jd1923 Posted August 16, 2023 Share Posted August 16, 2023 Many of you have a new or late model tow vehicle, so this post may not be of interest to you. I always buy older vehicles, love the classics, and as the builder in me, enjoy my time restoring them. Every time I buy another truck or car, Chris says, “when are you going to start taking it apart?” The usual answer is as soon as I can clear a stall in my garage! This beauty, our Gen2 Dodge Ram 2500 HD Cummins, has only 161K miles at 22 years (that’s 7300 miles/year), with like-new body and interior, and it just needs some mechanical love. I will rebuild everything under the truck! Lol 😊 So, she’s up on HD jack stands and here are a few pics of the as-is condition and initial disassembly! 5 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator+ ScubaRx Posted August 16, 2023 Moderator+ Share Posted August 16, 2023 Nice Work. Keep the pics coming. 1 Steve, Tali and our dog Rocky plus our beloved dogs Storm, Lucy, Maggie and Reacher (all waiting at the Rainbow Bridge) 2008 Legacy Elite I - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #026 | 2014 Legacy Elite II - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #050 | 2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD SRW Diesel 4x4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideandfly Posted August 16, 2023 Share Posted August 16, 2023 Nice truck, photos, and project. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Thanks for posting about project! 1 2015 LE2 #75 / 2024 F-150/5.0L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 17, 2023 Author Share Posted August 17, 2023 I was going to make a fall project out of this, but Monsoon rains have brought us a cool August after many 100 degree days in July. The control arm bushings were in decent shape. I could have left them alone, but now that I‘m into it, I will replace all serviceable parts. The ball joints are another story, with quite a lot of slop. The real fun on 2WD models are the riveted ball joints. I have never seen such an odd design, OMG! The first picture shows a steel cutting blade in my compound miter saw. You see the heads of 3 rivets removed and the 4th shows one cut of the saw blade. I cut and folded the head over with a chisel, cut again and again… After you remove the heads, they still cannot be punched through! I hit it with all I had, various punches with a heavy hammer. I had to drill the back side deep to weaken the side walls of these ½” dia steel rivets and they finally punched out. The second picture shows the remains of 2 rivets from the lowers and 2 heads from the upper control arms, which thankfully came out much easier. The final picture shows a finished lower control arm, new Moog ball joints and bushings. Nice and clean, using Gojo hand cleaner and a toothbrush. 1 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srthomsen Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 The fact that you experienced that difficulty removing the old rivets attests to the robustness (is that a word?) of the OEM construction. 1 2023 Elite #1403--2019 Ford F150--2.7 Ecoboost V6--10 speed auto--without Max Tow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 17, 2023 Author Share Posted August 17, 2023 45 minutes ago, srthomsen said: The fact that you experienced that difficulty removing the old rivets attests to the robustness (is that a word?) of the OEM construction. Yes, agreed. The replacement kit had standard #5 bolts, threaded all the way. They should have bolts threaded only at the end for greater strength. If the OEM part had bolts, I would have reused them. Dealer repairs replace the entire control arm. They had one side, still in stock today and the other side discontinued. We'll see and hope for the best! Moog parts have done me well in the past.🙂 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 19, 2023 Author Share Posted August 19, 2023 Another day, another dollar, as they say! And I got the other side done... Both sides now have ball joints removed, parts cleaned, and new parts installed. I will get a lot more work done this weekend, so more progress to report soon. 🙂 1 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator+ ScubaRx Posted August 19, 2023 Moderator+ Share Posted August 19, 2023 Wow....makes me sweat just thinking about it. Steve, Tali and our dog Rocky plus our beloved dogs Storm, Lucy, Maggie and Reacher (all waiting at the Rainbow Bridge) 2008 Legacy Elite I - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #026 | 2014 Legacy Elite II - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #050 | 2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD SRW Diesel 4x4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideandfly Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 Great job! This truck will make a great Ollie TV! Thanks for posting progress! 1 2015 LE2 #75 / 2024 F-150/5.0L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 Decided to work on the rear end today, as I didn't feel ambitious enough to clean up the front end. Worked on three tasks on the rear; install new shocks, replace rear sway bar bushings and links, and changing the differential gear oil. The oil in the rear was BLACK, with black sticking to the back cover (maybe limited slip additive). Wondering if this had ever been changed. It had no gasket, just gray RTV, looking like factory original. I pulled and cleaned the tags to see I have a 3.54 limited slip diff, nice! Installed the shocks too and waiting on special aftermarket HD rear sway bar links. Rear end all clean and back together. I purchased a Fel-Pro gasket, as I cannot stand RTV in any color! I use Permatex High Tack Sealant on the gasket. Since the gear oil and cover were so black (magnet not too bad, nice), I'm going to drain and fill again soon. With this gasket and sealer, I will be able to loosen the nuts to drain and then just torque down again. The Permatex will stay tacky and seal again. I've bought Triax lubricants before and I'm going with this gear oil: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QPPTG5N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 5 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 10:21 PM, ScubaRx said: Wow....makes me sweat just thinking about it. For sure Steve, I sweat all day in the garage and the same when we play pickleball! 3 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted August 26, 2023 Author Share Posted August 26, 2023 I end up spending more time cleaning than wrenching, but that's me. it's got to be done right, fully restored and looking like new. I got the right side 100% done today and it will not take much longer to build the other side, since I have everything ready, parts and tools. I'll start with one pic, as-was and then the rebuild... 4 2 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd1923 Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 So, it's been a couple of weeks. I rebuilt the left side. Waited on correct rear sway bar links and another UCA bushing (after I crushed one in the press, OMG!) Got everything suspension wise buttoned up, BTW, you have to jack up each control arm, on each side, ride height to final tighten the bushings. Meanwhile, I replaced the trans filter and fluid (all of it), and flushed the brake fluid (yes, all of it). I will write another post on fluids, ah the most important maintenance! Hey, when you take the time to put your truck up on all fours, do everything you can. Hoping my build here will outlive me! The left side looks the same as the right, so no more suspension pics. Got done in time for my alignment appointment yesterday. I asked them to review all of my restoration work too. They said all was good and they finished with the hour. We need confidence when driving our tow vehicles, and when a reputable local repair shop says; "You're good." It certainly helps. I spent a total of $1,120 on steering/suspension/shock rebuild and 60+ hours of my hard work. The cost was mostly on parts (which btw, was 2X cost when I built another truck, just 2 years ago). The alignment was $102 (included in the total). This may sound like a lot to some, but including this cost, my amazing Cummins Diesel tow vehicle is still just under $20K total! (LOL, I'm not done yet. I will spend more!) I know some of you have wonderful late-model Dodge Ram Cummins TVs, and you truly understand what these numbers mean. Wife Chris thought of a great idea to test everything today. She suggested we drive to a favorite lunch spot, just 30 miles away. Yeah, she's great! I have a busy week coming up and will hook up the Oliver soon. Next job, the Oliver axles and more. All is good. and we could not be happier! 3 Chris & John in Prescott, AZ | 2016 EII #113 | '01 Ram 2500 Cummins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 @jd1923 Really nice job bringing an extended service life back to your Ram. It looks really great for a 22 year old truck. It should hopefully provide you with many happy towing miles especially knowing you did the work. Last October we were gifted a 2004 Ford Ranger Edge extra cab V6 4x4 by my FIL. He purchased the truck new in 2004. He is 92 now and just does not need or use his Ranger anymore. He wanted to keep it in the family, we are honoring that. When we picked it up, it only had 53k on the odo. Needless to say he did not put many miles on it over the years. We brought it home and detailed the entire truck inside and out. I swapped out the old battery for new, changed the oil and air filters and ran some fuel treatment through it. I even had a new spare installed as it had the original factory still from 04. I found the Leer camper shell you see in the pic for $350 off CL. I took it to a really reputable body shop and had the topper which was originally black painted to match Sonic Blue for $600. I purchased new seals from Leer for all the windows. As I had the shop pull all the windows to sand the topper down. A new similar Leer topper would have cost $2700 plus. I added new black aluminum running boards to reduce chances of the careless door swingers in parking lots. And they really work well. I recently took it to a local shop and had all four original shocks replaced with Bilsteins which I provided and the shop installed for $125 labor. What a difference! I was glad to pay the shop $125 it was a very hot and humid summer day. We just rolled over 60k on this truck which is primarily used as a Lowes/grocery getter. We will have the transmission serviced soon. It’s really been a great little truck, fun to drive and we are grateful to have it. It also keeps the miles off our F350 TV and our car. It’s also reasonable to register at $59.00 a year. I say all this as I can really appreciate ALL that you have done with your Ram. Again, really nice work on the resto! Now enjoy that truck, it will make a fine TV! 😊 Patriot🇺🇸 Our Ranger will be 20 yrs old soon. 1 3 2020 OLEII - Hull #634 aka- “XPLOR” TV 2021 F350 6.7 liter Diesel Lariat Ultimate Tremor Retro upgrades - Truma Aventa 13.5 AC, Alcan 5 leaf pack, Alcan HD shackles & HD wet bolts, 5200lb axles. XPEL 10 mil PPF front both front corners, 30 lb LP tanks, Sea Biscuit Front Cargo Storage box. North Carolina 🇺🇸 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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