1994 Dodge Ram - The Beginning Of The End

Because I had changed the steering geometry with some custom links, I had also contracted myself a nasty case of bumpsteer what with the DT track bar being at a different angle than the steering draglink. My buddy, Hank Van Gaale, worked at a local muffler shop (Imperial Muffler in San Luis Obispo, California) at the time, and he helped me not only install the long-arm four-link but also modify and change my track bar's location.

Van Gaale and I finally changed the rear shocks too. I had put Fox coilovers in the front three years before, but I still had the Rancho shocks in the back because I had not decided if I had wanted to cut through the bed yet. Instead of cutting through, we tried to make new shock mounts and install something long enough to get some decent travel. We failed with these 12-inch 2.5 Fox shocks that only had about three inches of up-travel before bottoming out. The hydraulic bumpstops would barely be touched before these shocks would bottom outThat rear axle under the National leaves is a Currie Dana 60 that I bought while I was still in college (man, I had good credit card debt back then). It was filled with a spool (cheaper than an open diff or a locker), 4.56 gears, and had Wilwood disc brakes on it.

The result of the long-arm four-link, coilovers, and everything else actually yielded a pretty good trail truck. It would flex really well, but without an anti-sway bar, it was too tipsy when cornering hard in the desert.

Suspension and stereo work weren't the only things done. This truck had its seventh transmission put into it about five years ago after I accidentally burned up lucky number six. I used a JET unit (JET stopped making transmissions shortly after) with a PML tranny pan to increase fluid capacity. This is still the same heavy duty built transmission that is in the truck to this day (should be because it only has about 1,500 miles on it).

A lot of engine work was done over the past 6 years as well. Instead of going with my dream of a non smog-legal 440ci big block, I decided to build the factory small block (not the original small block -- it was already on its third engine by then). Mopar Performance Magnum cast iron R/T heads with 2.02 intake valves were built by Robert Landy at Dick Landy Industries, the late Dick Landy's speed shop in the San Fernando Valley. I will never get rid of these heads.A Comp cams was added to the package, along with roller rockers, a Mopar single-plane intake manifold, and an F&B throttle body. Mesa headers (also out of business) were bolted onto the sides of the block, and a Supertrapp muffler dumped the exhaust out the side of the truck.

Too bad I couldn't get the OBD-I ECU to accept any of the engine work I had done. The truck sat for another couple years before I was turned onto a company called Unichip that made this bitchin' inline interface controller. The Dyno Shop in Santee, California, put the unit on and tuned it all while it was on the dyno. The engine now puts about 260 hp to the ground with 36-inch tires. Not bad for a mildly built small block.

This is the truck as it sits now, well, technically, as it sat the week before we went to print. Right now it's at Off-Road Evolution getting the next stage in its evolution completed. Next issue, we'll have tips on four-link building and explain why Jinxy has a big white panel on the front of it.