1989 Ram Charger....318. pros, cons??

[Russell 350X]

Going to look at one this weekend. Has some goodies done to the motor, can't remember of the top of my head...fresh rebuild, headers with duels....37" tires but comes with the originals as well, Warn manual hubs...automatic...needs inspected, runs well according to the seller. He's asking $1200obo. It has 85,000 miles on it...

I'm just looking for pros and cons of this. I know their fuel mileage is terrible with the 318 or the 360...Dad had a '89 Power Ram a few years ago with a 318 and I loved it.. Anyone that has owned one or worked on one, give me your input please.

[racer....X]

ive had several dodge trucks and ramchargers and in my opinion they cant be beat!

[Rawlins350x]

i have a 318 in my jeep.. had the dang thing for 9 days and hydrolocked the motor.. lesson learned. I will tell you that gas mileage sucks, but the pickup is worth it.

[code200k]

my uncle had one same year i think easy to work just never got it running cant remember why...

[200xman]

It should be a good truck. I'm guessing it's still throttle body injection, 3 speed auto? I ad an 89 250 and it was a beast. The only problems I had were an intermittent fuel pump that drove me nuts until I figured it out. It would run fine for days then you would drive it somewhere and it wouldn't restart. Come back a few hours later and it would start right up and run for days. When I pulled the bed to change the pump I found that the last guy to do a pump kinked the lines when he put the tank back up and caused the pump to overwork itself. The 727 transmissions sometimes leak down internally if they sit for a few days and the truck won't move unless you let it idle for a minute or 2. Mine did it for the 2 years I owned it and I never had a problem.

[Kintore]

Rusty,

I know my truck is a 2wd but with all my states trips at 5+ hours, I was pulling 20-23 mpg with my 318 doing 70-75 mph.

Keep your foot outa it and its ok, put your foot into it and ive had like 12-13! haha

[oldskool83]

my g/f had a ram charger, i think it was a 1989 also. she loved it, but i belive she said hers had a 360 in it. only thing she didnt like was not being able to ride the brakes alot going down a big mountian road. she told me if you did by the time you got to the bottom you had no brakes hardly.

[MIK6]

My first car was a 81 ramcharger!! I loved that thing!!! 218000 miles when the rear body mount rotted out & the gate stopped working. I did put a trans in it @ 145000, but my fault, threw a driveshaft, it bounced & hit the transfer case, cracked the trans body.
I'd have 1 if i could find a nice 1

MIK6 / Mike

[cox]

the motor is indestructable in its stock form, the tranny is also very tough. Rear seals are known to go, no big deal. Bad milage, as others have said. Great 4x4 though. Warn hubs are not as good as the stockers, id find some in a wreckers and swap back.
Crawl under it and check for leaks. What kinda goodies on the motor?

[MonroeMike]

My brother had one with 318, he plowed with it.

The body rusted away (it was around salted lots all the time), but the engine always ran strong.

[harryredtrike]

just check the frame for rust.tough as nails truck though.

[phreakboy]

Ive have had a few ramchargers over the years and loved everyone of them. From what you describe, that is a very good price. They are great suv's if you want to class them that way. Dmv will say their a station wagon. Awesome on road and off road and very reliable. The 318 is a bulletproof motor and will run and run, one of mine made it to 285,000 miles before I sold it and it still ran great. The hubs were most likely changed to get rid of the CAD (central axle disconnect) system. I swapped them on my 85 for the same reason and never had a single problem with the warn hubs, stock was just automatic hubs.

Since you said its running 37's it must be lifted quite a bit, what kind of lift was used? Make sure its not just a bunch of stacked blocks between the axle and leaf spring. Also you want to find out what was done for drive line angle. Anything over a 6" lift and drive line angle becomes too extreme unless other stuff has been done to avoid this issue. You dont want to end up throwing a ton of u-joints.

One of the few problems they do encounter is sloppy steering, but that is easily cured by a borgeson steering shaft. $200

For more info check out
http://www.ramchargercentral.com

Great forum with lots of great people.

[1984ATC200S]

we run a 318 in our plow truck, thing is a beast, 4 barrel carb, lil prime and it fires rite up no matter the weather. if its on the road for 1200$ id do it, my next truck is gonna be an 83 dodge ram 150 4x4 with a 318, cant wait for spring to get to work on it.

[83ATC185S]

I would check what gear ratio if has, if its stock the transmission is probably hurting trying to turn 37's. big tires and a stock axle ratio will eat transmissions,too much heat

[racer....X]

so.......whats the scoop? did you get the ramcharger???