89 Ram 50 rod question

[Dodge Guy]

Hello,

I just bought my daughter a ram 50 with the motor locked up. I am coming from a 2G talon background but the info i have been reading is saying that the rods are the same between a 89 G63B and the 4G63. Correct me if i am wrong but I was under the understanding that rods were not the same across the board. In this case I am hoping that is not true because I have found some nice prices on eBay on a rod and a few tidbits.

Thanks for any verification ahead of time,
Chuck

[geezer101]

1G rods are thicker than the 2G rods and are less prone to failure (really only relates to turbocharging). You can't use the 2G rods anyway as a result of excessive side play in the crank journals. Only way to be 100% sure on where you're at is pull out one of the rods and put a micrometer over it and compare dimensions. Let me guess - damage is in #1/#2 main journal?

[Dodge Guy]

No cap on #3 came off and scored rod journal. I dropped off crank at machine shop to have rod journals cut and polished as well as having the crank balanced. I will Ballance the rods and pistons my self. I'm deleting the balance shafts and want to make sure the rotating assembly is balanced and good to go.

[geezer101]

The factory rods are pretty close in weight to each other (like a few grams difference) which I found surprising. Killing off the balance shafts takes a lot of weight off the driven rotating masses and improves oil pressure so that is a good move. When you go for a shaft delete on the oil pump driven shaft, use a factory stub shaft - it has both an oil journal groove and a gallery drilled through it. This will save the white metal on the pump gear cover from not being adequately lubed (the aftermarket shafts have been known to cause damage)