A new mighty owner

Hello mighty ram 50 forum, I just purchased my first mighty max two weeks ago, 1992 sport model. Manual,A/C power steering, and all the bells and whistles i think for the year. Bought it from the original owner that bought it new in 1992(from new jersey my home state so its like kin). She was a little old lady who used it out here in California (san diego). Any way i drove it 100 miles home made it but soon to find major problems, she hadnt taken care of this thing since 2003 when her husband died. It had 121,000 miles then and i have it now at 194,954. I just recently put in a new when i found the balance shaft belt broken: timing belt,water pump, crank seals,balance shaft belt,radiator with new hoses all around,thermostat, valve cover gasket, plugs wires,tie rod ends,ac belt/power steering belt, still working on my exhaust leak(four studs were broken so i replaced but the header is dirty) totaling about 1500 in labor and parts so far, ironically the truck had passed California smog the other day so i don't think its running to bad. O yeah motor mounts today with trans mount. My question is to the mighty world, i bought for 1800.... have 1600 in it now.... i really love this truck and want to eventually make it into my child hood favorite truck(my uncle had a dodge ram 50 when i was growing up until he died and it disappeared from my cousins selling it for 400 bucks!) should I KEEP IT REPAIRED? I read a lot of good reviews on these trucks so i never second guessed its reliability,the more i drive it i see now the head gasket might be leaking oil along with my clutch feeling not so great, my coolant has dropped in my res. tank. That might be just air in the system no heat issues, or white smoke or creamy oil yet. I was thinking of pulling the head any way and having the valves done,seals,surfaced, tappets,and head gasket. Does the bottom end hold up well after 200k? oil pressure is great so i dont think the bottom end is worn out in that standard. I just might cut my loses and start with something else but i also have to figure all trucks these old are going to need work. I really do love my new max its just different from all the toyotas,fords,chevys,and mazdas out there. I really want to lower it and make it look like a truck i found on here that truck looks so good!

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Originally Posted by TriumphTri9

Hello mighty ram 50 forum, I just purchased my first mighty max two weeks ago, 1992 sport model. Manual,A/C power steering, and all the bells and whistles i think for the year. Bought it from the original owner that bought it new in 1992(from new jersey my home state so its like kin). She was a little old lady who used it out here in California (san diego). Any way i drove it 100 miles home made it but soon to find major problems, she hadnt taken care of this thing since 2003 when her husband died. It had 121,000 miles then and i have it now at 194,954. I just recently put in a new when i found the balance shaft belt broken: timing belt,water pump, crank seals,balance shaft belt,radiator with new hoses all around,thermostat, valve cover gasket, plugs wires,tie rod ends,ac belt/power steering belt, still working on my exhaust leak(four studs were broken so i replaced but the header is dirty) totaling about 1500 in labor and parts so far, ironically the truck had passed California smog the other day so i don't think its running to bad. O yeah motor mounts today with trans mount. My question is to the mighty world, i bought for 1800.... have 1600 in it now.... i really love this truck and want to eventually make it into my child hood favorite truck(my uncle had a dodge ram 50 when i was growing up until he died and it disappeared from my cousins selling it for 400 bucks!) should I KEEP IT REPAIRED? I read a lot of good reviews on these trucks so i never second guessed its reliability,the more i drive it i see now the head gasket might be leaking oil along with my clutch feeling not so great, my coolant has dropped in my res. tank. That might be just air in the system no heat issues, or white smoke or creamy oil yet. I was thinking of pulling the head any way and having the valves done,seals,surfaced, tappets,and head gasket. Does the bottom end hold up well after 200k? oil pressure is great so i dont think the bottom end is worn out in that standard. I just might cut my loses and start with something else but i also have to figure all trucks these old are going to need work. I really do love my new max its just different from all the toyotas,fords,chevys,and mazdas out there. I really want to lower it and make it look like a truck i found on here that truck looks so good!

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its a 2.4 2 cylinder

2.4 4 cylinder im really sorry about my typos!

If your like the rest of us then you did not get this truck to run with the pack. There different, and people can see that. You just don't see them all over like the old days. They have become more like the VW where you see them and there 2 ways. Being restored because the owner cares about it and wants somthing different or beat to shit covered in house paint and the owner doesn't give a crap. Everyone on here is more toward the first and we love the truck because it represents us in a way the Toyota or other mass produced truck can't. Kind of like the guy on here with the old Ford Courier. It's totally different. The only way you can ever get your money back from these trucks is to pass it down to your kids after you spend years building it into somthing they will respect. There is nothing that can describe the feeling you get from someone that knows what it took to take a $400.00 truck and totally rebuild it into somthing that is so cool and clean. Yes you spend a small fortune doing it but it's better then dumping it on glue and paint just to get high. The return on that is nothing but a pounding migraine in the morning and a girl you wouldn't want to be seen with in public. All in all, it has one of the cleanest body's I have seen in a long time. So get the best of both worlds. Pick up a junker Toyota to drive around as the daily beater and keep the Mitsu for building into somthing special. The journey is half the pleasure. It's taken over 3 years for me just to start my truck and I want to get it done. But I have time.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

Great maybe ill just start my parts pile and do my research on stereos, good lowering kits, rims, suspension, and all other things by searching the forums thank you for you reply!