people going to know it’s me?
Mechanical: 1996 regular cab 4x4. Originally it had a V-6. They swapped in a 318 from a 1979 D100, and mated it to the stock 5spd transmission, which I’m considering swapping for an automatic (feel free to chime in with your thoughts and suggestions). Edelbrock 750 carb. Stock internals, I believe. Stock axles, not sure of the gear ratio, seems low based on the crawl speed in 4low. It’s amazingly rust-free, and hasn’t been abused from what I can tell. Tons of new parts. Custom tube bumpers he made in HS shop class (I’m skeptical about using them as a recovery point) Now if I can just find a flame red fender and get the truck back to (mostly) one color, I think I’ll have a pretty sharp ride!
Feel free to comment, add suggestions, or poke fun wherever you want. If swapping an auto into it is a realistic possibility, I plan to make this my off-road toy. Next would be some 33s and, who knows, maybe a straight axle swap. My mechanical background is somewhat limited, though. My most extensive projects were all on my Jeeps in college, and axle swaps are about as complicated as I get. I really know nothing about engines and transmissions. Hopefully this will become a fun thread!
Pics to follow as as I can’t seem to upload them from my phone.
Last edited by SHAKEnBLAKE183; 04-10-2018 at 12:41 AM.
