LT's Wild RamCharger

[sprueitt]

LT is new to the board, He just joined up. He is from my hometown of Los Alamos NM and we both wheel up here in Utah alot. He is a wild guy. He has been into wheeling along time. He has owned several built to the hilt CHevys, and a few Dodges. Right now he has a 87 Dodge Ramcharger which he calls his beater. The motor is a 360 bored over 0.3. He got real happy with the Sawsall and cut tons of the body off, including the roof, and front and fenders. He has a roll cage that is under fab right now. He now has a dana 60 going in for the front and a Corp 14 for the rear. He has Hydr. steering and a bunch of other stuff. He has new tires, 42 Irocs and beadlock rims.

I let him tell you about it. Here are his pictures:

[LT.]

Thanks again Bro. The tow rig is a 2006 Dodge, crew cab, one ton, 4x4, Cummins powered, dually, running the G56 six speed manual tranny. I have a two inch lift on the front that is all coil springs from Superlift. Tires are 315/70/17's (about a 35x12.5x17 equilivant) and I had to use a two inch spacer between the rear duals to make them fit. I run a programer from Smarty Jr., a boost fooler, dual four inch exhaust from MBRP, and a stage II intake from AFE. With the current program on the motor I am pushing about 400 horsepower and about 800 to 850 foot pounds of torque. With this set up I am able to get 24.2 mpg on the highway and about 22 mpg in town. The truck seems to really like this set up and has responded well to the modifications. When I fuel up the motor all the way it will put just a tick over 500 horsepower and a little over 1000 foot pounds of torque to the ground. This is enough hp and tq to slip my heavy duty clutch empty and spin all four rear tires on dry asphalt. But, it starts to smoke like a train out of both tail pipes. I haul my beater in a fully inclosed race car trailer that is 28 feet long and can haul 12,000 lbs. about 7,000 to 8,000 lbs. in the trailer. I am always messing with the dually and am fanisiated with Diesel engines and programming.

LT.

[SAMI]

that's impressive mpg.. bitchin Dodge!!

[sprueitt]

Here are more:

[sprueitt]

here are his tow rig and trailer:

[LT.]

Thanks again Bro!!! The mileage is adjusted for the bigger tires. I think that I have achieved all the mileage out of the dually that I am going to get without putting on a bed cover or something like that. I am toying with the idea of lifting the dually higher and putting on a six inch Superlift and some 37" tires but it does so well now that I am having a hard time justifing it.

LT.

[jesse]

thats a nice setup. get some more wheeling pics up

[LT.]

Wheeling has been on a major hold, due to fixing my junk that I broke on last years EJS. I also have been changing a few things around and am getting a little bit frustraded with the darn thing. Not coming together as fast as I would like. I just paid a shop here in town $700.00 to install my new rear axle that I built. I was not happy since I dropped off the rig in November and just got it done two weeks ago. Oh well. I am trying to get it back together so I can take it with me to California this June and do a little playing around. We will just have to wait and see. I am not going to hold my breath.

LT.

[turbosniper1]

[turbosniper1]

and another... can we say "Beadlocks"????

[LT.]

Thanks Brother Matt!!!

LT.

[LT.]

To avoid hijacking Turbosnipers thread any more I thought that I should give an update to my junk. The rear axle is now in and plumbed. The front axle has proven to be problematic as finding front brake lines was not easy. We are now on set number eight and are hoping that they will fit. I ordered new drive shafts that were, how should I say it, very expensive!!! The rear output on the transfercase is not only on but is as big as I could get. The rear is now all 1350 joints and the shaft is quarter inch wall. I should not be able to brake it but, I have heard that before. I also have a new front drive line that is bullet proof but I need to clearance it for the sharp angle that it has to operate at. Right now I am working on moving the engine and drivetrain back towards the rear of the truck about 8 inches. This should help me with the front driveline angle and help the truck fly better when I get it airborne!!! Next on the list is a new tranny from TCI and a new torque converter. I also will be trying my hand at either a cross over steering or the full hydraulic set up that I have been working on for a little while. I have had a time trying to get the hydraulic rams to work like I want them to. I am wanting them to operate at 3 turns lock to lock and with no lag. This is going to be a pain no matter how I work it.

I am still going to try and get my Beater to Moab this October but with the way things are going I make no promises.

LT.

[casper customs]

you better get your butt moving we plan on seeing you there in oct.

[sprueitt]

Make it simple, make it work, and then enjoy it, that is what it is all about. You will never have a perfect rig, you will always find things that you want to change or enhance, so just get it out on the trail and enjoy it, its no fun having sit in a shop somewhere. IF it is three turns lock to lock, thats not too bad, just think of it as a piece of heavy equipment.

See you in October.

[LT.]

Okay, steering is on hold. I am just not happy with the delay that I am getting with the current ram setup. The new rear driveshaft is in the truck and I also had to replace the rear yolk on the transfercase. While I was there I decided that it would be a good idea to replace the yolk seal, and the straps for the rear diff and the rear yolk. I still have not found the time to clearence the front drive shaft to make it work at the angle it needs to operate at. I also have still not found the right front brake lines for the front axle. This may be an impossible solution as there seems to be no one who makes a flexable brake line that is 16 to 18 inches that does not flex too much and will work between the Dodge hard lines and the Chevy calipers. The tranny is also on hold for now. I just do not have the funds or the time to replace it before Moab this October. So, I will be running it until it fails completely and getting one of my friends to give me a tow back to camp.

LT.