Why Dodge Changed To Ram

[special-K]

Originally Posted by RDrancher

Nice truck! Those meats look too large to be Tru-Tracs. Must be Armstrong Rhinos? Cepek also had a radial with that tread pattern for a while, but I can't recall the name.

I think those were my third set. I got a set from the first batch, from Cepek, when they started making that tire. Same tread as the 11-15 Rhinos. They started with Tru-Trac before changing to Tru-Grip RV. 37/14.50-15s and the lift was done by over arching springs on an anvil and adding one leaf in front and blocks made from cut up leafs cut, drilled, and welded together. No lift was ever made for those.

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

I actually read an article a couple years ago that the reason for the Ram name was that they were planning on getting into heavy truck production. Even road tractors. And, all their trucks would be called Ram. I haven't heard if that's still in the plans. I had also heard that even today, a Ram truck is actually titled/registered as a Dodge. Wish I knew someone with a new one to ask.

I remember Dodge road tractors back in the 70's when I was long-haul trucking.

I have two Dodges, my 80 w-150 farm use truck, which I bought at auction from the West Virginia Dept of Forestry for $800. I lifted it and did other work to it. 318 4-speed manual. No rust, but also not a straight panel on the whole truck. Forestry Service is rough on em.
And, my 01 2500, 5.9 HO Cummins with 6-speed manual, seen in the background.

And Tim, my 80 has "Power Wagon" emblems on the fenders.

Yeah, Dodge didn't hav any problems building heavy trucks, same as Chevy, GMC, nd Ford, under their own name. They just didn't sell enough.

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Nice Power Wagon Tim, even had a sunroof!

Yep, Late-70s baby! I still have that sunroof. It was the biggest one made and could be removed. It was really nice to have, specially when running through the mountains. You could just look up and not have to crook your neck to see up the slopes.

Originally Posted by davischevy

I did work out of a Cadillac for a while. It never occurred to me to put a Cummins in it.

You sure are having trouble keeping this thread on track s-K. I added my contribution of diesel powered hot rod. I know its a Detroit, but your thread is derailed anyway.

Yeah well...it started off funny so what the heck. I can run without tracks. Where ya wanna go now?

[davischevy]

Your description of the "lift kit" for your Dodge sure takes me back.

Arching springs is something a lot of younger people would never think of. We didn't have a choice. Things like building spacer blocks from what we had is a forgotten art.

I built a 40 ford Coupe street rod in the seventies. I didn't go to a catalogue and order parts. I crawled under it, laid there and calculated and started fabricating. I threw a lot of it away and started over, but that's the way it was.

I don't regret living through any of that. It is a miracle I lived though.

[68Timber]

80's child here, first cool Dodge truck I remember:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ENiSJX5_s

[68panelman]

My 2001 "DODGE" 3500 had vinyl Dodge stickers on the tailgate, which I removed upon purchase. I wanted this body style since they came out in'94, they had the first " big rig look", plus I love the diesel they offered, it just looked the most simply that I could work on. Mine has the H.O. Cummins, 6spd, 4x4, 3:55 rears. Unsure when or why they changed the name.
I also owned a 1956 civilian powerwagon, that was a cool truck.
I remember as a kid, all the utility companies used Dodge trucks, Bell telephone vans, bucket trucks, guess they were the cheapest truck available?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Your description of the "lift kit" for your Dodge sure takes me back.

Arching springs is something a lot of younger people would never think of. We didn't have a choice. Things like building spacer blocks from what we had is a forgotten art.

I built a 40 ford Coupe street rod in the seventies. I didn't go to a catalogue and order parts. I crawled under it, laid there and calculated and started fabricating. I threw a lot of it away and started over, but that's the way it was.

I don't regret living through any of that. It is a miracle I lived though.

I had a '40 Chevy Sedan Delivery that I decided to re-arch the springs on back in about '66 or '67. The neighbor had a short piece of railroad track that I laid the springs across to hammer on them. It worked so good that I got carried away and had to rig up an old bumper jack to jack them out far enough to get the shackles put back together. That thing sat so high in the front that you would get a nose bleed just sitting in it. I ended up taking them back out and straightening them out a little...... Yup, it's a wonder we are still around to tell about some of that stuff. The jack I rigged up was a little less than desirable, and it had a LOT of pressure on it.

As far as the Dodge/Ram name change, I think they are trying to distance the new trucks from the Dodge name because of the bad reputation it has had for the last few years. Just my 2¢ worth...

LockDoc

[davischevy]

I was out back today and ran on to a Ram. This one is rode hard and put up wet.

This one is a hoss. It's fun to drive, but you have to wear a gas mask, because of the rank food left in it. May be the reason one of our illustrious hands broke the left back glass out last week was for ventilation.

If it was a Dodge I'm not sure it would have survived this long.

[davischevy]

Leon, you mentioned the jack you used. I was thinking about that very thing today.

In about 71 I was renting a house with a small basement with a dirt floor.

I changed a tranny in a 70 Chevelle in that basement. Today I was trying to remember how I supported the car while I was under it. I almost got faint thinking about what was probably holding that car up. Most of the time I was working by myself with no one around.

Whatever was holding that car up, if it had collapsed I would have been "Rammed" into the dirt, unless I could Dodge.

[special-K]

Minee wasn't a good Dodge at all. I found out the hard way. Lost it n a head-on

[68C15]

Didn't they change the name when the Germans took over? Right about the same time they pioneered the ".7 disorder".

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by special-K

Minee wasn't a good Dodge at all. I found out the hard way. Lost it n a head-on

If you couldn't Dodge it, you should have rammed it.

I don't know when the Ram thing came on. The 6.7 above has about 300,000 with no issues, and with an exhaust and tuner, it runs like a scalded dog.

Can I say "scalded dog"? Will the PC police be at my door?

[RDrancher]

Originally Posted by davischevy

If you couldn't Dodge it, you should have rammed it.

I don't know when the Ram thing came on. The 6.7 above has about 300,000 with no issues, and with an exhaust and tuner, it runs like a scalded dog.

Can I say "scalded dog"? Will the PC police be at my door?

Beats "raw".