1999 Ram 2500 5.9L

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dstryr

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Looking for some help here..

My daughter bought herself a 200,000+ mile '99 2500 long bed club cab truck that she maybe should have passed on. 5.9 Cummins that seems to be good, starts instantly, does not use oil.

It took her a couple of months to work up the courage to tell me about it.. lol

Anyway, the transmission leaks and her bf thought he knew how to check it but didn't, so of course continued to run it low and let it slip.

It has a home-made looking 4" lift. The steering is all over and underneath as we turn the wheel there doesn't seem to be a lot of slop in the steering but the cab rocks left to right as the wheel is turned left to right.

So.. the transmission.. What fits? I see an '03 2500 diesel locally listed for parts with a good transmission.

Also, any insight on the front suspension? If I take the lift kit out does that mean replacing steering components? I know nothing about lifts and geometry so do not know if special parts were installed to accommodate the lift of if stock parts can typically handle a 4" kit.

It has carried some heavy loads. The rear leafs look like a recurve bow with a big hump in them going over the rear axle.

The upside is the engine is good, all electrical works so with some work maybe it can go another 100,000.

Or maybe it'll go on Craigslist.

Thanks!
 

Bigtman07

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Well sounds like she got an interesting one. From what I know the 02 was the last with the 47re. the 03 and up i think are the 48re. Which is slightly different bolt pattern and is all electronic. The 47re only has electric lockup I believe. As for the steering I can get you some pics of stock steering parts so you can try to compare. The cab lifting sounds like the cab bolts are loose ore maybe missing the body mounts. I'd check those for sure. When they did the lift in the front did they do larger springs or spacers?
 

EvilSpirit

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47RH series transmissions have electric O/D and L/U solenoids and a hydraulic governor circuit from the O/D unit to control shift points. 47RE series units have electric O/D and L/U solenoids and use transducer/governor pressure units on the valve body to supply info to the computer to control shift points. The 47RH and 47RE units are not interchangeable without major rework. While the gas engines switched to the RH to the RE series units during the 95-96 model change-over, IIRC the diesel units were a couple years behind.

Personally I usually contact a big diesel trans shop like Goerend for interchange and build options.

https://goerend.com/
 

dapepper9

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If it's only slipping, a fluid/filter change with a band adjustment goes a long way on these transmissions.

As for the suspension, another option is you could take it to an offroad shop if there's one nearby and see if they'll do a lookover. May be able to tell you more about it and how jerry-rigged it may be
 
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dstryr

dstryr

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IMG_1658.JPG IMG_1659.JPG IMG_1662.JPG IMG_1663.JPG IMG_1664.JPG

Here are a few pics.
 
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dstryr

dstryr

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IMG_1665.JPG IMG_1666.JPG IMG_1667.JPG


Anyone in central Iowa have 4 factory wheels?
 

dapepper9

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Do not drive that. Look how that coil spacer is shifted out of center with the coil, lucky it doesn't buckle. I would remove the coil spacer and the bottom block in the back and take it for an alignment. That would be a good start. Only problem you'll see is shock length would change in that case however judging from the looks of those coils they're the factory ones. Top block in the back is also factory. Stock shocks will do fine and can be had pretty cheap

Im over in the sioux city area out west of you and see wheels come up for sale all the time.
 

Bigtman07

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Totally agree with pepper. Looks like they added a 2” block to the back. Looks like the U-Bolts might be a bit big. Should probably get some shorter ones of those. The spacer up front is upside down. Flip that over and get an alignment and you’ll feel a bit better driving it.
 

dapepper9

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**** didn't even notice it was upside down. Now that say that yeah you can see the holes for the tower studs are on the bottom. Flip them upside and use Grade 8 bolts for the shock tower
 
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