An old Mopar guy joining...

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MoParts

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Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2022
Posts
42
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21
Location
Boulder Creek, CA
Ram Year
2018
Engine
Cummins 6.7 HD
Hi all,

Introduction time. I have been poking my nose in here once in a great while for quite a few years. Since I bought my 3500 4x4 Laramie CTD HD in July 2020 I have been at Ramforum and Ramforumz often enough you could almost call it lurking plus now I have a technical question so I figured what the hey... I am joining both today, cross-posting this intro.

I've been a car guy all along, rolling around under the family car handing my dad tools, asking questions and trying to "HOLD THE $#^!!^Q#$%^ LIGHT STEADY". :D Despite him being a Ford guy I ended up being a Mopar guy. My first American V8 being a '67 Coronet R/T helped. :burnout:

After driving it away unscathed from a near-fatal high speed wipeout in '84 I figured I ought to slow down so sold that and picked up a '76 Ramcharger which has endured as other cars come and go. Picked it up with 65K on the clock, finally rebuilt the 318ci motor at 319K about 10 years ago and I've been working the old girl since... pics below. Flipped it over at Hollister ORV park in the 80's and replaced all of the sheet metal except the grill and tailgate... a story for another time or forum maybe.

I spent quite a few years as a AAA Tow operator, back in the day when we would try to get people on the road instead of today's "jump or tow" mentality. Lots of experience there with big trucks towing and moving things, recovery work, etc. so I have a bit of heavy trucks/diesel in the blood.

A bit after rebuilding the Ramcharger my wife and I moved from Sunnyvale, CA to Boulder Creek, CA, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains. During the move reverse started slipping so I went to adjust the band and in the process broke my finger between the breaker bar and the spring shackle when the locknut broke loose. Then I had to finish installing the hardwood floor in the office so I could finish moving our stuff in. Fun times. But, I was able to get a lot of work out of her by being careful about reverse, using 4Low wherever possible. And the finger healed.

So, in the middle of 2020, I decided that I need a truck that I could just jump into in any weather and do stuff. I have been considering buying a dump trailer for some time but what I really wanted was a 10K, which would technically overload the Ramcharger. Also the Ramcharger HVAC sucks, not enough defroster there to overcome the fact that the ragtop leaks and keeps the inside damp(she lives under a tarp).

I started shopping and found this beast early on, really a huge stroke of luck for the price. She was a fleet truck, owned by Hot Line construction(A PG&E subcontractor). She has scratches down the sides from driving in brush but it's not major. It could be corrected but then the paint would be thinner and I would only add more of the same type scratches. A bit over 70K miles and in amazing shape for the most part. I figure it must have been a supervisor truck. I've put 10K on her and not burned a drop of oil. All of the trailer plugs had factory grease, the 5th wheel hardware and class V receiver had unscratched original paint. The charge cooler had taken a hit, mangling the mounting brackets the CC shroud, and cracking the lower rad fan shroud. Some of the CC fins and a bit of one bar are a bit bent, but not leaking and not bent enough to impact performance. So the one thing I had to do to bring it to spec was replace those brackets and shrouds, plus I had some work done on the steering per a recall.

I am stoked at the options list but unsure what is included in Laramie or HD packages; 6K front axle, LSD, Aisin, Load Floor, Heated/Cooled leather, 8.4 uConnect, 10/6-way seats, Memory including power pedals, and a ton of stuff that I am sure is just there to pad the list.

After that, I added clearance lights, Toyo A/T III's, an LED Cargo camera, HID low beams and LED high/fog bulbs, LED backup lights including an XTR frame, a Pendaliner and some 3K flush stake pocket tie downs. I have a rear folding step on order. For now I'm keeping her mostly stock but upgrades I have in mind for a couple years down the road include a PTO/Hydraulic winch with a significant bumper upgrade (F/R actually), Mico locks, and an air locker front diff.

Anyway, here are some pics, past and present as well as a larger version of my avatar pic.

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rule18

Admin
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NY
Ram Year
2017 Rebel
Welcome to RamForum.
 

deku

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2022
Posts
3
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Location
chicago
Ram Year
2005
Engine
Hem 6.1
wow welcome! also new welcome to the both of us!
 
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