i bought this 79 feb, 2008. got it from the original owner's son. his dad passed in 2007. he really didn't want to part with it but had a 05 rubicon, 06 ram 3500 and a 66 coronet already. and his wife's 08 grand cherokee. she was on his case about it. he used to be a customer of mine at a previous dealer i was at. i was living in pahrump, 60mi west of vegas until recently. small town, you get to know your customers well.

anyway, he came knocking at the door one night to ask if i wanted to buy it. turns out he lived 2 blocks from me. he wanted it to end up in good hands.

his dad bought it at carl burger dodge in san diego in feb 1979. he was stationed at USMCR at the time. when he retired in 86 he moved back to tusan, az. had it untill he passed away in 07 of cancer. it was original with a mopar roof rack( pentastar cut outs in the brackets) and an old rancho 4" lift. some worn out white steelies and old 33x12.5 gdyr wranglers

first i added the new tires and centerlines to it.



the only damage on it.



the interior.

by april i had gotten busy with some mods.

NV4500/dana300 replace the 727/np203 full time 4wd set up.
dana300



NV4500



hydro clutch from 98-up ram.(easiest to mount)



afterword

First off, WELCOME TO MOPARTS!

Secondly, Beauty Ramcharger!!!

What else have you got planned for it?

then i got busy wheeling all over the west.

wheeler pass near vegas



my youngest daughter



top of wheeler pass

Looks very sweet, even has factory tack! Used to have a '78 that I baught with a dash fire & after searching all local junk yards for a new wiring and dash realizied that '78-9 & '80 R/C & T/D had a common problem something in the wiring bulkhead (?) just something to be aware of. I baught a covertable top for mine but never got around to putting it on (got devoriced) Any way seet ride, Chris

5/08
anza borrego st pk east of san diego. found a warn winch bumper in the local pick n pull just before this trip. rattle canned it with black rustoelum. no winch yet.







the squeeze on pinyon mt rd. jeeps and other small 4x4's only through here. this is where full sizes turn around unless you like leaving body panels behind.



dumb tow truck driver. owner's son. tried to help him out but didn't work. they needed a front loader to tow him out.

7/08
more spring mts run with vegas valley 4 wheelers.







indian art all over this canyon



doug fenner's 77 was in 4wheeler last year. he is vv4w member

9/08
moab, ut. with about 16 other trucks from ramchargercentral.com

5/09


finally finished the part time conversion. swapped in 1983 knuckles, fr & rr axles and rotors/drums. warn manual hubs off a 79 ford.( all d44s use the same part # for several years regardless of make) fr pads and r shoes were same p/n 79 rc to 83 w150. 80-up rc's went to 11" drum. i kept the 10" because i kept the original housings. could not find proper ratio(3.55 at this time) to just swap the whole thing. 3.21/3.23 is all i found. that's why i did this the hard way.









different wheels



11/09
rebuilt the rear 9.25". first diff rebuild. a friend/dodge tech in pahrump had done them for me in the past.

made my own adjuster tool.



new house, the garage won't fit my truck without taking the top off and smaller tires. that's my 74 duster poking out of the garage.

so that's my rig in a nut shell. it was getting 8-10mpg before the trans/t-case swap. 12-13 after. no road trip after the manual hub conversion to see if it improved. no more useless wear and tear on the fr diff though for sure.

if all goes well this spring i have more work to do. i have a 6" tough country lift in storage. H2 wheels IF i swap to d60s. not sure i can afford to rebuild them right now. have a 8.75" to replace that 9.25" possibly. need new gears regardless. 4.10s at least, maybe 4.56s. depends on what i can afford for new tires to go with that lift. may settle for 35's for cost reasons. if i can afford it, would love 37s. may need to trim the fenders if i do that. not sure i want to do that to this truck.

also have a new magnum 360 long block. will run factory efi with hughes rpm/efi manifold and better t-body. already have a hughes her0814 cam for it.

the interior is getting freshined up too. redone seats from a 92 rc, new carpet with bedliner and sound deadner too.

then maybe i will get to work on the duster.

thanks guys for the welcome.

that info is welcomed too. i have been fighting a intermentant wiring issue in the dash. wont start at times and i have to move the harness around. i think i'm bumping it with the reconfigured clutch pedal. i need to get serious about finding/fixing that issue. i'd be sick if i lost my truck to something like that.

understand the divorce stuff. been there/done that. i lost thousands in tools(she gave those away or sold them), lost a 71 340/4spd duster and my job. she had accussed me of DV. got a restaining order and cleaned me out. spent 3 weeks in jail which is why the job was lost. now 9 years later, i have had custody of our 2 daughters most of that time, remarried recently to a great woman and even gained a step-son with that. life works out but the side trips suck sometimes.

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Looks very sweet, even has factory tack! Used to have a '78 that I baught with a dash fire & after searching all local junk yards for a new wiring and dash realizied that '78-9 & '80 R/C & T/D had a common problem something in the wiring bulkhead (?) just something to be aware of. I baught a covertable top for mine but never got around to putting it on (got devoriced) Any way seet ride, Chris

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Very cool Thanks for sharing.

Great looking truck! I love the colours, I bought a new 76 D100 SE in those colours and also a few years later a 77 W200 440 truck in those colours, I think they look great on them.

Sheldon

Man thats awesome, ive always wanted a RC. Good to see some more fullsize stuff being built instead of jeeps.
I know its a chevy but its the last trip me and my bro went on.
One of the easier parts.
Big Bear Calif.
Happy wheelin'

the next area i want to explore is big bear. some of the trails are closed because of the fires. hope they are all open next summer. holcomb creek is supposed to be good too.

nice ramcharger....

thanks, love that profile pic. love that old show.