New Guy Here, with a new to me 1994 4wd.

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yarddogg77

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Jan 20, 2021
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Location
Pasco, WA
Ram Year
1994
Engine
5.9 Magnum
Hello, after making the mistake of buying a bullnose Ford and beating on it for around 4 years, I finally decided to get another Dodge and get back to my roots. Today I scored a 1994 1500 with a 5.9 and it is 4wd for $600. The body is straight, the glass is good, the dash and interior is messed up like most neglected Rams. The motor has a blown rod, hence the price point. The running gear seems fine with no leaks, and it drove straight. I think that with the low price I can afford to give it the attention it needs and come out on top anyway. I'm excited to have a Dodge again. I 've had 10-12 Dodge Chrysler vehicles over the years, my favorite was a 1983 truck that I held onto for 15 years. It started as a D-150, then I found W-350 donor truck and swapped my body to it, beat on that for a few years, but had to sell it. After that I had a 1995 Ram 1500 Ext cab, lifted 6" with 35's, and had to sell that. After that I bought the Bullnose Ford, which I've done a lot of work too. It is a sweet truck for a Ford, but I just don't like how they are built. So finally, I have a Ram.

Aside from rebuilding the engine, I would like to rebuild the transmission and Transfer case, plus beef them both up. I haven't crawled under it to check which gear boxes I have yet, but will do that soon.
 

Joe w.

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1999
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318 5.2l
Welcome got any pictures of your truck.
 

rule18

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Welcome to RamForum.
 

tron67j

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Welcome! My first was a 1994 1500. Loved the truck. Enjoy your ride!
 

quietpeen

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Welcome back to dodge
 
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yarddogg77

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Posts
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Location
Pasco, WA
Ram Year
1994
Engine
5.9 Magnum
Better late than never. I haven't been very active on here because I hadn't done anything to the truck. So here is a picture of my project. This summer I pulled the motor and rebuilt it. The crank shaft was destroyed, and a few of the rods no doubt needed grinded. But I lucked out and a drag racer on facebook sold me a good crankshaft, and 8 factory pistons with rods all in great shape for $75, saving me a bunch of money. My piston holes were excellent, so I put a cross hatch on them, installed all new bearings, then did some porting on my heads. I blended the bowls, opened up the exhaust side to gasket match, and just smoothed out the cast on the intake side. The motor runs great but I still have some kinks to sort out. I need to check the timing, and replace all the sensors as a good starting point.

I've also replaced my dash, with a good one from a wrecking yard, it always had a carpet cover on it, so there is not even one crack. I even found a good cup holder for it. I also recovered my head liner with some black fabric, then found some vinyl visors from a newer year, painted those black, it's looking great on the inside. I'm going to tear out all the interior again soon because I have a vinyl floor mat to replace the stained carpet. I also made a custom heater cable from a lawn mower throttle cable to get rid of that crappy short braided cable which likes to bind and bust the plastic gears on the factory heating control knob. I might snap some pics of the mod, because it's a great upgrade for those of you who may have run into the same issue. Other than that, I have fix one of the power seat motors, then I snagged some window switches from a 1998 so I can solve that issue too.

The only other things I have done, is new after market smoked headlights, tail lights, and a new set of tires. Once the weather warms up in the spring, I will rebuild the suspension, hopefully throw on some variable rate springs, and an adjustable track bar. I'm considering making new controls arms using heim joints to get rid of the rubber bushings. Here is the truck.


Ram.jpg
 
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