1998 ram 1500 Sport- my first truck

Hey guys! this is my first post here, about my first truck! yesterday i got a 1998 Dodge ram 1500 Sport edition. Its got 180xxx miles on it, with a rebuilt tranny at about 150xxx. It also has a rebuilt T-case at about 165xxx miles. the engine is a 5.9 liter 360, fires right up, no ticks knock, and no burnt oil at the exhaust. It has a NEW full exhaust system from the manifolds back. the manifolds look to be in decent condition. It came with a 7'6" Fisher MM1 snowplow. the truck is lifted 3 inches, with 3/4 ton springs in the front, and 3/4 ton leafs in the back. the interior is tip top, other than a crack in the dash. The recliner for the driver seat is broken too. There is a few things i need help with/questions i have. first off, if anyone has the schematic for the reclining mech, that would be great. or point me in the right direction on fixing it. the other thing- would this truck have an LSD diff or open diff, and is there a code or something on the sticker in the glovebox? so far, thats all the questions i have. im gonna mess around with the truck tonight, so i'll probably come up with some stuff. any help is appreciated. thanks guys! i'll have some pics up when i get home from school

Welcome to RF! Congrats on the Ram
Determining which rear end your truck has:
Jack up the rear end to get the tires off the ground. Put the transmission in neutral and spin one of the tires by hand.
If the opposite tire spins in the same direction, you have a limited slip differential.
If the opposite tire spins in the opposite direction, you have an open rear end.

Welcome to RF!

We are most definitely going to need pics.

Ill point to the FSM for the schematic on the reclining mechanism, most likely something in there. Leaderofthepak has you covered for findin out what diff ya got.

Johnn123 said:

Ill point to the FSM for the schematic on the reclining mechanism, most likely something in there.

Click to expand...

FSM? still trying to find my way around the site.. this place is HUGE compared to the other fourms im used to. (i mod on a few other smaller forums)

Factory Service Manual

http://www.ramforum.com/f77/2nd_gen_service_manual-986/
^That
Welcome to RF. And huge? Hehehe, you must not get around much.

dodge dude94 said:

Factory Service Manual

http://www.ramforum.com/f77/2nd_gen_service_manual-986/
^That
Welcome to RF. And huge? Hehehe, you must not get around much.

Click to expand...

Thanks! nah, i dont go out much.. lol

dodge dude94 said:

Factory Service Manual

http://www.ramforum.com/f77/2nd_gen_service_manual-986/
^That
Welcome to RF. And huge? Hehehe, you must not get around much.

Click to expand...

Thank you good sir haha. That is what I was reffering to with FSM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMnUAVWA-88&feature=youtu.be

theres the vid i took. thanks for all the help guys. it turns out the cable is broken. any idea how to replace that?

i think im just gonna wait until i can get into a field and do a burnout to see if its LSD. i dont have a good enough jack right now. aand the sticker is gone off the glovebox

heres some pics too

What about what cable?
There should be a spec sticker under the hood, I've found that to be the most common place for it. Mine doesn't have the glove box sticker but DOES have the hood sticker. You can also order a build sheet through Dodge as well that will have everything your truck came with from the factory. You'll need rear wheel well arches, front arches, cab corners, rockers and check the cab mounts as well.

Other than the rust it looks as if it was taken care of well enough, engine seems good and sounds dead stock.

the cable for the recliner lever. i took off the trim at the bottom of the seat and the cable is just dangling there. its not THAT big of a deal, but it'd be nice to have both seats fold foreward, so i can use the back seat if need be.

i crawled under it to inspect the driveline, and i saw the cab mounts are gone too, so add that to the list. overall, i think i made out pretty good. like you said, the mechanics are solid, just some typical dodge rust

still looking it over, finding things i didnt know about, and things that dont work. found a set of cupholders in the rear seat, the 2nd 12 volt outlet (cigarette plug) is not working, probably due to corrosion, so i'll just replace that, found some more rust holes........... behind the A-pillar, they covered it up with black duct tape, so you dont see it unless youre REALLY looking for it. also in the bed of the truck, there is a small hole behind each fender well. not a big deal though. I also dug through the toolbox that came with it. ive got 2 sets of tire chains, almost brandy new. also came with the bungee cords for the chains. i found a box of 3 pop-up safety triangles, and a red flag (already claimed by redlinemotorsportts). there is also a few blocks of wood, and a few bottles of misc fluids.

overall im really happy with it. OH, i got all the presets set and figured out how my radio works.. thats the 2nd most important thing, is the radio.. lol

Might be able to rig the seat flip lever. I dunno, I have a QC and power seats. lol

Cab mounts will be a pain to replace because of what they are. Most everything else shouldn't be too bad for you to fix. Your cig lighter likely doesn't work because of a blown fuse, I know that's how mine was. I forget what the common fix for those was, I replaced my fuse and it blew again.

already checked the fuse, no go. the plug is REALLY corrodded, so thats where my money is. not a big deal as of now, but when i plow for like 15 hours on end in the winter, im gonna need my light bar and probably a phone charger. also gonna need it for my blue lights (vol firefighter)

Well if corrosion is obvious, start there. lol

You can probably wire in some 12v accessory outlets if you can find enough power for them.

i'd probably just pop out the old one, and put in a new one. i may drill another hole for a 3rd, if i can find power. might just save it and hardwire in my blue lights and a CB. incase you couldnt tell, wiring is NOT one of my strong suits.. lol

nother' update-

brought it down to my dads and replaced the rear ujoints, and 2 of the fronts. It was still clunking, so we took the diff cover off, and the oil that came out, had so much metal in it, it looked like never-seize lubricant. The ring gear has a tooth out of it, the pinion is pretty chewed up and the spiders are pretty rough... kinda ****** me off, but it IS a 98'..
BTW, it is an open diff BUT, since i have to rebuild it, that MAY change...

well! we found a whole rear axle for it. It should be in on wednesday or thursday this week, then the fun begins. we already got the chainfall mounted in the garage. from there, we just have to get the U-bolts for the axle, and any other hardware we may need. still havent got the plug for my reverse light. were making a parts run on friday if the local dodge dealer is open. im also getting a cable for the drivers seat. gonna be a fun weekend

Time to blow the dust bunnies off this thread!
last update was that the axle was ordered.

NOW.... new axle is installed, and has been for a while. we got it, changed over the brake hardware and then i wire wheel'd it with my angle grinder, and shot it semi-gloss black. I ordered new U-bolts that had to be custom made to accomodate the 3 inch lift. last weekend we replaced the track bar, so it dosent wander anymore.

over the summer, a few issues have made themselves known.

1- the "wild vent syndrome".. if i get my foot into it, the vents will reset to defrost until i get my foot off the floor. (not even on the floor, anything over halfway sends it to defrost) I still have to chase that down. reading on here it sounds like that check valve, but im not convinced.

2- does not like to come off overdrive. i will be pulling a hill and i either have to let off all the way and then sink my foot right to the floor, or push the OD/O button to shut it off, then when i turn it back on, it will go right back into OD. ever tried to pull a hill at 1200 RPM? lol.

3- its running really rich. not really a bad thing, but it trips the CEL ever week or so. "in-efficent catalyst something or other" meaning the catalytic converter (fun killer) isnt up to par.

now, just an oddball question i have- there is an orange wire taped on the firewall i found while poking at the cab air intake.. its marked PTO. i was wondering if its possible to hook that up to a toggle and have a high idle switch. I read that there is a code or something in the PCM that needs to be activated, and you can control a high idle by the cruise control with the PTO wire is grounded out. is this true?

also- anyone know where i can get the screen that goes under the valace for the cab air intake? im sick of having leaves and pine needles blown at me, and before long, mice will be looking for warm cozy places to bed down.. like my cab air box...