my uncle has a 77 ambulance that he used to plow snow with until the tranny went out. it only has 32000 miles on it. i am thinking of buying it off of him but i have some questions and i hope somebody here can answer them. first how rare are these? i plan on a little lift and cut to fit 35s and dont want to hack something that is valuable. what axles are in these and what are the gear ratios? is the suspension the same as the powerwagons of that time? i think it would look great lifted and plan on using as a dirtbike hauler/offroader. the box on the back is huge.
Quote:On 2006-12-04 18:06, gristle wrote:
my uncle has a 77 ambulance that he used to plow snow with until the tranny went out. it only has 32000 miles on it. i am thinking of buying it off of him but i have some questions and i hope somebody here can answer them. first how rare are these? i plan on a little lift and cut to fit 35s and dont want to hack something that is valuable. what axles are in these and what are the gear ratios? is the suspension the same as the powerwagons of that time? i think it would look great lifted and plan on using as a dirtbike hauler/offroader. the box on the back is huge.
how rare ..... not very.... but more some then a normal pw
hack away ...... 35's i would say 2.5-4 inch of lift and some trimming
axles hd dana 44 front dana 60 rear
gears probably 4.10
should be the same as the pw's might have an extra leaf in the rear pack
i got a 4x4 727 trans from my 79 that i might be interested in selling .... but pux. is kinda far away
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Hmmm...
The M880 is more common...however neither are really "valuable" or "collectable" from what I have seen (only if they are really, and I mean REALLY, pristine...
The axles will be a D44HD fulltime (no lockouts) front and a 30-spline 1.33"D axle'd D60 rear (with a trac-loc most likely)...just like any 75-79ish w200 power wagon...
The tranny is probably a 727 auto (common and cheap to rebuild)...tcase is a NP203 fulltime unit.
Suspension is like any other W200 power wagon...the military versions got rated at 3/4 ton offroad and 1.25 ton on road...
The D44HD will be the weakest link...it is still only a D44...bearings are problematic by design, however they are greaseable via a hole in the rotor (to a zerk fitting)...
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I also still have a low mile NP203 and a 727 for one of these too...I think the guy I bought the tranny from said it still worked when he pulled it, but that was over 2 years ago (and a lot of truck parts ago)...
thanks guys, that is what i wanted to know. i have the drivetrain out of my ramcharger that i wrecked that still works perfectly and he wants the 318 that is in it now. i plan on getting it around christmas when i will have a couple extra days to work on it. hopefully have the motor and trans swapped in it by mid january. it should be pretty cool when i am done with it at the least it will be unique for my area.
also is the front axle any different than the one in my 78 ramcharger other than the lug pattern.
well the axle from the 77 will be an hd and the ramcharger axle will be a reg 44 .... steve will know weather the shafts will swap as i am not sure .... i know the tubes are alittle different
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Quote:On 2006-12-04 18:51, mopar wrote:
well the axle from the 77 will be an hd and the ramcharger axle will be a reg 44 .... steve will know weather the shafts will swap as i am not sure .... i know the tubes are alittle different
After 1974, even the tubes are the same...the HD designation really only applied to the number of lugs after 74...
And yes, everything but the hubs and rotors should be the same between the two...even the stubs should be the same (both are 30 spline)...
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