1994 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 - Project Jinxy - Fender Flares

1994 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 Buildup Billet Hawse Fairlead

1994 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 Buildup 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

In all my years driving, no one has ever accused me of being too easy on vehicles. I take that to simply mean that I am really good at testing products. And I've been doing a lot of testing on my red Dodge, Jinxy, lately. There were a good couple months that I drove it every single day-partly because I had to prove to old friends that this truck was running once again, and partly because I just absolutely love driving a single-cab, short-bed truck around.

So far I've been very pleased with the result of more than a decade's worth of building, but I've definitely found a few flaws in the truck and in some of my loyalties towards unit bearings.

Is it still on the road? No, unfortunately. A bent axle and destroyed unit bearing have sidelined this truck for the next couple weeks. And even more unfortunately, it was so dark and rainy that day that not a single photo came out clearly enough to run in the magazine. But we did get in some great off-roading trips before the damage, including a snow-wheeling trip, that made me extremely eager to get to Moab and try this truck out in some different terrain. There's a new axle being built right now that I'm not supposed to talk about yet, but I can tell you it'll be a much stronger and better Dana 44 than we could have ever built before.

1. Admittedly, we did do a few things after the final story on Jinxy was over. Mel at Off Road Evolution gave us a brand new billet hawse fairlead to keep our Master Pull Superline rope smooth. You have to be sure to have no burs on your fairlead or you can rip even the best synthetic line apart. I really like having the 9,000-pound Warn winch mounted in back of the truck. It's actually a better point to pull from, and I really only want to get back out of whatever dumb thing I did to get myself stuck; not go any further.
1. Admittedly, we did do a few things after the final story on Jinxy was over. Mel at Off
2. I also never cut holes in my cab for the Ox lockers. I was really squeamish about cutting big cable holes, and I was happy to upgrade to Ox's electric actuators that made it so I only had to run wires into the cab.
2. I also never cut holes in my cab for the Ox lockers. I was really squeamish about cutti

3. On the front axle, I was still running the original driveshaft and Chrysler-style pinion yoke. I changed over to a 1330 pinion yoke and had the front end of the driveshaft's front yoke converted by J.E Reel Drivelines. Sitting on the new pinion yoke, you can see the typical U-joint strap on the left, and a U-bolt on the right. We drilled the yoke out to accept U-bolts from now on since I like them better than the straps.
3. On the front axle, I was still running the original driveshaft and Chrysler-style pinio
4. I also decided to change up the transmission cooling a bit. Off Road Evolution stuck on a new Earl's Performance fluid cooler for our transmission using Pro-Lite 350 hose and Earl's Size 6 fittings. Earl's also sent us some hose end wrenches and a hose cutter to make our lives a little easier. Off Road Evolution welded on a couple tabs to hang the Earl's cooler on the radiator support next to the A/C condenser.
4. I also decided to change up the transmission cooling a bit. Off Road Evolution stuck on

5. Since I'm a big fiberglass fender fan, it seems strange to me that I like the stock fender and aftermarket fender flare option instead. But the way these era Dodge fenders were made, it's hard to get any more tire clearance with fiberglass without chopping out the inner fenderwells out, too. The Xenon fender flares really contoured well to the body lines and made a nice buffer zone between my paint and anything that could scratch it. The fender flares are paintable, but that would sort of defeat the buffer zone idea.
5. Since I'm a big fiberglass fender fan, it seems strange to me that I like the stock fen

6. I stupidly had Warner's Muffler build a new exhaust just weeks before the suspension was redone, and it had to get cut off to make room for the new EVO links. Once the truck was back on its tires and wheels, it went back to Warner's Muffler to have them redo the exhaust and modify the headers. There was very little room and their job the second time around was even more impressive.
6. I stupidly had Warner's Muffler build a new exhaust just weeks before the suspension wa

7. The front axle also had an axleshaft length issue on the passenger side. Mac from Superior Axle tracked down the right chromoly 30-spline axle and slipped it into our truck just hours before our first off-roading trip.
7. The front axle also had an axleshaft length issue on the passenger side. Mac from Super
8. That first off-roading trip was fun, and the truck was working excellently, but the rear pinion was turned up just a bit too much.
8. That first off-roading trip was fun, and the truck was working excellently, but the rea

9. While on the throttle through some bumps, the rear springs wrapped and oscillated enough to break the rear 1350 yoke apart. The 1350 Dana pinion yokes are not the strongest, but the spring perches were welded at a bad angle making the rear axle wrap too easily.
9. While on the throttle through some bumps, the rear springs wrapped and oscillated enoug
10. Luckily, the rear driveshaft survived and all we needed was a new U-joint and pinion yoke. This time around, we dropped some coin on a billet forged 1350 Dana 60 pinion yoke to make sure we didn't break it again. I'll still have to turn and re-weld the rear spring perches to keep the axle from wrapping so terribly again.
10. Luckily, the rear driveshaft survived and all we needed was a new U-joint and pinion y
11. A snow wheeling trip told me of the inadequacies of my tranny cooling system. We had a ton of fun that day, but I overheated the transmission twice and the fluid was absolutely cooked.
11. A snow wheeling trip told me of the inadequacies of my tranny cooling system. We had a

12. In hind sight, I should have known better than to run no less than twice the normal cooling capacity that someone else would. David Kennedy of Diesel Power magazine was amazed how fast we could melt snow on the tranny cooler. I'll be adding another cooler with a fan built onto it shortly.
12. In hind sight, I should have known better than to run no less than twice the normal co
13. I've gotten a lot of questions about the Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip tires (that you can pick up at National Tire and Wheel or Desert Rat, by the way). So far, they have been excellent. I am wearing them out a little faster than I'd like to, but there is still a lot of life left on the tires. They've worked well in the rain on the highways and get excellent traction in the mud and snow for such a nicely-driving street tire.
13. I've gotten a lot of questions about the Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip tires (that you can
14. This single cab truck really is nice to drive almost everywhere. The visibility while driving single cab is excellent, and it's extremely maneuverable off-road and in traffic. Unfortunately, the fuel economy of this modified Magnum V-8 is terrible, and I plan to try to address that a little more in the future. Also, you'll notice that I learned a lesson about keeping really expensive HID light bolts tightened, and hopefully I'll be able to get some parts to fix the middle one. I still haven't cut the front bumper fiberglass (probably because I haven't hit it yet) and I'm still running a temporary metal plate where I need to put a real skidplate (soon).
14. This single cab truck really is nice to drive almost everywhere. The visibility while

15. The Corbeau seats are absolutely awesome, and I am so glad that Off Road Evolution adapted them to my original seat brackets so I could still have power seats and keep my middle-seat console.
15. The Corbeau seats are absolutely awesome, and I am so glad that Off Road Evolution ada
16. I love having the Power Tank mounted in the bed of the truck. In the front corner, it hasn't gotten in the way of anything I've tried to shove in the bed, and it's been so valuable when it's really cold outside-I'm always the first to be able to hop back in my truck while my friends with air compressors are still struggling to get back up to street pressures.
16. I love having the Power Tank mounted in the bed of the truck. In the front corner, it
17. The front suspension works really well. It flexes well, and the arms are just long enough to give a smooth ride and unbinding travel, while not so long that they get hung up on rocks. I'm really glad I ordered the chrome bodies for the front Fox coilovers, as they resist corrosion and are much easier to keep clean. The Off Road Evolution crew would also like me to point out that I specifically asked for the sway bar links to be angled as they are, and that it be known that they do not like the way I wanted this set up. Their reasoning is that the sway bar's rate does not work properly when the links are angled. But I had some method in my planning and a lot of luck. The 1.25-inch Speedway sway bar I got was too stuff for this truck, but not when the rate was diminished with the links sitting sideways. No, I did no special math to figure this out, and instead just got really lucky as it seems to work great on the street and in the dirt.
17. The front suspension works really well. It flexes well, and the arms are just long eno

18. The rear bumpstop got a little mangled on the driver side of the truck. The U-bolt was just a couple millimeters too far over and ate the end of the shaft up pretty well. It still works though, and we fixed this by just cutting the U-bolts down to the nuts.
18. The rear bumpstop got a little mangled on the driver side of the truck. The U-bolt was
19. I did have one too many good off-roading trips for this front end. The front Dana 44 axle bent more quickly than I would have liked it to, and I shortly destroyed a front unit bearing after that. I still have faith in newer unit bearing designs, but obviously the one on this '94-to-'01 truck just isn't the right way to go. ' The truck is currently awaiting a new front axle.
19. I did have one too many good off-roading trips for this front end. The front Dana 44 a

Sources
Advanced Power Systems 558 Lime Rock Road Lakeville CT 06039 888-881-2774 www.fitchfuelcatalyst.com	Currie Enterprises 382 North Smith Corona CA 92880 714-528-6957 www.currieenterprises.com
Stylin' Trucks 7820 East Pleasant Valley Road Independence OH 44131 800-586-9713 www.stylintrucks.com	National Spring 8745 Magnolia Avenue, Suite A Santee CA 92071 800-399-3852 www.nationalsprings.com
Superior Axle N/A AK 888-747-2953 www.superioraxle.com	McKenzies Off-Road 807 East Orangethorpe Ave. Suite "A" Anaheim CA 92801 714-441-1212 http://www.mckenzies.com/
Off Road Evolution 1829 W Commonwealth Avenue Fullerton CA 92833 714-870-5515 www.offroadevolution.com	JB Conversions P.O. Box 2683 Sulphur LA 70664 337-625-2379 www.jbconversions.com
FK Bearing 865 Queen St Southington CT 06489 800-662-4003 www.fkrodends.com	Xenon 2891 East Via Martens Anaheim CA 92806 714-632-1709 www.teamxenon.com
Auto Meter 413 W. Elm Street Sycamore IL 60178 866-248-6356 www.autometer.com	Control Cables Inc 9816 Alburtis Ave. Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 562-249-0455 ControlCables.com
Corbeau Seats PO Box 708038 Sandy UT 84070 801-255-3737 www.corbeau.com	Jeepers And Creepers CA 415-387-2323 www.jeepersandcreepers.com
Offroad Design 484 County Road 113 Carbondale CO 81623 970-945-7777 http://www.offroaddesign.com/	Speedway Engineering P.O.Box 1500 Springfield OH 45501 800-993-8880 www.1speedway.com
Master Pull 725 Sunset Pond Lane Bldg. E Unit 9 Bellingham WA 98226 360-714-1313 www.masterpull.com	OX Locker 440 S. Pinellas Avenue Tarpon Springs FL 34689 727-230-7803 www.ox-usa.com
Fox Racing Shox 130 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 619-768-1800 www.foxracingshox.com	J.E. Reel Driveline Service 448 S. Reservoir Pomona CA 91766 909-629-9002 www.reeldriveline.com
Warner's Muffler n/a CA 760-433-2240 www.warnersmuffler.com	Advance Air Systems 2214 Babson Drive Elk Grove CA 95758 800-574-3701 209-366-2163 http://www.powertank.com
Dirt Gripz Incorporated n/a n/a CA www.gripdirttires.com	Warn 12900 S.E. Capps Road Clackamas OR 97015 800-543-9276 www.warn.com