I purchased this Ramcharger in May 2002. I've been getting the itch to build a dedicated off-road/rock crawler, Ramcharger for some time. This one became available, and I couldn't pass it up, it was exactly what I wanted.

This Ramcharger is a 1977 SE model, that came new with a 440, 727 automatic tranny, NP 203 transfercase, a/c, cruise control, and a high trim level interior. To build my Ramcharger, I wanted a big block, and this one had a good running 440, perfect. It also has a removable top and factory roll bar. Two more items my project Ramcharger just had to have. As a bonus, it also already had a 4" lift installed, and marginal 35x12.50x15 Big-O MT's installed. Finally, if I planned to four wheel this thing hard, and push the limits, I needed a Ramcharger that didn't have perfect sheet metal, something I wouldn't mind cutting up. This thing clearly fits the bill. I bought it for $500, and drove it home.

To begin the project, I removed the wimpy 1/2 ton axles and installed a pair of 4.10:1 geared, open 3/4 ton axles, a Dana 60 in the rear, and a Dana 44 HD in the front. An odd note here, it seems that my Ramcharger came factory with the "large" (1330) u-joint at the rear pinion of the rear drive shaft, but the Dana 60 rear had the "small" (1310) yoke. Eventually I will upgrade all of the yokes and u-joints, but for now, I'll probably just use a conversion u-joint. To finish this swap, I machined some custom u-bolt plates, and performed a u-bolt flip in the rear. Also, the rear drive shaft needs to be shortened a couple inches, and the front drive shaft needs to be resplined, bad. I then swapped the worn 35" tires onto a set of 15x10 8-lug wheels.

I removed the hard top, and gutted the interior of all the nasty carpet, and rotten panels. The rest of my immediate plans involve getting this thing roadworthy, and street legal. That includes, cutting the fender openings bigger, installing new motor mounts, windshield, and mud flaps (trust me, these are only to remain legal). Future plans, currently include, removing the doors, building a full cage, rewiring the dash (its a mess), building new bumpers, doing a rear shackle flip, removing the cruise and a/c, and converting the a/c pump into an onboard air compressor.

I have reached a milestone on the Ramcharger. I think I'll call this "stage 1". The majority of the glaring problems are repaired, the 3/4 ton axles are in, it's "off" road worthy, street legal, and licensed. Just days latter, I took it on it's maiden voyage on a local trail called Mount Logan.

Check out the Moab 2002 pics too.

PLEASE SIGN MY GUESTBOOK!

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