Tub Swap and Other Stuff

My Ramcharger's body was in real poor condition. The rust monter had eaten into nearly every area. With in excess of 200k or 300k miles on the clock, most of it in northern Utah, I wasn't surprised. However the rest of the truck was really in good shape. What it needed was a good old fashioned tub swap.

Last fall, a buddy called me from Wyoming to tell me he had a clean Ramcharger body for me. The tub was in great shape. It was almost perfectly straight, the original black paint actually had some shine left in it. There were a couple small spots of rust, most of it was in area I planned to cut out. The floors were solid as well.

With the much needed help of my brother Ryan, I started the swap in January '04 on a very cold Saturday. After the old tub was seperated from the body, I hauled the frame to the car wash and spent several dollars blasting away the crud.

Since the body was out of the way, it was a good time to tackle a few other projects on the RC. (I have a habit of making simple jobs more complicated) One major side project was the rear suspension. I had rear shackle flip brackets to install, and w/o the body, I could install them and wouldn't have to drop the fuel tank.

I planned on cleaning to new body tub and repainting it, so just couldn't leave the frame and engine in their current state. I needed to clean the frame and paint it. Also, the engine needed more clean up and fresh paint.

So I started by cutting the stock rear shackle mounts off. After the frame was painted, I assembled the new rear suspension. I mounted the new shackle mounts on the reverse sides (left on the right, ect..) to move the mount rearward about 1.5" from the intended position. I built some beefy 8" shackles to replace the whimpy stock 4" shackles for strength and more lift. Then I installed some 56" Chevy springs in place of the stock 51" Dodge springs.

Next we installed the new body tub on the frame. In the front I dismantled the front of the engine, installed new rubber valve cover gaskets, a new power steering pump, water pump, fuel pump, distributor, carb, fuel line, fuel filter and 100 amp alternator.

After installing the front clip and hood, we lined everything up, and started trimming the body. I layed out the wheel opening using masking tape, then cut the front and rear out using an air body saw. After a little rust repair at the rear of each rocker, and some hole filling, I primed the body and painted it with a PPG color called Fast Red. This was one of the brightest reds I could find.

I think it all turned out great. Check out the '04 EJS page for actions pics and flex shots. Next on the to do list is the front suspension. But that will come after the front Dana 60, hydro assist, and transfercase doubler gets put in.