Dodge Beater Trail Build

I bought this truck at the beginning of 2021 right after leaving my last employer and therefore relinquished my take-home company truck that I was able to use for personal errands. I really wanted a GMT800 pickup, but they were twice the price for a worse example than this here Dodge. This was intended to be a temporary truck until prices calmed down and I could get something much nicer, but in reality it has provided everything I need and nothing I don't. Except one thing: Off-road capability.




Let's go over the specs.

2001 Dodge Ram 1500 base trim
Options consist of 4WD, cruise control, and extended cab
5.2L Magnum V8 (aka 318cid V8)
Chrysler 46RE automatic transmission
NP208 manual transfer case
Chrysler 9.25" solid rear axle
Dana 44 solid front axle
3.55 gears

The truck's original owner was CalFire who managed 255k miles before sending it to auction. I would assume it was well-maintained mechanically, the engine was replaced at some point. They obviously didn't care about the cosmetics, you can see where it took many hits off-road. It went through two more owners before it got to me, and now it has 280k miles.

Along with sprucing up the stuff that has been neglected over the years and upgrading the stereo system, I did my part to bulletproof the common problem areas with the truck already:
- Aftermarket intake plenum plate (though I fear the cumulative oil blowby from the old plate has recently fouled an O2 sensor)
- RedHead steering gear
- Nylon steering support bushing
- V10 radiator
- Overhauled cooling system

So the goal now is to increase ground clearance, increase grip, and give those axles some more flex. Then maybe I might go further depending on the shortcomings. This is my first serious attempt at doing this kind of build.

To-do list:
- Lift front by 3"
- Lift rear by 1.5 - 2"
- Long-arm kit for the front
- Adjustable track bar
- 4.10 gears
- 33" mud terrains
- Rear differential TrueTrac or air locker
- Figure out what brand shocks to roll with
- Install front tow hooks
- Sway bar disconnects
- Full accessory kit for my high lift jack

I already done and pulled a 4.10 rear carrier assembly out of a junkyard truck and I need to return for the pinions and front carrier. The carrier I pulled has a Dana Trac-Lok which I don't plan on rebuilding. I will either go with an Eaton TrueTrac for about $700 or an ARB air locker for $1200 plus compressor. Not sure if selectable locking is worth the extra $600-ish at this moment.



Front Skyjacker Softride 3" springs are on their way but they won't get installed until I get the track bar, shocks, and control arms. I'm thinking about Fox 2.0 shocks since they seem pretty nice off-road, but very very pricey. Biltein 5100 would be my "budget" choice.

Interesting build.

I'm running a Truetrac in back and I really like it.  Makes no noise and does its job w/o intervention.  But you might want to think about a locker for the front as well.  I'm running an OX, although I've really never had to use it.

As for sway bars, I don't have them even on the front nor connected in the rear and don't need them.  But I have all leaf springs and suspect you are all coils, so you might need them.  And if so then disconnects would be a big benefit.

And I have Bilstein 5100's up front since I installed the D60 axle and kit which meant the yellow ones wouldn't fit.  And these have been fine, although I hear the Fox's are very good.

Yeah it's not a popular choice. Most people think these 2nd gen trucks are throwaways unless equipped with the Cummins diesel, and I think there's validity in that for a person who doesn't like wrenching (I'm also spoiled with having probably the last 2nd gen Dodge on the planet without a cracked dash). They have good bones, there's nothing bad about the 5.2/5.9 V8 once you fix the intake plenum and everything beyond the 46RE transmission is very stout, plus it's the last half ton with a straight axle up front.

Anyway, the rear does sit on leafs. I haven't tried driving without the sway bars but it handles pretty good with the work I've done, but my driving will likely get slower when the gears and suspension changes. I'll experiment with removing them and see if the stock track bar is still holding the front end together  I obviously haven't used the TrueTrac on my Bronco yet but I'm thinking it will probably be adequate for what I'm doing here. I will look into the Ox locker, I saw on their site they make all sorts for Dana 44s but I don't think for my spline count.

I also have the True-Trac in the back of my daily driver Ranger with 4.88 gears and 35's, and it's been a perfect LS in all the offroad conditions I've been in and has great on-road manners as well.

The one thing I don't care for on Dodge front axles is the axle disconnect system. It's just as bad as Ford's pulse vacuum hub system and prone to failure. They do make parts to "delete" the axle disconnect stuff, but it can be costly. I think the ball joints can also be wonky on Dodge D44's, although my info is based on a friend's Ranger that is running a half-ton D44 from a Dodge just like yours. The ball joint issues may just be specific to his truck as his is highly custom.

I hated the automatic hubs on my Ranger, it usually took a few attempts to get them to engage and yeah sometimes it takes some patience on the Dodge. I actually may have damaged the center axle disconnect from when I first got it, I should check that soon because I just stashed a nice CAD axle shaft and collar in the cab of the truck I pulled the Dana 44 front carrier from. If I don't get too bad mpg with 33" MTs and a lift I will probably end up bypassing the actuator.

Got a Hi Lift jack for free and the mount was $30 so why not.

I'm not familiar with the disconnect nor with auto hubs - except for the ones on Blue, my 2015 F150.  They operate via vacuum, when they operate.  Had to have them replaced under warranty, so I'm not a big fan.  Haven't had any manual hubs fail, so I like them better.

And I like your jack storage location!  

JimJam300 wrote

.... I will either go with an Eaton TrueTrac for about $700 or an ARB air locker for $1200 plus compressor. Not sure if selectable locking is worth the extra $600-ish at this moment....

I have very strong personal opinions on the various limited slip and locking differentials.  But one of the strongest is that what I like might not be what you like, so take this advice for what it's worth (and what you paid for it!).

I think a TrueTrac is great as long as both tires get at least some traction.  I have one in the rear of my '97 F-250 and it's completely invisible on the road, but extremely helpful on the wet leaves on the driveway at the cabin (where I used to need 4WD but now can use 2WD with the TrueTrac).  However it's essentially useless if one tire gets no traction.  In serious 'wheeling this happens when a tire is in the air, or one tire is in mud.  With my F-250 it happens with one back tire on ice and the other on bare pavement at the stop sign at the top of the hill three blocks from my house.  So for mild 'wheeling it's probably a good choice, but if you might get more serious you may well end up wanting more.

Personally my choice in the rear has been an automatic locker.  Detroit, Grizzly or any of the lunchbox lockers, depending on your budget and how much you think you'll beat on it.  Some people hate auto lockers on the road, and you might be one of them.  But personally I find their quirks pretty easy to live with once you understand that it is easy to break the inside tire free if you get on the gas too hard in a turn.  I drove a CJ5 with a Detroit and an F-150 with a LockRight, both through several winters, as well as a Detroit in my Bronco now (but the Bronco doesn't see winter use).  I wouldn't say I love automatic lockers on the street, but I love them off road and can easily tolerate them on the street.  But as they say, your mileage may vary.

A selectable certainly gives you both good street manners and positive off road performance.  Personally I'd rather live with the road manners of an automatic locker than have to switch a selectable in and out off road.  But I'm not really being fair there, as I've never had a selectable in the rear axle.  In a front axle you need to unlock it any time you want to turn, and it doesn't always want to unlock.  I would imagine it's more forgiving in a rear axle (you probably can turn pretty well even with it locked).  But I do like the don't-ever-think-about-it simplicity of an automatic locker off road.

If you do decide to add a traction-aiding diff in the front, I would NEVER use an automatic locker there if higher speed use is expected.  Particularly driving on a snow-covered freeway, but I think it would be too similar on high-speed sand washes if amateur desert racing is your goal.  The torque steer when one front tire loses traction will put you in the next lane before you can think to correct (I know that from personal experience).  If you'll never use 4WD in those situations an automatic locker in front and either a selectable or an auto locker in the rear might be my first choice.  And a selectable in the front with a TrueTrac in the rear  might be a great setup for mild-to-serious 'wheeling, with great road manners and very good off-roadd performance when needed.

But regardless what you pick, have fun with it, and keep us posted!

I'm sure you know this Bob but found this when I was deciding on a rear differential.

Thought I'd post it for info. I don't off road or wheel so the Truetrac has been great for me. I really like it.

I want it for snow and ice, but have found it gives great traction in all the circumstances I'm in. Like turning right at a stop and you takeoff, no hesitation, no wheel spin from the light side, it just goes, maybe with a squeal or chirp, which in turn adds to the giggle factor!

You can wheel with it but need to know it's characteristics, in others opinions.

Go to 1:35 and he does a demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVxRILxHcIM

Edit: if you have a clutch, probably not the best choice.

That's a good demonstration of the weakness of a TrueTrac off road, and of how to deal with it, especially if you have two TrueTracs (with only one you'd have to get on the brakes even harder to get the one tire to pull you through).

However I'll take exception to him saying that a TrueTrac will lock.  It never does.  It will always send 2.5x as much torque to the tire with the most resistance as it does to the tire with the least resistance.  That's good, and yes it can be enough to break CV joints.  But it's not the same as locking and isn't always enough to pull you through (especially with only one TrueTrac).

Also having to drag your brakes in order to climb a rock can be a pain.  Of course some people see driving with automatic lockers on the street to be a real pain, so it's a matter of choosing what you want to emphasize and what you're willing to live with.  For more casual off-roading and a lot of street driving TrueTracs are great for a lot of people.  But personally I'll still choose an auto locker in the rear for that use.

And I'm still a little leery of a TrueTrac in front for highway use.  I've heard a very few people say they are fine, but some of them also say that they only use 4WD when they are stuck, or at low speeds.  I fully believe it would be significantly less unpredictable that what I found in a front auto locker on a snowy freeway.  But the physics still says it should pull quite a bit.  I'm not saying someone definitely shouldn't put a TrueTrac in a front axle for snowy freeway use.  But I'm definitely NOT saying that they should.

I’ve never thought about one in the front for my type of driving. I’ve never driven a vehicle with a front locker or limited slip to the best of my knowledge. I’m good with the rear only.

If I bought a new truck I would definitely try to get an e locker. It would be awesome to have in front and rear.

I guess I will have to put the locker decision aside and think about what I'll eventually do. I can't use the 4.10 gears on my open diff carrier and the clutch pack for the Trac Lok is just $90 so I'll run that in the meantime and get my tires.

In the middle of rebuilding my Trac Lok carrier I noticed one of the side gears was chipped and a whole new spider gear kit for this particular carrier was only a little bit less dough than a Powertraxx lunchbox locker . So I bought the locker. I found a $160 open carrier that will fit my gears, so the 4.10s will have to wait.

Now I'm looking at tires, size 255/75R17. It's either gonna be Firestone Destination MT 2 or Yokohama Geolander MT G003, both are about the same price.

Got my Yokohama Geolander G003 MTs. They are nearly an inch skinnier than my previous tires so I can already feel the steering is a lot lighter.


I was about to throw in my Powertraxx lunchbox locker on Saturday just to see how it works on the 3.55 gears and lo and behold when I opened my rear diff cover the carrier is.........a Trac Lok. Incompatible. I feel dumb for never checking this and getting all my info on which gear ratios had LSDs from forum speculations. The clutches were worn out and one of the retainer clip thingies was falling out, I have no idea if this is going to cause a catastrophic failure but I'm not gonna wait to find out. I was not committed to removing the carrier and yanking the spider gears on the bench so I sealed it back up and ordered that open carrier.

So I guess this means a rear end rebuild and doing the locker and 4.10s in one go! It will be nice to assemble the new carrier on the bench and throw it in when I'm ready. I've never done a pinion replacement or adjusted preload and honestly I'm kind of intimidated, but I did just get a dial indicator so maybe I'll be good to go.

I made a deal with a friend that we are doing the Gambler 500 in Oregon this June, I will be running recovery/retrieval in this truck and possibly be towing a car we build for the Gambler. So that is my date goal for completing the truck with the gears and lift.

Tires look good, and will probably work well for what you have planned.

Speaking of plans, those sound like fun!  What kind of car are you building?

We are not sure, the shopping starts in April. Ideally something with the same lug pattern as a Jeep that can fit 15" wheels so we can get some cheap used off road tires and sawzall the fenders

Powertrax locker is in the new diff carrier. This took waaay longer than I was hoping because every machined surface on this Motive carrier was out of spec. You get what you pay for I suppose. I had to grind out the side gear slots and "press" on the ring gear by tightening bolts in sequence. The bearings did not expand big enough with the induction heater to be hand fitted or even started, but the hydraulic press took care of that. Probably gonna knock out installation this weekend and get the front end done sometime soon. I will need to plan if I need to do the inner CAD axle bearing

That sounds like a pain!  But glad you were able to get it on. 👍

So making a short story long, to my embarrassment I royally failed at swapping the ring and pinion in the rear and couldn't drive it and I wasn't going to attempt the front. Gary told me a while back this work is not for the faint of heart, I listened the first time when I bought a built Ford 9 third member instead of assembling it myself, but I didn't listen this time. I brought the truck to a shop that lives and breathes truck differentials and had them do all the work... With new 4.10 gears instead of the used ones. He also talked me into Eaton TrueTracs instead of the lunchbox locker, two of them actually, so front and rear. He also ended up repairing the u-joints in the front since they were missing most of their needle bearings...

Anyway, I have the truck now. Since I got it back I threw on the lift. 3" Skyjacker coil springs up front, 1.5" Pro Comp leaf in the back, Rancho RS7MT monotube shocks all around. It rides....exactly the same as before which is great and a lot better off road since I'm not slamming against the bump stops. I'd imagine it will get softer once the suspension breaks in and I get some adjustable control arms.

The wife and I took it to BLM land for some target shooting and I didn't even bother choosing my lines to get through the mud on the access road that would've stopped lesser trucks. It is nice having a vehicle that will get us through the hills confidently.




Only issue is that I'm getting some pretty rude drivetrain noises in 4x4 and the "4x4 on" light illuminates during high throttle in 2WD, so I'm fairly certain there's an issue with the CAD actuator since it had to be removed for the repair and it is vacuum actuated. At some point soon I will also need to do all the wheel bearings and ball joints.

Also in the works, my boss has a big front sway bar and quick disconnect links from a Jeep Wrangler that I'm gonna try to fit. Also have a relative who can source me a used Warn winch for free.

Wow, that's good progress!

You'll like the TrueTracs, at least you will the one in the back.  I've not driven a truck with one in the front so don't know how that will work - maybe you can tell us since you have already used it.  Does it come in suddenly and change the steering?

As for the 4wd issue, it does sound like a vacuum problem since it drops at high throttle.

I'm DEEP into my 10.25 right now.

I had a little medical issue that sidetracked me, but I hope to be shimming it up as soon as I get the carrier back.