Over the summer I bought a 1989 Dodge Ram W250 4x4. It was a nice low mileage, one-owner, southern truck with no rust, body damage, or mechanical issues. It is just the ticket for hauling a dead bike, towing a trailer, and running to the parts store or Home Depot.
For a 3/4-ton work truck, the truck was decked out pretty well with air conditioning, automatic transmission, shift on the fly four-wheel drive, anti-lock brakes, and fuel injection, However, the interior left much to be desired, as it was rather crude and in poor shape. An aftermarket seat cover hid the rips in the seat, making it livable, but the truck was somewhat 'beastly'.
Following a shoulder injury caused by a wreck on my shovelhead, I was facing months of being unable to ride, so I decided it was time to invest a little time and a couple hundred bucks into the truck to make it more suitable for everyday use and the occasional night out.
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The stock rubber floor covering had to go. Note also the broken window crank and the seat cover that just didn't fit right, as the seat brackets prevented it from being stretched out correctly. Everything needed a good scrubbing also. So I ordered a carpet set from JC Whitney (about $150 on sale), along with some floor mats ($30). The local AutoZone yielded the window handle ($6) and some semi-flat black paint ($2).
The first step was to pull out the seat and the old floor mat. The seat is held up by two brackets, each of which is has two studs that are held on by 1/2-inch nuts under the truck's floorpan (center pic). Remove the four nuts, pull the seat up so the studs are free, and remove the seat from the truck. Once it was out I turned it over and laced up the seat cover so it fit correctly and no longer moved around. The floor of the truck looked pretty gross once the seat was out.
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The seat belts are held in with 13/16-inch bolts, and there is a plug at the driver's seat belt receiver that needs goes to a wiring harness under the mat. Remove the entry sill plates (4 screws each) and the boot for the transfer case shifter (four screws), then unbolt the transfer case shifter (two 9/16 nuts and bolts). Now is a good time to scrub these items clean and paint them if needed.
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Now that everything else is out of the way, pull the rubber floor mat out. In addition to the mat, I got 20 years' worth of junk- 6 pens, $4.70 in loose change, three screw drivers, a tow hook, and some tweezers. The rubber has some thin soundproofing under it, which will probably be stuck to the floor. Use a putty knife, wire brush, and broom to get out what you can, then use a shop vac. I used Naval Jelly and sandpaper on the slight surface rust, then covered those areas with paint (not primer, which absorbs moisture). Replace any missing rubber plugs, and secure any loose one with some silicone.
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Once you have the floorpan right, lay out the carpet in the truck. Butt the rear up square with the back of the cab, and feed the front under the heater and up under the dash in the center. I had to trim a couple inches off across the top of the transmission tunnel. Cut a small slit to let the shifter stub through so the carpet lays flat, and once you have it in the right place run a razor knife around the hole for a proper fit. This is easier said than done, as the carpet has a nice thick layer of insulation glued to the back. Flatten the carpet out to the side of the cab, and run our razor along the corner to trim the carpet to fit perfectly. Secure one side on place with the sill plate so it doesn't move, then trim the other side. The shifter boot will hold it in place in the middle. Roll the carpet back from the back of the cab, exposing the holes for the seat belts. Cut a slit for the wire harness, and a small hole for each bolt. Bolt in the seat belts, which will hold the back of the carpet in place. The holes for the seat studs are small and hard to find, so just jab a screwdriver up from the bottom and cut a small hole around it. Once you have all four done, get a friend to help you drop the seat back in, then tighten the bolts.
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Once the carpet and seat were in, the truck felt clean for the first time, and it was starting to look good. In fancier models there are plastic kick panels below the dash in front of the door, but searches of the local junk yard and EBAY did not turn up a set. So I just spray painted that area with the semi-flat paint to make it vanish to the eye. The seat brackets and sill plates also got painted, and I dropped in the Dodge logo floor mats. The window crank was held on with an Allen head screw, so it was easy to swap. A little Armor All and a good vacuuming and the old truck was looking pretty good. I also tightened all the screws that held on the door panels, swapping out some for ones with larger heads where the originals had pulled through the plastic.
The new carpet and soundproofing made a huge difference, and the truck is much quieter going down the road. Tightening everything helped cut way down on the rattles also. The carpet makes the truck much warmer with the heat on, and everything stays a lot cleaner now. I'll scrub up the door panels next. Here are before and after pics:
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