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1996: 3" bodylift and 33" Cooper All Terrain 2002: 3" bodylift and 4" Trailmaster Suspension Lift and 35" BFG's Mud
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1996: 3" bodylift and 33" Cooper All Terrain
2002: 3" bodylift and 4" Trailmaster Suspension Lift and 35" BFG's Mud
The Beginning
It started about 8 years ago when I bought my
Dodge W200 M880 Power wagon, after Desert Storm most M880's came back to
Germany and there they were sold because the Hummer 1 was coming, with
the Dodge all the spare parts were also left and sold. One of the first
things I did, actually the first day, was to bring the Dodge to a garage
who could install a bodylift and a high jack, after a few years I put a
4" Trailmaster suspension lift under it and 35" BFG's mud terrain.
External Link: Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle
During the years I learned from experience more about the Dodge, I went to a few garages for small things but the result was worse than when I did it myself, so I bought a manual from Haynes and a military manual on CD, after all these years the Dodge never let me down, It started always and it drove me any where with any material I had to carry for my work (constructor), two years ago, after a mud event my brakes were badly damaged and I already thought about a complete rebuild, I also searched for years on the internet for the parts I needed for this rebuild, also the body work was in a very bad shape and almost fall off the truck, I bought the new body parts and that was one of my last rides before I drove the Dodge in the garden and made a tent around the truck, it took about 16 months before I drove it out of the garden.
Before you start
Before you start first buy a good manual (for
example Haynes) and the military manual (available on CD), the military
manual covers the M880, M881, M882, M883, M884, M886, M890, M891, M892,
M893 which all are an 1¼ TON TRUCK 4X4, all these models are based
on the W200 custom version, but the manual is so complete that whether
you have a Ramcharger, Trailduster, W100, W150, W250, W300, W350, W400
or even D100, D150, D200, D350, you name it, it is a great manual for common
parts like doors, hood etcetera. In the page Restoration
(new doors) you will find some examples of this military manual.
Internet
It is also a good idea to join a Dodge forum,
maybe there is one in your country, a lot of subjects were already described
on several forums, and if you have any questions you can ask them there.
Before I really started the rebuild I served on the internet for high performance
parts, if you know what type of truck you have, the size of your engine,
the type of your axles, transmission, transfer case etcetera, you can search
for new parts at specialized internet companies, if it is a good site and
you click on a part you can always check the application results whether
the parts fit to your truck, beside that you can click on the suggested
parts which shows you what parts you could need or are necessary.
Website
One of the things we thought about was making
a website which describes the complete rebuild, including partnumbers and
ideas, on the internet a lot has written by several people, but we never
were able to find out which partnumbers were used and how to solve problems
in a more detailed way.
Tools
Equipment:
Dodge Power Wagon Dodge M880 W200 1976 Ram Ramcharger mud off road pick up truck video and pics