Rambo, Old farts last build

[Evguy1]

Got the parts made and installed today. One 3/8" outlet for the small stock vent tubes, one 5/8" outlet for the new vent outlet to the filler pipe and one 1/2" outlet for fuel transfer if I install a second tank in the bed. The top and bottom plates both have square O rings in them as well as an O-ring around the 1/2" bolt that pulls the plates together once installed in the tank.

 

[Evguy1]

I have been patiently waiting for my Bilstein front struts since November but need to get on with life so yesterday I picked up a used set of stock ones from the auto wrecker. I will swap them out when the Bilstein's are available in August.

 

[Evguy1]

I have wanted to change to a console shifter since buying the truck and this was a good time to tackle that. The transmission TCM is away being flashed with the Charger programming which will give me the manual mode. Adding the PPE trans pan at the same time and adding a few hundred RPM to the torque converter stall speed so it does not load the engine as hard at idle in gear.
I started with a 2016 Charger shifter and a 2012 RAM 1500 shift bezel. Lots of dremel time followed by filling, sanding and painting but I think it turned out OK. Had to cut the Charger shifter boot housing out of the Charger bezel and epoxy it onto the underside of the RAM bezel. The old rotary shifter location will fit one of Sound German Autos digital gear indicators and maybe a switch for something above that. A piece of 2X3 aluminuim tube was the perfect size to space the Charger shifter up. Had to add a short spacer pipe to support the RAM console next to the shifter. The chrome trim ring is just sitting there and not snapped down into place yet.

 

[Evguy1]

Had to do some tidy up work so the engine is out. Got the old school hydraulic steering rack installed from a 2012 Ram 1500. Never have to wory about EPS failure. Lots of littel stuff to tidy up since I was in a big hurry last fall to have it on the road for our annual camping trip.

 

[Evguy1]

After waiting 5 months for the Bilstein's to be available I installed some used struts last month so the truck would be off jack stands and the crappy air ride is gone! Bilstein said it would be August before the struts would be available but they showed up a bit early last week. Got the first one assembled but could not get the snap ring to fully seat in the lower spring mount. Bilstein thinks they applied to thick of a plating on these and a new set is on the way. Just be careful if your installing a set of these that the snap ring does seat ALL THE WAY up into the lower spring perch.

 

[Hemi395]

Had to do some tidy up work so the engine is out. Got the old school hydraulic steering rack installed from a 2012 Ram 1500. Never have to wory about EPS failure. Lots of littel stuff to tidy up since I was in a big hurry last fall to have it on the road for our annual camping trip.View attachment 495435

Besides the actual rack swap/power steering pump, what all in all is involved with doing the hydraulic conversion? I'm assuming some programing has to be done so the BCM isn't looking for the steering module...

 

[Evguy1]

Yes, had to turn off the EPS in the BCM. The steering shaft and rod ends work BUT the bolt spacing on the rack mounting bolts is different!! I had to cut the old bolt tubes out of the frame and move them to accommodate the new rack. The spacing on the EPS is 11" and the old style is 11 3/8" You only have to move one of the holes I figured out after cutting them both out. I also lowered them a bit for more oil pan clearance.

 

[Evguy1]

Got the engine back in on the weekend with a new torque converter. Got it all installed but could not get the engine to slide up to the trans that last 1/2 inch so you know what that means. Managed to slide the engine forward enough to get up into the bell housing and wiggle the converter the rest of the way in. I was sure it clunked in to all the positions when I first installed it but obviously not the last one. After that it all slid together well. New converter has a bit higher stall so that should be interesting. Installed a new 220 amp alternator and the new power steering pump. Its a strange thing to enjoy but I do like playing with belt routing. Had to move the idlers a couple of times to get everything just right, biggest problem was at that length the belt selection is not good. Changed all the cheap fuel line with proper Russel AN fittings and hose.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Got the engine back in on the weekend with a new torque converter. Got it all installed but could not get the engine to slide up to the trans that last 1/2 inch so you know what that means. Managed to slide the engine forward enough to get up into the bell housing and wiggle the converter the rest of the way in. I was sure it clunked in to all the positions when I first installed it but obviously not the last one. After that it all slid together well. New converter has a bit higher stall so that should be interesting. Installed a new 220 amp alternator and the new power steering pump. Its a strange thing to enjoy but I do like playing with belt routing. Had to move the idlers a couple of times to get everything just right, biggest problem was at that length the belt selection is not good. Changed all the cheap fuel line with proper Russel AN fittings and hose. View attachment 495813View attachment 495812

Damn, man! Your combo is what I was trying to get corporate to do back in early 2000's! I want to play at your house. lol

Btw - hope you got the ISB variant with the counterbalancer shafts, or you gonna be in for some serious 2nd order harmonic imbalance shake 'n bake.

 

[Evguy1]

Thanks HEMIMANN, this is the second one of these engines I have used, no balance shafts but you can sit a glass of water on the valve cover at idle and then it gets smoother off idle. The first one was in my 08 Dakota, awesome tow rig for 7 years. https://youtu.be/9RXqC9_Qgy8

 

[HEMIMANN]

Thanks HEMIMANN, this is the second one of these engines I have used, no balance shafts but you can sit a glass of water on the valve cover at idle and then it gets smoother off idle. The first one was in my 08 Dakota, awesome tow rig for 7 years. https://youtu.be/9RXqC9_Qgy8

Well, that's not my experience with the same engine in generators. We had customer complaints just cause it looked so bad, and had a frame start to crack ~ 3,000 hours run time, even though it passed endurance quality test.

 

[Evguy1]

I wonder if the Genset ones are different, there is a growing number of guys with these in trucks and they all love how smooth they are compared to the older 4BT.

 

[Evguy1]

Avoiding some underneath work today so I started to wire up stuff in the cab.
I have always had a manual trans truck and had the air horn button on the shifter. This automatic made that tricky but found a small momentary switch online that after some tedious work looks good and is in the perfect location to give people the finger. ;>)
I removed the air ride but added my own rear airbag setup. I wanted to try to use the existing air ride buttons on the dash but could not figure that out so I went old school mechanical switches. Only had one on the shelf so more on the way from Amazon.

 

[3uzfte]

Hey, spent some time tracking this thread down from the 4BTswap to YouTube to here. I'm currently pulling an ecodiesel and want to do something similar. I've got a few questions about the swap and hoping having a diesel already, it will help make the swap a bit easier. Any chance you'd run through some of the details with me?

Are you running a standalone computer to run the transmission, or is that still done with the stock TCM?

Why remove the EPS? Drivability issues without the original ECU hook up?

 

[Evguy1]

Its a long road. It will be interesting to see how it goes by starting with an ED truck. The biggest problem is getting the ECU to recognize that the engine is running. This has been my biggest stumbling block. Without that nothing works since as far as the truck is concerned the engine is not running. EPS, 4X4, AC, alternator, TCM, and more wont work. Yes stand alone from Russell at Sound German Auto. He is great to work with. The only reason I went with the stand alone was because the ECU would not turn everything on. Always happy to answer questions. Truck does drive very nicely though.

 

[KC Kevin]

You have mad skills. I wish you were my neighbor! Thanks for sharing/ posting your craftsmanship. Truely remarkable!

 

[Evguy1]

You have mad skills.

Thanks, you agree with my wife on the mad part. ;>)

 

[Evguy1]

Did a road trip through the mountains last month and found it overheats pretty badly. First up is to relocate the intercooler from in front of the rad to below the rad. Added a couple of fans that are ON with the ignition to get max airflow/cooling.

 

[Evguy1]

Getting the fans off the 5.7 rad fitted to the new Mishimoto rad from a 3500.

 

[Evguy1]

Had a busy week so not much progress but it is in and mounted and yes the hood closes...just.