el paso here and gf's in conroe so if yall see BART (big a** red thing) rolling around its her. next weekend shell have my 06 hemi and im taking bart to el paso.

 

the guys in conroe, any good spots to do a little mudding?

 

Goo go man there has to be more ram owners in texas than what is replying. I will put the word out in El Paso to those that I know and see if we can have a get together to check out each others trucks and tech advice. I am a bit social.

 

Sweet, there was a guy I helped put shorties on his hemi but after that never heard from him, always down for car stuff

 

I am a certified car and truck fanatic. Unfortunately my ram is 2wd. I do however plan to change all that as soon as I find a suitable wrecked 4wd to slap my body on. My truck runs really fin good so all i need is the frame, transfer case and tranny with all the running gear and I got me a 4x4. Oh yeah and about 2 weekends to do the body swap.

 

20 mins West of San Antonio.

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FACT: I'm a complete newb.

Never heard of a project like that. I too have a 2wd. Though I have no use for 4wd in any intended usage for the truck, I do find that getting out of certain folks driveway's with a 2wd is not as efficient when it does decide to actually rain around here. Not to mention to have the option available "just in case" is usually nice.

So when you say "running gear," what does that mean? I assume you'd be able to simply use your truck as parts (beyond the engine/body). Also, do you have to keep within a certain year for the truck you find with the 4x4? Finally, if I was to entertain doing a similar project, what would I have to be looking for to find a "suitable" truck? I imagine there are certain damages that are too costly to fix. I'm sure there's plenty of other things I'd have to educate myself on as well.

 

best bet, buy a 4x4 and use that one. converting takes a good amount of time and the price can quickly add up if that 4x4 you bought as the donor isnt as great as you believed it to be. since squidnut has probably done this before or enough work on a vehicle i believe he completely understands what hes getting into. on a 2010 id say your gonna be spending a lot more doing the swap, both time and money so find an old 90's 4x4 if you get that urge to go offroading otherwise just get some better tires for the 2010

 

Sorry guys. Between work and honey-do I dont have alot of time to get on here. What I am looking at doing for the swap is to find a 4x4 truck either complete or frame with all suspension intact. The body i have is immaculate so I need a 2nd gen frame that has all the axles, suspension, transfer case so on and so on. It has to be extended cab just like mine so the wheelbase will not be an issue. I pull the body with all the electrical goodies off of my 2 wheel drive frame and put it on the 4x4 frame. Then I install my engine, tranny (that takes a little change over on the tail shaft) and voila, I got me one hell of a 4X4. I have to take all of the electrical and transfer from my body to the frame. The auto 4x4 switch and components is the big issue. I either have to cut out a place to mount or pull the dashboard from the 4x4 and swap. I would go with a cutout so I can mount the switch where I want. It is alot of work but not alot of thought. Most of it is just connecting the electrical, brakes and drivetrain. Drivetrain should be done 1st when the body is off. Then you can address other things like suspension,transfer case and driveline with nothing in the way. Takes about a week with 2 guys and a shop crane. About 4-5 days with 4 guys that know what they are doing. Did one on a 78 ford that had a 390. Also if you want to lift it you can install as you put the body back on. I actually want to find a 09 or newer extended cab and see if the wheelbase is close. Can find a wrecked truck at the copart auto auction. Looking at about 5 grand but you just sell the parts you do not use and get most of your money back if not more. Then I will have a 2nd Gen with last gen running gear and gas mileage. I also will not have to worry about passing inspection either. If I use the newer drive train I have to pull the entire harness from the donor truck. If I use my drivetrain it is alot easier but then I still get the 11.5 mpg. Not sure which way i will go. Will be next year before i start. Oh yeah and when I say running gear I mean everything that makes it go( pretty much whatever is attached to the frame except the body.

 

I am new also Calallen n.w. of Corpus

 

I'm sorry to say but if past history is any indication, I think that your efforts to put together a club or trying to put together a g2g will be for the most part unsuccessful. I have, during the last year, tried to put together a couple of g2g to no avail. The last one was last weekend--I advertised on 4 Dodge truck web site, the threads had over 200 views total, and ONE person showed up. This is the second time I tried this. I have come to believe that most members of these sites love to talk about their trucks, see pictures of site members trucks, but when in comes to getting off their *** and out from behind their computers---good luck. You will hear every excuse possible--but the bottom line is NO ONE WILL SHOW UP. This is just my opinion and I hope one of these days someone, somewhere will prove me wrong.
Jay