HotRodPCJr
Junior Member
- Joined
- May 11, 2015
- Posts
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- Ram Year
- 1994
- Engine
- 5.9 360
I had my dad take me to see this 94 Long Bed 4x4 for $1500 I had found. Thing had a straight body, but 355,000 miles and smoked like hell and the guy said it used about a quart of oil per tank of gas. He didn't know if the trans or anything had ever been rebuilt but engine was original. No Rust and it ran so I was about to buy it anyway.
My dad put the brakes on the transaction and said let's go for a little drive and let the guy know we might be back. So I get in the my dads truck a bit pissed off he didn't let me buy it. Then he told me when he found out I was interested in a Dodge, he did some looking for me before I got off work. It was about 30 minutes out of town though. On the way, he started me asking me questions about my preferences in a truck. I told him 4x4 and it has to run. He asked, what about a shortbed? I said, well hell yeah I prefer a shortbed but they are always priced to high and I can't afford it. He said OK. He asked if I had any intention of lifting it. I said, just a little maybe 4 inches or so. He said OK. Just as we pull up to this truck, dad said, let me handle this, just answer my questions and don't act like you want it but he's asking $1000 and I've already had a long talk with the guy and know alot about the truck already. Thing started right up, 227,000 miles, trans had been rebuilt 10,000 miles ago, all new plug wires, cap and rotor, no smoke and sounded good. Has a spot of rust at the driver side cab corner size of a golf ball. The Transfer Gear Shift lever broke off from the shifter assembly but transfer case works perfect. Front brakes pulled hard right when you got on the brakes and my dad said the driver side brake hose or caliper is probably bad so plan on front brakes. The guy had taken out the factory seats and put some crappy Chevy Cavalier seats that suck horribly. My dad got close to me and asked, well what do you think? I said it's a shortbed and it's lifted 4 inches already, started right up, sounds good, alot less miles and cheaper than that other one so yeah, I'd buy this one for $1000 before I'd buy that other one for $1500. When dad got done, and asked if they guy had the title and knew of a notary close by, the guy said yes I do, and the tag is current for 4 more months. $800 later, I was driving it home.
First order of biz was to fix the front brakes pulling hard right. I went and bought calipers and pads for both sides. Got it jacked up, my dad noticed a caliper bolt missing on the passenger side. Put the missing bolt back in, brakes work great though the pads are about 80% worn. We noticed the bearings are shot and the wheels wobble alot. So we decided to button it all back up and not drive it unless I had to until we can do the hub bearings, brakes and all at the same time. I've probably driven it about 500 miles so far and all seem fairly well for an old tired truck.
I"ll be in search of an OEM factory bench seat, and a Transfer Case shifter mechanism with shifter stick. Tires are just 31's but have about 50-60% treadlife left on Bridgestone Desert Duellers. After those go bad, I'll probably do at least 33's maybe even 35's depending on the gear ratio.
Stay tuned on any updates if interested. I'm sure I'll be needing some help and opinions from time to time since my dad is more of a GM Squarebody guy. I actually wanted one too, but in a 4x4 80's squarebodies are like $2000 around here in about the same shape as this 94 Dodge.
Ohh and my dad said he bans people where he's the Admin for not posting truck **** so it's required.
My dad put the brakes on the transaction and said let's go for a little drive and let the guy know we might be back. So I get in the my dads truck a bit pissed off he didn't let me buy it. Then he told me when he found out I was interested in a Dodge, he did some looking for me before I got off work. It was about 30 minutes out of town though. On the way, he started me asking me questions about my preferences in a truck. I told him 4x4 and it has to run. He asked, what about a shortbed? I said, well hell yeah I prefer a shortbed but they are always priced to high and I can't afford it. He said OK. He asked if I had any intention of lifting it. I said, just a little maybe 4 inches or so. He said OK. Just as we pull up to this truck, dad said, let me handle this, just answer my questions and don't act like you want it but he's asking $1000 and I've already had a long talk with the guy and know alot about the truck already. Thing started right up, 227,000 miles, trans had been rebuilt 10,000 miles ago, all new plug wires, cap and rotor, no smoke and sounded good. Has a spot of rust at the driver side cab corner size of a golf ball. The Transfer Gear Shift lever broke off from the shifter assembly but transfer case works perfect. Front brakes pulled hard right when you got on the brakes and my dad said the driver side brake hose or caliper is probably bad so plan on front brakes. The guy had taken out the factory seats and put some crappy Chevy Cavalier seats that suck horribly. My dad got close to me and asked, well what do you think? I said it's a shortbed and it's lifted 4 inches already, started right up, sounds good, alot less miles and cheaper than that other one so yeah, I'd buy this one for $1000 before I'd buy that other one for $1500. When dad got done, and asked if they guy had the title and knew of a notary close by, the guy said yes I do, and the tag is current for 4 more months. $800 later, I was driving it home.
First order of biz was to fix the front brakes pulling hard right. I went and bought calipers and pads for both sides. Got it jacked up, my dad noticed a caliper bolt missing on the passenger side. Put the missing bolt back in, brakes work great though the pads are about 80% worn. We noticed the bearings are shot and the wheels wobble alot. So we decided to button it all back up and not drive it unless I had to until we can do the hub bearings, brakes and all at the same time. I've probably driven it about 500 miles so far and all seem fairly well for an old tired truck.
I"ll be in search of an OEM factory bench seat, and a Transfer Case shifter mechanism with shifter stick. Tires are just 31's but have about 50-60% treadlife left on Bridgestone Desert Duellers. After those go bad, I'll probably do at least 33's maybe even 35's depending on the gear ratio.
Stay tuned on any updates if interested. I'm sure I'll be needing some help and opinions from time to time since my dad is more of a GM Squarebody guy. I actually wanted one too, but in a 4x4 80's squarebodies are like $2000 around here in about the same shape as this 94 Dodge.
Ohh and my dad said he bans people where he's the Admin for not posting truck **** so it's required.
