1990 dodge ram van

rockin86ranger · Jan 21, 2010

just got a 1990 dodge ram conversion van. the windows dont roll down unless you jigle the key but it will start and run. i think the radio works without jigling the key too, lights work. but once you jigle the key everything will work until you turn it off again and take the key out. anybody got any ideas. i was think bad key or ignition switch but idk

martin · Jan 21, 2010

sounds like a problem with the switch.

rockin86ranger · Jan 22, 2010

pretty sure its a switch now cause i realized that once you start it if you turn the key back a little the windows will start working.

so i think it is the switch. anybody disagree, just incase.

Will · Jan 24, 2010

Hold me back. Hold me back.

My in-laws had an '86 Dodge conversion van when I first met them. It was an extended body and had a fiberglass roof cap thingy so you could walk around in it. It was supposedly a B200--3/4-ton. But I was suspicious because it has 5-lug wheels and P235-15 tires. So it was really a half-ton. GM pulls the same crap, their alleged 3/4-ton vans are really 1/2-tons. Anyway, this Dodge has a 904 tranny and a 9.25 axle. It required a rebuilt transmission every 30,000 miles. With that extended rear over-hang and 1/2-ton hardware and P-series tires, that bastard was completely unsafe. When you went under an overpass on a windy day, Lord knows where you should be holding the wheel to come out again without a sudden lane change. It was like tacking a sailboat. That van was absolute garbage. A Dodge van is a joke and the best thing they did was to end it and offer the Mercedes thing with a Ram badge. Put that shitty old thing out of its (and our) misery.

zukirider21 · Jan 25, 2010

Will said:
Hold me back. Hold me back.

My in-laws had an '86 Dodge conversion van when I first met them. It was an extended body and had a fiberglass roof cap thingy so you could walk around in it. It was supposedly a B200--3/4-ton. But I was suspicious because it has 5-lug wheels and P235-15 tires. So it was really a half-ton. GM pulls the same crap, their alleged 3/4-ton vans are really 1/2-tons. Anyway, this Dodge has a 904 tranny and a 9.25 axle. It required a rebuilt transmission every 30,000 miles. With that extended rear over-hang and 1/2-ton hardware and P-series tires, that bastard was completely unsafe. When you went under an overpass on a windy day, Lord knows where you should be holding the wheel to come out again without a sudden lane change. It was like tacking a sailboat. That van was absolute garbage. A Dodge van is a joke and the best thing they did was to end it and offer the Mercedes thing with a Ram badge. Put that shitty old thing out of its (and our) misery.

x2! my friend had one and the lower control arm rotted completely through, and failed while driving. a great quality product.

and just out of curiosity, does ford pull that crap on their 3/4 ton models? i never got in to vans much so i have no idea, but i sure hope they dont hahaha...

mattpresley · Jan 26, 2010

rockin86ranger said:
just got a 1990 dodge ram conversion van. the windows dont roll down unless you jigle the key but it will start and run. i think the radio works without jigling the key too, lights work. but once you jigle the key everything will work until you turn it off again and take the key out. anybody got any ideas. i was think bad key or ignition switch but idk

Maybe some kinda sensor is dirty? Good luck with the kidnapper van :icon_rofl:

Frank The Tank · Jan 26, 2010

Dodge Fans call that the "Death Wobble" my old dodge had it......

Notice I don't own a Dodge now..... but if you got a good deal on it, have fun man, wished I had had a van, a handkerchief, a roll of duct tape, a pair of hand-cuffs, a billy club, and a pistol in highschool........... hindsights 20/20.

on second thought, maybe it's a good thing I never owned a van.

Frank

rockin86ranger · Jan 27, 2010

Frank The Tank said:
Dodge Fans call that the "Death Wobble" my old dodge had it......

Notice I don't own a Dodge now..... but if you got a good deal on it, have fun man, wished I had had a van, a handkerchief, a roll of duct tape, a pair of hand-cuffs, a billy club, and a pistol in highschool........... hindsights 20/20.

on second thought, maybe it's a good thing I never owned a van.

Frank

lmao. yeah i didnt pay to much for it, but today i found out my friend be selling my old ranger and he was gonna make me a deal on it, but now i have no money, lol but i am going to fix my bronco. i wasnt looking for a van but its what i could afford but now i wish i would have waited a week cause now i could have gotten my old truck back or a 1990 chevy 1500 6.2l. but whatever

Will · Jan 31, 2010

zukirider21 said:
and just out of curiosity, does ford pull that crap on their 3/4 ton models? i never got in to vans much so i have no idea, but i sure hope they dont hahaha...

No. Ford doesn't. You got a real 3/4-ton.

The best vans, though, are GMs. They extend the wheelbase. That overhanging, welded-on, 3' extension is horrible. Both Dodge and Ford did that. Fords are worse driving because they have the TIB, but the Dodges aren't a huge amount better. All that overhang and the 7 passengers riding behind the rear axle play merry hell with the driver. College students and church groups have been scattered across too many highways from inexperienced drivers losing control of those things. The GM gives you another 30" of wheelbase instead of the Frank Loyd Wright canti-lever van. they are much, much more stable. Completely stable, actually. I drove one in Paris pretty often and it had no problems dodging in and out of traffic circles or traveling across Europe with the pedal buried in the carpet for hours on end.

Sevensecondsuv · Feb 1, 2010

Yeah, my church has one with the V10 that I used to ride in all the time when I was in HS. And yes, you need a lot of experience driving top heavy vehicles to be safe in one of those. We had a couple drivers put it on 2 wheels getting throttle happy around corners. No one ever tipped it though. The one really nice thing about the shorter wheelbase on the Fords was that they were 5x easier to park in tight spaces and manuveur trailers with than the GMs with their astronomical wheel bases.

That V10 was something else though. You could pull out of a toll booth and plant all 15 passengers solidly in their seats. It also pulled trailers like none other. You couldn't find a trailer that was too heavy for it.

Will · Feb 7, 2010

Sevensecondsuv said:
The one really nice thing about the shorter wheelbase on the Fords was that they were 5x easier to park in tight spaces and manuveur trailers with than the GMs with their astronomical wheel bases.

Probably true, but that long wheelbase van has a 155" wheelbase compared to 165" on my long-bed crew cab. I might get one of those astronomically wheel-based vans just so I can manuever into tighter places.

That overhang isn't an advantage with a trailer. It was scary on my in-laws van. They pulled a good sized pop-up and an old '50s Lyman lapstrake boats. It was like having two gorillas wrestling on the roof. I've no question about that V10 though. I do like that motor a lot. Much better than the whiffle-motor 318 they had.

Frank The Tank · Feb 7, 2010

My ucle has a v-10....... I had a highly modded cummins.
We could tow roughly the same thing (obviously I could pull more safely with a dually and his std)
but though neither of us ever ran out of power....... I would get 18mpg with 10k behind me where he would get 7-8mpg.

Trips would literally take longer because he had to fill up so much, he still has it, still runs like a top....... but he doesn't do long trips (wonder why?)

Frank

zukirider21 · Feb 8, 2010

Will said:
whiffle-motor

ZMan · Feb 12, 2010

haven't you heard? Dodge vans are the next big thing in Japan..
http://www.genmay.com/showthread.php?t=825097

zukirider21 · Feb 13, 2010

WTF!!??

i dont understand....

1990 dodge ram van

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