Mom finally decided she was tired of Dad's Ram 50 sitting in the driveway and taking up space. For the low low price of $300, I was able to bring home the vehicle I learned to drive in 23 years ago.
The specs-
1991 Ram 50 base (and I mean base) model. 2.4L 4-cyl, 2WD, 5 spd trans, manual everything. Windows? Mirrors? Steering? Not powered! A/C? Nah.
Dad bought it new in 91, and used it to commute to work, which means it's got a total of ~97000 miles on it. It took out a trash can at 40mph some years back, so it needs a new passenger side fender, and the clear coat is wrecked, with the paint not far behind...
Plans-
Take care of deferred maintenance, big wheels & small tires, microsquirt, maybe a turbo, body work, and paint. You guys gotta help me stay motivated, though. This one is important to me. Also, the camper shell stays.
Pics to follow!!
A $300 ANYTHING is cause for celebration! Sweet deal!
IIRC, 4G63's kinda just fall into these. That might be an option if you really want to spice things up.
EDIT: found this: Info on swapping a 4G63 into a Ram 50/Mighty Max
Hey I bought my truck for $300! Project ZeroG is a great resource for 4G63 swap stuff if it's still around.
I think I have a couple sets of the black door vents, an extra set of mirror and a Mighty Max grill if you need any parts.
In for pics and to follow. I helped a neighbor Starquest swap his factory 2.6L Ram50 many many years ago.
4G64 is what’s in it right now. They’re fairly stout as is, and it’s already low-compression (8.5:1). I’ll probably just build a manifold for the factory lump and put a small Szechuan spinner on it, then micro-squirt it. PICS:
Man, it needs a snugtopp shell instead.....
And whacked hard with the lowering stick.
And billet wheels.
Yep. Im a closet 90s minitrucker. But its awesome to follow the family tradition. And it must've been a heck of a trashcan!
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Sweet!!!
I'm good on those parts. You have a Driver's side front turn signal?
Also, if you are still doing 3D printing type stuff, maybe we could design a Ram 50 R/T fender logo?
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Not lowering it. Need the ground clearance round here. Thinking' of doing a kinda mini-farm truck deal.
Ah. Gotcha. Had read and interpreted a bit different.
Sleepers are neat!
I have some Mickey Thompson billet slots that should fit that, I want an early d50/arrow but they are all gone. Sweet truck!
Recon1342 said:
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Sweet!!!
I'm good on those parts. You have a Driver's side front turn signal?
Also, if you are still doing 3D printing type stuff, maybe we could design a Ram 50 R/T fender logo?
I don't have any turn signal spare but Mr. Bezos has them pretty cheap linky
Post up or send me a picture of what you are thinking for the logo I can get something drafted up.
chandler said:
I have some Mickey Thompson billet slots that should fit that, I want an early d50/arrow but they are all gone. Sweet truck!
Bolt pattern is same as Chevy and Toyota- 6x5.5"
What diameter are those M/Ts?
Dusterbd13-michael said:
Yep. Im a closet 90s minitrucker. But its awesome to follow the family tradition. And it must've been a heck of a trashcan!
We had borrowed it while the primary vehicle was in the shop, back in like January 2010. My wife was taking the boys to school and hit a patch of black ice. She spun right off the road, and that poor fender straight-up punted one of those big 95 gallon trash bins about 50 feet. Very impressive work.
The insurance company, being the appliance loving berkeleyers they are, totaled it out. Mom and Dad bought it back and put a salvage title on it, and so it continues to do tiny work truck stuff to this day.
Recon1342 said:
chandler said:
I have some Mickey Thompson billet slots that should fit that, I want an early d50/arrow but they are all gone. Sweet truck!
Bolt pattern is same as Chevy and Toyota- 6x5.5"
What diameter are those M/Ts?
The hub bore is pretty big on these little trucks if I remember right and can be a problem fitting some 6 lug wheels. Something you might want to double check.
RacetruckRon said:
Recon1342 said:
chandler said:
I have some Mickey Thompson billet slots that should fit that, I want an early d50/arrow but they are all gone. Sweet truck!
Bolt pattern is same as Chevy and Toyota- 6x5.5"
What diameter are those M/Ts?
The hub bore is pretty big on these little trucks if I remember right and can be a problem fitting some 6 lug wheels. Something you might want to double check.
I'm going to have to measure again, I thought I had noted (I have a catalog lol) but I guess I shelved them without doing that.
and that doesn't show how concave they are
In reply to chandler :
Dunno if it's the perspective, or what... but those wheels look huge.
And FANCY! Seriously, that is a nice design. Hard to find nowadays for sure.
Awesome wheels aside, tonight I had some spare time to dig into some deferred maintenance work. The ECM has been tossing an intermittent CEL, so I busted out ye olde analog meter and pulled the codes.
Code #1: 15. Mitsubishi says it is a motor position sensor fault. MPS lives in the distributor, so I pulled the cap. Probably should've taken a picture of the inside. Teh terminals were, well... terminal, especially with that amount of arc erosion. Got a tune-up kit on order from Rock Auto. We'll see what a cap, rotor, & new plug wires does. Plugs are in pretty good shape, if a tad bit ashy-looking. I may still wind up replacing the dizzy, but I suspect cap & rotor will do the trick.
Code #2: 21. Mitsubishi tells me this one is water temp sensor. An easy fix, if it doesn't stay cleared.
Tomorrow I'll fill the gas tank and calculate mileage; it's a handy piece of info to know, and can help illustrate the engine's health.
We will see what begs for attention after that.
In reply to Recon1342 :
Do you have a service manual? I have a Chilton manual I bought to learn how to take the truck apart and it's just gathering dust.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
I do not.
I absolutely love ram 50s had a 88 5 speed 4wd sport as my first car.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
I absolutely love ram 50s had a 88 5 speed 4wd sport as my first car.
They're really neat little trucks. I learned how to drive a manual in this one, so it definitely has a place in my heart.
I've seen two of these, pretty nice kit. One on a Mitsu and one on a 454 Chevy SS.
