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Project: Hank - '93 W250 Daily/tow

6378 Views 151 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  thrashingcows, 
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Well, i did a thing. With the prices of late model used trucks thru the roof in pandemic, and old solid trucks basically never going down, i "invested". not only did i get basically double for my '08 than i should have, but when a truck just makes you happy it's an investment in sanity! love this new things and started getting into some things that others might find helpful or interesting and thought i'd start a thread. some of you may have seen this truck on the forum before too, i'm like the 4th owner of this build from way back.

1993 Ram W250 Club Cab
Cummins / G360 / NP205
D60 / D80
6" / 4" lift
35's on 17" street-locks
Oldschool Compounds and fiddled with screws

i had been looking for a GM square body to 12V swap, until i found the club cab. i'm just too tall for a regular cab, and quad cab is too much wheelbase for a daily imho. spent a good long while looking for something clean enough to be worth the money and time to keep on the road, but used enough i didn't feel bad doing truck stuff. also wanted something stock to build myself, but obviously threw that to the wind!

I'm from PA and found this bucket of bolts in Mississippi, so decided to make an adventure of it. Flew down on a Thursday night late. My wife and i were dead when we got the hotel and i couldn't sleep like it was Christmas eve as a kid. He picked us up first thing in the AM and the truck was as-advertised, off we went to the bank and notary, then to drop him off. He sold this cuz he got a TRX! i demanded a ride before we left! 🤣

were so close to the coast, so we drove down for lunch on the beach. pan fried grouper taco 🤤 walked the beach for a few minutes, toes in the Gulf, and then headed north. 500miles the first day was basically uneventful and pleasant. though, the wife did use my noise canceling over-ear headphone the whole ride,😂 . stopped Friday night in Nashville, and spent Saturday looking around.

Day 2: breakfast on Broadway, live music, tchotchke shops, etc. even taco bell was bad ass! the tours of drunks at 11am were the best though, holy hell. tractor pulled hay rides, monster truck rides in the city, you name it. city ppl who came to the city to party like it's the country! toured the crazy opry hotel before going to the opry for the Saturday night show. best part was Billy Ray Cyrus singing Achy Breaky live! 🤘

Day 3: headed home, 575mi, again was uneventful for the truck. got a clicking in the steering when not moving, still not found it, and no heater. was at least just above freezing. left early and stopped into the Corvette Museum at opening. totally worth stopping, but can't say i'd have driven there just for that. everything was great until it got cold, rainy, and even snowed. as the sun set the cab stopped holding heat and the windows started to fog up on us. i kept running the defrost to wash the warmer moist air out so i could see, but this froze the wife. she had the DeWalt heated jacket on, hat n gloves, like 4 pairs of socks (one mine), then my spare jeans over her 3 yoga pants, all wrapped in a sweater, still wearing my noise canceling headphones over her hears. on a scale of 1-10, loving it to tuck n roll jumping out the window in front of traffic ... she was about a 9 for the last 3h. 😢

but we made! what an awesome adventure of a weekend!
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First thing i did coming home from work was start to test out the pair of 'spiral mufflers' ... where i immediately air locked the injectors. new to the 12v and with no clue what was going on, and no tools with me i wasted the nicest day in November in PA waiting for a tow truck. now i know better.

#1 commandment for 12V drivers
- Thou shall carry an injector box wrench

Things I've fixed so far:
-New Starter
-New heater core (came with the truck, thanks sir!)
-Plugged the blower motor resister back in and wired the blower motor back to factory (sorry man, it was that easy n everything works)
-New wiper linkage clip when they stopped working in a snow storm
-Installed nuts n washers on the trans mount bolts cuz they had fallen off :oops:
-New clutch master cylinder
-Converted clutch line to braided stainless (worth it in pedal feel!) ... truck has a dual disk SB clutch
-Made an adjustable clutch master push rod (again, soooo worth it to adjust engagement in the throw and height vs brake)
-Rebuilt the front CV shaft ... it was TRASHED
-Retorqued the front output nut on the tcase
-RS9000 adjustable shocks on all corners (worth it!)
-Reset the pre-load on the front hub bearings

oh yeah, and lots of FluidFilm before winter.
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started stripping old wiring. the old gauges had a bunch even thought they were all mechanical, the old brake controller, some other random junk under the dash, more random from under the hood, 2 switches in the dash that weren't hooked up, plus the old sub amp. that learning and being careful took a while, plus tracing the wires. found the old brake controller didn't work cuz the wires were cut off the plug at the hitch and just taped up. 🤦‍♂️

the new gauge is a 3-in-one and all read the same as the old 3, so that's good to know. but the real win is the viability and cleaning it up. windshield isn't blocked by the a-pillar pods, and my speedo isn't blocked by the column pod. i also only have to look at one place to get all 3 metrics and the tach vs up and down and all over to get em. only thing the new placement blocks is my view of the hood. one funny thing was they gave me a 60psi sender and a 120psi sender. well with 15psi fuel and 60psi boost it was easy to pick what went where. too bad that was backwards of the gauge set up so my fuel read double and the boost half. had to switch the wires at the gauge and since you can't change anything but back color my fuel is now labeled 'BOOST', boost is labeled 'PSI'. whatever, it works.

installing the fuel sender got interesting though. had to install a spacer cuz the sender totally locked out my throttle linkage. even with the tiny spacer it's like 0.5mm from hitting! i had to clock it just right.

so time for a test drive ... dash back lighting doesn't work, radio doesn't come on, no cig lighter to charge the phone, and the heater blower doesn't work. wtf did i break?!?! turns out when i pulled all the fuse taps the previous owners had the sockets were too loose to make contact! had to tighten 3 different fuse receptacles in the block. that got me down to only the heater blower not working ... it was cold that next morning.

in the process of trouble shooting i spent a little time with the truck in RUN but not on, as little as possible cuz the buzzer is intense (finally unplugged it too). only to find that the injections pump is leaking fuel pretty bad around the throttle linkage, enough it made a puddle. easy enough fix to just replace the o-ring, fairly common i guess, but more work to do.

then it was on to the P3 brake controller to get wired in, and the load bags for the back. gota be ready for towing season soon!


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pulling the amp turned out to be amazing, all cuz i had to pull the seat. it not only got me a cubby under the seat, but if you look there are 6 holes in the bracket, the rear most 2 weren't used. so i drilled 2 new fwd holes and bolted the seat back in 2-1/8" further back!!

the bracket is sloped and rounded so it tipped back slightly, got lower, and after a few washers on the front studs for a touch more recline it's awesome. this is WAY more comfortable to drive now. anyone over 6ft who isn't driving a regulars cab ... do this!

sorry i didn't get a picture of the new holes or the seat in there, just the before. but it's a straight hole pattern, easy to line up
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some of you may have seen this when i posted it over in FaceBook land ... quick locking phone mount with wireless charging is a game changer.

Got the final solution together, and get this posed on Thingiverse for others to print all the parts. The double LED version that a lot of ppl wanted on a FB group was pretty straight forward mod, but i never installed one. the version with the phone mount i added a lower post from the ball to limit down travel, these w250 springs bounce enough on a dirt road that the mount will pivot down. who'd have guessed!?! The ball is on the far side to gain view of the HVAC, and added a cord pass thru with zip-tie tabs to make it easier messing with the dash trim. even wried this later to used a 3-pos switch to work with the door too.

www.thingiverse.com

1st gen Ram map light conversion by PolarYJ

1st Gen Dodge truck Map light Conversion! Bolts into the factory location for the under dash map light on a 1st gen Dodge Ram trucks and RamChargers. It uses LEDs and a switch I got at superbrightleds, links and part numbers below. For the first ball mount version, the ball is 0.865” dia. for...
www.thingiverse.com www.thingiverse.com

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finaly was to fix the HVAC. i was SURE it was something to do with the fuses and wiring i had pulled out ... was not. maybe i tugged on something, but basically i figure just a great coincidence. basically the internal switching of the HVAC controller is supper interesting and had come apart, so here's my fix.

after wiring diagrams, tracing all kinds of stuff, fiddling with connectors and wires in the back of the fuse block, etc ... the giant brown wire had 12V going in, and no other wires had 12V coming out. took the whole thing out of the truck since worst case i was going to have to get a new one, and why not tear it apart. if you look at the 2nd picture before any teardown, you'll see that the back plate is popped up on one side. the 2 plastic post heat stakes had popped off no longer holding it. this was the ultimate failure that let the internal cam plates disengage from the electrical switch and leave me stuck in 'OFF'. hadn't yet figured that out yet, would have been easier to just peak in, align it, and glue it back down.

started by cutting off the rest of the heat stake posts to get inside, then the heat stake posts holding the retainer plate to the inside of the cover plate. the function is kinda cool to see for anyone who hasn't been inside. as you push a button, the cam plates slide back n forth to align where needed for that mode. one plate moves the electrical switch, another moves the vacuum switch. once inside you can see the vac switch is just a little spring loaded rubber cup that covers or uncovers holes. i re-smeared the grease around to keep it lubed.

the electrical side just covers rivets with the plate, but my main power flag/rivet had corrosion and wasn't getting good contact between them. this extra resistance is probably what was leading to the dark or melty bits in the wiring and making the corrosion worse. cleaned all that up and a little solder to make sure the pin/rivet were one.

then going back together i tested the continuity in the switch before attaching the retainer plate. i just used some super glue where the heat stakes used to be making sure everything was held tight. i then used some zip-ties to hold the back plate on and test it in the truck to make sure the switches were aligned properly and working. all good, cut the zipties off and more super glue for heat stakes. i then put smaller zipties back on as a back-up safety plan that wouldn't interfere with the install to the controller. can't let the zip head get between the switch body and the controller body.

got the whole mess organized and back in the dash, good as new!









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well for anyone who has never used an under-hood light inside the cab between the doors ... i just found this, and i'm sad i didn't find it sooner!

but i got the brake controller wired in and all 7 dang pins are active in the plug finally. so i installed the little chrome switch next to it in the ground wire to the controller to turn it off, keep me from having to stare at the glowing screen every time i drive. anyone else have theirs switched or just unplug it and throw it in the center console?

next up was the load bags for towing. not my favorite install ever, but for a universal kit on a modified truck ... it's not bad. only had to drill 3 holes on each side (used 1 existing) and the rest was bolt-in unmodified. i really like this Schrader valve placement vs my last truck though. i set the bags at the max free height for the kit because these rear springs only have 2" of droop. :oops:

Air Lift 89215 LoadLifter 5000 Ultimate Plus Air Suspension Kit







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and the final episode of towing prep for spring was to get the screen for my enclosed trailer's wireless back-up camera plugged in. basic amazon kit for a dual USB and 12v plug, wire under the carpet, angled hole into the bottom of the console, 2 giant holes in the front of the console, and i really like how it turned out.

i actually like the rear view camera on the wide enclosed trailer with the standard truck mirrors better than towing mirrors only. this worked really well.









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Wombat Ranger
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Following. I bought that pickup in 2012 from the feller who did the original "build" on it many years prior to that.

I saw your other thread on RCC because Andrew sent it to me, but I am not a member so I didn't comment and haven't been back. You've already got a limited slip in the rear end, it must just need some work. I am impressed with your ambition getting after that thing the way you are. Andrew did a lot to it, looks like you're busy cleaning up the TLC it needed. Glad to see it going to (another) good home.

Couple of pics from when I owned it.

Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Automotive tire


Wheel Tire Car Sky Vehicle


I wish he'd put the LE trim back on after he painted it. Ah well, not my pickup anymore. Have fun!
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oh man! maybe you can help me with more time-line of the truck. do you have any idea of any dates/mileages that anything happened before you? when it was first built, pump or trans rebuilds, etc? i'd love to catch up with who built it the first time just for stories.

i just realized last week while double confirming the rear axle gearing that it has an LSD. the clutches are WEAK ... i need to pop the diff cover to figure out if its the power-lok or the track-lok diff.
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so this also happened recently ...

kerfukkled

i really like this transmission, it's nice n easy to tear down n work on. no special tools, not even a press was needed. all new now and ready for another 337,000 miles. there's no way the trans had not been rebuilt before, i was without question breaking the factory sealer for the first time. so either this is a 337,000 miles trans, or some previous owner had a factory new trans swapped in. the PTO covers had obviously been off at some point, but that was it. it also had what looked like 337,000 miles of diesel oil and road grim built on up on it. there had to be 3 clutches worth of friction material built up inside the bell housing! 🤣 😂







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anyone who still has a factory getrag g360 stick with the rubber isolator in it ... go out right now and eliminate it!! i'll never understand why they did it, but it's wrong and only gets worse with time.

i put in a new 3-4 shift fork because it has signs of wear from the bearing allowing misalignment. i also put in 2 new pivot pins for the shifter stub even though mine weren't really bad, but kept the same stub, spring, and upper cup. i then thru-bolted the shifter to the shifter-stub to eliminate the wallowed out factory rubber pocket. it feels like i installed a short throw shifter!! it's a night and day difference that i bet accounts for a majority of the "it shifts so much better" comments from an nv4500 swap. i used to not be able to keep a can of soda in the drivers cup holder or i would punch it shifting to 2nd. i could now keep a big-gulp cup there!

the shifter-stub has 2 holes in it inside the stick. they are the right size already, so i actually tapped these for 5/16-18 bolts. this will let me bolt on any new stick i build in the future easier, but since this stick is sheet metal around there i also nutted the other side.

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who on earth builds a truck bed without any form of tie-down!? one of those "modern conveniences" i guess. So i put a newsed bed on my father-in-law's truck last year and stole these from the scrap bed. 2005 Ram 2500 bed cleats. i made the bolt plates, drilled a few holes, and ran em home. should be close enough to the gate to tie down gas cans better than my last GMC too.

i tried to strap an axle down tight and the sheet metal started to bow out more than i care ... will have to add some extra rear stiffeners that spread out a LOT wider.


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When the cheap PTO cover trans cooler things don't say they are for a G360, I guess they mean it! Nothing a little bit of work from a carbide burr couldn't handle, bolted right up nice after. you also can't use the 3/8 bolts in the kit, the G360 was M10, go figure. seamed like a good plan before hauling heavy since i just rebuilt the trans and needed to change the break-in fluid out anyways.
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here's what i'm hauling in that enclosed :devilish:
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and one final post to catch up to current ... hopefully ya'll are more entertaining than the RCC board

i've read about guys running 60:40 used motor oil to diesel in the mechanical injection Cummins. i bring myself to go that crazy since it does seam to smoke more, but after realizing i had over $100 in "fuel" sitting under my sand blaster i decided to start running it. i also know the lubricity is really good for the pump, so i got a filter setup and can get it all out of my way! Currently running 2-3 gallons per full tank. i'll probably use it slower once i bust thru this pile of jugs so i can keep the lubricity up for every tank and not just after i change oil.

i got a fryer oil filter set-up, 10" cone filter in a wire support. the support legs sit perfectly on a 5gal bucket, i just filter into that and use a bucket pump into the truck. i 3D printed a filter separator as well, so i can filter thru 2 at the same time. i'm only pouring oil that has had time to settle, so chunks and flecks stay in the jug bottom. once i see anything chunky or metallic swirl i stop and leave the last 5% of the oil in the jug to throw away.

the oil goes thru the filters slow enough with gravity that it really does a great job cleaning it. the bucket is clean enough that i have no concern over fuel filter clogs at all. the 2nd filter only helped that too. you can see exactly where i pour the oil in cuz it'll be darker from carbon/stuff settling out right there on the filter. the tip will be a little metallic from tiny flecks, but the 2nd filter won't really show anything. takes a modest pour to fill the cone and get enough thru to finally empty a gallon jug, then you just let it sit there for a few minutes to finish.
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well, i guess one final, final update ... i HATE the VE pumps. they are a fail on the street, especially for a built truck. it's a tractor or boat pump and needs to stay there. i've ordered custom springs, dialed everything in and out, but there's nothing you can do about the .gov spring being the throttle linkage. i focused on controls in 2 different engineering degrees and that pisses off my OCD to no end.

i picked up a 96 12v to steal all the P7100 swap parts off of. with the cam out, seams like a good time to install new one right?!?!

the 2nd fuel tank in the back where the spare tire should be is totally disconnected currently and i really want to get it back together this summer. i need to find an "off road diesel" source
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.44mag
Nice truck. (y)(y)(y)
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Wombat Ranger
6DoF said:
oh man! maybe you can help me with more time-line of the truck. do you have any idea of any dates/mileages that anything happened before you? when it was first built, pump or trans rebuilds, etc? i'd love to catch up with who built it the first time just for stories.

i just realized last week while double confirming the rear axle gearing that it has an LSD. the clutches are WEAK ... i need to pop the diff cover to figure out if its the power-lok or the track-lok diff.
Click to expand...
Far as I know it's the original transmission. When I got it there was a single disk South bend clutch in there. I put the dual disk in it that should still be in there. Getrag 360 is a good transmission in my opinion.

The injection pump was rebuilt before I got it. I don't know when that was. I got the truck with over 200k on it. Personally I prefer a VE over a p-pump.
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yeah, i don't see any reason the G360 won't last me another 336,000 miles.

except i'm having 2nd gear synchro issues ... i can't down shift to 2nd without SERIOUS grinding, there is no synchro action at all. even 1-to-2 has a quick grind most of the time. i can't tell if the synchro is not broken in yet and is letting the shifter past before it's fully seated/synched (3rd gear started similar and is now fine) ... or if it's already somehow roached and gone. it always had a little squeak with the break-in oil, then when i changed it recently it's just got nothing. break-in was cheaper SuperTech 5-30 synth, 5qts and run for a few tanks of fuel. i changed it when i added the 2 coolers, so bumped up to 7qts, 5qt of Mobil-1 5-30 synth, and 2qt of Mobil-1 10-30 synth.
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