"The Purist"

As I sit here looking over forums and articles trying to find parts and modifications for my new “project,” I think back to what a friend of mine called me. He called me a purist. He was referring to how I chose to build and modify vehicles. At the time it was my 99 Jeep Cherokee. He had a 01 Cherokee that could not have been more different in build style compared to mine. His was lifted 6 inches, running 33’s, raptor lined a 2-tone sand/ black, among a lot of other modifications. Mine, lifted 2 inches, on 30s, stock paint, and an ox locker to hit the highlights. I was trying to make the Rubicon Cherokee, and he was building everything to accommodate his aggressive wheeling style. Everything I did to mine was to stay in the spirit of the retro off roader look of sorts. I also focused on fixing the faults of engineering. There weren’t too many with a Cherokee assuming you chose the right years (98 or 99).

My new vehicle is from the same era and a Mopar (I’m very brand loyal). Going into this vehicle I wondered what my goals would be. It was a completely different platform built for a completely different purpose. The Jeep is a practical compact SUV that could handle rough roads. My latest acquisition, oh boy I still stare at it in awe I even get to own one, a 98.5 Dodge Ram 2500 with a 24 valve Cummins and an 8-foot bed in Flame Red. The only thing that could make it the holy grail truck for me is if it were a manual transmission, but I settled for 90% of what I wanted. Its original purpose is towing and hauling. I specify the color because of the fact it’s the exact same color as my Jeep. I wasn’t in love with the color at first, but it grew on me. I plan to make a bit more powerful and outfit it to haul my collection of “just in case” tools and equipment.

I love hearing what the vehicles I buy did before I bought them. Their story only fuels my desire to keep them trueish to form. The Jeep…. Well, I didn’t do that. It was a grocery getter for an older lady. But the truck was owned by an old guy who hauled his race car to the track in the summer, and it shows. It was speced to haul. Camper package to give it 4.10 gear, heavier leaf springs, a rear sway bar, and a brake proportioner. After some research and looking into what Ford was offering at the time in their single rear wheel (SWR) F350s, this is about as close as Dodge got to building a SWR 3500. Which made me very happy. Another dream truck of mine is a 2012 Ram 3500 SWR. So, this was as close to that as that I was gonna get to that in 2nd gen form.

So where does this wrenching journey take me? I have no idea. I’m no stranger to diesels but learning the ins and outs of a new platform takes time. With the Jeep I could diagnose things going wrong just by how it drives. I hope to get there with this thing. The good thing about working on older vehicles of this era the answers are usually out there on a forum if you look hard enough. I feel like the 90s vehicle sit in a unique place on the internet. They were there for the dawn of the internet, so a lot of the problems and modifications were being solved in real time on forums. At the same time, they aren’t so new some dealer tech is going to gatekeep his knowledge to ward of wannabe DIYers. And they don’t fall into that borderline wizardry department some old school muscle cars fall into.

What are my goals for my “grandpa truck,” as a few of my friends call it? As with the Jeep I’m going to try to keep the 90s vibe to it. Also, I want it to be a reliable powerhouse. With 4.10s I’m not going to win any drag races against Duramaxs, but I want it to cook if I ask it to. This thing will be towing so that power will go to good use in the mountains here in Pennsylvania. It was rated to tow around 12k from the factory and I want it to do that with a bit more power left over if I need it. So far those goals mean a modest increase in torque and hp. I AM NOT going to crank this sucker up to 500hp. That would counteract my goal of reliability. I want to see 300k miles on this thing. It will also mean some classic 2nd gen mods to keep with the grandpa truck vibe. Overall I’m excited, and you will hear about the journey as I write.