This Free Truck Almost Killed Me! Finding Everything Wrong After It’s Restoration!

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

Go to buyraycon.com/questionable to get up to 15% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon.

[@originalfiremancancelled7303]

I think it probably be completely impossible for you to pick an uglier bumper for that vehicle 🥴🫵

[@JohnChrysostom101]

The previous owner was Weird

[@danatkinson6698]

Im waiting for the moment where the phrase " The power of Chrysler compells you" is said in effort to fix something mopar.

[@boredom.victim]

@@danatkinson6698 bumper sticker opportunity

[@MishraArtificer]

As a Charger owner: I need that on a shirt, immediately.

[@boredom.victim]

@@danatkinson6698 need that as a bumper sticker

[@-_-_-_-318]

😂

[@digitalrailroader]

@@MishraArtificerand it needs to have ALL of Jared’s Mopar Projects (Roadblock, TriHard, the Sport Satellite, and this!) on it too!

[@jroyston85]

Just want to say I love you bud! If you guys ever wonder, Jared is in fact the best-est of buds a guy could ever hope to have

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

James is the best guy! Appreciate the hell out of you.

[@bryanschmidt7336]

That vent installation was legendary

[@DannyNeal-g8y]

Jared, most anyone can get a project 80% finished. It's guys like you who have the skills, and motivation, to go that last 20%. We appreciate what you do; and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@bgee461]

You are right about wire jiggling. I had a rotted out ground cable that was hanging on by one strand, so it would give continuity on a meter, but when the starter needed ground... no bueno. Jiggled it and it fell right off, problem found!

[@billh230]

Always, always simple and stupid first. You'll be surprised at just how effective that step is working on electricals.

[@matthewgreenfield1449]

I love seeing you take a project that was going to be years away from driving and probably never really right and finishing out all of the little things that actually make it a drivable vehicle or the big things like the front suspension. It always makes me a little sad to see so many project vehicles that never really get finished or driven! Strong Work!

[@toysoldier46552]

As an old "have to fix it myself" guy, here's a tip: If you have cables that are flopping around when you pull for example the choke. Use zip ties and or wire ties and tie them down before you buy a new cable. 9 times out of 10, if you stop movement, the old cable will work.

[@MarianoLu]

I tell you Jared, is a complicated physics theory to explain but 8:54 gas tanks autogenerate gas inside as you unbolt them.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

Ultimate road trip hack!

[@brandonlisenby6752]

@@TheQuestionableGarage Take the ground cable off the battery terminal connect your test light between the cable and the battery if it lights up pull one fuse at a time until it goes off and that’s the circuit drawing power. Just a little trick from 30 years of wrenching.

[@justinlyons]

Please make a shirt that says "we have gauges. They don't work, but we have them."

[@enriquerrs]

I’ll buy it 😂

[@TheRealAlpha2]

Extra benefit of a cool bird feeder is the birds looking at their reflection in the camera lens, adorable. Congrats on buttoning up so much on the Lime Charger in such short order!

[@LarryHeagren]

Those front spring perches on the front end are spindly at best. You are fortunate that they did not need to be stressed much on your way home. Yes you need to come up with boxed perches of much thicker steel as those tire are a significant load. I'm glad you are fixing this next. It is definitely a not safe assembly in thee present form.

[@paintucation]

Great vid!!! Looking forward to the front suspension fix!!!

[@tinkerne-round4079]

Wiring is exciting when you go from nothing working to everything working. Satisfying!😊

[@JRs-Garage]

Jared thanks for the pinion angle / castor explanation that was fantastic! So simple!

[@KellysCanoeing]

Dwayne's editing always adds new layers, love the definitions!

[@auto.impulse]

🎉

[@jtuck6065]

Jared, one thing I enjoy about your channel is you walk us through the troubleshooting process(es) as you go. You and I work in very similar manners. I’m not a Ramcharger guy but this build is definitely worth the time and effort put into it! :)

[@Andy-4342]

When I was a teenager one of our neighbors had a dark blue Ram Charger with the chrome ram's head on the hood. It was awesome! I wanted one of those or a K-5 Blazer when I was in high school. I got a 79 Chevy Impala with power steering that worked when it wanted to, lol. Thanks for another awesome video!

[@dj-kq4fz]

So true about transmission pan torque! I've lost track of how many times I've messed that up, so I might look into that Dorman pan. Thanks Jared!

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

Make sure to get the modern gasket too! Really helps keep you from going too crazy with it

[@dj-kq4fz]

@@TheQuestionableGarage Thanks!

[@phantom629]

dont know if this will help but the second i heard that snap of the fuse i thought to myself i wonder if he hooked a amp meter up like a volt meter? cause if you do the amp meter becomes a direct short. amp meters are designed to run inline of a charge wire giving you how much current is flowing through a given line. volt meters are hooked up across a source giving voltage difference present to reference point, they are internally isolated so as to not short out.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

I thought that too, I hooked it up how it was indicated to do(I called it a ampeter but it was actually a volt meter) but I think it is bad, everything I can tell is it was correct.

[@zekelowther]

Have you thought of doing a fluid film undercoating and cavity waxing after the work underneath is finished? It would make a great video and ensure this ram charger doesn't need another restoration for many years to come.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

Either this Mopar or the satellite will get a full cavity wax, as far as a undercoating film, thankfully since we don’t really see road salts it isn’t a necessary step

[@zekelowther]

@@TheQuestionableGarage I tripple dog dare ya to do both!

[@glassvial]

@@TheQuestionableGarage Just remember, rust never sleeps.

[@piddmr]

Hey Jarrod, great project. At 39:13 you fell into your own trap when you mentioned that you had 8 extra quarts of transmission fluid so even if you were leaking you could go longer until empty. As you had stated before you installed a deeper pan but left the filter in the stock position hence the fluid pickup remained in the same place so the amount of fluid that could leak out before the transmission no longer worked would be exactly the same as before. 😊

[@byrongilbert3720]

it really is a cool truck. you can still see k5 blazers and broncos driving around but rarely do you see a ram charger.

[@tubeDude48]

Man, I'm so glad you're doing all that wiring! Still love the color! 👍

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

I loved that explanation about the suspension. Hopeful you will show us your solution in the next one. Looking forward to that.

[@mvining7]

I'm from South Georgia and it was cool to see where this came from. Cordele (pronounced like Core Deal) is in Crisp County, about 20 minutes north of my job! Glad to see you bringing it back to life!

[@joshm3875]

At least it wasn't an International with 0 built in caster to begin with. Extended shackles on a Scout make for an exciting driving experience! :)

[@countswing284]

Great progress! New gauges to go with the new wiring makes perfect sense. Glad nobody was hurt during the 300 mile journey. Looking forward to more content on this old Dodge. Cheers! 😎👍🏎🏁🏁

[@EricV63]

One of your better episodes. Took a questionable project and made real progress, did pretty darn good explanations of why/what was wrong and maybe even had a little fun doing some of it. Well done!

[@Hernik_der_Herzhaft]

I watched the first video for this truck, its great to see part 2. Very well explained, and I like the approach to address what you can before firing the parts cannon at it.

[@wesleystoway6887]

My uncles both had mopars, one had a 68 roadrunner, the other a 70 challenger and both had dodge pickups, one of the trucks was a warlock. I’ve had four mopars, two 68 coronets, a 66 and a 67 coronet. I currently have one of the 68 coronets that is a project, that’s sat untouched for about 4 years. I hope to get to it. I have a 440 that I pulled from a van front motorhome, in someone’s back yard.

[@billbillinger2491]

What is the next thing you plan to do to your '68 Coronet...and what month do you plan to start the work?

[@EarlofBaltimore]

How appropriate to have cases of Mountain Dew sitting just feet away from this truck.

[@nathanbrundige9786]

On your guages, the amp and temp are swapped from the factory setup.

[@oldcarnutzs2886]

Shaking a😂 wire harness is always a good trick to figure out where the short is. I had a Oldsmobile that had an electrical short, and the harness was too much of a bear to get out of the vehicle. This particular car was rusted to hell, so I drilled a hole in the floor and ran a coat hanger around the wire harness and would shake it every time the car would die. It never failed me until the car overheated one day and I drove it until the engine blew up because I just didn’t care anymore. I remember pulling in the driveway with the engine knocking, and when I turned it off it backfired and threw a piston through the block my dad thought that somebody was shooting at the house. 😂

[@brianchandler6186]

I have one of those headlight switch nuts in a parts truck (74 W100) behind my shop. I also have a 77/78 Grill if you want to swap out what looks to have been an old Fire Dept truck grill. It'll definitely help make it less green 😂

[@royscarbrough3589]

Since you have new stock leaf springs and you want to save money I suggest cutting the fenders so you can put the springs in their original position. The other less expensive option is to properly lower the front mount and add a longer rear shackle. New lift springs are probably the easiest but definitely more expensive. Or maybe you are building a multiple link suspension cause you have mad skills and know people. Shine on!

[@adamsdrives]

I had an old beater Power Wagon with this same drivetrain and on Super Swampers. What a tank! Glad to see you didn’t die and are having fun with this rig.

[@briandering4182]

I have to give Dwayne props for his music selection for your montages. They usually seem quite fitting for the task you are undertaking.

[@Popincourt-or4cf]

Love the deep transmission pan as much as I hate those bogus front spring perches. Ouch! And thanks for the coherent explanation of caster - the sticks worked just fine!

[@fuse8052]

I love your videos Jared. You do so many "regular people" videos. Stuff that most regular people can do. That's one of many reasons why I love your videos

[@ceciljacobs1221]

😂 Jared's stunt double...editor for the troll win.

[@JimmyMakingitwork]

I tried an Intellitronix Cluster in my 62 Truck project, it was a disaster and the tech department couldn't help get it to work or iron out the glitches. They blamed my wiring. I installed a Dakota VHX which works flawlessly, with the same exact wiring and just swapping out the oil and coolant temp sensors. Just a heads up.

[@taurota1554]

Outstanding and awesome as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along.

[@marknelson8724]

I would never raise or lower a suspension by more than an inch. I feel like I could get away with an inch without actually knowing what I was doing. I look forward to seeing how you make the front end safe for innocent civilians to drive. Fun project.

[@wmejia4122]

It's awesome to see it back on the road doing it's thing! Great work and would be a nice touch upgrading the gauges and suspension! 🤩

[@julioblanco]

I vote converting it to fuel injection and add a digital dash.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

I really like efi… it just works

[@MaverickBlue42]

@@TheQuestionableGarage That's why the world left carbs behind...sure, they work, but you gotta manually tune them, which means you get them close, then you drive, then fine tune, then drive, then further fine tune, then drive, then....unless you're just happy with "good 'nuf", but if you like both the most power, and best economy, and don't want to spend weeks tuning it, EFI is the way to go. Gives you options, do I want to push a button and have it just sip on gas today, or do I want to push a button and ruin this set of tires having fun....

[@mopartruckdon]

Love seeing the ramcharger content as a ramcharger owner myself this is great to watch.

[@MonsterSound.Bradley]

"... a free vehicle." 🤣🤣🤣 Great job as usual. ThX

[@Rogue_FiveR5]

My dad bought an old dump truck one time. He said it has a new carburetor. Then he told me the gauges need to be wired back up, I want you to hook them back up for me. I opened the door and looked at the mass of all black wires hanging out of the dash and I was like, uh no... I can't do that. He didn't even have a wiring diagram for me to go off of. There was no such thing as the internet then. Another time I traced the wires for the high speed for the blower motor in my 86 Chevy Celebrity, doing continuity testing on them. Because I didn't know which wire was supplying the power to the circuit, I had to work backwards starting at the blower motor. Only to find out someone had cut out a blown fusible link down by the starter and used a side connector that was all corroded. I spliced in a new fusible link and yay, we have high speed on the blower again. Only 4 Hours Later. When he says wiring is not fun, that's no exaggeration. Two summers ago, my son and I put a new fuel tank, pump, sending unit and wiring pigtail in my 97 Suburban. For some strange reason, when I got it, there was Romex under the hood, I didn't know what it was for. After I had my son cut off all the zip ties and pull it out, it was 14 feet long and going from the ground wire to the fuel pump all the way up to the headlight ground connection on the driver side, fun times. Yes, it's grounded correctly now. Keep it up you wiring guy.

[@ischmidt]

That's a damn cool truck, and it's great that it's moving from sketchy to merely questionable. Fix the suspension, get a cool new dash, and slap in an EFI kit and you'll be styling.

[@randygranger2294]

I love this TRUCK!!!! Thank you for getting this back on the road CORRECTLY!

[@paulshannon4576]

The bus bar is added. I used to buy that style at Radio Shack when I built custom alarm systems.

[@billh230]

Oh, yah. Those terminal blocks are sooooo common. Very useful for like the instrument cluster as shown.

[@chazbeaumont65]

Love this Ramcharger. You could also improve your steering by going to a crossover linkage and a steering box brace.

[@CraigFine]

Also, switch to fuel injection, put a 5" SuperLift suspension lift kit with 35" or 37" shoes and change the gearing in the differentials, replace the stereo, put an Amp in the center console floor under a false floor, replace the steering box with a better one, new shocks, add some off road lights on a front brush guard and you will be all set. Oh, steering dampener too...then you are good to go. A I projecting much? P. S. Did I mention headers...

[@MaximuSS1996]

I am in love with the Green machine. I would go topless for about 80% of the year down here in Florida. that shade of green is my wife's favorite color.

[@Sizukun1]

Free trucks are best trucks, I'm jealous I don't have friends like that!

[@astridsactionrc545]

I’ve noticed that this seems to be a theme with popular automotive KZbinrs. A mysterious supple of “free” cars.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

It’s not total magic, it’s more because of the public presence, people reach out. Sometimes they have a long deep passion of their project, or just need it gone, and being able to see some content created from it is more or less ‘payment’. I’m hoping to work something out in the long term to help ‘pay’ back for the truck with Mathew.

[@fishboy491]

The choices for the montage music is fire!! 👍

[@Koup_TV_]

Really love this Mopar series 💯💯💯

[@kerryrwac]

I lowered the front shackles to raise the front end on my 77 Blazer 30 plus years ago. You just explained the occasional front end death wobble. I was young, dumb and broke.

[@gregedmand9939]

Shoulder belts would be at the top of my list for an upgrade.

[@2SlayZGTE]

Thanks so much for another entertaining, enjoyable and informative episode. Your knowledge is, as always, impressive and your patience is inspiring. TQG episodes are always very worthwhile and I’m thrilled whenever I see a new one! Editor Duane did a really great job with the music and visuals, just like he always does. The bird feeder looks really cool. I love how technology can make it easier to see and enjoy nature! Keep up the great work 🤩💖

[@CraigFine]

Cut off the windows frames, replace them with ones from a 75 Blazer and weld them to the removable top. Trust me, it not only works, it looks so much better with the top off.

[@mopar65pa]

LOVE the Ramchargers and Traildusters. I have had one since 1986 Still have an 80 TD and a 77 RC. Son wants the 318/435 TD mine is the 77 RC and I have a rag top kit for it, factory roll bar, and a factory tire carrier. .

[@surferdude4487]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with that suspension.

[@russelljacob7955]

Intro is why I strap down anything I am lowering down from under a car.

[@TAD050486]

Would have been nice to see the bumper go in.

[@craigbomer8962]

I remember going in blind, knowing nothing, and replacing some worn out springs on an old 85 Chevrolet K10 I owned. A friend of mine had a complete front and rear set of 2.5" lift springs for it that he sold to me for 200 bucks. I put them on and also fitted 31x10.5-15 tires to fill out the wheel wells. The tires were LT rated tires. Those tires coupled with the lift springs RUINED that truck. It rode horrible, with absolutely no give in the suspension. The back end would bounce off the ground going over railroad tracks. It looked cool, but I hated driving it after that.

[@16driver16]

Actual offroad guys throw the 47" springs up front away in favor of stock rear 52" springs... but then you need crossover steering. Also shackle flip the rear instead of lift springs as well as 56" stock rear springs even as some models had 52 others 56

[@jamiecampbell3068]

Those are cool. Need to find a full top or at the least a cab top. Football coach had both. Along with rear seating when needed. I cannot tell you how much fun that guy and his Ramcharger was.

[@nobodyspecial-d5j]

just picked up a 96 bronco, so excited to put a lift, do some other stuff and take the top off, love this style of truck or suv, whatever you wanna call it

[@emtjc1986]

Love it man, can't wait to see where it goes from here.

[@billbillinger2491]

A "free" vehicle, much like a "free" dog...can end up costing you way more than you thought. Lol! Some serious 'coblericating' was done to that rig. This is why many states require inspections in order to get registered. Good to see it getting addressed.

[@charlenetaylor5548]

It's always a good day when Editor Dwayne makes me laugh!

[@MarioFunk]

Man this thing was just hacked together all the wrong ways! Glad you're making it right, Jared!

[@blahblah4125]

Needs some Black Stripe packages like Challenger, Cuda, Dart, Duster, or R/T black stripes to break up the green. Might as well call it the Hulk with that way too much green lol. Total win on your wiring clean up, well done sir!

[@billh230]

It's pretty close to Sassy Grass Green. Seems to me Dodge had a black stripe kit available.

[@josephvantreeck2989]

great presentation Jared

[@punkinsgarageandpaint8299]

I hope you get a replacement gauge cluster. This truck is super cool and deserves it.

[@russwaegelin2134]

Between 1969 and 1973 Mopar had an option called High Impact Paint, or HIP for short. They have these special colors special names. There were two bright greens. FJ6 was a bit darker and went by the Dodge name Green Go and the Plymouth name Sassy Grass. The lighter color, which is closer to what you have on the Ram Charger was HIP code FJ5 and went by the Dodge name of Sublime and Plymouth Lime Light. Side note, HIP was a $14 option.

[@scott01clay74]

Thanks a MILLION I didn’t realize there was upgraded oil pans going to order for my 01 3.0 ranger

[@bcole505]

Cobbed up mess... Love to see it getting fixed correctly. The rhino lined stuff is not a win!

[@wmsbrum]

That bumper is from the time before receiver hitches....😅

[@DowShore]

I would just go get a set of the gauges from autozone that has oil temp and volt and put them in the bezel and wire them up. It isn't a super high end build and that way there is money freed up to help fix the super important stuff like the suspension. Love the truck. Wish it was mine.

[@mikekozi-lester3887]

Hi Jared nice video 📹 and workmanship loved the Slimer have a Echo Cooler on Me

[@bevis226]

That's a cool old Ramcharger. Even like the bright green bed liner. Had a blue one with a 318 in it years ago. Loved that thing but it was a complete rust bucket as is everything else in PA that's older than 15-20 years old lol. It had no body mounts left or rear quarters and the rear inner fenders had football sized holes in it and the floors were made out of old road signs. Needless to say it was taken off of the road and used as a farm truck for a few years. Last time I drove it I ran down into a big ground hog hole and the core support twisted so bad that it split the radiator wide open. That was the end of the old crusty trusty Ramcharger.

[@danimal0921]

I'll tell you what, Jared, the Ramcharger IS my dream vehicle, lime green or not! I've been wanting one since the day I test drove a used '74 in 1980! I was living with my parents at the time. I graduated in '79 and wasn't making much at the job I had and I just couldn't work out the financials on it. If you're wanting me to say yes to a free vehicle, just tell me, and I can be on the way to pick up that sweetheart in a couple of days!!!! The ball's in your court now, buddy!!! 😂

[@chassegallerie2910]

Wonder if they used that granular finish on the body to hide that the body is fully rusted out? Hope it's not the case. Lots of nice work on this truck on this ep. Good going. Also, the birdfeeder is pretty cool.

[@henkoosterhof5947]

At 14:10. For this purpose in the boating industry we have ,,hull or tank connectors,,. Please show the folks one on your channel. Plastik or brass, with thread or hose barb. Works the other way. Bring it in from the inside and the nut is outside.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

The bolt through style? Mind sharing exactly what you are thinking of?

[@henkoosterhof5947]

​@@TheQuestionableGarage yes. Looks like a drilled trough bolt. Has bsp or npt treath. Head looks likehalve round. Outside has a washer and nut. Only flaw: needs a bigger hole in the tank ( like your sender hole) to get in. But also availeble are ,,manhole,, units. Works the same way. ,,sandwiches,, the tank material and is fluid tight. Also availeble are ,,rubber,, inserts. Works like a tube. Bring it in, put the connectors in, sandwich rubber and tank between them and you have a rubber lined , authentic looking (still the old tank) gastank. Take 5 to15$ for the connector and 25 to 75$ for the cover. Even have 10 inch covers with all connections already in. You want to 0 budget😉. But in case of repairs? Still hear fuel tanks for 250/350$. And might be the way to go when not any more availeble. Also check their plastic fuel cells. (Ps sorry for my dodgy translation. Non english speaking)

[@keystoneweapon1]

The stick analogy of castor works for me 😂

[@psycho-nutkase9233]

43:31 One u bolt Nut is loose quite a bit. 😳

[@DarkLord89213]

Hello my uncle and I just picked up a 2001 jeep Grand cherokee limited for 200$ + free parts I may not be able to drive it but my uncle said I can help him work on it, It needs a new water pump, clutch fan and a few outer things And I've never worked on a car before in my life and and by my self I got the whole front and off of it because he walked away to talk to his gf But when he came back He was impressed and I had fun doing it, I thank you for your videos an encouragement to go out there in wrench it's fun I Enjoyed it hope you have a good day/night your friend Chris

[@K.Hgarage]

That front grill needs to get blacked out, so so so much green!

[@stephenmoncrieff2056]

So much potential with this build . If money wasn't a factor I would go with a modern drivetrain , like a Hemi or even Ecodiesel . Go with a digital gauge package . And then the hood needs to be flat black with all that green!!

[@kerrylewis2581]

My wife loves the funky music that starts at 18:30

[@eightycutty]

My uncle had one set up bout this high. He got drunk one day & went mudding buried it to the doors in a mudhole. took 3 wreckers & a backhoe to get it out lol

[@johnogan2386]

Possibly power to your voltage regulator or your alternator

[@nicknolte9342]

It won't be good for longer if you are loosing transmission fluid since your filter is not further down into the deeper sump. The extra volume just makes it that you are filtering more fluid, but you can still only pick--up fluid till you loose enough where the fluid cant be picked up anymore . Exact same amount that you could loose with the old sump. If you are going to be doing off-roading it will actually be better if the filter is closer to the bottom of the of the sump since the angle that truck can climb up or go down will be much bigger before you experience fluid pickup issues. if the whole filter area is utilized for fluid pickup.

[@stevengunter3457]

my thoughts is to fix it so it safe. loom the wiring and enjoy it till the right person that really would enjoy comes along and buys it.

[@jamesausmusiii3386]

Do you prefer to solder or crimp electrical connections under the hood?

[@brian_sipe]

Didn't expect another video on the Mojito Monster so soon. Hope it takes mercy on you.

[@adambriscoe02]

Great episode, very informative

[@AbbStar1989]

Jarrod is the greatest guy ever. Nope. Old school grammar applies. Greatest. Guy. Ever.