In the near future I'll be either purchasing or inheriting my paps 1990 Ramcharger. It's already lifted with 35" tires. Was repainted back to original color but the issue I have with the truck is. It was used as a plow for a little while at his business.

What would be some things I would have to look at first after I'm able to get my hands on it. LolI know pictures are needed and I will get them soon.
I have some ideas of what I would wanna do but I wanna have a good baseline first. I think the last time I looked at the mileage it was around 115,000 miles.

Now one other thing. I had a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Plus 5.9 Magnum. I have since went to a tacoma. I miss my V8 rumble and this would fulfill that void. LolI was thinking a 5.9 Magnum swap or Hemi. Still have some research though.

 

Being in the rust belt, you want to check the frame really closely. Especially around the body mounts and where the steering is attached. What engine does it have now? If it's a 360, that's what the 5.9 Magnum is based on. At the mileage you mentioned, it's probably getting close to needing a timing chain set. I wouldn't swap the engine unless you can find a big block to swap in. The earlier ones had a 400 and 440 as an option and there's plenty of room under the hood for it.

If for whatever reason you do pull the engine, if you plan to put it back in, I'd put a high volume oil pump in it and replace the expansion plugs. They tend to start to leak if the coolant hasn't been kept changed. That would also be a good time to flush all the rust and casting sand out of the block.

Now, for the rumble, a nice exhaust system will do wonders. I've got a Flowmaster 44 system on my '96 Ram. The problem with that is I can no longer put my spare under the bed.