General 99 Ram thread

Non-repair car talk
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Finally towed with the truck today. Wanted to post in this thread since it is truck thoughts/experience.

I towed this trailer:
https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-Uti ... Rental/HO/

Empty weight: 2,290 lbs. I mistakenly thought these were aluminum. Obviously it is just galvanized steel as that is quite heavy. I would say I had 1,100 lbs or so of weight bringing the total to around 3,350 lbs, which is less than half the truck's towing capacity but 2/3ds of the capacity without a weight distributing hitch.

The truck didn't squat too much and rode decently when the trailer was full. Empty it banged around on bumps and was kind of annoying. In the power department, it was pretty taxing to the 318 (Magnum 5.2). It is rated at 230 hp and 300 lb-ft but that is honestly not enough. Nothing about the power delivery is good. It doesn't have a ton of low end. The torque converter doesn't multiply efficiently. The 3.55 axle is too tall, and as a result I ended up towing in 3rd lockup for a lot of it at around 2500-2800 rpm which actually worked out fine. The shift points are terrible. The 2-3 shift feels crappy. But it did get the job done with no issues. Not even a check engine light (STILL!). It cruised down the highway just fine, with no sketch.

I do want to say something about the trailer brakes. They were surge brakes which basically means the trailer tongue has a master cylinder pushrod built in and as the truck slows, the trailer exerts force on the master cylinder as it slides forward, and this engages the trailer brakes mechanically. I had never really experienced surge brakes but they seemed to work really well! They worked better loaded than empty. Pretty impressed.

The truck felt quite sprightly after I dropped the trailer off (West Warwick). In fact I got a decent burnout going off a light on Bald Hill Rd (it was wet). So sporty.

All in all it was satisfying and it was nice to use the truck for a job like this. The Ranger could not have handled this.

For the record my trailer backing skills are adequate. Not pro level but sufficient. My dad was impressed - I backed the trailer right into its spot when I returned it.
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

This is handy.

Regarding discussion about the grill fitting in the bed (laying down).

http://dodgeram.info/2001/image/ram_dimen_main.gif
Attachments
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Removed the coolant overflow and rinsed it out. It was actually empty and junk had collected in the bottom. The radiator was full though so after cleaning I filled it up to the proper level. That was easy...
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:13 am Truck barely started again. I think the battery is toast. After driving to the transfer station and back, I parked it, shut it off, then turned the ignition on without starting it. I ran the fan at high speed and watched the voltage gauge. It seemed to hang on but after 2 or 3 minutes, the gauge just plummeted. I could hear the fan slow down rapidly and the check gauges light came on. It barely cranked and didn't even start. I have my battery tender on it now but I think it is probably junk now. It is a Bosch battery with a 2014 manufacture date. I wonder if there is any warranty left.

3 year free, 96 month pro rated. Presumably I'd have to produce the receipt. Not sure I have that.
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Looks like I've been dealing with intermittent battery issues since August 2017. One issue was the connection at the ground cable. But I decided I don't trust the battery anymore. Each week it loses like half a volt from sitting. I could go crazy chasing draws that may or may not exist but it makes sense to start with a new battery before doing all of that. Experience tells me that replacing the battery tends to solve the issues.

So I got a nice Group 27 Everstart Maxx from Walmart. 810 CCA! $120.

Pretty easy job.
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I measured a little over 12.5V after connecting with the dome lights on. It cranked noticeably faster, as new batteries always do. It would be ideal to charge it but it is going to snow a few inches so I don't feel like fishing the extension cord out of the snow tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll throw the charger on it tomorrow after I do the driveway (if I need to).
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Cranked well in 27F after sitting all week and it being single digits early this morning. It actually fired remarkably quickly. Fixed!
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

As part of selling the Roadmaster I had to do something with that Bluetooth FM transmitter I bought and kept in the Roadmaster. So I put it in the truck. And wouldn't you know, it actually works better in the truck. Here are the reasons why:
- The cigarette lighter is switched with the ignition so I don't even have to turn the transmitter on and off as I did in the Roadmaster. The truck also has another 12V aux outlet that is NOT switched. So, that's definitely superior.
- Another byproduct is it's mounted in a fairly high up and easy to access position which is nice because I can pause and change tracks from it and leave my phone in the cupholder.
- The FM receiver characteristics of the truck seem to work better with the transmitter. It has a weaker (less sensitive) receiver than the Roadmaster did. Perhaps as a result of that, there is really not any interference (which is something I noticed when using it in the Roadmaster) and also not really any clipping/overload of the signal which caused me to have to ride the volume knob of the transmitter. In the truck I just leave it either on the default 28/30 or turn it up to 30/30 and it's fine.
- I don't know if the overall sound quality is better as a function of the FM performance but it really sounds halfway decent given the capabilities of the audio in the truck.

So yeah kind of surprising but works well because now when I get in the truck to go to the transfer station or whatever, I have tunes and it all just works.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:00 pm Cranked well in 27F after sitting all week and it being single digits early this morning. It actually fired remarkably quickly. Fixed!
Nope. Exactly 1 year later, it cranked very slowly this weekend. It had been cranking slower and slower and Sunday morning was really cold. But this truck does an admirable job of firing up on some very low batteries so I'll give it that.

After I started it I checked the voltage. I checked it right at the battery posts, by passing all wiring to see if somehow there was a charging issue. Nope, 14.5x volts. So then I checked the current going into the battery. It should be drawing a ton if it was low and charging up. But....it was only pulling like 3 amps. That's clearly not right. Seems a bad battery is about the only thing I can conclude though there is an open question of WHY this happened after only 12 months. 12 months after I had a ....similar problem with a (much older) Bosch battery.

Did my trash and decided to just pull the battery and head to Walmart to try out the warranty situation. Amazingly I found the receipt, too. Walmart was a bit of a mixed bag (I'll pause for dramatic effect). It also occurred to me that I must have never used a Walmart battery warranty before because I have never gone through this.

Anyway it's an Everstart Maxx as we know and the side of the battery says 3 years free replacement. So 1 in year in I should be good. Brought it to customer service. They said we have to test it before we can replace. I mean the parts stores do that but I didn't know they had anything behind the customer service desk. So she takes the battery and comes back. "It says the charge is low. We need to charge it before the machine can determine if the battery is defective." Sigh! How long is that going to take? "Up to 50 minutes." Great. So I went home.

Came back probably 1-1/2 hours later. They brought the battery out and also showed me the print out.
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Verdict? Battery technically "good" (but clearly not at spec), but also heavily discharged. So I'm like.....great. However the guy was like "we'll replace it anyway." Nice! Except this took forever. It must have taken 20 minutes of different combinations of scanning bar codes (the battery and core are different SKUs). Finally they got it right and I had to pay a $12 core and that was it (I guess I lose the core from the bad one even though I had brought it back). $12 is better than $120.

But now I was nervous about a drain issue on the truck.

I got back and measured the resting voltage. It was like 12.8V so pretty damn fully charged. Maybe Walmart actually charges their shelf batteries?? Hooked it up and the truck started great.

Checked the charging current and it was initially maybe 6A but tapered down quickly because it was pretty well charged already.

Then I shut it off and started measuring the battery drain with my clamp on meter. I ended up with a 0.6A draw that didn't seem to go down. I pulled a "battery" fuse (50A) out of the main fuse box and it dropped in half. Nothing else changed it. Yes I also disconnected the alternator to rule that out. I removed the bulb from the glove compartment. Finally I gave up, went inside, and did stuff. Later on I went out again and measured the current and it was below 0.1A. So whatever was on must have gone to sleep. Conclusion: no draw? Intermittent draw? Just a freak bad battery?? I realize only driving this once a week for 20-25 minutes may not be ideal but I still don't think that should be killing batteries.

I'll probably do a few impromptu current draw measurements and confirm that this is not a thing. Hopefully nothing is going on and the battery just died prematurely. Kind of odd though....the Everstart Maxx are good batteries last time I checked.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Sitting for a week in super cold weather and then a cold start.

https://youtu.be/-yihsuDO5Bw

Seems good.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Truck passed inspection. The only "catch" was he told me my rear bumper is questionable. I would agree.
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General 99 Ram thread

Post by kevm14 »

Since I had polished literally everything else I decided the Ram deserved its headlights to be polished.

I did 1000 grit wet, then machine compound with some 3M stuff, isopropyl, ceramic coating. I did the least amount of steps on this and it actually came out great.
Before
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After 1000. You know they are bad when they look better after 1000. Man.
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After machine compounding
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Ceramic coated
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