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Ram Modifications |
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This page contains many of the modifications I have made over the years to my 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 12 valve Cummins truck. See also My Ram for additional information and pictures of the truck. I hope you enjoy the site. Please feel free to contact me any time with your comments or questions. Page Contents |
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| Bypass Filter Electrical NV5600 Conversion Transfer Case Saver new Fuel Plate Breather Tank Gauges Cold Air Induction Head Studs |
HD
Crossover Steering Rock Solid Steering New Steering Damper DSS Steering Stabilizer DT Trac Bar Leveling Spacers Custom Controls Arms Receiver Hitch Greaseable Front Wheel Bearings |
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Amsoil bypass filter
I built a custom battery hold-down to serve as my filter head mount. I ran the oil return into the oil filler base so I can monitor flow over time if I want. The oil supply comes off of the full flow filter head. I installed a needle valve in the bypass filter head to serve as my oil test port for taking samples. This filter enables me to extend my oil drain intervals and reduce engine wear and cost all at the same time. I have been running Amsoil 15w40 HD Diesel and Marine and Series 3000 HDD 5w30. This bypass filter kit is Amsoil's universal BMK-11. Based on oil analysis I ran 50 to 60k drain intervals while running OTR transporting RVs. - Amsoil bypass filter info here -
I have a 30 Amp relay fused directly from the battery and switched by the ignition switch to power the Buss fuse block, which powers many of my accessories. Currently powered items are: gauges, True-Speed speedometer correction box, BD exhaust brake and my Cobra 29 WX NW ST radio pictured above. NV4500 to NV5600 Transmission Conversion
This is a real easy conversion and can be done in about 8-10 hours for one knowledgeable person if you fabricate your own parts as I did. There are kits available but they come with unneeded parts for 1998 and up such as a new shift stick, shift knob and backup light switch wire extension. Here is a picture of what's included in a '98 and up kit. The backup light wire for '98 and up is made to fit the NV5600 even better then the NV4500. The shift stick and knob are the same. All you need there is the little shift diagram, which is Mopar p/n 52108192. I built my own transmission to mount adapter plate using 1/4 thick steel with 1/2" holes, which is about 5.5" wide by 9" long, here is a template with dimentions. The NV5600 is exactly 6" longer then the NV4500, which was no problem because my '98 already had the wide cross member with another set of mounting slots further back. I lengthened my transfer case shift rod just like the one provided in the kit by taking a piece of 1/4" ID pipe 8" long and drilling both ends out to 3/8" ID to a depth of 1". I then cut my factory 3/8" rod toward the back and welded the two pieces into the ends of the 1/4" pipe for a total overall length of 17 3/4". The NV5600 is exactly 6" longer so I had to have my front driveline re-tubed 6" longer and the rear shortened by the same amount. I bought a nearly new 2001 transmission with the updated 1-3/8" input shaft. The Clutch that comes in '94-'00 trucks is a 12-1/4" disk with a 1-1/4" hub so I bought a 13" clutch, which included a conversion flywheel from South Bend Clutch, this way I was able to avoid buying a 2001 or later flywheel needed for the larger clutch. The conversion flywheel is just a stock '94-'00 flywheel that has been redrilled to accept the larger clutch. I bought the MU 13-1.375 Con OFE clutch, which is capable of handling 450 RWHP and 900 ft. lbs. of torque but still works well on the street. Another way of doing this is to buy a flywheel and clutch kit for a 2001 or later truck, which of course costs more. If you go this rout, a starter spacer and longer starter bolts are also required. The spacer is Cummins p/n 3949583 and the bolts are Cummins p/n 3946085. The reason for this spacer is that the larger flywheel relocates the ring gear. 2001 and up trucks with the 13" clutch come standard from the factory with this spacer. You may also need an exhaust hanger if one didn't come on the 6 speed being installed. Dodge p/n 52103101. For '97 and older trucks a person would be better off buying the installation kit because these trucks need the new shift stick, knob, insert and extension wire. They also have a complicated t-case shift lever mounting adapter that the newer trucks do not have since the t-case shift stick is mounted in the floor pan rather then to the side of the transmission. A new 11" wide cross member is also needed, which is Mopar p/n 5003051AA and is not included in the kit. Here is a TDR thread that might be helpful for anyone considering this job. Also more info here. The NV5600 is a strong and reliable transmission. I have put 305k on mine with about 115k of those towing RVs from small to very large and its still doing great.
This split color replaces the OE snap ring that is prone to failure in Dodge, Chevy and GMC NP241 transfer cases. The split color has a machined lip that fits into the snap ring groove in the main shaft and prevents possible severe damage caused by snap ring breakage. If this snap ring breaks it allows the main shaft to move back and forth, which will cause major damage if left unrepaired. It can go for some time unnoticed so its best to be safe than sorry. It's a very cheap and easy install and to gain access simply drop the driveline and remove the rear most tail housing. As you can above my snap ring was just fine but I sure feel better knowing this problem can never bite me. To learn more and buy this part see Drivetrain.com
I custom ground my stock fuel plate to a trace of a #5. It didn't come out exactly like the trace but it works pretty well. I have it in the stock position, which according to my G-TECH (old original one) is putting out about 300 RWHP.
'89-'98 12 valve Dodge Cummins have no breather system and vent the crankcase out an open hose at the back of the engine between the block and the starter. This causes an oily film to build up on everything under the truck including drips everywhere you park especially if you drive a lot as I did for 2.5 years (RV transporter). I got tired of all that mess on my otherwise leak free truck and built a breather tank (I ran a pill bottle for the first few years). Breather tanks are commercially available but most are pretty tall, which would make finding a good mounting point difficult as a slight down grade is needed on the hose to prevent oil pooling resulting in blockage and leading to back pressure. This can be done any number of ways and I ended up using scrap out of the scrap metal bin at the shop. The main body is a piece of 2"x4" steel tube about 8" long with 2" angle iron welded on the ends and set back an 1/8" to hold the tank body out away from the frame so as not to trap water. The hose nipples on the ends are 1/2" ID pipe drilled to 3/4". I put a big 3/8" ball valve on there so it would drain easy even when cold. I have a second tank filled with course steel wool and mounted higher than the main tank. This helps condense the vapors and drain them back into the holding tank. I ran the vent hose from the second tank to a pill bottle to catch any remaining drips. I know this is a bit complicated but it's working perfectly. I could have incorporated the steel wool in the holding tank some way but I didn't think of it when I started. NOTE - Don't run a system like this in sub-zero weather for extended periods of time. I learned the hard way after driving a couple days in sub-zero temps. I was idling one evening in about -8 temps with even lower wind chills and the system froze up, causing 7 qts. of oil to blow out the dipstick tube until I lost oil pressure. I'm sure glad I wasn't sleeping yet or I may have lost the engine if the chime hadn't woken me up. I normally don't idle at night but this night was going to be an exception because it was extra cold and I had 15w40 oil in the engine.
Auto Meter Ultra-Lite gauges top to bottom are: Fuel Pressure (p/n 4363), Turbo Boost (p/n 4305) and Pyrometer (p/n 4344).
I installed two thermocouples with a Double-Pole Double-Throw switch up by the pyrometer so I could monitor both pre and post turbo temperatures and soldered all switch connections in order to avoid any signal loss. I used a Competition Series thermocouple kit, Auto Meter p/n 5244 in the manifold. The probe in the exhaust elbow is the standard one that comes in the 4344 pyrometer kit. The gauge pod is an Auto Meter p/n 17203, which fits '98-02 Dodge Rams without the tweeter in the A-pillar. I tapped the fuel pressure sender into the main injection pump feed banjo bolt by drilling the head of the bolt and tapping it to 1/8" NPT. I then installed a needle valve to act as a gauge snubber to dampen the harmful fuel pump pulses that can destroy the sender in a matter of minutes if hooked up direct. I also remote mounted the sender using rubber fuel line in order to isolate it from damaging engine vibrations. Air Induction
I finally built a cold air induction system using the new Amsoil EaAU4510 dry cleanable filter, which uses Donaldson's Nanofiber synthetic media. This filter has a 4.5" ID opening and is connected to the turbo hose using a short piece of 4.5" OD exhaust pipe. This will help lower my EGTs a little and should provide a slightly shorter turbo cool down time as compared to the open element I was running. I used 1/4" Plexiglas glued together with Perfect Glue 2 along with metal brackets for added strength. All hardware is pop riveted in place. I cut a 4" hole in the cowl and connected that to the air box using 4" flexible aluminum dryer vent. I also hooked up the OE air box duct into the fender. As expected, the duct into the cowl increased the turbo noise quite a bit so I did a little sound deadening work in there with foam, which brought the noise level back down to near previous levels. The turbo sides of the air box are covered with an adhesive backed reflective thermal barrier. I also have a stainless turbo heat shield installed to keep the greater portion of the heat away. This filter can be cleaned with low pressure air (15-20 psi) held at a 45 degree angle or vacuumed clean and is guaranteed for four years or 100k miles, whichever comes first, provided the filter has been serviced properly. Click here to see a whole list of these universal filters. So far I'm noticing a small drop in EGTs and maybe a slight reduction in turbo cool down times. I didn't do any careful side by side comparisons so no hard data. It may not have been worth all the work but it was fun anyway and I like how it looks. I started out running a K&N filter in the OE box but soon found my silicon numbers were way up (51 ppm) when having my oil tested. The silicon came down as soon as I started running the DuraLite paper BHAF (Big Honkin' Air Filter) filter pictured above on the top left. The problem with that was that the filter was right out in the open sucking in hot engine bay air, which causes the EGTs to be slightly higher, longer turbo cool down times and probably a small loss of power. This paper filter was so big it would have been hard if not impossible to build a box around so I jumped when I saw the new Amsoil filters, which can be smaller but still flow well because of the advanced synthetic media. My last two oil samples, one at 24k and another at 31k on a separate batch of oil show low silicon numbers so it appears to be filtering well.
I finally blew my head gasket (compression to water jacket) while towing a 5th wheel in sub-zero temperatures with strong cross winds and got my boost up to about 38 psi briefly a few times. I was able to drive unloaded 1125 miles home from Canada making sure to keep my boost below 20 psi and it didn't push any more coolant out. I had the head surfaced and a valve job done. I decided to put it back together with 12mm ARP studs, p/n 247-4203, to make sure it had the clamping force needed for running higher boost. I torqued them to book specs and then line-torqued to 125 using the molly lube supplied with the studs. I gave it 5 heat/cool cycles and re-torqued in a line method removing each nut one at a time, re-lubing them and bringing them back to 125. I set my waist gate to dump at 25 psi and got back on the road towing. After about 9k miles I did a second re-torque. I did a third re-torque after 270 miles and lots of heat/cool cycles running around town and set the waist gate to 30 psi. I adjusted the valves after each torque as the gasket settles some. The valve covers had to be modified in order to clear the studs on the rocker pedestals. I used a dremel with a soft metal cutting bit that had cutters both on the side and the end to cut the two webs out as seen in the picture above. I also bottom tapped the holes in the block to get the long studs all the way down, which gains about 1/4" and ends up putting the stud and nut almost flush. The rest of the studs end up with about 1/4" protruding from the nut. The valve covers don't quite touch the head when set in place without the gasket but they don't contact the studs when the gasket is in place and they don't leak. Notice how good the cylinders look at 250k miles. Steering
& Suspension Upgrades
I upgraded my steering from the inverted "Y" system to the heavy duty crossover system. The inverted "Y" setup has a couple drawbacks. First its quite a bit weaker and second is that the toe setting will move with any change in front end height. The solid bar between the two wheels is a lot stronger and holds the tow setting spot on at all times. I installed Moog parts from Carquest for the 1998 year (the HD system was done only in '98/'99). Notice the size difference in the main tie rod between the wheels and the huge adjusting sleeve. Below are part numbers for the complete setup, which will work for '94-'97. To the best of my knowledge the pitman arm taper was changed in 2000 so for '00-'02 trucks you can use all the parts listed below except for the upper drag link end, in which case you need to substitute that part for the year truck you are working on. I had no clearance issues at the wheels, as some do, even with the 2001 8" factory alloy wheels (original wheels were 6.5" steel on this truck) and the '96 front axle, which was changed out because the original '98 axle must have been damaged in the accident this truck was in before I got it. So there you have it, a 1998 truck, 1996 front axle, 2001 alloy wheels and 1998 heavy duty tie rods and it all works great.
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This is the Rock Solid Steering bushing. This solid bushing eliminates the pops in the lower steering column that many of these trucks develop over time. It also eliminates any side play. The left photo shows the new bushing installed while the right shows the mess of OE parts. I did this job with the column in place and it wasn't too bad. Some guys remove the column for easier access. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally got around to installing a steering damper, which wasn't that hard. I didn't have a place to mount one since I have a '96 axle under a '98 truck so it took some extra work. I bought the shock kit from Carquest, p/n SSD92, which came with all the brackets. I was not able to use all of the axle bracket because it stuck out a little too far and caused the shock to hit the tie rod at full right lock so I cut the tab off the clamp and welded it to the axle near the stock '98 location. I was, however, able to use the tie rod clamp but did end up adding a 1/4" thick shim behind it to give more clearance between the shock boot and the tie rod at full left lock. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above is a picture of Windecker Machine's Steering Stabilizer (DSS). This brace eliminates sector shaft side play and frame flex at the steering box. This brace tightened up my steering greatly. I had replaced everything else in the steering system and still had road wander. You can buy this part direct, which takes longer, or from a few others who are selling it. I bought mine from Source Automotive. PDR and PSC Motorsports also sell it. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in 2001 I installed the DT Pro Fab adjustable Trac Bar not long after installing the 2" leveling kit so I could re-center the axle and have a longer lasting track bar. In 2006 I replaced the upper rod end at the frame because it was getting quite loose after 170k. My replacement rod end from DT also got a little slop in it after about 106k miles so I bought an Aurora Bearing rod end, which I hope is a better, longer lasting unit as it cost a lot more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a picture of the 2" Tuff Country spacer. I know longer springs would have made a better ride but this was cheaper. In the front I have Rancho RS9000X 9 way shocks, which are a little under 2" longer then stock and are p/n RS99221. In the rear I have the older Rancho RS9000 5 way shocks p/n RS9198. I ran the stock length in the front for a long time but they would over extend real easy when in a twist while off-roading or when coming out of dips in the road at speed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of my stock control arm bushings were getting screwed up so I decided to build a set that are slightly longer, stronger, and much more flexible. I used Currie Enterprises 2" and 2.5" spherical Johnny Joints on the frame end and standard polyurethane bushings on the axle end. All but the upper axle end joints are greasable. The upper arm frame end Johnny Joint was 3/8" too narrow so a couple washers on each side were needed. I used 1.5"x2.5"x1/8" steel tube for the arms. The ride feels a tiny bit firmer and more controlled but not harsh.
I really like this Putnam hitch because the cross piece hides behind the bumper so it looks a lot better than the stock hitch, which hangs down for all to see. It is easy to install and gets rid of the sideways electrical plug. I bought a bracket and mounted the plug to the bottom of the bumper facing straight back as it should. My stock hitch began cracking as do many stock '94-'02 Dodge hitches. So far I have had close to 10k on this one without bars and had no problems at all.
Greasable Front Wheel
Bearings
I'm on a mission to make my front wheel bearings last a long time and also avoid being stranded in a cloud of smoke so I added grease fittings to them while I was in there changing axle seals and wheel joints. The job ended up being pretty easy. After removing the rotors I drilled the bearings dead center with a small magnetized bit. Next I used a 7/32" (or#3) bit to enlarge the outer part for 1/4"-28 threads. Next I probed the hole with a straight magnetized o-ring pick to make sure all metal was out. I installed a 90 degree grease fitting facing the steering knuckle where I drilled a 5/8" hole through the brake disk shield, spacer plate and steering knuckle. I can now grease the bearings anytime I want without disassembling anything. A word of caution to those who might try this. These are sealed bearings so be careful how much you pump in there as you can blow the seals out. I started out with 20 pumps while rotating the bearing in a vice. I have since put in another 20 after a bunch of miles. I'm using Amsoil grease. The outer seals do leak a little on these bearings so they will go dry at some point and burn up if nothing is done. I have seen the leakage on my truck as well as others I have worked on. No need to grease these at every oil change either. If you get plenty in there the first time they should run a long time before additional grease is needed. I have put 336k miles on these bearings since installing the '96 axle back in 2001 when I got the truck (had been wrecked and a Dana 44 installed). If the bearings are original to the axle, which had 126k on it when installed, then they have about 462k miles on them. Even after all these miles they are still tight and smooth. On 7/11/03 I installed grease fittings in the lower ball joints, which are lasting right along with the bearings. Updated mileage: 2/3/10 Additional pictures of this and more here
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