Not much to report. Mini-truck keeps doing mini-truck things. Last tank averaged 23.4 mpg. It desperately needs bucket seats. I may have a line on a fender and engine; that would allow me to build the motor properly.
I want to get rid of the leaf springs. They suck at everything except keeping the back end of the truck off the ground. Maybe a triangulated 4 link? There are some decent kits available...
What's better than bucket seats?
Free bucket seats! A friend of mine is scrapping a 1977 Dodge motorhome, and told me the seats were free if I came and pulled them.
Definitely from the late '70s
Not really a fan of the cat hair either. Re-covering these seats is going to be required. I pulled the slider off the bottom to investigate further. Springs, and probably 6" of foam. Way too soft.
Ok, let's pull the covers off and investigate the foam situation- not so hot, that. Starting to crumble, and smells of cat (not the good kind either).
Well. Might as well see what's under all this foam... Check it out! A solid, not terribly rusty seat frame, with space for any number of seat fabricating shenanigans!
I'm thinking ditch the springs, add some support (Plywood? Pieces of 1/16" steel strapping? Who knows? Not this guy.), high density foam and bolsters, then cover with some sort of seat fabric.
Who's got two thumbs and gets to learn how to build a seat? THIS GUY!!!!
Stuck the seat foam in a tub full of warm water and baking soda, just to try something. Turns out to be a really good method for getting rid of smells. What I thought was crumbly foam turned out to be dirt and gunk.
That's a nice thing, because it means I can reuse the foam. I will be cleaning up and painting the frames, and then reworking the seat support and foam to my liking.
Simplify and add lightness, right?
These little trucks did not come with step bumpers, they were an option. I decided to un-option it.
Removal of the bumper netted a 44 lb weight loss, and a bunch of crud in the bumper itself.
It looks SO. MUCH. BETTER!!!
I took the crusty old step bumper to the scrapyard today at lunch. It was worth $1...
With a full tank of gas and a 210lb driver, the truck weighs 2840 lbs.
Recon1342 said:I took the crusty old step bumper to the scrapyard today at lunch. It was worth $1...
With a full tank of gas and a 210lb driver, the truck weighs 2840 lbs.
I couldn't even give away the same bumper from my truck but they look so much better without it. Good info on the truck weight. Wikipedia often pointed to these trucks being in the 2600lb range, nice to have that confirmed.
Recon1342 said:With a full tank of gas and a 210lb driver, the truck weighs 2840 lbs.
Just one of the many reasons old minitrucks are so awesome.
In reply to gumby :
Additional awesome points: The D50/Mighty Max 2nd Gen trucks have fully boxed framerails. They Stronk!!!
Dusterbd13 and I are working on some rear suspension shenanigans...
Interested to see where the rear suspension ends up. My rear bumper is probably as heavy but I still love it.
Recon1342 said:In reply to gumby :
Additional awesome points: The D50/Mighty Max 2nd Gen trucks have fully boxed framerails. They Stronk!!!
Dusterbd13 and I are working on some rear suspension shenanigans...
I'm hoping this is going to be like a 4 link with Tractor Supply control arms. Don't you go cutting that bed up to do some silly notch shenanigans.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Eh, no.
Ditching the shackles and going to sliders, adding sway bar, and moving the shocks to a vertical orientation. All of those combined should help the handling and still allow for truck stuff.
Going to sliders should also lower the rear end a touch.
I got a minute to sit down with mom today and review maintenance records on the "Green Machine" (Wife and Kids named it.). Oil changes going back to '92, etc.
Win for the day? All of the timing-related parts were changed at 94,000 miles. Belt, water pump, tensioners, balance shaft belt... very nice to know.
Still undecided on suspension. I've gotten some really good advice from Duster, but in the back of my mind I still really want to throw a 4 link at it so I can flex my fabrication-related brain cells. I dunno... The factory rear leaf springs are "two-stage". There are two normal leaves, and then a shorter, unattached spring at the bottom of the pack; it looks a lot like an overload spring. I'm worried that with sliders, I'll have to rework the spring pack anyway, and might be farther ahead with a 4 link and coil overs.
Thoughts?
In reply to Recon1342 :
I'd do some measuring on where you are going to put the coil overs and how big of a coil over you can fit under the bed. The factory fuel tank is kind of in the way for a lot of stuff or at least it is on my truck with the IRS. I still have a leaf spring on my truck but it's made of fiberglass and is mounted transversely 
In other smol-truck related news: Grandma's couches, brought to you by the little green truck!
I forgot to take a picture of everything loaded up in the truck, but rest assured, it was impressive. Sofa, loveseat, ottoman, and cushions, all stacked in the back and strapped down to a fare-thee-well.
The clutch in the Ram 50 has been a bit persnickety as of late, and there is a lovely scritchy noise when the clutch pedal is depressed. So, I disassembled the firewall end of the clutch cable, hit it with some chain and cable lube, adjusted the pedal and free play, then greased the pivot points and clevis. Now, it is smooth, silent, and properly adjusted.
The adjustments as called out in the manual... (Thanks to Racetruck Ron!)
The clutch cable and clevis end. The manual points out this clevis and arm arrangement as a grease point... so, I greased it!
I took the truck to go pick up a mattress for one of the Reconkids after I got all the clutch adjustments/lube done.
Pedal effort feels like it's been halved and clutch engagement/release are no longer "mushy".
That, my friends... is a win!!!
Next up, I think, will be shocks on both ends. I'll toss some rock auto cheapies at it to get me by until I do suspension mods.
Cool little truck. Keep knocking out these little rolling resto jobs and enjoy doing truck stuff in retro style.
The firing order of a distributor-equipped Mitsubishi 4G64 is-
1-3-4-2
Also, I ordered some parts today. New front turn signal assemblies are inbound.
ShawneeCreek said:On your tail light issue, check that you have the correct bulb first. I seem to remember that the single and dual contact bulbs can fit in the same socket. And when you put the wrong one in you get weird lighting issues like constant on or brake lights flashing with the turn signals.
I installed the bulb backwards.
Turns out, if you install it correctly, the brake light only comes on with the pedal.
The following picture is of the dash in the Ram50. You'll note there is a circular spot that has been worn utterly smooth.
This is where my Dad's coffee mug rode to battle with him, every day, for over a decade.
Every time I look closely, I remember riding with Dad, seeing steam curl up from his mug on a cold day and leave a foggy spot on the windshield.
It probably seems weird, but I wanted to share that memory with you guys...
Front turn signal assemblies arrived today.
Old, busted nastiness-
New TDM (Taiwanese domestic market) hotness-
The overall look isn't terrible, though it will definitely improve when I add LED bulbs.
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