The Glorified Tonka Truck

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I don't have as many pictures of my truck as I would like, especially the actual internals of it like when I rebuilt the front end and added a full exhaust and things like that. My truck is still stock in terms of the engine and trans, but the suspension might as well be stock too. Once I get more money I would like to do more. I will be sure to post pictures of my pimped out interior and other mods I do in the near future.

[BadAssEddie]

Details on that tiregate?

Props for all the work on the paintjob, but why those colors??

[FJCcrawler]

Thats awesome! I respect that you built your own shit instead of going the basic bolt on bitch route!

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Details on that tiregate?

Props for all the work on the paintjob, but why those colors??

There were a few reasons for the tire rack and the biggest one was that the tire rack on the underside of my truck would not hold the new rims that I got and also when I had a stock tire underneath it was always getting beaten up. Also i really like the way it looks, I was kinda going for a pre-runner or trophy truck look.

And for the color I wanted something light because even though I spent a ton of time on the body work I knew that there was still going to be a lot of imperfections and the yellow would cover those up pretty well and wont bake in the sun too much. The black was just to break up the yellow and the matte black on the hood helps with the sun glare.

[BadAssEddie]

There were a few reasons for the tire rack and the biggest one was that the tire rack on the underside of my truck would not hold the new rims that I got and also when I had a stock tire underneath it was always getting beaten up. Also i really like the way it looks, I was kinda going for a pre-runner or trophy truck look.

Did you make it or buy it? What brand if bought?

[YellowDodgeBrian]

There were a few reasons for the tire rack and the biggest one was that the tire rack on the underside of my truck would not hold the new rims that I got and also when I had a stock tire underneath it was always getting beaten up. Also i really like the way it looks, I was kinda going for a pre-runner or trophy truck look.

Did you make it or buy it? What brand if bought?

I actually built it all myself, I bought a 1/4 inch plate cut a circle out of the middle the size of my hub and welded in some lugs into the circle. The pipe is 1" and about 1/8 thick. Sense I removed the tailgate I made some supports for the bed walls so it would not become warped from heavy off-roading. It probably costed about 75$ of material after it was complete. I painted it black and then added some rubberized bed liner for added protection. I used a stick welder for all of the welding.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

What suspension mods would be good for my truck? I was thinking maybe swap out the leaf springs in the back for some coils, I'm not sure if it would be worth it or not. My truck rides pretty high even though its stock so I don't want to lift it really, I think it could defiantly use some better articulation though.

[BadAssEddie]

Peter (BlueDodgeRam) had a 1500 like yours that was pretty cool before he cut it up. PM and ask him what he had suspension-wise, or maybe he'll post up.

I would keep leaves in the rear, going to coils is a lot of work.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Its been a few days and its still drenched and baking in the sun. Opening up the doors was not a pleasant smell.


After stripping out the carpet and bullshit "soundproofing" (Foam floor mats glued down) I realized just how crazy all of my wiring was underneath. I spent the rest of the day just trying to tighty it up.
Im planning on putting some sort of liner down instead of the carpet.(not too sure what brand i should use). Just something that won't reek after spilling a simple cup of coffee. Plus I wont have to worry about trying to figure out how to clean it after i drive with muddy shoes.


I removed the pictures because they were not working, but basically just imagine muddy carpet and a trashed amp from going full send into a mud puddle at a place that has a mountain and a dry lake. (If you're piccing up what I'm putting down)

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I just got some rock lights that are pretty high quality and I was wondering what good mounting places would be where they would offer good lighting but at the same time be more or less protected. Where are ya'lls mounted?

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I ended up replacing the wheel cylinders on both sides, the drivers side wasn't too bad but the passenger side (side I knew was shot) literally fell apart when i took it out. I also replaced the brake pads because i dont want to have to deal with drum breaks any more than i had to and they were cracked and near the end of their life anyways.


My inner Mexican couldn't help myself so i got a new amp for my bumpin stereo and some rock lights too; I also got 25' of 4g wire to relocate the amp and i will use the remaining wire for a winch if i ever get around to it. (any recommendations?)
The brand of the rock lights are SUNPIE and actually do a lot more than i thought, they can change colors and patterns and can even sync with my music through bluetooth. they seem pretty solid and are waterproof, shock and dust proof. I'm sure I'm going to get in trouble with these things haha.

I used to have a kicker 4-way amp but kicker makes some pretty shitty amps for the price. I first went wrong by buying it at best buy so right there I've already spent too much money, but after about only a year the whole ride side of my truck stopped playing music because the amp was giving out. Luckily, my amp was under warranty and was able to get a new one for freezies. But even witht the new amp it was beginning to become staticy and was getting very hot. My subs are driven by a 1000 watt (600 RMS) ken wood mono amp and even though my subs are still under powered by it it has been great and hasn't given me any problems, that's why i paid a little more and got the ken wood four way amp. The new kenwood amp is 70 watts per channel RMS and has a peak power range of 900 watts, much more powerful than the kicker amp and also about 20$ cheaper(little less than 200$).

[YellowDodgeBrian]

And now, the Potts trip. I consider this trip a success even though I broke a shit ton of parts including me heart from all the body damage. My one goal was to make it all the way through without getting winched. There is some serious damage on my truck now though. I defiantly need some skid plates. But even that wouldn't help protect the parts i broke:(

Basically I have no clue what pictures I ha on here because Photobucket went full retard on us so I'm just going to dump all the postures I had of the trip at the end of this edited post.

My drive shaft is dented and bent and will wobble violently at speeds above 40, after 65 it sounds like the underside of my truck is going to explode, pretty sure the vibrations took out my pinion seal too so that will eventually be replaced too. As for the steering stabilizer and tie rod they can wait to be replaced for now. On the way back from Potts about 3/4 of the way back my engine threw a code and it was for the governor pressure sensor in my transmission so i get to replace that too. Until it gets replaced my truck is in limp mode and will only be in 3rd gear. Hopefully ill be able to fix that on Tuesday. Ill have more pictures when Iget the parts off. Total my trip to Potts in a full size truck will cost me about 180$. I don't regret it, I had fun!


At the time when I posted this I was a dumb little freshman and didn't know what was happening. Basically when i used my driveshaft to go full send over roccs it trashed my pinion bearing, pinion seal, and the ring in my transfer case that basically holds it all together and keeps it from exploding, ask me how I know (refer to next post lol)

Anyways here are sum piccs

[BadAssEddie]

Diving in headfirst, I like it.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I don't really even know where to start on this post...
Rausch was fun, didn't break anything. Freeway from Rausch is what gave me the shaft. Patches has been making some strange noises for a while and has been leaking a lot out of the T-case ever sense Potts but ive been keeping it topped off with ATF the best I could. But, in the last 30 min of the 6 hour drive back from Rausch, Patches was making a really bad noise from the transfer case. Driving around campus it was not that bad and I only heard a little bit of noise and thought it just needed more ATF. When i started heading back for the weekend it was all going great for the meantime with only a slight vibration and small noise sounding kind of like a ringing like something was tapping on a bell. As it got worse i pulled into a gas station parking lot (near the back where hey couldn't see me dump 2 quarts of ATF on the pavement) to check the fluid. When I looked under the truck it was violently dripping an i figured that this was its last trip. I was taking my friend home and she needed to get home and we were already pretty far along so i thought i might be able to make it home. When I pulled the lower drain plug the ATF that i just added an hour and half before was black and shimmering with microscopic pieces of metal, this is when i knew things were getting fucked. But, stupid me thought id be able to make it home or at least be able to limp home if the T-case broke. I told Isabel (my companion in travel) that it was all good because i knew she would flip out if she thought she was going to die. Anyways, we get back on the freeway and the noise is just as bad as it was before but i just said eff it. The noise was much worse whenever i was barely on the throttle or accelerating hard, when i was not applying the gas there was no scary noises. About 40 miles later going up a hill with traffic in front of me I was forced to keep it at medium throttle to maintain speed behind traffic. I was going about 70 mph behind some cars passing a tractor trailer when the noise got louder and louder until there was a loud noise sounding like a tire cannon going off and then a sound like I had a flat tire but more metalic and then after a few seconds it stopped after another bang. That was when my driveshaft detached and is currently sitting at the bottom of the hill on 81 at mile marker 188. I looked out the back window to see grey smoke and i put on my four ways and coasted as far as i could up the hill on the shoulder. Upon inspection of the underside of my truck I knew that no amount of JB weld and duct tape could save me.

Again, piccs at the bottom.

Well the next day after I got trailered home by my dad we somehow managed to get a new driveshaft and Tcase from junkyards for about $350 and spent th day getting them put in. The next day i took it out to drive it. It would go into reverse and move pretty well but in drive it struggled really hard to get moving. It didn't feel like it was in limp mode it just felt like it had a really heavy load. After putting it into 1st gear manually on the shift column it would go into it better and when i shifted it back into Drive at speed i heard terrible noises and the truck instantly slowed down. Its not uncommon that when the T-case grenades like it did to take out the tranny too. And dodges are not known for their strong trannys.

So that is where i am at, Transmission shopping. I made another thread under technical for deciding which trans I should go to. Im leaning towards a PACT Viper rebuilt 46RE. Its pricey but it will last a lot longer than another Jasper POS. Patches will be back on the road hopefully in time for Harlen, but its not looking too good.

JK IM DUMB DONT READ THAT LAST PART:
My tranny is fine (my transmission still runs fine too) I just didn't know what a destroyed rear axle sounded like. Tranny still runs ok even after fixing the housing with JB weld. Its been over a year now and still runs alright.

I lied about the pictures I need to find them, hopefully they are on my other computer if not they're on my other phone that is lost.

[BadAssEddie]

So you pulled into a parking lot, drained the fluid, then proceeded to get back on the freeway???