David's R/T Page

Last updated

3/16/00 Friday

Motorplex...

3/13/00 Tuesday

Exhaust...

10/14/00 Saturday

Got my chrome 5.9 R/T Durango emblems on the R/T this weekend. Thanks to Jim at Eldorado Chrysler in McKinney, TX. I love 'em, and I'm getting lots of compliments on them. Everyone has said, "Those look so much better than the stickers." I agree.

10/12/00 Thursday

Took the truck in for the remainder of the repairs left over from last visit. >:O

9/28/00 Thursday

Got a call a few days ago from the dodge parts department saying my parts were in, so I took the truck in on Wednesday morning after calling them to confirm that they could take a look at my whining rear-end noise and replace the center console armrest and passenger side "Lift to exit" handle. Left work to take it up there, cause I didn't want to miss my chance, and got a ride back to work from their shuttle service. I still ask for a loaner every time I'm in there, but the response never changes..."Oh, no, we don't have any available loaners. They're all out...don't know when they'll be back." Anyway, he said he'd call me when they figured something out. Around 4:15pm, I decide he's not gonna call me, what would make them do that, they've never done it in the past, so I call him. "Oh, well, they didn't have a chance to look at the rear end noise, but they did get the console and seat fixed." I said, "Okay, well, are you going to get to the noise today? I'm coming to pick my truck up after work." As usual, he acts like I don't need a vehicle to get around in. "Oh, you're coming to pick it up today!? Well, I don't think they're gonna get to that noise today." So I tell him, "Fine, do what you can to have anyone look at the noise before I get there. I will be there before 6:00." My girlfriend comes to pick me up at work, and we barely make it there before the service doors slam down at 5:58. It's obvious he's surprised I am there, even though I told him I would be, so he says, "Oh, they didn't have a chance to look at that noise, but I'll tell you what, I can have the guy look at it first thing in the morning and I'll call you before noon to let you know what's going on okay?" Very reluctant to leave my baby overnight, I said okay.

Had to get up at 5:30 in the morn to take my girlfriend to work, so I could borrow her car for the day, come back home and crash for about 30 minutes, then get back up and drag myself to work. As expected, I never heard from him all day, so I call down there around 4:00 to make sure they worked on it.......

9/8/00 Friday

Over the last few days, I've gotten a few challenges lining up at the stoplights around town. It has made driving around town really fun. Lined up with a Firebird WS6 the other day and I think I really surprised him when all he could see was my tailgate up to about 50mph. Had to let off, speed limit on the main drag was 40mph, he went flying by after that...I caught up at the next light, but he stayed behind another car instead of lining up again. Surprised the hell outta me that he didn't catch up to me 'til I let off...guess the torque got the best of him. Had another guy line up with me at a stoplight out on a little faster road in a thunderbird. Looked like it might have had a few mods, don't know, but I left the light medium speed not really knowing if he was gonna go or not, 'til I heard his tires squealing, so I punched it and steadily pulled away with ease. Don't know how much competition he actually was, but it was still fun. Only other guy I've lined up with lately was in a Z28. I was ready for some, but I guess he was off in dreamland, cause he looked like he left the light in 4th gear. Oh well...looking forward to my next chance to line up with some good competition...maybe a mustang or something. Haven't killed one of those yet.

9/7/00 Thursday

All I ever hear about the dealer in my town are horror stories, so I have always been reluctant to take my baby in to have it worked on there. The first time I took my truck to my local "5 star" dealer I wasn't impressed at all with their attitude toward everything...dropped it off in the morn, ended up having to call them to check on it before they closed for the evening, and, "OH! Yeah, your truck is ready! No one called you?" They did fix my brakes though. My second trip, last week backed up every negative comment I've heard from people in the area about this dealer. I dropped my truck off at lunch with a list of basically 4 things I wanted them to check out, 1 of them being important and the other 3 being non-critical. I was given the assurance they would check on the list of problems I made out for them...he liked my neatly typed, and highly detailed list. The only big problem I was really concerned about, and the main reason I broke down and took it in was the moaning noise (sounds kinda like it's coming from the rear end?) when I make sharp turns. When I show up after work to check on it, the guy hadn't even taken my paper and other paperwork off his counter where he left it when I left at lunch. The least he could have done was order, or tell me he was gonna order the obvious parts I needed replaced on the list...Center Console top, and passenger seat "Lift to exit" handle...They basically parked it out back in the dirt and let it sit all afternoon. When I asked what my options were as far as leaving it there and getting a loaner, or dropping it off in the morning again, he made a big deal about them only having 4 loaner cars and 1 of them they didn't know where it was, and the other 3 would be out for at least another week. Needless to say, I made him go get my truck and I left, not knowing what to do about getting my truck serviced in a town with only one, Crappy, Dodge dealer. I've even had people tell me not to leave my truck at that dealer for any long period of time because they have employees that will steal every piece of audio equipment straight outta your truck. They know people that it has happened to. That's made me REALLY hesitant to take it and leave it there. I dunno what to do. I've been so pissed about it for the last week, and I hate hearing that noise when I pull into a parking space anywhere!

8/20/00 Sunday

After many hours of install on the alarm, it's finally done! Everything works great and remote start is awesome! I even had him wire up a channel to turn the cargo light on from the remote. Useful for getting stuff out of the bed at night without having to get inside the truck and turn the light on.

8/16/00 Wednesday

Traded vehicles with the guy who will be installing my new alarm. Decided on the Viper 550esp with remote window modules, remote start, glass break sensor, shock sensor, pager, etc. I can't wait to remote start the R/T!

7/18/00 Tuesday

Got my new Kenwood z919 in today and replaced my Alpine 855 deck with it. For those of you that don't have any idea what this is, it's brand new from Kenwood and allows you to play MP3 files burned onto CDRs or CDRWs. This thing is great! Putting over 100 songs on a cd and playing it in the truck is cool. Monte made me a custom trim ring for the unit that looks much better than the stupid kit for the Dodge trucks and the ugly trim ring that comes with the unit. This Kenwood also has many more features than the Alpine 855 I had in the truck before. I've got a page dedicated to the z919 here. Again, I love this thing!

7/3/00 Monday

Took the R/T into the Dodge dealer today after hassling with them about when they could fit my truck in to have the fog lights replaced and take a look at the brakes. I also got them to rotate the tires since I was nearing the 10,000 mile mark. I figured the brakes were warped, and they were. I was getting the common pulsing motion when I applied the brakes. The service guy was surprised to hear this problem after only 9000 miles. He wasn't surprised about the fog lights. He said he's gone through a few pairs on his new Durango. The best way I can describe what my fog lights were doing is that they were falling apart. One was out, because it had cracked enough that the bulb inside broke and the other was not far off. They both looked like I had been driving through some sort of rock storm, but I think they are just cheap plastic fog lamps, and until they do something to improve on them, I'll keep taking them back and getting them replaced 'til my warranty runs out. Then I'll go get a good set of aftermarket fogs.

5/10/00 Wednesday

Had to take the R/T back by Midas at lunch cause I could hear a small leak in the exhaust. I made sure I talked to a guy that I knew would be cool about it, and he found a small pinhole at the joint where the pipe enters the muffler. He fixed it for me with some kind of goopy stuff that he said dries harder than cement and said if it starts back up, to bring it back and he would weld it back himself. I also picked up some Flowmaster stickers which I should have gotten when I bought it on Monday.

5/8/00 Monday

Went with the Flowmaster 40 Series muffler and had it installed at Midas this afternoon. It wasn't as loud as I expected it to be. The guys at Midas convinced me that it wouldn't be as bad as I was thinking, and it isn't. It sounds GREAT! I've put a sound sample I recorded when I got home on My R/T page as well as the Media page.

4/27/00 Thursday

Joined the txdakotart group on e-groups today. I've been subscribed to the dakotart e-group for a while now, and just learned of the TX chapter of the R/T club. There's some sort of meet close to Tomball on May 6th. I'm probably going to try to make it.

I've been looking into my options for waking up the sound of my R/T over the last few days, and I believe I have come to a decision. Very soon, I'm going down to Midas and get them to put a Flowmaster 50 Series on my truck. The 50 series isn't the loudest Flowmaster available, that would be the 40 series, but I don't want the noise to be unbearable in the cab while making long trips, so I went with the less aggressive 50 series. I want to be able to scream at WOT, but not be loud as hell all the time. For $190, I figure it'll be a great mod for the price.

4/5/00 Wednesday

I did a very bad thing today. :-( I came up to the space where I usually park my truck, right in front of my apartment, and noticed that there was a car parked close to my spot, but I couldn't tell if it was in my spot 'til I got right up on it. I like this spot because it is against a curb on one side, and a little bit oversized because of the way the spacing is in the rest of this row of parking spaces. Anyway, as I got very close, I noticed there was still room for me to park, so I started to swing in there. I had my stereo up, and was so worried about the left side of my truck that I didn't notice I swung too wide until I could feel nearly the most awful feeling I had ever felt. The feeling of my front right wheel scraping against the corner of the curb. I was right in the middle of my turn, so I stopped, backed up, scraping the wheel off the curb, and made the turn again, fearing what I would have to go look at when I got out of my truck. Sure enough, tire marks and aluminum shavings on the curb, and concrete dust on my tire and about 7" of scrapage on the edge of my wheel. I could do nothing but blame myself for not turning a split second sooner than I did.

Well, after a half hour of feeling sorry for myself and wondering how much a new wheel from Dodge was gonna cost me, I came to a solution. Thankfully, Dodge decided that if any of us were to get a flat in our trucks, that we weren't gonna go around looking stupid with a donut as a spare tire. Yes folks, underneath the rear of the bed, tucked snugly under there is a full size 17" aluminum alloy wheel exactly like the other four that come on the truck. So what I'm gonna do is put the damaged one under there and use the "spare" in it's place. There, all better! :-)

I took pictures of the carnage. Click Here

3/30/00 Wednesday

Well, that chip has really broken in and configured itself to my engine and it's definitely making a difference. I can tell that the shift points were changed and also, the shifts are a little harder. It gives the shifts a little more umphh. Those are the main things I can tell, but overall this is a great mod. The only downfall is this $1.70/gal Premium gas I have to put in here. I'll probably leave it in for another week or so and give it back to Montye, but this will be a near future purchase for the RT.

As I was driving home from work taking the scenic route yesterday, I spotted a Viper all alone way off in the corner of a parking lot on campus. I went over and parked next to it and snapped a few good pics. I'll put them on here asap.

3/22/00 Wednesday

I had the subs and amp installed today. They sound AWESOME! This is the best stereo I have ever had in a vehicle. Go to the MODS or MY R/T link if you would like to see pictures of it.

Montye, at Circuit City also let me borrow his Jet Performance Chip for a few weeks. He had it out of his truck because gas prices are so high right now.

3/20/00 Monday

I bought the remainder of my stereo system today with the money I didn't spend on the ski trip. The subs and amp will be installed on Wednesday.

3/19/00 Saturday

I got back from our ski trip and the RT was fine. It was good to get that power back under my foot after driving that rental car all week.

3/11/00 Saturday

The RT went into a friends garage for the next week while I am on vacation in Steamboat Springs, CO. I'm glad it will be under cover, but I will be worried about it 'til I get back

3/2/00 Thursday

I got my Clear Corners from Autosyndicate today and put them on this afternoon. They were very easy to put on. The only problem I had was the fact that the kit only came with 2 big bulbs, and I needed 4. I called Janice and she told me that if I only received two, that they were probably on backorder. She said that I could probably find those bulbs if I looked though, and she suggested Target. I went down to Target with one clear and one orange corner and found the bulbs and put them in. What an improvement! This has got to be the best mod for the $$$. I'm considering doing the rear ones now, but I'm not sure about how they would look yet.

I'll post pics of the new clears when I get them developed. I'm working on getting a digital camera soon, so I don't have to go through the crap of taking pictures that I'm not sure of, then waiting to have them developed and relying on the developer to do a good job at it, then get the pics and find out that half of them are terrible.

3/1/00 Wednesday

I'm trying to get some stickers made for my truck, and I'm waiting to hear back from a few people on if they can do them and how much they would cost. Click here if you would like to see the artwork for the stickers I want.

While I am waiting on the real stickers, I made my own Alpine sticker and put it on the bottom left corner of my rear window. I also have a No Fear Sticker on the bottom right corner of my window. Pics to come...

2/29/00 Tuesday

Went down to Houston to the dealer where I bought the R/T and picked up my floor mats and license plates. They also replaced a fog light that had been out since I got the truck home the day I bought it. I got there at 6:25pm and the service department shut down at 6:30pm, but they understood that I was coming from out of town, and fixed it real quick before they closed.

I also stopped by Mobile One, a car audio chain store in Houston, and looked around for an alarm, subs, and an amp. They had the Alpine 8081 on display with all the high end stuff, but they had a price of like $927 on it, and that's without Remote Start and Window control, so I didn't ask about it. I wasn't real impressed with their inventory and attitude, so I probably won't be stopping back in there again. The main reason I stopped is because the Alpine site said they were an authorized dealer in my area. I thought they might have Alpine subs, but I thought wrong. I guess if I want them, I'll have to mail order them.

2/26 - 2/27 Weekend

Drove from San Marcos to Dallas to see my Dad and Brother. They loved it.

2/25/00 Friday

Took the R/T down to San Marcos to see some friends of mine that go to school there. Just like everyone else, they were impressed.

2/24/00 Thursday

Ordered clear front corner lights for the R/T $52.00 through Autosyndicate. I talked to Janice, and she gave them to me for $52.00 instead of the regular $65.00 because I mentioned I had heard about them through the R/T website and fellow R/T owners. Very cooperative and friendly. They should be here next week sometime.

2/23/00 Wednesday

Took the R/T down at lunch to put the stereo in, and mysteriously, two MTX Thunderform boxes for Dakota Club Cabs showed up at Circuit City the previous day. They had no idea where they came from. They got there way to quick to have anything to do with my order for one...anyway, he said since he was going to have the back of the cab taken apart anyway, he could go ahead and put the empty box in there no problem, so I told him to go for it! I got the truck back this afternoon and the stereo sounds AWESOME already. I can't wait to get the subs and amp in there.

2/22/00 Tuesday

Got my windows tinted. Legal (15%) on the front two windows, and Limo on top of the tinted glass already on all the back windows. No one can see in the back windows, and at night, it's hard to see in anywhere. Just the way I like it.

2/21/00 Monday

My Head Unit Arrived at Circuit City, and I went down and bought the Alpine Head Unit, 2 Pairs of 6-1/2" Apline speakers to replace the factory speakers, and ordered the MTX Thunderform Box empty...so I can buy the kind of subs and amp I want...Alpine. We scheduled to have the Head Unit and speakers installed on Wednesday, and I wasn't in any hurry for the MTX box, since I wasn't going to have anything to put in it. They said it would take at least 10 days for it to come in.

2/19 - 2/20 Weekend

Went to my hometown, or Refugio, TX, where my Mom, Sister, Stepdad, and Stepbrother live to visit and show off the new R/T. I've also still got some friends that still live there, so I got to show the R/T to them too. I took everyone for rides, and they all could not believe the power it had.

2/16/00 Friday

Montey, at Circuit City called me back saying he had found my head unit. He said it should be in next week.

2/16/00 Wednesday

Talked to the Car Stereo Installation Manager at Circuit City, who happens to have a Black Club Cab R/T full of stereo goodies about putting a system in my truck. We set down a game plan and I got him to try and find the Alpine CDA-D855 head unit I wanted.

2/15/00 Tuesday

Brought my R/T home from the dealer in Houston and stopped at Best Buy on my way home to pick up a radar detector. I got the Cobra ESD 6500. It's a nice one, but I'm still getting used to it.